“They love you, we love you.” The opening could not be clear. Even though viewers had to wait until 1 a.m. Eastern time to see the long-awaited Rosalía on Jimmy Fallon’s late-night show on NBC, the singer’s 20 minutes on the show were worth it. During these, Fallon paid tribute to the creator of Lux. The Catalan singer was the main guest Tonight’s showa special episode aired on Sunday due to a national football championship match. Dressed in white, with her now characteristic halo in her long loose hair, Rosalía fascinated the conversation, the host and the audience. She also performed, singing The pearlone of the main tracks of his album.
Fallon announced that Rosalía would appear on his show during a commercial break on the network – and wild screams from the audience could also be heard in the announcement. “Welcome back,” said Fallon, who interviewed the singer in 2022, after declaring his love for her and congratulating her on her “record-breaking” album, which reached number four on Billboard – the first time the Spanish singer has reached the top five on the chart. Fallon also read aloud several very positive reviews of the newest release, making her blush.
Fallon said he was surprised that there was “a lot of classical influence”. Lux. “I had the idea, I was sure of it, and it only took me three years,” admitting that she gets nervous not so much while recording or in the studio, but when showing the work to the public. She also said she played some instruments herself, adding that although she played guitar as a child and began studying piano at 16, her “main instrument is the voice.”
The host also highlighted the singer’s ability to clap rhythmically palm trees with ease, which surprised her. Although he tried to make some sort of sound with his hands – which made her laugh – and then commented, “Well, we’re not going to judge anyone,” she taught him to clap his hands or the table, which he tried to imitate with little success, as expected. “In Jerez, in Jerez de la Frontera, they do it beautifully. You have to go,” she told him.
“You sing in 13 languages. Thirteen languages! How many languages do you speak?” I asked him. “I speak Catalan, which is my mother’s language, Spanish and a little English,” replied the artist.
When asked why she ventured into so many other languages, she explained that she simply loves learning. She said she enjoys studying different languages and even practicing on Duolingo. As she developed the album’s concept, she immersed herself in various cultures and spiritual traditions, researching hagiographies and stories of women from around the world, which she outlined as part of her process.
He added that the language he chose for each song depends on the story he wants to tell. He admitted, laughing, that he relies heavily on Google Translate. From there, he would draft about 20 different versions of each verse, send them to a professional translator, receive them back, make changes, record them, and then send the recordings again to correct the pronunciation.
Fallon told her that her singing seemed completely genuine and that he had no idea how she did it. “Do you want to learn? Some songs are harder than others, but I can teach you.” Rosalía then the presenter gets up and approaches her because “posture is important”. “We’ll warm up a bit,” he advised. Then she began to walk up the stairs with him and warm her lips.
The ease with which Rosalía sang, going up and down the scale as if it were simple and natural, seemed much more difficult coming from Fallon. And what’s more, he made it sing The pearlone of the main successes of Lux. First he simply had him speak the lyrics; then sing them. “Okay, but you need to be more relaxed,” he said, laughing. He had him repeat the chorus three times, the last time with a microphone and with the studio audience fully energized. They had recorded that segment at a more reasonable hour, around 4pm
“Your breath tastes like garlic”
The conversation lasted about 15 minutes and was divided into two parts. The first focused more on the interview and their singing together. In this segment, Fallon also asked her about her role in the series Euphoriawhose filming is finishing the third season and in which she appears as an actress. She didn’t reveal what her role is: “We can’t say, not yet,” the singer said, inserting a few sentences in Spanish: “I had to divide my ideas,” Sheggling said of the difficulty of juggling both projects, saying it was “very challenging.”
In the second, shorter part, they played a show game: “Seduction, insult or nonsense”. She chose a card with a phrase in Spanish and Fallon had to decide which one it was. The first was: “I think your toupee is on backwards.” He read it in a seductive voice. Fallon had no idea what that meant and even asked her to repeat it. The audience’s laughter made it clear what was happening. He guessed incorrectly: “I would say seductive.”
The next one was, “I want to make out with you.” She yelled the line at him and, of course, he said, “It’s not seductive. It’s something about my mouth. I’ll say it’s nonsense.” Wrong once again.
And the next: “Take a beautiful scooter on the back of the cactus.” Thanks to his gestures, he understood that a scooter wasn’t exactly seductive.
“Your breath smells like garlic,” she said seductively. “Willy?” asked – for “smells,” the Spanish word for smell. “You’re seductive… but it’s not seductive. I will say this is offensive!” he guessed…correctly.
“Give me peanut butter, I want to dance,” he continued. “Is she seductive again?” Wrong.
And the last one: “You’re like a cloud of toasted marshmallow, warm and inviting, but I’m afraid I’ll burn myself.” Too long for Fallon’s basic Spanish. The audience couldn’t stop laughing and she tried to calm them down, unable to hide her smile. “Nonsense!” Wrong once again.
To conclude the show, after another interview with musician DJ Khaled, Rosalía took to the stage to perform. It was almost half past one in the morning. Dressed again in white, with a satin and tulle dress, first lying down and then sitting, she performed The pearl. As is usually the case on US television and radio, every time an insult is played it is silenced, and then the word “cabrón” was uttered.
Rosalía, perched on half a dozen mattresses like the princess The princess and the pea (in fact, she took out a large pearl from under them, as in the classical story), she was accompanied by about 20 musicians and choristers. “And that’s how it’s done!” concluded Fallon impressed. “Rosalia! Lux “It’s out now!”
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