Is Chayanne’s endearing charm enough to sell “En Todo Estare”?

By Fernie Ruano Jr.

 

It was summer of 2012 and “Gigant3s”, one of the year’s most anticipated Latin pop tours featuring Marc Anthony, Chayanne and Marco Antonio Solis, was set to begin after a week of rehearsals at AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, Florida.  

 

But first thing was first: I received an email inviting me to attend the final rehearsal, which was sent to me less than 48 hours before the start of the tour, and laid out as a “promotional and photo opportunity” by a hurried publicist, if not one fully aware that ticket sales for opening night weren’t moving as briskly as concert promoters had anticipated or calculated.

 

I took the bait and headed to the arena.  

 

Unbeknownst to everybody, including the two dozen, 30-ish exuberant and hungry groupies, masquerading as accredited journalists inside a room in the lower corridor and hovering over plates of hors d’ oeuvres, the last-minute attempt to fill more seats – one perfectly orchestrated by organizers – came with the stipulations that the singers would not be answering questions and that all broadcast and print media members would be kept behind a barricade nearly 50 feet from the stage.

 

I, unlike most of my colleagues who complained audibly and relentlessly about making the trip across town for a useless presser which didn’t provide them any new sound or quality video, was awestruck by something that not only caught my eye, but made my afternoon despite having it rearranged: Chayanne’s demeanor.

 

Even at a distance and obviously aware of the boundaries between responsibility and heartthrob, Chayanne turned, waved, smiled, posed, pointed and smiled, exhausting every way possible to make a communication with everybody on the arena’s floor.

 

During a 10-minute stretch, which Marc Anthony and Marco Antonio Solis burned making small talk in between half-hearted glances at the  gathered throng, Chayanne took his time in walking to each corner of the stage and acknowledging the crowd.

 

“It’s a responsibility I take very seriously,” said Chayanne, the Puerto Rican Latin pop star with over 40 million albums sold, as I cornered him before he escaped through a backdoor. “I wouldn’t be here without you guys.”

 

That’s why Chayanne is routinely lauded as one of the most genuine and likable artists in the industry, and the reason why I’m quietly rooting “En Todo Estare”, his new album due out Aug. 25, scores big with the masses. It’s also one of the reasons why the album might fall well below expectations.

 

At 46, it’s unrealistic to expect anything other than more of the same from Chayanne: synchronized pop and syrupy love songs, adding proof his music is made of Legos, ear-to-ear cover shot of him smiling right at you, notwithstanding.

It’s been over four years since “No Hay Imposibles”, his last studio album, but I expect ‘Estare’ to stay the course, much like the majority of his discography from 1984’s “Chayanne  ...Es Mi Nombre” to “Mi Tiempo”, released in 2007; all load with melody-driven ballads and party anthems.

 

The anticipation for the album, which includes a deluxe edition, was amped up by the release of “Humanos a Marte”, a reggae-pop fused track perfect for a summer’s day on the beach; ‘Estare’ also features collaborations with Kany Garcia, rapper Yoteul and Orishas, and compositions by Franco De Vita and Estefano.

 

But the upbeat and catchy backdrop of “Humanos” is enough of an indication we are in for much of the same, and I’ve heard the majority of Chayanne’s albums countless times, in addition to attending a handful of his live performances, most recently the “Gigantr3s” concert, to know he doesn’t stray away from his bread and butter.

 

That night in 2012, like in 2006 when I saw him perform alongside Anthony and Alejandro Fernandez, he seemed like a cheerful kid at Disney World for the first time, imploring the crowd - made of women of all demographics - to join him in song.

 

He thanked them repeatedly, almost to the point, I thought, that he forgot a concert was in process; He let the adoration come over him over and over again.   

 

With most of his performance efforted in a high and thin voice, which included soft-rock ballads and outdated party anthems (“Fiesta en America”) drawn out with squeals and sing-alongs, I walked away convinced he still found a way to connect with his fan base, even if it requires he still move like a band boy to make 40-year-old women act like teenage girls.

 

But that was two years ago when his most loyal of fans in the late-80s and 1990s, some of which probably remember dancing to ‘Los Chicos’, were already deep into motherhood, if not maturing out of bouncy Latin pop songs.

 

Perhaps, those same women put his music on the last sheet of their respective CD cases and don’t give “Fiesta” much thought on the way to work in the morning. Or maybe, a lot of those same women, along with a new base of younger fans, caught his emotional performance of “Humanos a Marte” at the Latin Billboard Award show in April, just days after the passing of his mother from cancer.

 

He’s not going to change; this is Chayanne, and what he will be for the rest of his career. Question is: Can a middle-aged man who has relied on his hips and sex appeal for decades move his fan base, or what’s left of it, yet again?

 

I’m not sure. But I am rooting for him.