@@sgholt Hello, Stephen! Comprendo lo que tu dices, pero... Selena was not from San Antonio. She was born in Lake Jackson, Texas to a dad who loved performing and a mother who helped Selena's stagecraft her performances. When her father lost his job the family moved to Corpus Christi, Texas where they opened a Mexican restaurant. As a child Selena began her singing career in that restaurant. She knew no Spanish so she sang popular Spanish songs phonetically. She then started successfully touring in various Texas towns and cities, including San Antonio. Selena also recorded in SA. After she was booked to perform in Mexico, she began to learn how to speak with her audiences and the press in some rudimentary Spanish. She also worked on how to sing and emote in the rich tradition of Mexican songs. The big worry was that the audiences in Mexico might not accept a singer who sang and spoke in English and/or phonetic Spanish. In performances and interviews she did stumble in her delivery. But her charming, vivacious personality and superb talent won over the Mexican audience. She was on the road to be a superstar in the US and in Mexico. The person who was from San Antonio was Selena's murderer, Yolanda Saldivar. Saldivar wormed her way into Selena's mostly family entourage in order to grow the fan club in San Antonio and to open many other fan clubs. Then she wanted to open up some boutiques in SA and Corpus. Those stores would carry Selena's clothing line. Saldivar thought that by doing these things she would have the closest personal access to the rising stardom of Selena. Instead, she stole Selena away from the rest of the world and denied us the opportunity of enjoying Selena's new songs, performances and fashions.
@@michaelasay8587 Do your research dude. She’s been in prison since she was found guilty in 1995. She is up for parole in 2025 but they’ll never let her out. She wont even admit to doing anything wrong. She’s still saying it was an accident.
This concert was in a football stadium, at the end of a night of rodeo events - cattle roping, bull riding, barrel racing etc. Then all the competitors leave the arena and the concert begins The stage is towed out to the middle of the stadium by a truck, and is locked down and plugged in. The band starts playing and Selena enters the arena in an open white horse-drawn carriage with an escort of cowboys. She ascends the (rotating!) stage and proceeds to deliver the performance of a lifetime, the one that will become legendary. No autotune, not even a mic pac, no ear piece. The stadium acoustics were terrible and as she was hearing the band, she was hearing herself on delay. And she never missed a beat, never missed a step, never missed a note. She danced her @$$ off, so hard that her earring flew off. She sang her heart out, delivering joy, and heartbreak and tears. And love for the music and for her fans. Simply phenomenal. You must watch the whole thing.
I can't think of many artists that can get a dude from New Jersey, not understanding a word she's saying but leaving me saying, 'I don't know what I just heard but I know one thing... this performer is special'. Selena checked all those boxes for me.
This is Selena in the Houston Astrodome (her second Astrodome appearance and I was there). Selena was the first person to sell out the Astrodome and that's BIG, considering the acts that came before her, like Elvis and The Rolling Stones, among others. Tickets sold out in minutes and I ended up volunteering to work security at minimum wage-just to see the show. Selena appeared during the Houston Livestock show and Rodeo-which is a LARGE event that draws the cream of country and Tejano bands every year.
Actually she drew a crowd of about 67,000 on her last day, which was one of the largest crowds in the history of the Astrodome. On March 3, 1974 Elvis drew a crowd of about 88,000. But that was the total crowd for a matinee and an evening show. Selena's crowd of 67,000 was for a single show.
@@ptournas 1) Source? 2) On it's best day, the Astrodome could only hold 66,000 max. 3) Notice how Selena's stage was on the center of the floor but no one was nearby? That's because the concrete floor was covered in dirt for rodeo events. Elvis may have drawn 88k somewhere else, but not in the dome. That's like telling me that US Navy submaries can fly through the air alongside B-52 bombers.
@@The_Dudester @Pope Anthony Looking further into it I see Elvis had both a matinee and evening show there that day. Another article I read had only listed it as a one day attendance record. I'll clarify that in my comment, and thank you for clarifying it for me!
This was not her second it was her third show there I believe February 27, 1995. Sad that she only had a little more than a month live. She would’ve been a superstar.
I remember the most surprising fact i learned from the movie was that she didn't grow up speaking Spanish but rather had to learn it as she sang it. As of her passing, she was just starting to truly feel comfortable in conversational Spanish. To hear her sing you'd think she'd spoken it from birth.
The last microphone she used, with the lipstick still on it, is on display at the Selena Museum. That smoky quality is what made her voice special. You can really hear it in the songs La Llamada and Dondequiera que Estes (with The Barrio Boyz). This is a great performance, but my favorite is still the one from the 14th Annual Tejano Music Awards. Just sublime. No me queda mas means "Nothing remains" or "I Have Nothing Left", and was written by Los Dinos keyboard player, Ricky Vela. The story is he wrote it when he learned Suzette Quintanilla, Selena's sister and the group's drummer, was getting married. She was his secret crush.
She was something very special. I remember when the news broke that she had passed. It was a HUGE HUGE deal especially in the Latino community. It was so so sad to see.
Fun fact: She had never taken professional singing lessons, allegedly, assist from his family's training but when she got her English record deal, they sent her to Michael Jackson's vocal coaches but the producers didn't like how her voice changed and told her to forget whatever she learned.
Thank you Fil for getting to my favorite Latin artist of all time: She (was and is) the Queen of Tejano. She was beautiful both inside and out and she was about to turn the music industry upside down. She makes me so proud to be Latino. Thank you again for doing this Fil! You rock as always. Enjoy going down the rabbit hole that is Selena's music. RIP Selena
"I Could Fall in Love" and "Dreaming of You" are two beautiful English language songs from Selena. I don't think she ever got the chance to perform them live. They were released after her death. Both would be amazing live vocal performances to analyze if they exist.
I took French and Latin in school so there is a resemblance to Spanish, but not enough for me to understand exactly what she is singing, but her passionate expression comes through clearly and beautifully.
Selena is a rabbit hole you definitely want to go down. She is amazing and even more so when you know that Spanish wasn't her first language. She learned it to do Tejano music, as others have said. That lipstick covered microphone is in her museum that's ran by her family in Corpus. Her husband Chris Perez is on the guitar behind her, an incredible musician in his own right. You should definitely do more Selena.
@@greenpalmTX That's what is so amazing about how successful she became at a pretty quick pace and made it sound natural. There are a lot of performers who try to sing in Spanish and it sounds bad because they either don't speak Spanish at all or they do speak Spanish but never really sing in the language. There's a flow when singing in Spanish that doesn't happen so much when you're speaking it. Same thing happens in English as well. So it's amazing just how natural Selena sounded even in her early career.
Growing up in Corpus Christi, I remembered seeing her in many local performances when she was a young girl singing with the Dinos. It was a real thing and a real time when you could hire her and her band to sing at weddings (in the 80s). I remember when she died. People made the drive from Mexico. The street where she lived had cars driving from everywhere all weekend and even the following week. People come to Corpus for the Easter Holiday (Body of Christ). They passed as well to pay respects. It is clear in my mind how long it took to make it by. It was a regular thing to see her shopping at JC Pennys or Kmart for Christmas even when she had made it big in the Texas and Mexico market. She was so gracious and the fans who knew of her would come running like they did in the movie. All hispanic population within a building quickly got the message that she was in the building and what a sight she was. Truly beautiful and truly missed.
I loved Selena! I had the "Dreaming of You" album on cassette, and I listened to it all the time. What happened to her was so heartbreaking. I don't understand Spanish at all, but her voice was amazing. Loved this analysis, Fil!
Dreaming of You is one of my favorite songs. Selena was taken from us way too soon. She was young and beautiful and very talented. She also was one of the first singers to cross the English/Spanish boundry. Both sides loved her. She was raised in America and spoke only Engliah, but learned Spanish to appeal to Mexican fans.
I'm so happy you covered this. I was still living in San Antonio and remember when she died. People had signs for her in their yards all over town... Everyone was heartbroken.
So glad you analyzed Selena. I remember discovering her while changing telly channels and listened on the spanish station in1993. It was clear within 20 seconds she'd be a superstar. She was the queen of Tejano music. She smashed glass ceilings between Latin pop and American pop. I believe her dad was her vocal couch. I still cry when I think shes gone and we haven't seen her career grow and voice mature and deepen.
Selena is much revered by the Spanish speaking community here. You pointed out so many things about this great artist that I've taken for granted. Gracias, amigo! You even noticed her lipstick on the microphone!
She was one of those singers where you ‘knew where you were’ when you heard of her death. She was so sweet & approachable…& was becoming so famous when she was killed. I’m here in Dallas Texas USA….to THIS day, you can go to certain parts of Dallas & see ‘Selena: In Memoriam’ stickers on the back car windows. It’s lovely to see her community keep her memory alive. Thank you, Fil, for highlighting her work💛
I was in the girl's restroom in highschool when I overheard two girls talking about it. I'm from San Antonio, and we are due hard fans, but NO JOKE don't ever say her name in Corpus Christi without putting respec' on it!
Hi Fil, From Texas. As a Texan, I can speak for many Texans we loved her. She was a great role model. Many baby girls born were named after Selena. I love her Disco Medley. She loved people as many loved her. We greatly miss her. Rip Selena. 💕
I’m so glad her music is being heard over the pond. I was fortunate to be in attendance at that concert. She is still remembered in Latin America and US. Great artist taken way to early.
Selena had a beautiful voice and her isolated vocals were just as lovely to listen to. Jennifer Lopez did a great job portraying her in the movie. Thanks Fil for this analysis and introducing others to her music.
My favorite Selena song is her big hit, "I Could Fall in Love." Don't think an actual live performance exists, but this single hit #8 on Billboard's Airplay Hot 100, and #1 on Canada's Adult Contemporary Chart. So much talent snuffed out for no reason. It's on RU-vid, can't seem to paste it here. But this beautiful song Fil is analyzing, , "No Me Queda Mas," means "I Have Nothing Left." Here's the translation: I Have Nothing Left I have nothing left but to lose myself in an abyss of sadness and tears I have nothing left But to accept defeat and wish you happiness I have nothing left Your return today would be an impossibility And this, that wasn't love, that you today deny, That you say never happened Is the sweetest memory of my life. I once had hope in the bottom of my soul That one day you would stay with me And I kept an illusion that nourished my heart A heart that today, has to see you only as a friend. And though I lived in love and completely mistaken, I don't care because This was the love on my part the most beautiful, the biggest love And though you'll always deny it, for me, it was the most beautiful It was the most beautiful.
I kind of remembered when she died....her last song was all over the radio and I thought it was such a shame. However, I have recently "discovered" her thru RU-vid videos and the movie Selena. Amazing talent and a beautiful human as well. Do more from this concert and you will just be more and more enchanted. The disco medley and the Como La Flor are super performances!!
On top of having a great voice, Selena was very versatile. She could cover any music genre & excelled! She’s also a performer & unlike “artist” today she can in fact dance all across the stage & hit those notes! Why she’s my favorite singer!
Thanks for capturing the essence of what made Selena special to her fans. She had an outsize influence in latin culture that continues to this day. She filled her performances with emotion, wether it was sadness here or joy in her uptempo numbers. She is still fondly remembered in the culture.
Hi Fil: I honestly wasn't familiar with Selena, either, until I watched the movie. When I see clips of her performances, she was dynamic! She was beautiful and super talented. I wish I had been more familiar with her music, because now I love it. May she RIP; what a terrible loss to music and to the world. Thank you so much for doing this! 🙂 Rosemarie 💖
This song was written by the keyboard player who was in love with Suzette ( Selena's sister) and when she announced she was getting married to another guy the keyboard player wrote this song about his love for her...... so sad
I saw Selena she was a nice person really. And she was a great singer wonderful Tejano artist. Selena!! The disco medley is bomb also from this concert Selena rocks.
Her ability to create that raspy sound to her voice was always what I adored about it. She knew exactly how to use all the beautiful qualities to her voice to make a song feel passionate or angry. She brought perfect emotion to songs.
Thank you for this. I knew of Selena but assumed she was more of a pop star. So I didn't realize what a great voice she had. Reminded me a little of Linda Ronstadt. What a tragedy.
Literally… whenever I hear Selenas sing. I get this electric energy going through my body. I can’t help but move with her and sing along with her. If I can’t sing I will lip sing. Like her energy is out of this world. RIP La Reina Selena 🖤 👑 our idol por siempre!
I'm so glad that someone suggested Selena! I hadn't heard of her before the biopic movie. She was so beautiful, talented and had the drive to make it. How to make sense of the evil that men (and women) do. RIP Selena.
This song is about total heartbreak and the hope that one day the person will return, but sadly she has to give up on that love. Thank you for analyzing her voice and delivery.
Selena was The queen of the Tejano music I was going to go to her concert in LA and on Friday she was kill .and the next day on Saturday I was going to go to concert. Beautiful songs and she was so beautiful .all her fans miss Selena Quintanilla👏👏👏❤️🎤🎼🎶
Selena had such a beautiful voice, you could really feel what she was singing. I have to say that I was surprised that you had not heard of her, but given that there was nothing of hers released in the UK explains why - but interesting considering how influential she was in the music world.
Glad you discovered this icon, better late than never. I experienced Selena's short but impactful career when she was alive, and man you could tell that she had an amazing journey ahead of her, cut short by a senseless murder that the perpetrator doesn't take actual responsibility for, even to this day. She mostly became famous for singing "tex mex" music, but she was really versatile and also recorded some pop and even rancheras, she had enough talent and star power to become a legend and she still did even tho her life and magic were taken from us way too soon. "Amor Prohibido" is still my favorite Selena song, RIP.
Thank you for this vocal analysis. The genre-Tejano-grew beyond its typical audience with Selena. I love the analysis of her voice producing some typical mariachi tonal movements in this pop ballad. To see the accuracy of her pitch recorded by the software makes me sad…she had great control of her vocal instrument. RIP querida Selena.
Not being a professional, just a music lover. The first time I heard her I was hooked. I heard all of the things you just pointed out. I have everything she recorded and it brings me to tears. Listen to her English recordings. Being American they are quite touching. Thanks Fil.
She has a medley of Disco songs that will knock your socks off! You are correct, I read that you hadn't heard about her, and I thought "where has he been"? I didn't know that she wasn't known in Britain.
Greetings from Texas, My top two of hers are "Amor Prohibido" and "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom". I don't understand each word, but I know what she's singing about. But her voice and articulation are so beautiful! Thank you for reading up and analyzing her!!!
There was an auto biographical movie on Selena's life back in 1997 Starring Jennifer Lopez as Selena. Also some of the music in the movie was of some of Selena's concerts. Thank You for the video, Fil.
I 😘 ve the way she incorporated the mariachi sound into her music, especially these rancheras. It's the drunken operatic quality that is so full of emotion. The cries,.the breath, the reach for the breaks. It's dynamic vocal gymnastics that was a part of her expression.
I remember the day it happened driving by Navigation Boulevard and seeing snipers on the overpass facing the hotel parking lot. A short time later word got out what happened. Really sad. Great video thank you. I've often wondered how her life and career would have turned out if it hadn't been cut short at such a young age.
I wish that I'd known this: I would have suggested her to you much sooner. Even without her tragic story, her music demands attention. And as far as biopics go, the movie "Selena" is reasonably true to the story and features an actress (Jennifer "Pre-J.Lo" Lopez's) with the singing chops necessary to bring the voice to life.
Thank you for reacting to Selena, she was, is and always will be the Queen. I was fortunate to attend this wonderful concert, an unforgettable night, I cried when they took her away from us. I miss her so much. My beautiful queen.🥰
Selena was a very dynamic artist. She started performing when was very young in Lake Jackson, Texas. I almost went to that concert, but decided to buy the album instead because I wanted to enjoy hearing Her sing. [ I didn't want a repeat of the Luis Miguel concert I'd recently attended where the audience sang almost every word of every song at the top of their lungs and constantly violated my personal space.] Jennifer Lopez became really famous after portraying Selena in the movie. There were at least, a couple of English language singles released to capitalize on her death. If she had survived, I don't think they would have made it onto the album. They were, in my opinion, nowhere close to being as good as anything on her previous album. Anyway, she was a sweet charming young woman with amazing onstage charisma and talent!
It still breaks my heart and brings tears to my eyes. What a treasure we lost that day. There would be no JLo had she lived. It would have been all Selena. To see others discover her raw talent, it’s truly rewarding to see her voice and talent live on. Forever. Bless her soul. She should still be here. 🥺🕊️🙏🏻❤️
I was living in TX in the 90s but wasn’t familiar with her until a couple years ago when I ran across the movie about her. Beautiful soul, gone too soon.
I was performing in Hong Kong China during that time, and Selena’s music was popular, especially hits such as Bidi Bidi Bom Bom. Since so many British were in HK at the time, many working in various venues I was performing in, I’m surprised they hadn’t heard of her music in the UK. Along with techno dance, acid jazz and Canto-pop, clubs were playing quite a bit of Latin music. I was in Hong King for years for years, and that’s where I first heard of Selena.
Oh wow, Fil! Selena was such a great vocal artist and she was just beautiful in every way. She was kind, she loved her fans, and danced like she sang. Flawlessly! She had just gotten married, and had plans to start a family! It’s still so heartbreaking. Her manager of the fan club was her killer. A real evil person. There’s a movie, Fil. You might want to watch it. It’s really good. Simply called, Selena. Jennifer Lopez stars as Selena, and plays a stellar role! Thank you so much for this one..she is still very much loved and missed! ❤
I LOVE Selena! One of a kind! It's a shame we don't have any current main stream singers that sing with emotion or personality. No one really has a voice these days.
I was blown away by Selena's version of A Boy Like That from Westside Story. I don't think anyone else has done a critique of this recording. Thanks for the breakdown of Selena's amazing voice.🌷
Selena had a beautiful voice and would have been an even bigger star than she was once she made the crossover to English. She possessed the quality that all of the great Mexican singers had, which was to tell a story with so much emotion. Traditional Mexican music is like that. If you listen to Mariachi music, which I love, you will find that style is very common. Ana Gabriel has that quality also. Huapango folk music is also filled with this “crying” style.
A movie was made of her short life played by Jennifer Lopez. Lopez did a great job depicting her personality. She was already famous, by the time they released her song “I could fall in love “ into the mainstream radio, and it’s with that song that america learned who she was, even though already famous. She did mostly dancing on stage while singing and never missed a beat in vocals. I remember when this happened and the news cameras focused on her fan club President sitting in her car with a gun to her head for hours…..as if it was yesterday. Too bad she didn’t pull the trigger on herself before Selena. Also, English was her first language. Her father taught her the lyrics in Spanish for each song. She said in an interview she grew up listening to Madonna
If Selena was still living I’m sure she would have been thrilled to have had her performance analyzed by Fil. There are many Uk performers that we in North America never discovered either. In Canada I only found a lot of British artists in the 80s by watching our local music TV channnels or music programs. Often they never ended up on the radio here, just the telly. An example of that was Paul Weller whom most Canadians have never heard of.
The Jam, Style Council...2 of my favourite bands. I really appreciated the number of British bands that MuchMusic and The New Music introduced us to here in Canada back in the 80's.
Soooo thrilled you covered Selena ! She was Tejano (Tex-Mex) Music Queen and was being groomed to do crossover in the mold of a Gloria Estefan some might say. She was not good at speaking Spanish, but learned how to sing it amazingly. In our South Texas region where she's from we have much influence culturally, musically, and many other ways. She grew up watching fantastic Mexican female singers with mariachi style and romantic "ranchera" style also. She obviously fancied her style from American female performers of the day of r&b, pop, and certainly female Tejano music singers. Check out other songs of hers and be amazed at how her husband Chris, a rock guitarist at heart, integrated interesting riffs. The beat and rhythm of her music was classic AB her brother, a master at introducing more tropical Latin beat into the genre of Tejano music never done before. Thanks again for your class and skill in analyzing this artist !
Hi Fil, Nice analysis of Selena’s voice. Great to hear her isolated vocal. She was a beautiful talented young lady taken way too soon. She really sang from her heart and soul. Her range, vibrato and tone quality are amazing. Great job sharing and remembering this talented performer. Have a great night… Debbie ☮️ P.S. Congrats on 296K !
Thanks Fil, that was great to see! I've always considered Selena as one of the best female voices ever, right up there with Patsy Cline, Etta James and Linda Ronstadt. What a voice, and only 23 years old.
I loved how you broke the song down and explained. I’d never heard such a descriptive and professional explanation. I love Selena and my heart still hurts to think of her so many years later.
