Yolandita Monge

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Yolandita Monge
Yolandita during the promotion of her self-titled album Yolandita.
Background information
Birth name	Yolanda Rosa Monge Betancourt
Born	September 16, 1955
Origin	Trujillo Alto, PR, Puerto Rico, United States
Genre(s)	Pop, Latino, Tropical Music
Years active	1968—present
Label(s)	Olé Music (2005-present) Warner Music (2002) BMG (1999-2001) WEA-Latina (1992-1998) Sony (1980-1991)
Website	Yolandita, la diva

Yolandita Monge (born September 16, 1955) is an international singer and actress from Puerto Rico, who is also known as "Puerto Rico's most glamorous and talented diva". Monge is also known by the international press as Puerto Rico's Shining Star.

[edit] Biography

Monge started out by winning a radio contest in 1966 (at the age of nine). Later on, she made her TV debut on Luis Vigoreaux's show, Luis Vigoreaux Presenta. She had a regular section in that show. In 1968, she signed with record label Patty Records, which released her first album, named Puerto Rico's Poignant...Powerful...Incomparable: Yolandita Monge.

It was her cover of Italian hit, Vida that made her a national star after she released her first album. At that young age, Yolandita would perform with legendary Argentinean singer Libertad Lamarque and then sing at the Festival De La Canción Nueva York (New York Song Festival). Soon, she found another job on TV, this time on Tommy Muniz's show, El Show Del Mediodía.

She followed up with some other hits in Puerto Rico, but then she went to live in Mexico, where she signed with TECA records and had hits such as Vete de Aqui (Get out Of Here), Por qué Papá? (Why, Dad?) and La Voz Del Silencio (The Voice of Silence).

1975 was a big year for Monge because she released a song named Cierra Los Ojos (Close Your Eyes), which earned her wild fame in such South American countries as Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, and Argentina. Yolandita was now an international star.

Soon after, she would be signed by Coco Records of New York, and her career kept going on a steady rise internationally. She sang at the prestigious Carnegie Hall and was backed up by her artistic godmother, Argentinian famous singer and actress, Libertad Lamarque. By 1982, international label CBS International, Julio Iglesias' label, signed her up into their line-up. She then released another album with many top hits and in 1983, she won the prestigious Buga Festival, in Buga, Colombia with a song that she wrote her self call "Sí" (Yes).

Yolandita Monge released her first full-legnth album Puerto Rico's Piognant... Powerful... Incomparable at the early age of nine.

Monge went into a stride in the middle 1980s, when she released what possibly is one of her greatest album ever: Luz de Luna (Moonlight). This album included her classics Te Veo Pasar (I See You Walk By), Señor Del Pasado (Man From The Past), and El Poder Del Amor, which was a cover of an English hit by the name of The Power of Love (which was later covered by Céline Dion in an English version). With this album, she became the first Puerto Rican female singer to earn a gold record during the decade of the 1980s.

Yolandita's album Laberinto de Amor earned her a Grammy nomination in the Best Latin Pop artist category. With this nomination she became the first Puerto Rican female singer to be nominated to the Grammy Music Awards, join Puerto Rican Diva Lunna as well for the same nomination.The album also went gold in many countries including the US.

She came back with the production of Laberinto de Amor (Labyrinth of Love), which earned her another gold album and later went platinum. The album was nominted for a Grammy Award in the Latino division. In this album, she sang the best Spanish version of "On My Own" (Solo Yo) which is a song from the soundtrack of the famous Broadway musical: "Les Miserables". Yolandita was a household name.

In 1988, she returned to the platinum level with her album, Vivencias (Anecdotes). Yolandita considers this album her best album ever and many fans and non-fans agree with her. This album included such songs as: Acariciame (Caress Me) and Este Amor Que Hay Que Callar (This Love That we Must Keep as a Secret). She became the first Puerto Rican singer to earn a golden record, a platinum record and a doble platinum.

The album Limited Edition was the first album released by a latino artist with re-mixed material.

Yolandita was claimed by the prestigious America's music magazine Billboard in 1988 as "The best-selling Latin artist of the year" due to being the first Puerto Rican female artist to sell millions of records. She also was claimed by the international music press as "The most important Latin singer of the decade" (1980-1990). NBC traveled all the way to Puerto Rico to interview Yolandita because they consider her the most relevant artist of the Latin music industry and she was even compared with Madonna. In the interview the reporter said: “Yolandita has no plans to make the crossover, so Madonna can relax.”

After that, she released Portfolio (1990), with the help of famous singer Ricardo Montaner. With Portfolio, she was able to sing at Puerto Rico's Centro de Bellas Artes (making a new record on sales), and at the Madison Square Garden. She established the records at the Performing Arts Center of Puerto Rico (Centro de Bellas Artes), becoming the bigest singer selling out all the concerts, up to 12 concerts of the same tour in 1992, breaking her own record.

Also in 1992, Yolandita was invited by Spanish Tenor, Plácido Domingo, to be part of a Special Tribute to the artist Goya, the tribute was a special-release album. In 1994, she became the first Puerto Rican female to land a commercial deal with Pepe Jeans London and also for Diet Pepsi. In 1995, she teamed with singer Ricardo Montaner to do a concert and they earned a Guinness World Records as becoming the first singers to perform 3 concerts in 3 different cities (Mayagüez, Ponce and San Juan) - all in the same day.

Her most recent album Sexto Sentido was produced by the Grammy-nominated Kike Santander, and also has the collaboration of her daughter, the singer Noelia.

Monge was honored in 1996 by the Puerto Rican Senate for her long career as a singer and actress. She also earned two of the most prestigious awards of the Latin music industry, Premios Lo Nuestro and Premios Tu Música. Also in 1996, she participated in the annual music videos produced by Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, which usually includes only the most important and international singers the island has to offer.

Monge took a long lay-off from her career in the mid 1990s, but she hasn't been afar from controversy. After Pilar Montenegro covered one of her hits, Monge expressed her displeasure at Montenegro for singing one of her songs.

During June 2003, Yolandita was part of a line of witnesses in a domestic violence trial with actor and model Osvaldo Rios as defendant. Her testimony was key for the prosecution as she had witnessed the aftermath of an encounter in the face of Osvaldo's girlfriend. Later that year the defendant was found guilty.

In 2004 she conducted her TV Show for Telemundo called "De Mujeres". The show was cancelled during its second season. In this variety show she performed comedy skits and interviewed both local and international stars. She also sang duets with international singers like: Lucesita Benitez, Victor Manuelle, Chucho, Gilbertito Santa Rosa, India, Gisselle, Lissette Álvarez, Manny Manuel, Dagmar, Andy Montañez, Danny Rivera, and many more. These performances were once in a lifetime duets that graced Puerto Rico's silver screen and kept the modest audience that followed the show wanting more.

[edit] Yolandita, the Actress

But Yolandita has a very distinguish acting career, she has acted in more than ten Spanish soap operas and theatre plays. Among the telenovelas, she acted in: La Mentira (The Lie), Poquita Cosa (Small Thing), Escándalo (where she acted along side Andrés García, Iris Chacón and Charytín Goyco), and Ave de Paso (Fly by Bird), where she played the main role. She also acted in the Colombian mega-hit soap opera, "La Viuda de Blanco" along with Osvaldo Ríos. From 1996-1997, this soap opera was translated in more than 32 languages. Her theatrical debut was in "La visita de la bestia", which is a Spanish version of "Extremities", and she got good reviews from the press by playing the very dramatic main role. She also earned international recognition playing the greek-soprano, Maria Callas, in the Spanish version of the Tony Award winner play "Master Class"("Clase Maestra") in 2003, for the Latin community in the United States and Latin America. Yolandita made all the critics bow when they saw her rendition of the late-diva. A year later she landed the lead female role in the musical “La Verdadera Historia de Pedro Navaja” where she shared the stage with Gilberto Santa Rosa. For her performance as Diana, la maromera in this musical, she got rave reviews. For the silver screen, she did the 1999 TV movie called "Ocho años de Dolor", where she played a woman which is kidnnaped by a famous puertorrican serial killer Toño Bicicleta. Yolandita most recent acting role was in the Puerto Rican movie "Mujeres sin Hombre" in 2006, She joined Sully Diaz and Claribel Medina in this story about 3 woman and the revange of men. The reviews of Yolandita's acting role was fenomenal in this dramatic role. The press indicaded that when it comes to acting Yolandita can be intensive and excellent as she is as a singer.

[edit] Yolandita vs. Ednita

It was said that Yolandita had alleged rivalry with Ednita Nazario, which was well published and talked about in the press and gossip magazines, such as Vea. However, on the Talk show "Al Grano con Zervigón", in 1997, Yolandita expressed that she has no rivalry with Nazario. She said: "Ednita and I have known each other since we where kids. I used to go over her house and met her parents, and she used to come over to my house as well. I respect her as an artist and I also respect all the other artists... because I am an admirer of the arts."

[edit] Discography

[edit] External links

• Yolandita la diva - Spanish Fansite.
• YolanditaMonge.net - La Eterna Diva Spanish Fansite with photos, live music and live videos.
• Yolandita-Monge.com - Fansite from Bulgaria and Massachusetts.
• YolanditaMonge.com - Spanish Fansite
• Letras de Canciones de Yolandita Monge - Lyrics Webpage.
• Fundación Nacional para la Cultura Popular::San Juan, Puerto Rico - Yolandita's Biography from the National Culture Foundation of Puerto Rico.

[edit] See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans