A SELENA TRIBUTE FROM HER FRIENDS.
PETE ASTUDILLO PERFORMED WITH SELENA WHEN SHE WAS A RISING TEJANO STAR
Pete Astudillo, who sang and danced alongside Selena for several years, says the picture that’s been painted since the Tejano singer’s death in 1995 is remarkably close to the real thing.
“There have been so many interviews with family, friends, her husband, people that worked with her. And all the videos of her being silly and stuff like that. She was very transparent,” Astudillo says. “I think that was very key to her success and very key to people really connecting with her. People truly felt a warmth and a friendship with her. She’s one of us. She’s singing to us. She’s saying the things that we can’t say, whether she was singing a song telling off a guy or a song where she’s vulnerable and in love.
“I think the fans have a really good picture of who she was — just this humble, warm, loving, silly, incredibly talented young woman.”
Astudillo will be in town Saturday at Tumbleweeds as part of an “official” Selena tribute being presented by Q Productions and the Selena Museum in Corpus Christi. He’ll perform with his group Tekno-Mex, which includes Joe Ojeda, Selena’s original keyboard player, and singer Sonja De La Paz from Corpus Christi. The lineup also includes Tejano acts Isabel Marie and Negami.
Astudillo and Ojeda played as a duo and opened for Selena y los Dinos before joining the band in 1988. They went on to international success, reaching new heights for a Tejano group. As part of current group TeknoMex, they regularly cover Selena songs, which Astudillo originally approached with hesitation.
“Even though we were original Dinos, and we’re the writers of the music, and we arranged the music, we still have to keep in mind that the fans are very, very, very critical. We had that always in the back of our minds,” he says. “It’s really a continuation of the work that we had been doing for many years. It’s not something that we just conjured up. We played all these songs with her onstage. I sang all these songs with her onstage. Joe played all these songs with her and helped arrange them. We’re doing this with all the respect that it deserves.”
Fans continue to clamor for all things Selena. She receives a posthumous star Friday on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Last month, Google showcased a 90-second Selena Doodle on its homepage. A collection of licensed T-shirts was recently released to various stores, including Macy’s, Hot Topic and Target. Several rare Selena images, a black leather jacket and satin bustier