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Could Thalia be the latin Martha?

By: Greg Morago
Source: The Hartford Courant / Sun-Sentinel.com - March 10, 2004
TW correspondent: Luisa

Martha Stewart's legal troubles have made mincemeat of her career, this much is true. Though the fallout from her guilty verdict continues, Stewart's fans have been left in a bewildering, uncomfortable lurch akin to having only half the recipe for paella when guests are due for dinner in an hour. How does one improvise when one is used to being so precise and exacting? Where do we turn when our most beloved and trusted icon has been sullied in such an unsavory mess? In short, how can we make meringue when all the eggs are on Martha's face?

For a great swath of America, there exists an annoying conundrum: Who can fill Martha's shoes? After all, it was Stewart's mission to make nearly all facets of American life prettier, tastier. Who, then, occupies the great void left as the Stewart empire crumbles? Life, after all, must go on. Well, we can think of a few people who have the cooking chops, the make-over know-how, the craft expertise, the design intuition, the style savvy, the entertaining fortitude and the media bravado. (TW Note: Think Katie Brown, Rebecca Cole, Ina Garten, etc) Though they may not have Martha's jack-of-all-trades reach, here are some who could likely inherit her mantle:

Who: Thalia Sodi Why her: With help of Kmart, former Mexican soap actress and Latin pop star is building a brand that includes clothing, accessories and home décor. Hola?! Hispanics are nation's largest and fastest-growing minority group, with $600 billion in buying power. Credentials: Enormous Latin American star, Sodi is now big player in Martha's own turf (Kmart). Married to Tommy Mottola (Mariah's ex), Sodi is in the fast lane. Pros: PR machine is working overtime on branding her, and array of goods she can slap a name on is virtually limitless. Cons: Lacks recognition outside Latin market. But that just-under-the-radar approach could work in her favor. Marthability: Already a Thalia magazine is in the works and should be out soon. Premiere issue calls her "the Latina Martha."

Thalia Magazine, for the All - American Latina

Edited from the original article of : Primedia Incorporated / Hispanicbusiness.com - March 1, 2004
By: Karen Holt
TW Correspondent: Luisa

This spring American Media will launch a women's magazine that mixes beauty tips, lifestyle advice, celebrity interviews and inspirational stories of selfless acts -- all reflecting the spirit of one very famous woman whose name and image will grace each issue's cover. Oh, you mean O? No. We're talking Thalia, an Oprah-like icon for Hispanic women. Ah, yes, Thalia.

Whether you nod in instant recognition or draw a blank at the name is probably a barometer of how close you are to Hispanic pop culture. Among Hispanics, the sexy Mexican soap star-turned-singing diva has a one-name cachet comparable to Oprah's. American Media's plan to stake a monthly glossy -- called Thalia -- on her appeal is just one sign of an industry-wide rush to grab a share of the large and fast-growing Hispanic audience. Publishers are drawn by the growth in the Hispanic population, and by the success of magazines already targeting it. The largest, People En Español, has been growing briskly since it was introduced in 1998. In 2003, its ad pages jumped 15.3 percent to 772. The U.S. version of Reader's Digest's Selecciones was relaunched in 2000. The magazine combines original content and stories from Reader's Digest translated into Spanish, and has posted three consecutive years of double-digit ad-page growth. This year, it increased its rate base from 325,000 to 350,000. Latina, an English-language women's magazine published by Latina Media Ventures LLC, has increased its circulation by 20 percent, to 350,000, over the past two years, and had a 29.8 percent increase in advertising pages in 2003. Clearly mainstream advertisers are waking up to the possibilities. Ad revenue for the top 58 Hispanic-oriented magazines reached an estimated $145.9 million in 2003, a 23.7 percent increase over the previous year, according to Hispanic Magazine Monitor, a newsletter published by consulting firm Media Economics Group.

In June 2003, American Media created a Latino Magazine Group, which publishes the Spanish-language entertainment magazine Mira!. In September, the Latino Group launched Shape En Español, a spinoff of the English-language fitness title. Thalia editor-in-chief Donna Hernandez is also editor of Shape En Español. Meredith Publishing Group, too, is prepping products for the category. Last month, it lured Ruth Gaviria away from People En Español to fill the newly created position of director of Hispanic Ventures. In late 2002, Meredith bought the American Baby group from Primedia, partly to gain entry into the Hispanic market through the group's three Spanish titles, Espera, Primeros 12 Meses, and Healthy Kids en Español. With Gaviria onboard, Meredith is looking for ways to further target the Hispanic market with publications that focus on children and families. That may mean new titles or spinoffs of existing magazines, says Meredith spokesman Patrick Taylor. "We just feel that we are one of the right companies to be in this marketplace. This is a market that we feel is not served enough."

The all - American Latina

With Thalia, American Media has found what it thinks is the ideal symbol of Hispanic ascendance and achievement. "She's sort of like an institution for the Latin market. They've seen her grow up; she's an inspirational role model for women and Latinas," says Hernandez. "She wants to share that with her fans; she wants to empower them." The magazine will debut with three test issues starting this spring, with plans to go monthly by 2005. Hernandez says that early issues of Thalia will include makeovers of Latina women, a feature on Daisy Fuentes doing volunteer work for St. Jude's Hospital and a story about the negative health effects of stress. American Media is funding the project with a little help from Thalia's husband, music mogul Tommy Mottola, who is picking up the "below-the-line" costs of Thalia's entourage, McKelvey says. Those would typically run an estimated $300,000 to $500,000. Thalia may never succeed on the same scale as O -- the joint venture between the TV personality and Hearst that launched with 1.6 million in circ in 2000 and grew to 2.6 million the next year -- but there appears to be enormous untapped opportunity in the growing Hispanic market. "It's your next consumer," says Selecciones publisher Elizabeth Bradley. "And the smart advertisers know that."

Abductors of Thalia's Sisters Captured

By Associated Press - March 3, 2004, 6:41 PM EST
TW Correspondent: Luisa

MEXICO CITY -- Police have captured 11 men suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of pop singer Thalia's two sisters, prosecutors said Wednesday.. Mexican actress Laura Zapata and her sister, writer Ernestina Sodi, identified several of the men as their captors, said Mexico State Attorney General Alfonso Navarrete Prida. The men were captured earlier this week in a house on the outskirts of Mexico City. Zapata and Sodi were abducted from their car in 2002 after Zapata appeared in a play. The sisters were released weeks later. Zapata has indicated that her family paid a ransom but hasn't disclosed the amount. Thalia, a former Mexican soap opera actress, is married to music mogul Tommy Mottola.

Related Stories:
High-profile Mexican kidnapping over
Thalia's 2 sisters kidnapped in Mexico City

Thalia Won't Sue Laura

Source: lamusica.com - February 20, 2004
By: Monia P. San Juan
TW Correspondent: Chad

(TW Note:This is an official statement issued by Thalia's publicist regarding certain rumors that have been circulating the past week about Thalia having plans to sue her sister Laura Zapata for using 2 certain phrases in the play she wrote based on her kidnapping experience. )

“In the past few days, there have been many erroneous reports written regarding Thalia, her sister and her sister's play. Here are the true facts:

For privacy and security reasons for herself and her entire family, Thalia, through a family friend, asked her sister to please remove TWO phrases of her play that mention Thalia and her family members. Again only two phrases of an entire play were asked to be removed for security and privacy reasons. The friend of the family is a Mexican lawyer. There is not now nor has there ever been an American lawyer involved, only the mutual friend. Thalia has never thought of, nor does she have a desire to sue her sister if these two phrases that include her and her family member's names are not removed. THALIA IS NOT SUING, NOR WILL SHE SUE HER SISTER. THIS REQUEST WAS MADE FOR PRIVACY AND SECURITY REASONS. Thalia loves and respects her sister very much and is very happy for her and all her endeavors, including this play. Thalia, as always, wishes her sister success and happiness.”

Related Stories:
Sister of pop singer Thalia to write play about her kidnapping experience

Latin acts tread carefully with cross over bids

Source: Billboard/Reuters - January 17, 2004
TW Correspondent: Julio Cesar

Miami (Billboard) - They say you can never go home again. And while many Latin acts are trying to disprove that maxim, they are finding a grain of truth in it as they attempt to return to their initial fan bases after recording in English. Conversely, some Latin acts are finding it difficult to break into the English market after years of success in the Spanish market.

This year Shakira, Marc Anthony and Paulina Rubio will release new Spanish albums after various degrees of success with English releases. Ricky Martin will deliver his first English album in a number of years. But the crossover phenomenon, once regarded as a slam-dunk to gain broader exposure and bigger audiences for Latin acts, is treated by labels with more caution in the face of shrinking budgets and diminished sales across the board. That's because even when targeting the English audience, there must be specific attention to the Latin artist's original Spanish fan base through additional tracks in Spanish, music videos and other costly marketing tactics. "A crossover act has to record twice, film two videos, do two separate promotions," says Emilio Estefan, who has produced albums for Shakira and Gloria Estefan. Nowadays, he says, with sales slowing, it is harder to justify that investment in major crossover acts, unless the label believes the artist can achieve international success. "You have to be persistent, you have to invest money and you have to look for artists who not only have a U.S. market but who can be global," Estefan says.

"Obviously, the possibility of a crossover opens the door to an American market, and that's beneficial," says John Echevarria, president of Universal Music Latino. "But it's a double-edged sword. Do it well, and it's marvelous. Do it wrong, and it can hurt your fan base." Martin did it well with his 1999 self-titled English-language debut. According to Nielsen SoundScan, it has sold 7 million units in the U.S. alone. Enrique Iglesias ' 2001 "Escape," his second English-language album, sold 3.4 million copies, while Shakira's 2002 English-language debut, "Laundry Service," sold 3.3 million. All these albums racked up impressive global sales as well. "To me, being Latino is an advantage," Iglesias says. "In the world of Anglo pop, where there aren't that many Latinos, I look at it as an advantage. I think it's cool. It has opened my mind musically in so many ways. Even if my music doesn't sound Latin." But buyers are fickle, and success in one language doesn't guarantee success in another.

Iglesias' most recent English-language album, "7," has sold only 260,000 copies since its release in November, only slightly more than his 2001 Spanish-language release, "Quizas," which scanned 241,000 copies. Those numbers are considered high for a Spanish-language release but not for a major English-language artist, and not for an artist who is supposed to have two fan bases. Similarly, Thalia's self-titled Spanish-language disc scanned 179,000 copies, while her English debut of the same name has scanned only 184,000 copies since its release last summer, although it debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200. Rubio scanned 480,000 copies of her 2000 Spanish-language album "Paulina." It was the biggest-selling Spanish-language album for 2001, according to the Billboard year-end charts. But her English-language debut, "Border Girl," has scanned 270,000 copies.

Latin explosion Crossover acts, of course, are not new. Long before Martin or Estefan, there were many cases of Latin artists recording in English and vice versa, from Jose Feliciano , Xavier Cugat and Julio Iglesias to Eydie Gorme and Paul Anka. But the new wave of crossovers from the late 1990s was dubbed the "Latin explosion" by the media and garnered unprecedented worldwide attention. Even in the best of cases, replicating that type of buzz and success is difficult. The current crop of artists is under an unprecedented media spotlight. "It was a moment in time and a sentiment, and it's something we very consciously and deliberately and by design tried to create, and it worked," says Thomas D. Mottola, chairman/CEO of Casablanca Records and Champion Entertainment. Mottola, who until last year was chairman/CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, was behind the careers of many of the most successful crossovers, including those of Martin, Anthony and Shakira. But the term "Latin explosion," he says, was simply coined by the media and used by labels to market their acts. "There never really was a Latin explosion," Mottola says. "It was a mirage. And two of the biggest stars were from the Bronx, N.Y. But we used it to take gigantic advantage of it, and lots of our stars benefited from that." In the aftermath of that era, sustaining a career in two languages is absolutely possible, he adds. "The essence of our business has never changed. It all depends on the quality of your material and the records and the performances the artists give." But admittedly, it's tricky.

Trouble at home

There are many reasons why an album doesn't sell as well as expected. But when it comes to crossover acts, part of the problem is that the artist's core market -- the Latin buyer -- may not be buying the English album. And it isn't doing so, sources say, because some artists no longer have time to properly promote in that market because the artist is trying to serve two masters.

"The Latin market, from radio to media to the public, feels abandoned," one executive says. "They feel betrayed. There are artists who do nothing with Spanish media . And everyone who made that artist into a star in the first place then feels pushed aside." Not so fast, says Kevin Lawrie, president of Sony Music Norte. "People are always looking for an excuse to justify when an album didn't do well. I think it has to do more with the music and the moment than anything else." Crossing over, Lawrie adds, can absolutely be a good thing for any artist in any language. "The more people you reach, the better. And as long as the music isn't compromised or bastardized, it will work in another language."

"It's like both my arms," Anthony told Billboard in 2001, describing what it's like to record in English and Spanish. "I was born and raised in East Harlem. The music that my grandmother and mother would play at home wasn't the music that I would hear on the corner when I would hang out with my friends. When you say 'crossover,' that means you're crossing over and you don't belong. I don't believe that. I am both, I am both, I am both."

Related articles:
Thalia -- she intends to break the cross - over barrier

Thalía nominated for 'Premio lo Nuestro 2004' Latin Music Awards

Source: hispanicprwire.com - January 14, 2004
TW Correspondents: Luisa & Tonchi

You may VOTE for THALIA in the following categories:

Artista Femenina (Best Female Artist)
1) THALIA
2) Shakira
3) Millie Corretjer
4) Soraya

Canción del Año e Intérprete (Song of the Year, Performer)
1) Mariposa Traicionera, Maná
2) No Me Enseñaste, THALIA
3) Tal Vez, Ricky Martin
4) Que Me Quedes Tu, Shakira
5) El Problema, Ricardo Arjona

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