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Selena: Music
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The context of Selena's careeer is the evolving world of Tejano music. Tejano (Texas Mexican) music itself embodies assimilation and change. It originates in the fusion of Spanish-based local music with immigrant-imported German polka rhythms and instruments in 19th century Northern Mexico and Texas. Norteño (encompassing both sides of the border region) expanded from a folk base to a vernacular (commercial regional ethnic) phenomenon in the early 20th century with recordings and radio. Its most famous traditional star, Lydia Mendoza, proclaimed the "singer of the poor" during the Depression, gained fame not only from live performances of love ballads, but ... from the mechanical reproduction of her sound, first on live radio, then on records and broadcasting the recordings on radio which freely crosses the Rio Grande.
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Even if you've never heard of Selena or her music, "Selena" is a powerful story and a tribute to the young woman that managed to defy the odds and succeed. It is a film that will help you gain an appreciation for the sense of loss felt by the music world and her fans, and will ... ensure that Selena's name will not be forgotten.
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In 1986, Selena's career really began to take off. Her second album, Alpha, was released then. At the Tejano Music Awards, she took the award for Female Vocalist of the Year (this was just the start of Selena sweeping the Tejano Music Awards for the next 10 years). Another important thing that happened in 1986 was she was discovered by two huge names in the Tejano music industry; Rick Trevi, founder of the Tejano Music Awards, and Johnny Canales, an entertainer with one of the top Spanish television shows.
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While Selena grew up understanding Spanish, English was her first language. Her first records were recorded in Spanish and she sang the words phonetically. After her music began to catch on, she began learning Spanish formally and by the time of her death, she was fluent in the language.
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In December of 1993 Selena was moved to EMI's SBK label. SBK was primarily an English-language label, and Selena was eager to make an album in her first language. Often compared to other English-language artists such as Madonna, Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey, Selena was enthusiastic about having the same kinds of success that these artists had. She began recording English-language songs for her new album and continued touring throughout 1994 and 1995. On February 26, 1995, Selena would set the third straight record for attendance at the Houston Astrodome when an audience of 61, 041 saw her perform on-stage alongside Emilio Navaira, the Tejano Music Awards male vocalist for that year.
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Sadly, in 1995 Selena was shot in a Texas hotel, after firing an employee. As is always the case with great musicians whose careers are prematurely cut short, the thousands who appreciated her music can only speculate on what she would have done had her life not been ended so abruptly. Despite the short-lived nature of her career, Selena will always be remembered as a woman who profoundly influenced both Mexican-American music and mainstream American pop.
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