Rosalía is, in every sense, one of the great stars of world music. This is not new, but the spectacular performance of The pearl the Jimmy Fallon exhibition seems to have reminded the world of the genius of the Catalan artist. In the interview the singer also revealed herself to show woman capable of making the presenter sing in Spanish. And perhaps there is so much talk about it because it is still surprising that Spanish artists succeed on American night television, so dedicated, until not long ago, to perpetuating their own star system.
However, Rosalía’s presence last night on an American evening follows in the wake of other Spaniards who preceded her. In this list we have avoided the most obvious ones (movie stars like Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem or Antonio Banderas, who already collect interviews on programs all over the world) to focus on other curiosities.
Julio Iglesias makes Johnny Carson speak Spanish
“This is my first interview in the United States and that explains why my legs are shaking.” Julio Iglesias spoke these words to the legendary Johnny Carson in 1983. The artist had just settled in the countryside and released his first hit in English, the song The Beguine begins. He told Carson the legendary story of how, after the car accident that left him nearly paralyzed, he began playing a guitar to train his fingers and his life changed. He also explained that he sang in many languages, but “very badly”, to laughter from the audience, and that he was trying to quit smoking. For the first time the most important market in the world saw this Spaniard who had conquered the whole world thanks to the mixing of the aura of Asshole with the aura of a solitary, shy and humble man. Taking into account the sales figures of his next album, 1100 Bel Air Placeit worked. And what’s more, he managed to get Johnny Carson to speak to him in Spanish. He returned, that same year, to continue his charm.
Victoria Abril tells Letterman it’s very cold on her set
The Malaga actress played the American dream in Jimmy HollywoodBarry Levinson’s film released in 1994, turned out to be a failure and of which the actress does not have good memories. But it wasn’t this film that brought her to the legendary late show American, but made some time later and had a huge success in France: Damn doormat. It was 1996, April arrived on set after getting off the Concorde and Letterman greeted her with ““bonsoir”instead of with a “goodnight”. April told him that she had been fined for smoking on the plane and then praised Letterman’s teeth for being “natural.” When Letterman asks her where she lives, she explains that it’s in Paris, near the river “and the prostitutes and the transvestites.” When she tries to explain more and he cuts her off, April tells him to shut up. At the end of the interview, Letterman tells him, “Come back sometime.” But Victoria did not return.
Rafa Nadal explains to Letterman how many islands the Balearics are
In 2011, Rafa Nadal went on David Letterman’s show to be asked very long questions to which Nadal, 25 years old and very shy at the time, responded with very short sentences. Letterman asks him about Fernando Alonso. Nadal talks to him about Carlos Moya. But the most interesting part of the interview comes when Nadal explains to Letterman that there are five Balearic Islands and not two, and that Mallorcan is spoken there, “a language similar to Catalan”. “So if a Spaniard from the peninsula goes to Mallorca, he doesn’t understand what they’re talking about?” Letterman asks. “I’m sure that if they speak Mallorcan to him, he won’t know anything,” Nadal replies.
Almodóvar says the forbidden word live
The director had five years left to win an Oscar All about my mother and he definitively became an international figure of cinema when, in 1994, he participated in the Conan O’Brien show to promote Kika. Already at the beginning of the interview she gets into trouble when talking about breasts and the censors have to intervene. “What is the forbidden word here on television?” asks Almodovar. “What you just said,” O’Brien replies. The tension between the very free director and the comedian of the very controlled American television continues when O’Brien explains that there is a lot of sex in his films. “This is why I came here, so that you can explain to me the films I make,” Pedro replies to general laughter from the audience. “How do you make a movie with rape and murder in a comedy?” O’Brien asks. “With a lot of talent,” replies Almodóvar. After six minutes Pedro has to leave. “That’s all the time you had, sorry!”
Úrsula Corberó, Madonna, the plane and the lost passport
The rise of platforms has created a new way to become world famous without leaving your country: simply, for your series to become popular across the planet. Úrsula Corberó went on the Jimmy Fallon show in 2021 to talk about that fame and left an anecdote for the remains: when, on a Los Angeles-Madrid flight with a stopover in London, Madonna approached her to say: “I’m a big fan.” Also to tell them to exchange phone numbers. At the end of the flight, he received a text from the singer: “You forgot your passport on the seat. The flight attendant saved it.”
Charo and the paella recipe for David Letterman
Charo Baeza, originally from Murcia, is a star in the United States and a distant name here in Spain. His television presence in that country has been constant since he acted in 1965 The cockroach in it show by Ed Sullivan and won over viewers. Since then she has been the Spanish girl with the incomprehensible accent who sings, dances, acts and entertains the world with the guitar (because, apart from everything else, she is a prodigious guitarist). In an interview with David Letterman in 1985, an already triumphant Charo continues to use her personal trademark: pretending to speak bad English. So, they start a discussion about Charo’s life in Hawaii, about the food he serves in his restaurant and he explains the recipe for paella, explaining that it is an aphrodisiac.
