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Title: Mexican pop star Gloria Trevi attempts fresh start
Source:
Houston Chronicle
URL Source: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/world/3070088
Published: Mar 5, 2005
Author: OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ
Post Date: 2005-03-16 11:53:09 by 1776
Keywords: attempts, Mexican, Gloria
Views: 5500
Comments: 1
March 5, 2005, 10:47AM By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ Stomping onstage with a whip and a mask to belt out her latest song, "El Domador," (The Animal Tamer), she then paraphrased one of her first hits, 1991's "Dr. Psiquiatra" (Mr. Psychiatrist), in an apparent answer to allegations she had been brainwashed by former manager Sergio Andrade. "A lot of people thought this dream must be madness, but we are not crazy," Trevi shouted to the crowd of about 8,000, before intoning the song's chorus, "I'm not crazy/ I'm not crazy." But in the closest she came to a confession about years on the run and in prison, Trevi appeared to cry and told the crowd, "I smiled so people wouldn't know I was feeling down. Many times I told God I didn't want to live like this." The screaming, cheering crowd filled about two-thirds of the auditorium in this northern city — Trevi's hometown — with chants of "We love you Gloria!" They appeared to be mainly women who were in their early teens during Trevi's heyday. One fan, Vanesa Vitaurre, 27, dressed up as Trevi and rolled on the ground before the concert, imitating the star's old style of wild hair and ripped stockings. "I want to see the same Gloria," Vitaurre said. "She may not crawl around on the floor anymore, but I think she will have the same energy, the same rebelliousness." Vitaurre probably wasn't disappointed, though Trevi acknowledged that both she and her music have evolved since her fans last saw her perform nine years ago. This time around, her three-year-old son Angel Gabriel and her mother sat in the audience. Trevi, who is billing herself as a woman of the people wronged by society, said her "Trevolution" tour, which begins Friday night in Monterrey, will demonstrate her progress as an artist. Yet many wonder whether she will regain the popularity she enjoyed at the height of her career. In December, just three months after she was released from prison, Trevi released a new album titled "How the Universe Was Born" to a lukewarm reception in Mexico, where none of her new songs have made Top 10 lists. In the United States, however, Trevi sold more than 100,000 copies of the album in the first weeks after its release — and earned a nomination at the Latin Billboard Awards for best album. Her tour opens in Reno, Nevada, on April 1, and will go to twice as many cities in the United States as it will in Mexico. Jackie Madrigal, an editor for Radio and Records magazine in Los Angeles, said Trevi is likely to appeal to Mexican migrants in the United States who see her as a connection to the lives they left behind. "A lot of us go through that longing for the place we left and the music we listened to when we were teenagers," Madrigal said. "I think that is helping Trevi." Always surrounded by controversy, Trevi rose to stardom in the '90s when her songs about sexual independence and wild antics on stage won over thousands of teenage fans, making her one of Latin America's biggest stars. Then the bottom fell out: Four years ago, the singer, along with Andrade and backup singer Maria Raquenel Portillo, were arrested and charged with luring young girls into their entourage and then sexually abusing them. The three were detained in Brazil, where all had fled to avoid prosecution. They eventually were extradited to Mexico, where a second backup singer was already being held. The scandal began when officials discovered that a girl in the troupe gave birth to, then abandoned, a baby in Spain. The father turned out to be Andrade, who had a record of well-publicized romances with girls barely into their teens. DNA tests also proved that Andrade was the father of a baby boy Trevi gave birth to while jailed in Brazil. Andrade remains jailed on rape, kidnapping and corruption of minors charges. In September, Trevi was acquitted of the same charges after spending almost five years in Brazilian and Mexican prisons. In a recent appearance in Los Angeles, she showed up dressed in a leather body suit with a whip in hand, prompting critics to say she is going back to the wild image Andrade had manufactured for her. "The exterior is like a candy I give my fans," Trevi said. "Mine, it's an interior evolution, and if there are people who can't see it then they need to look closer." Fans who planned to see the "Trevolution" kickoff concert Friday night said they had high expectations for Trevi. "I hope to see a spectacular show because this will be the rebirth of a star and a chance to relive memories," said 27-year-old department store saleswoman Cecilia Martinez, a Trevi fan since age 13. "After all these years, no one has taken her place and I'm sure she'll shine again."
Mexican pop star Gloria Trevi attempts fresh start
Associated Press
MONTERREY, Mexico — Mexican pop star Gloria Trevi, shamed by rape and kidnapping charges and then acquitted after a long prison stay, thrilled thousands of 20 to 30-year-old fans at her first comeback concert with a dose of the same wild, rebellious energy she showed in the 1990s. 
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"A lot of us go through that longing for the place we left and the music we listened to when we were teenagers," Madrigal said. "I think that is helping Trevi." She looks a lot better since she spent some time in the joint.
Jackie Madrigal, an editor for Radio and Records magazine in Los Angeles, said Trevi is likely to appeal to Mexican migrants in the United States who see her as a connection to the lives they left behind.
Viva La Ronconquista!
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