Charo, too

I need to talk about Charo before the evening fades from my head.

Charo looks fabulous.
She thoroughly engaged the audience.
She told us she would read our minds and had us put our hands to our heads and hum.
Then she said, "I got it. I know what you are-a thinking. You'rea thingking how old essa dat beetch?"

She told us that she came to America when she was sixteen after having been discovered when she performed on the Spanish version of Sesame Street, when her "cuchi-cuchi was a cichi-cichi."
She said that she was on TV and then they decided that she was too young and Xavier Cugat took her to the Elizabeth Arden salon and when she came out she was a different age.

She shared her regimen for health and looking great.
She said, "I drink a lot of water. I run two to three miles every day with a very tight bra so my mangos don't hit the ground because if they hit the ground they will a-stay down. I never-a smoke. And I-a moisturize two times a day, morning and night."

She disappeared off the stage during a song and reappeared in the audience to dance. She pulled a woman she recognized from a performance in Hawaii and she also instructed an older bald gentleman whose head she had blessed with her "maracas" to hold her hips while she swayed in front of him.

(I just want to say that is the kind of homey friendliness that endears celebrities to fans. No, not making boobular contact with a fellow's head but the fact that she recognized someone she had seen in another state.)

She got back up on the stage and talked about the dance. She explained the dance she was doing which is like "spooning." She quipped, "...but you have to be careful because spooning leads to a-forking."

How old is she? Sixty-seven, I write with reverence. Wow.
Kind of makes you think you've really been living wrong when you compare yourself.

And Charo humbly explained that all she really is... is a guitarist, having studied for 7 years with Andres Segovia. She offered that she teaches the Segovia technique to school children so that the technique will not be lost.

We had such a good time. And I kept wondering why there weren't a few drag queens in the audience. She's so original... it's hard to imagine anyone even daring to try to imitate her with any sincerity. She may be INIMITABLE.

She said of herself as a guitarist, "This is really all that I am... but I love cuchi-cuchi. Cuchi-cuchi has shown me the way to the bank!"

If you ever get the chance, Charo is a blast!

Here's just a sip:



and a performance about 20 years ago: