2002 |
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Source: El
Gordo y La Flaca, Univision January 18, 2001
Photo From: Puntozero.com.mx
TW Correspondent: Tonchi
| After going on the record that she had Thalía
signed, sealed, and delivered for her newest project,
Carla Estrada is now having to explain how it came to be
that she also promised the lead in “Cecelia Valdez”
to Cuban actress Cynthia Klitbo. It seems that during a broadcast of “Televisa Today” (in Mexico City), Carla stated that Thalía would be the protagonist and she saw Cynthia Klitbo playing the villainess in her project. The problem was that, on the same program, Cynthia explained that Carla had only discussed the LEAD role with her. Now there is some embarrassment, because for one thing there is really no way that the two of them could appear in a novela together. With all due respect to Thalía, Cynthia is an Academy Award level actress who is capable of walking away with the audience even worse than Itatí Cantoral did with “María la del Barrio,” and therefore it would be inappropriate for the two of them to be adversaries. Although she is well known to television audiences in Mexico and enjoys huge admiration for the memorable performances she has given, Cynthia has never had what could be called a lead role, unless you count “La Casa en La Playa” where she played one of several main characters. She stated on “Televisa Today” that she was “friends” with Thalía and it did not matter to her, but we are not deceived. Of course it matters that she has been left hanging. |
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Further confusing the situation, Eduardo Murguía, Vice-President of Production for Televisa, said in El Norte that although it is a fact that Thalía will be the protagonist of this project, THEY STILL HAVE NOT SCHEDULED A CONVERSATION WITH HER (our emphasis), due to the fact that the adaptor of the melodrama, Carlos Romero Santiago, still does not have the script ready. And in addition to that, neither Thalía nor the broadcasting company have arrived at an agreement concerning the conditions that both parties will agree on prior to initiating filming of the coming telenovela.
"The adaptor has barely refined the last details in order to offer it to us. We have not talked with her, we will do it as soon as we have the finished product. Neither have we spoken about the terms, we will do it as soon as everything is ready,” stated Murguía.
(So, does that sound to you like there is a real commitment to make any novela? NOT! :D)
(Note: if anyone would like to examine the stunningly successful career of Cynthia Klitbo they can find it here)
Source:
Despierta America, El Gordo y La Flaca, Univision - January 16,
2002
TW Correspondent: Tonchi
Holding a contract with Thalia which guarantees them a total of 4 telenovelas has apparently made Televisa so confident that they are making some claims that have us wondering. On a number of media outlets, they are announcing that it is a done deal that "Cecelia Valdez", the long-postponed project by Renee Muñoz, will be filmed IN MEXICO starring Thalia.
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Carla Estrada will be the director/producer of this work, which tells the story of a Cuban girl at the turn of the century who rose from poverty to become an entertainment legend. Being a true story, there was already a plot available, and the late Renee Muñoz and Thalia had planned on developing this as a novela many years ago. Renee died several years ago and the project was dropped. In other words, Televisa does not even own the rights to the story. Nor is there a completed script. Nor has Thalia committed to a time and other terms for her to actually film this novela. In other words, there is really no commitment at all for any of the key items of this project. |
If she films it, "Cecelia Valdez" will be the "mature woman" story which has been lacking in Thalia's portfolio. Although originally Salvador Mejía had envisioned "Rosalinda" as a departure from the "cinderella" stories that have characterized Thalia's career, he and the studio quickly backed down and went back to the same tired formula when they sensed audience interest to be waning.
The other possiblilty is to film the novela as a "mini series", like Televisa did last year with "Mujer Bonita" staring Adriana Fonseca. There was nothing new in the way of plot or characters, they just covered all the chichés in 5 weeks instead of 35. But especially in the light of Thalia's obligations in Miami and the lack of a large block of time before she goes on the road this summer with her first tour in 4 years, Televisa may be seriously considering this option.
Thalia has yet to make a statement one way or the other since all the declarations began to hit the news from everybody else. Stay tuned for further developments.
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Carla Estrada wants to lure Thalía back to televisionSource:
El Norte, January, 2002 In the middle of preparations for the final of “El Manantial“ (The Spring), producer Carla Estrada is not resting. She is thinking about a production which she wants to start up in the middle of the year which she hopes will have Thalía in the starring role, in yet another story which will establish the actress in the people’s favor. It’s been several years already that Estrada was eying Thalía to star in a story produced by her, but she just has not been able to coincide with the right dates in order to firm up the project, even less now that Thalía is living in the United States, since her marriage with Tommy Mottola. |
"The project with Thalía exists but we have not been able to make it firm so far. She is in Miami and we are working over here, her dates and ours have not coincided so that we could get together and talk. The story already exists but the project has still not been examined with her. We have to find a time to talk about the work and see if she decides to make a telenovela with us again. In the meantime, I plan to relax for a while once [El Manantial] concludes. I will dedicate myself to my family during this time in order to then initiate the new project in the middle of the year,” the producer said.
The success of “El Manantial” had reached Thalía’s ears, and she immediately called Estrada to recognize her work and congratulate Adela Noriega for her performance in the melodrama. Fans will remember that Noriega and Thalía met while working together in “Quinceañera,” under the production of Estrada herself.
"I spoke with her not long ago and she told me that she saw the telenovela and liked it a lot, that she was happy with the success that it is having and sent congratulations to Adela because she liked the acting she was doing. They’ve been friends since they made ‘Quinceañera’ together. I hope to work with her again soon,” she stated.
(NOTE: This article may be another example of poor communication within the news media. Yes, it is true that Carla Estrada has had a novela which she was “saving” in the hopes of reaching an agreement with Thalía. But we heard that long ago. And months ago, while on her Banda promotion in Mexico, Thalía said that she had spoken with Carla and that she had specifically told the producer that she could not accept this project because by the middle of 2002 she would be promoting her music and in the middle of tours. This has already been reported in several articles. So why is somebody printing it again as if it were still an open item? Who knows. But one thing is sure - Thalía will definitely be too busy to be doing months and months of filming any time in the near future.)
Housing ShortageSource:
TV y Novelas, 3 issues Problems abound in the construction business - after 2 years Thalía and Tommy still do not have any of their new houses ready for occupation. When Tommy bought the huge townhouse/triplex on East 64th Street, he paid $25 Million and added another $10 Million for remodeling and decoration. Everyone thought that the Mottolas were going to inaugurate it upon returning from the honeymoon. But, even taking into account an army of 80 workers it is still not finished. Finally the Mottolas fired the first decorator and eventually they had to also dismiss the new one. And now, with a third decorator at work, one would think they it could have been completed by New year. Instead, the couple had to spend the holidays in Miami Beach. But in Miami all is not well either. After delays of more than a year, the mansion on Star Island is still not getting completed either. The Mottolas had intended to welcome 2002 in their new house, but not even close at this point. As a result, the contractor has been given a final ultimatum: either the house is ready for occupation in February or the entire crew will be dismissed from the project. |
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So where in the world are Thalía and Tommy living then? Well, most of us do not realize how many properties Tommy Mottola already owns. Not only was there the obscenely large and opulent mansion which he built for Mariah Carey, which was sold after the divorce and later burned to the ground in an accidental fire while the new owner was out of town, but Tommy already had two other estates in Westchester County (north of New York City. He just sold one of them to a friend for $17.5 Million with an additional million for the furniture and fixtures of the house. That house had 12,000 square feet with a large guesthouse, pool, tennis courts, stables, and more. Right now, besides the famous penthouse which Tommy keeps in Manhattan, Thalía can relax at another great mansion, Tudor-styled, which is located near the one which Tommy sold. This “little shack” has its own recording studio.
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Source: El Gordo y La Flaca (plus follow-up
stories in Reforma, El Norte, and other Terra News
Service outlets) Broadcast January 4, 2002 Vid Cap: Gordo y La Flaca TW Correspondent: Tonchi Finally the “supreme authority”, Antonio Vásquez Alba, known as “El Brujo Mayor de México” (The Chief Wizard of Mexico) has made a proclamation about Thalía’s prospects in 2002, and there is both good news and bad news. Depending on how seriously you take this sort of thing (not very, in our case), there is an agreement among the Hispanic astrologers that the middle of 2002 will be a turning point in Thalía’s life. El Brujo Mayor makes his predictions from reading the cards, and this is the text of his conversation with Lili Estefan on Friday: |
“We see that Thalía has a very interesting aspect. Thalía’s first months (of 2002) are full of energy. Nevertheless, I can think that in the middle of the year begins a crisis of an emotional type. We are going to see her less together with her husband, Tommy Mottola. And we are going to sense, or we are going to realize (because they are going to be very discrete) that there is a separation or misunderstanding between them. Nevertheless, her artistic career is very good. She enters into some terrible (unintelligible, it sounded like “trips”), tremendous, very strong. Nevertheless, her personal life is not good. (unintelligible) --- damage, as they are becoming alienated from each other, more on his part than hers (Oooops! Can you say Jessica Simpson?). We are going to see her on many tours but more alone all the time. And every time they ask Tommy Mottola about it he will be evasive.”
(NOTE: Well, take all this with a grain of salt, or a shovel of it:D)
More for your amusement than concern, here is what the better-known astrologers on the Hispanic entertainment circuit are predicting for Thalía in the coming year. Walter Mercado has not been heard from yet (thank heavens :D) but just about everybody else has checked in as follows:
Source: Despierta America, Univision - December 31, 2001We did not get the name of the lady featured here, but she gave her predictions based on peering into a dish of water. She affirmed that Thalía may look forward to a year of tremendous international acclaim, continued happiness in her marriage and career, and the release of TWO records in the next 12 months. Thalía will not have a baby in 2002, but will be pregnant and the child, a girl, will be due around March of 2003. Source: El Gordo y La Flaca, Univision - December 31, 2001Live, by satellite from Mexico City, we heard Giovanna, “the premiere astrologer in Mexico”. She counseled Thalía to get her finances in order immediately, make sure that all her papers are straight, because tremendous success is coming and she could otherwise be overwhelmed. No babies or records were predicted, just that Thalía has “a lot of work ahead of her.” |
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Their Astrologer did not say anything about Thalía; she instead expounded on Osama bin Laden and the future of the entire world (the heavy stuff :D). It was just as well, since she gets her predictions from tossing coca leaves (cocaine’s source) onto a serape laid on a dirt floor in a hut near Lake Titicaca.
The Univision website featured the predictions of Professor Zellagro. Does anyone remember if this was the guy who assured Thalía that Tommy was really going to marry her when they appeared on Sabado Gigante in August 2000? The name sounds familiar.
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Anyway, Thalía being Virgo, born 26th of August, 1971, in México City, he says: “The planetary influences of your sun sign, Virgo, and the numerological combinations of the Year of the Horse in 2002, auger a stage of much spiritual growth in the personality of Thalía, recognitions and awards in her artistic career. On one hand, it would be nothing unusual for her to adopt some war orphan, since one of the striking aspects of Thalía’s personality is her good heart and her altruistic and humanitarian feelings. On the other hand, being born in the Year of the Metal Boar, this year 2002, which is the Chinese Year of the Horse (after it begins on February 12) is considered very auspicious and full of rewards and possibilities. Nevertheless, everything is not always rose colored and some worries of a family nature will occupy her time and energy toward the middle of the year, after the June eclipse, but her direct intervention will put a touch of harmony, solution, and peace to said unexpected situation.” |
Anita Cassandra, the astrologer who claims to have predicted the ascent to power of Bill Clinton, the death of drug lord Pablo Escobar Gaviria, and the awarding of the Nobel Prize to Oscar Arias (former present of Costa Rica) had the following predictions for Thalía:
| “She
does not have all she expected in her marriage, but
because she is a fighter, strong, and with a good
attitude she is going to endure it. What may save her in
this moment is to conceive a baby. If she does this, it
will be the difference between August and December. She does not have the freedom that she always has had and is a little bit depressed, but there will not be a conflict. Tommy Mottola loves her, but he has his form of being and is not going to change. He demands a lot of her, he wants her to be a conventional wife. |
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I also see, as they say legally, the settlement of a song in the courts due to a lawsuit. It is a ballad where she used the full name of a person, who is going to get irritated and is going to file a lawsuit. (Cuco Peña???) Involved in this production, which will possibly be heard as early as January, I see Emilio Estefan.
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Popular banda group Tigres del Norte plans to record with ThalíaSource:
Reforma, Terra News Service, December 29, 2001 Their New Year’s resolution? According to Jorge Hernández, singer and accordionist for the group, negotiations are going on between their record company (Fonovisa) and that of Thalía (EMI) in order to reach an agreement to record a duet, one song at least, during the coming year. "A few weeks ago I had the occasion to speak with the president of our company, Guillermo Santiso, and he told me that they were in communication with the president of the company EMI and they were going to make the arrangements for us to do something pretty with Thalía, one song at the least. Since they have the contracts, they have to do the negotiations.“ |
By telephone from San Jose, California, Hernández stated that they have already asked their top composers to provide special material.
"We have to put our composers to work: Teodoro Bello, Enrique Franco, Enrique Valencia, as well as a young composer from San Luis Potosí who lives in Dallas", he said. He added that the group is disposed to interpret even ballads or paso dobles with the creator of "Arrasando", who was the one who first showed interest in singing with the Norteño group. "If she wants, I hope Thalia will sing Norteño, but we can also accompany ballads, rancheras, drama, paso doble, paseítos, whatever she has the urge to interpret, and of course, how the songs come written."
Hernández indicated that, faced with the possibility of sharing a microphone with the wife of Tommy Mottola, the only requirement that they have placed on the negotiations is that the song be totally new, without it mattering who the author is.
"We are requesting that it be a completely new song, and that the composers that they have (EMI) and the ones that we have get to work and present a beautiful project, that is what I asked in order for what we are going to do to be successful. It may not be something that we do without preparing it as it should be done, no matter how much time it takes, because we want to make it beautiful. For this year (2001) it was impossible, but for 2002 it will be done, God willing,“ he stated.
Hernández admitted that the relationship between Thalía and Los Tigres del Norte is superficial, but declared that they admire her because she has succeeded in her career as an actress and singer.
| "A while ago I chatted with her in Mexico, and she commented to me that she would like to do something with us, But I do not have an extensive relationship with her in order to say she is my friend, I would be lying if I said that. She has a distinguished career, great luck with the public in her acting, and according to what I hear, what I read, what they have told me, her banda record is doing quite well. So I wish her the greatest success in the world, so that she may continue giving beautiful things to the public,” he said. |  |
(NOTE: Los Tigres del Norte are a very popular Mexican-American group which has performed many times in the US. Here is an interesting link which tells the whole story of their career: http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/12.31.97/los-tigres-9753.html .They also have appeared on Despierta America and El Gordo y La Flaca for interviews. These men are not only talented but they are very friendly and very cute (all of them look a little bit like Wayne Newton :D). We strongly support this duet, and although this might sound a bit unusual, we hope it will be another song like Cuco Peña. A funny song like that with a good video could become an all-time classic.)
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