RUTH LORENZO WILL REPRESENT SPAIN AT THE 2014 EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

In a national final consisting of five artists, the Spanish public and the jury elected to send Ruth Lorenzo to Copenhagen with the song “Dancing in the Rain”, a nice and dramatic ballad, sung both in Spanish and English.

Ruth Lorenzo Pascual, better known as Ruth Lorenzo, was born on November 10, 1982 in Murcia, a south-eastern region of Spain. At a very young age she became a fan of the musical Annie and although she had no idea of what the words meant she would sing along to the songs in English. When she was six years old she discovered music by Montserrat Caballé, a Catalan opera singer, and after her mother bought her an album by Caballé, Lorenzo began to sing opera, imitating Caballé's vocals until she was pitch perfect. 

At the age of 12, Lorenzo's family moved to America and this was the first time she had the opportunity to be involved in music at school. After much encouragement from her teachers, Lorenzo was entered into competitions and played lead roles in musical productions such as "The Phantom of the Opera" and "My Fair Lady".

When Lorenzo turned 16 the family returned to Spain and although having had singing lessons by this time, she had to cancel these lessons due to family financial difficulty and as a result Lorenzo gave up on her dream of becoming a recording artist.

When Lorenzo was 19 she joined a rock band, which was a challenge for her as she had only sung opera music. In 2002, she auditioned for the second series of Operación Triunfo, the Spanish version of  Star Academy, where she was rejected in the first rounds of auditions. She also made a big decision to quit her job in her family's business in order to pursue her dreams once again, but after three years of touring around Spain the group decided to split up. Ruth landed a contract at Polaris World where as well as performing, she worked as a PR consultant.

In 2008, Lorenzo auditioned for the fifth series of The X Factor in front of judges Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole and Louis Walsh. There, she impressed the judges with her performing such as “A natural woman”, “True colors”, “Take my breath away”, “I just can’t stop loving you”, “Knockin’on Heavens Door”, “Purple rain” and “Always”.

Lorenzo performed at gigs across the UK and Ireland in December 2008 and January 2009, and at the Spirit of Northern Ireland Awards.

She has worked with Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler, Carlos Santana and Danii Minogue, for whom she had been writing several songs as “Because you are beautiful”. And also has written songs for the Spanish group Auryn.

And finally, last January she was selected as one of the five candidates to represent Spain at the 2014 Eurovision song contest on 10^th May, after rejecting the proposal to represent the United Kingdom. The song “Dancing in the rain” was released on February 18 and quickly it became number one on iTunes Spain. 

Now we will have to wait for the Eurovision contest to take place in Copenhaguen and to wish Ruth all the best luck for this young woman whose favourite Disney character is The little Seamaid, not because she is looking for love but because she is looking for freedom.

BANKSY GRAFFITIES DECORATE THE NEW ANTONIO BANDERAS HOUSE

It is very well known the passion for the art of Antonio Banderas, who is not only reduced to his work as an actor but extends to other fields, such as painting or photography, a passion that the artist has brought to light in several exhibitions such as the recent "Women in gold" by portraying the female figure through its objective and for which he had to the Spanish actress Paz Vega as muse.

And now Antonio Banderas and his wife Melanie Griffith have decided to radically change their new New York exclusive penthouse of 371 square meters, combining classic Hollywood style with Art Decó and the most famous graffiti art currently, Banksy (born in Bristol in 1974), has been chosen to decorate it with some of his works, forming an explosive combination of mainly dark colors with a flash of color.

Banksy, who refuses to reveal his identity so far, began his career spray painting buildings in Bristol, England. With his acid humor and strong sense of social criticism, went from being considered a criminal by the British police to be revered as a street artist, whose works reach thousands of euros in the art market. Loved by many and criticized by others, what it is certain is that he doesn’t leave anyone indifferent, as it has happened to Antonio Banderas.

  I am really very curious to know what will be the grafitti
that Antonio will choose for his new house

And as if  Antonio Banderas wouldn’t be versatile enough, he has also heavily involved with the world of fine arts painting a replica of the " Guernica" by Pablo Picasso to learn more about the personality of the great painter from Malaga, the character that  Antonio will play next year in the movie "33 days " directed by Spanish director Carlos Saura and co-performed by Gwyneth Paltrow, whose title refers to the 33 days that took Picasso to paint his masterpiece.

 

Picasso (1957)

EUGENIA DE MONTIJO, THE SPANISH EMPRESS OF THE FRENCH

Legend says that that Eugenia was born in the middle of an earthquake, and that she was brought up among bohemian, prostitutes, lenders, bandits, dukes and beggars. Eugenia was born in Granada, where she spent the first four years of her life, then moved with her family to Madrid.

Maria Eugenia was actually Baroness Countess of Teba and her older sister, Francisca de Sales, the real Countess of Montijo. Francisca was a brown-haired person whose sweet nature and spiritual calm contrasted with that of her sister, one-year younger, reddish hair, vivacious and confident. Both sisters were very beautiful. If the goal of the two daughters of Count de Montijo had been marrying well, they both got indeed. The eldest daughter married the Duke of Alba and the youngest became Empress of France.

After a few years, their mother Maria Manuela Kirkpatrick (of Scottish descent), decided to move with her children to Paris, alternating with brief stays in Madrid, England and Granada. By the way, it is said that Prosper Merimée wrote the famous opera “Carmen” based upon Manuela.

The Duke of Alba for some time was torn between Francisca and Eugenia, but finally settled on the first. It was written that Eugenia was so upset by the election, that she poisoned the milk diluted with matches to kill herself. It was her first love disappointment of her life and shortly after this disappointment would be followed by another, perhaps not so impetuous, but appeared to leave a deeper mark. Since then, in love relationships Eugenia ruled a coldness and prevention feeling. She was not going back to trust any man. Not even her future husband.

It seems that the meeting between Eugenia and Napoleon III was not casual. According to sources, they met through her mother, who wanted a good match for her two daughters. At 27 Eugenia had a reputation of being adventurous, ambitious and unscrupulous. The beauty of the young grenadine aristocrat enchanted the future emperor of France, Louis Napoleon.

It is said that Napoleon went crazy about Eugenia, who to inflame him, used a tactic as old as effective: to deny him her virginity. The courtship lasted two years.

In addition, if it is true the story that is told, the future emperor had to be stopped in their carnal cravings by young Andalusian. In one of the first meetings, he asked her where the way to her bedroom was and she replied him emphatically, but with her best smile: “through the Church”. Whether this story is or it is not certain, the situation would explain fully the moral behaviour of each of them. Louis Napoleon, after his marriage, kept public infidelities with several lovers, while Eugenia, quite a conservative Catholic, had close relations with Rome and financially protected several religious communities.

Although the desire for Eugenia was extinguished after a wedding night as wild as disappointing, Napoleon the Little, as Victor Hugo called him, was diagnosed by his doctor as "a tortured man in the flesh." They say that he slept with so many women who had to design for him a special chair to have sex.

He was unfaithful just right from the wedding trip, although it seems that it did not affect Eugenia  too much, since she did not love him. She married him only to be empress. And his love affairs suited her in order to let her to take active part in politics, giving ideas to turn Paris into the City of Light, supporting the establishment of an empire in Mexico, financing the opening of the Suez Canal, whose pomp on this occasion were very important, including representation for the first time on the banks of the Nile, Verdi's famous opera “Aida”.

She was the first woman to be granted with the Legion of Honour; in fact, she was the most decorated person in all France, with 20 medals and many titles.

She advocated for women's suffrage and humanistic ideas, but also invented the decorative style Napoleon III, discovered the great couturier Worth and dictated fashion for decades, devised crinoline, perfume, large mounted stones, necklaces.... She invented colours, furniture, food and makeup tried. Her dresses were imitated throughout Europe.

She was a great traveller who spoke several languages ​​and chatted with intellectuals and Gypsies. She was the first woman who went to a gym and learned boxing.

In addition, thanks to her, summers in Biarritz became very popular and the centre of European nobility. She and her husband built the palace on the beach now known as Hotel du Palais.

She had a rebellious, energetic and eccentric character, and also she was smart, intriguing, cocky and ambitious.

In 1879, her only son, the Prince Imperial, died in the war against the Zulus. Afterwards, Eugenia de Montijo, widowed and alone, lived in England, thought making frequent trips to Spain. On one of these trips, in 1920, at the age of 94 years, she died in Madrid. She was buried in the imperial crypt of the Abbey of Saint Michael in Farnborough (England), next to her husband and her son.

There is a story, told by Eugenia herself, which must have left her a deep shock. It happened in Granada, an evening that she went up to Sacromonte, some gypsies harassed her and several of her companions for  begging. One of the gypsies wanted to read the hand to her. Her nurse did not let her but she insisted by saying: "Although you don’t show me your hand, I know that this child will be more than a queen." These words were engraved in her mind.

And some years later, at a party in Paris, Abbe Boudinet, a renowned palm reader, insisted on reading the lines of Eugenia’s hand and then he said, amazed: "I saw in her right hand one imperial crown!".

An exciting life, not very happy, but very exciting, no doubt .......

Sources:

www.ctv.es

www.ideal.es

www.farodevigo.es

mujeresdeleyenda.blogspot.com

Book “Pasión Imperial”, written by Pilar Eyre

ANITA DELGADO, THE SPANISH MAHARANI DE KAPURTHALA

This is the story which scandalised Spanish society, the real-life fairytale of the teenage flamenco dancer who married a prince began in Madrid in 1906 with the marriage of Alfonso XIII of Spain to Victoria Eugenie of Battenburg. She was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria and also the grandmother of the current King of Spain, Juan Carlos I.

An Indian Prince was amongst the British contingent attending the celebrations with the Prince of Wales and although he had a one hundred and twenty women harem (four leading women and the rest concubines) 34 years old Jagatjit Singh fell in love with 16 years old Anita, when he saw her dancing in the Café Kursal in Madrid. Jagatjit Singh, the Maharaja of Kapurthala, was captivated by the young teenager, but his attempts to win her over were at first rejected out of hand. He left for France after an assassination attempt was made on the royal couple, but continued his courtship from Paris. Anita finally agreed to marry him, and travelled to Paris, and was installed in a luxurious palace. She was not to meet the prince again until she had learnt French: she was also instructed in all the social niceties of the time, before travelling to Kapurthala for her marriage.

The couple married in January 1908, in a traditional Sikh wedding where the young girl from Málaga arrived for the ceremony on the back of an elephant. She took the name of Prem Kaur.

In fact, Ana Delgado was purchased. The huge sums of money received by her family, the luxurious gifts, fabulous jewelry,….. All that was just the beginning of a fascinating personal story and also full of contrasts. The Rani Prem Kaur of Kapurthala, as she was called after the wedding, lived surrounded by extraordinary wealth, servants, exquisite whims of glitter and oriental pomp beyond imagination, a universe, in short, magnificent and enviable. She felt left out for other women in the Kamra Palace, the former palace of Majaraha, and lived alone and full of nostalgia for her family and her country.

Anita Delgado spent the next 18 years of her life in Jagatjit Singh’s kingdom in the foothills of the Himalayas, as the Maharaja’s fifth wife and the Maharani of Kapurthala. The couple had one son, Ajit Singh. She lived a life of unbelievable luxury, showered with jewels, and travelling widely throughout India with her husband, as well as to Europe and the Americas, followed by crowds of paparazzi wherever they went. Her husband even built her a palace modelled on Versailles.

But, as the years passed by, the Maharaja started having affairs, and she, feeling neglected, started her own - with her stepson, the Maharaja's son with an older wife, and who was the same age as Delgado. His camp would rather paint a picture of an opportunistic social ladder climber, who lived a scandalously lavish life, and that it was her "misbehavin'" that drove the Maharaja to other women...

Anyway, the fairytale came to an end after a visit to London in 1924, when her husband heard that she had had an affair with one of her stepsons. The couple lived separately until their divorce in 1925, and Anita left India for good. The Maharaja allowed her to keep her title of Maharani and all the gifts she had received during their marriage, and gave her a life pension. She also kept her Indo-Punjabi nationality. Part of the agreement, however, was that she could never remarry and must never return to India. She took with her on her return to Europe all the skills of her life as a Maharani: how to play the piano, how to dance and conduct herself in high society. She was also able to speak fluent French and English by this time. The opulent lifestyle continued in Europe where the Maharani became involved in a secret relationship with her secretary, Gines Rodríguez Fernández de Segura, which endured for the rest of her life until her death in Madrid in 1962.


with her lover in Biarritz

 The Spanish actress, Penelope Cruz, bought the screen rights to the book, casting herself in the starring role alongside Bollywood co-stars in a silver-screen adaptation of Anita’s astonishing life story. The Maharaja’s descendants have been trying to block the project, describing it as a ‘scandalous portrayal’ of what really took place.

Like any respectable royal, she became a discerning collector of crazy-opulent jewelry. Delgado's favourite piece, as she always expressed, is this juggernaut of an emerald, shaped like a crescent, and flanked by swirls and cascades of diamonds (See below. And remember to breathe.).

with the jewell above

Invariably, most of her other pieces of jewelry were jaw-dropping opulent and many pieces were of designs influenced by the belle epoque and art-deco movements in Europe, and brought to life by the finest jewelry craftsmen in Punjab.

All these jewels belonging to Anita Delgado were sold in Christie's in London on December 12, 2007. Wow! She could afford it indeed, she was a maharani!!

Source:

http://www.riadbellepoque.com/

http://www.kapurthalaprincess.com/

http://www.mayaruhi.blogspot.com/

FAMOUS SPANISH ACTORS NOW IN HOLLYWOOD

Would you fancy to know who the top contemporary male & female Spanish actors are? Please follow on reading this post………….

Penelope Cruz is probably now the most well-known Spanish actress abroad; yet, she is not the only Spanish celebrity internationally recognized………. Antonio, Javier, Paz, Elsa…..

Penélope Cruz

She is widely accepted to be the number one famous Spanish actor or actress currently working. After winning the Goya Award, which is the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars, as best actress it was widely speculated that Cruz would go on to have an amazing career -in Spain and abroad- that no other Spanish actress has ever achieved, and to date it seems that she has fulfilled many of the expectations of those around her.

She was born in Madrid, Spain, on April 28, 1974. Her father, Eduardo, was a retailer, and her mother Encarna, a hairdresser. They had two more children: Monica, who is a dancer an also an actress and Eduardo Jr. , who is dating desperate woman Eva Longoria for a year.

After years of intensive study in ballet and jazz, she broke into acting in 1992. Cruz and fellow Spaniard Antonio Banderas once presented the Oscar for best foreign film to Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, for Todo Sobre Mi Madre, which coincidentally starred her in one of the most difficult roles of her career. In this film, she plays a nun who falls in love with an AIDS-infected man and then dies from the disease. Her list of Spanish credits also include Jamón, Jamón and the Oscar-winning foreign film Belle Epoque that turned her into Spain's leading female actress.

In addition, she's appeared in Woman on Top, The girl of your dreams, All the Pretty Horses, Vanilla Sky, Captain Correlli's Mandolin and with Scarlett Johansson in Woody Allen’s 2008 film Vicki Cristina Barcelona.

In 2005, she was named one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People in the World." Today, having worked hard to achieve Hollywood success (not easy for a non-English speaker), she is a major Hollywood star on the brink of winning an Oscar and having dated famous actors such as Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey and Javier Bardem, whom she finally married in 2010 and have a small child.

Paz Vega

She is another of the Spanish actresses cherished by Hollywood. Paz Campos Vega (her real name, the surname she took from her grandmother) was born 2nd January 1976 in the City of Sevilla.

On finishing her secondary school education in her home City, she started to study I.T. sciences, but her attraction to performing compelled her to leave University to move to Madrid and initiate an artistic career. When she arrived in Madrid she went into the world of television acting in many Spanish television series. From Siete Vidas (a very famous TV serie) she flew to the world of cinema and with the director Julio Medem she received her most recognized role in the film Lucía y el Sexo (Lucía and Sex), which won her the Goya award for best new actress. These two interpretations made her one of the best and most sought-after actresses in Spanish cinema.

Paz Vega is a woman who defines Spanish beauty with large brown eyes. It was for this very reason that in the year 2003 Vicente Aranda called upon her to interpret the role of Carmen, in the film of the same name which narrates the story of the deadly woman by whom a French soldier loses his head during the Napolean occupation.

Her first role in the United States was in the film Spanglish. Currently her life is in Los Angeles (California), where she has recently starred in the films The Six Wives of Henry Lefey, directed by Howard Micheal Gould; Human Contract a film by Jada Pinkett Smith and also a film called The Spirit. Without a doubt, she is following in the footsteps of Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem just to name a few.

 She married to Venezuelan Orlando Salazar in 2002 and they are parents of three: Orson, Ava and Lennon.

Antonio Banderas

A voice like smooth silk, deep brooding gaze that alternately seduces and charms and a chiseled, dimpled profile... Jose Antonio Dominguez Banderas, better known as Antonio Banderas is widely believed to be the most famous Spanish actor in the world.

He was born in Malaga, Spain on August 10, 1960. His dream of ever becoming a professional soccer player was thwarted when he broke his foot at age 14. He transferred his energy to the stage, spending five-years with the prestigious National Theater of Spain, where his talent in the dramatic arts caught the eye of eccentric writer/director Pedro Almodóvar in 1982. Banderas began working in theater around the age of 19. During the 1980s he played roles in a number of Spanish films and gained the attention of audiences in Spain. His most successful role during this period was in Atame! (Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!) (1990).

Labyrinth of Passion was the beginning of a mutually rewarding partnership that gave way to such unforgettable releases as 1986’s Matador, Law of Desire (1987), and box office hits Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) and Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990) which piqued Hollywood's interest in the Latin sensation.

Antonio Banderas first came to the attention of American audiences when he appeared in the documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991). Banderas appeared in a few American films in the early 1990s, including in The Mambo Kings (1992), Philadelphia (1993) Interview with the Vampire (1994). The breakout (leading) role that garnered him Hollywood success was in the 1995 failed film Desperado. Banderas starred as the narrator in the 1996 film Evita, which also starred Madonna. Then came The house of Spirits, Miami Rhapsody, Two much (where he met his future wife, Melanie Griffith) and the mask of the Zorro (1998). In addition to acting, Banderas is a director. His directing debut was Crazy in Alabama (1999).

Banderas married American actress Melanie Griffith in 1996. The couple have a daughter, Stella del Carmen.

He also gave voice to Puss the Boots in the 2004 animated movie Shrek and tackled the true-life story of ballroom dancer Pierre Dulaine, who volunteered his time to teach a group of inner-city kids how to dance in the 2006 movie Take the Lead.

With his smoldering good looks and great charismatic personality, it is easy to see why this Hollywood conquistador was chosen as "one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world" by People Weekly. And received in 2008 the Gold Medal of Arts from the hands of the Spanish King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía for staying true to his roots as an artist and as a person.

Javier Bardem

Born Javier Angel Encinas Bardem on March 1st, 1969 in the Spanish Canary Islands, he made his film debut at the tender age of 11 in 1980’s El poderoso influjo de la luna, a film starring his mother, actress Pilar Bardem. This small role debut was a family tradition: the Bardem clan is a show business family made up of acclaimed Spanish actors and filmmakers who very often appear in each other's films.

The Spaniard is known for his intense and dramatic performances. Like a quiet icy storm, he is part of the story yet blends into the background whenever necessary. A brooding and mysterious and sometimes downright sinister air is brought about with Javier Bardem's screen presence. And his talent is not unnoticed - an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a SAG, a BAFTA, 4 Goya and 1 Cannes Prize play tribute to this man's talent. He holds the distinction of being the first Spaniard to be nominated for and to win an Oscar. His work in Spain involves his debut Jamón, jamón, Días contados, Boca a boca and recently Biutiful.

Like Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem is a famous star in Spain. He was the first Spanish actor to receive an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of controversial Cuban poet and exiled prisoner Reinaldo Arenas in the 2000 film Before Night Falls. However, it was his role as an assassin in the 2006’s No Country for Old Men, by the Academy Award-winning American Filmmaking pair, the Coen brothers, which finally won him the well-earned Oscar after years of hard work.

with wife Penelope

Bardem has had the privilege to work with some of today’s best directors. Among them are Steven Soderbergh, whom he made Guerrila (2004); Collateral (2002) with Michael Mann; Los Fantasmas de Goya (2006) with Czech director Milos Forman, with British director Mike Nelles in 2007’s Love in Times of Cholera and with American filmmaker Woody Allen in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), co-starring Penélope Cruz.

Elsa Pataky

This sexy and gorgeous Spanish actress is perhaps so far better known for being Adrien Brody’s fiancé than for her career but she’s a safe bet for the future and is working hard trying to pursue a career in Hollywood. And in fact, she is almost flawless: a pretty face and a statuesque body despite she’s only 161 centimetres high.

Elsa Lafuente Medianu was born in Madrid on July 18th 1976 to Cristina and José Francisco. Her mother has Romanian and Hungarian ancestors and Elsa took Pataky as her last name in honor of her grandfather who instilled her her love for acting. Elsa Pataky is not the typical blond bombshell. On the contrary she’s very well prepared because she studied at a drama school in Madrid and journalism at the University although she dropped out when she was cast for the TV series Al salir de clase which paved the wave for her film career.

In addition to that, Elsa speaks four languages: Spanish, French, English and Romanian. After the success of Al salir de clase and some little known movies she got the opportunity to star in El arte de morir a major film which was an important ticket office hit. Since then Elsa has performed in all kind of films: comedies, dramas, thrillers, horror movies although mainly acting in comedies. Finally in 2006 she gets to land in Hollywood with a small role in the cult thriller Snakes on a plane alongside Samuel L. Jackson. In 2007 she worked with Monica Bellucci in Manual d’amore 2 and she also worked with Gerard Depardieu, David Beckham and Michael Schumacher in the star-studded film Asterix aux jeux olympiques (2007) released in 2008.

Apart from acting, the Spanish stunner has also  graced the covers of numerous magazines. Her love life  has also been quite busy. Elsa was involved in a long relation  with a Spanish race motorcyclist, with French comedian Michael Youn, with American actor Adrien Brody and now she is happily married to Chris Hemsworth, star of Thor. Last week, by the week, Elsa announced her first pregnancy. Congrats to the happy couple!

Sources:

www.donquijote.org

http://www.buzzle.com/

http://www.sportandbeauty.blogspot.com/

http://www.wikipedia.es/