María Conchita Alonso

María Conchita Alonso (born June 29, 1957), better known as María Conchita, is a Venezuelan Grammy Award-nominated singer and actress.

María Conchita Alonso was born María Concepción Alonso Bustillo in Cienfuegos, Cuba, the daughter of Ricardo Alonso and Maria Conchita Bustillo. Her family moved to Venezuela when she was five years old, in 1962. She had her first experience in show business when she was crowned Miss Teenager of the World in 1971, and was Miss World/Venezuela in 1975 where she became sixth runner-up in the Miss World pageant won by Puerto Rico's Wilnelia Merced; she quickly became a top model and a popular singer/actress in Venezuela.

Career

Alonso's first gold album and number one song in the charts was "Love Maniac" in 1979, her name as a singer back then was A'mbar, after that followed her second number 1 with "The Witch" and soon after "Dangerous Rhythm." In what is generally considered to be her best known song, she was asked by Giorgio Moroder to write the lyrics in Spanish and sing "Vamos a Bailar" which he had written to be part of the soundtrack for the film Scarface. The song instantly became a classic amongst Spanish speakers despite failing to garner any major attention outside of Cuba where it was recorded. As her two albums with Ambar and her solo debut were recorded in English, it was her second album "Maria Conchita" from 1984 that made her a singing star in the Spanish-speaking market, receiving a "Best Latin Artist" Grammy nomination for it in 1985.

She made her Hollywood film debut in 1984 in Moscow on the Hudson with Robin Williams, and also starred in movies like The Running Man, Predator 2, The House of the Spirits, Vampire's Kiss, Colors and the TV reality show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. She was one of the few Latin-born actress to star in a Broadway show in 1995, playing Aurora in Kiss of the Spider Woman. Alonso also acted in romantic comedies Chasing Papi (2003) and The Last Guy on Earth (2006).

According to the ABC site, she raised $20,000 for charity organizations such as the US Humane Society, the Global Medical Relief Fund, and the Venezuela Without Boundaries Foundation.

Alonso was cast to play Lucía, the mother of Gabrielle Solis, on the ABC hit show Desperate Housewives. The episode was aired on February 19, 2006. She starred in the live-action film of the comic book, El Muerto, and appeared in the film Material Girls (2006).

Alonso is currently hosting VH1's Viva Hollywood! on April 13, 2008 with Carlos Ponce. She portrayed Sam in the Werewolf horror film Wolf Moon, which was directed by Dana Mennie.^[1]

Political views

Alonso is an outspoken critic of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, whom she has described as a "dictator" like "Hitler,"^[2] and those who vote and support him as "terrorists."^[3] She has appeared on Sean Hannity's Hannity's America on May 6, 2007, Hannity & Colmes on June 1, 2007^[2] and Bill O'Reilly's The O'Reilly Factor on August 13, 2007 and March 11, 2009.

In the fall of 2008, Alonso endorsed the presidential campaign of Republican nominee John McCain, writing:^[4]

As a Latina and a new American citizen, I believe in this country and its people, and I believe that we need more than just "change." We need a leader who can bring about the right kind of change, and John McCain has the experience and judgment necessary to lead us in these uncertain times. I grew up in Cuba and Venezuela, and I am appalled that Barack Obama apparently wants to emulate the "spread the wealth" economic policies of those countries and negotiate with their leaders.

—Maria Conchita Alonso

María's brother, Roberto Alonso, was one of the four speakers who gave a speech at the closing of Senator John McCain's campaign in Florida.

Maria issued an Open Letter to Sean Penn online on March 29, 2010 regarding his support of President Hugo Chavez. She uses a point-by-point refrain of "WHY" in her letter questioning various issues occurring in Venezuela.^[5] In December of 2011, she got into a heated exchange with Penn at a Los Angeles airport during which Penn called her a pig and she responded by calling Penn a communist.^[6]

Filmography

Radio

• Recorded a public service announcement for Deejay Ra's 'Hip-Hop Literacy' campaign
• Official Youtube web site (requires flash)

Discography

• Love Maniac (Polydor/PolyGram, 1979)
• The Witch (Polydor/Polygram, 1980)
• Dangerous Rhythm (PolyGram, 1982)
• Te Amo (Polydor/PolyGram, 1983)
• María Conchita (A&M/PolyGram, 1984)
• O Ella o Yo (A&M/PolyGram, 1985)
• Grandes Éxitos (PolyGram, 1986)
• Mírame (PolyGram, 1987)
• Hazme Sentir (PolyGram, 1990)
• En Vivo México (Capitol/EMI Mexico, 1991)
• Imagíname (Columbia/SME Mexico, 1992)
• Alejandra: Boleros (PolyGram, 1994)
• Hoy y Siempre (ARDC/PolyGram, 1997)
• Grandes Éxitos (2004)
• Soy EP (Hypnotic, 2005)
• Greatest Hits (ARDC/Universal Latino, 2008)
• Mienteme (ARDC/Universal Latino, 2009)

Singles

References

External links

• Official website
• Official video web site (requires flash)
• Maria Conchita Alonso at the Internet Movie Database
• "Open Letter to Sean Penn"