On June 20, 1994 Selena Quintanilla Perez appeared on Cristina's special edition, wearing her hair "No Me Queda Mas" video style (The song of which she also sang on this appearence), up tall in curls, she wore a black vest with gold lapel, underneath a white v-necked t-shirt and black spandex pants, plus tall black boots. This is part one of Cristina's interview with Selena.  In this english translated version of the interview, you will learn much about our favorite Tejano Queen! Crssssssssss.....Now we take you to our regularly schedueled program, (Cristina's theme music) Selena and Cristina:

Cristina: Do you consider yourself as "Sexy"?

Selena: (Hesitates)ummm...no (An applaud from the audience, Selena laughs) Aye Gracias, well no, I don't consider myself as sexy.

Cristina: Could you stand up? (Selena stands and raises her arms) What do you think?

Selena: Thank you.

Cristina: I know that a lot of women say this little girl is not embarrassed to sing or to dress like this and then to sell these clothes in a boutique.

Selena: Okay, but let me explain a little more about things like this. It's like a performance, singing. It is like a "show" and I am not like that normally. There are 2 different personalities. Normally I dress in a more modest fashion.

Cristina: Okay, you feel that you are 2 people. That happens to almost everyone that are in the entertainment field. You feel that you are Selena, "the person" and Selena, "the personality."

Selena: Exactly

Cristina: Like a doll for the public. Explain the basic difference between the two Selena's.

Selena: Well, when I am singing I am a completely different person. I could be very free, depending on the situation I could do what I want. I could have to deliver, as with many songs, a lot of emotion if a song is very sad as with a very happy and excited song. It depends, it depends. Compared to when I am in my, I am normal, like whomever, of the public.

Cristina: Are you a "Modern" girl or are you "Old fashion"?

Selena: Old fashion, because of my family. (Cristina begins but Selena interupts) Also naturally moral.

Cristina: Okay, and your form of projecting yourself on the stage, your husband is your guitarist. He travels with you. He never had an attack of jealousy when there is a man near with intentions of flirting?

Selena: No, because we communicate. Before we were married and when we were friends! It is the most important thing to be friends before anything.

Cristina: What is it that attracted you to him?

Selena: He was timid.

Cristina: He was timid?

Selena: Umm humm..(nodds)

Cristina: And you were timid also?

Selena: No (laughs) Not as much as he.

Cristina: But when you were a child, you were timid?

Selena: Yes, very timid.

Cristina: What did you do to over come it so you could give advice to those who are timid also?

Selena: Well, I believe that is due to my dad. And his BELT! (Selena laughs and begins to imitate her father) "You're gonna sing, little girl!" (Shaking her hands in front of her and laughing) Boy, I was very timid. But when a person grows up you change and those things too.

Cristina: What is it that you do to control the men that flirt and go overboard and get the Selena "personality" confused with Selena "the person" and they think you are real sexy? This must have happened before, because it happens to everyone. How do you stop that?

Selena: "I'm married, you should have more respect."

Cristina: When you're on the stage you're not married, when you're on the stage you are neither married nor single, you are a "personality."

Selena: A lot of people respect me because, I don't know if you've ever been to our shows..

Cristina: Yes.

Selena: When I am singing, I believe that if I respect the public, then they will respect me and I know it. It's noticable.

Cristina: Do you believe you are very strong?

Selena: I believe so, dominate and aggressive.

Cristina: Dominate and aggressive?

Selena: You have to be.

Cristina: Why?

Selena: There's a lot of men in this business, if you can't speak for yourself they are going to run you down every which way.

Cristina: You think if you weren't a strong person in this business the people would take advantage of you because you are a woman?

Selena: Exactly, it has happened! I also have the protection of my father.

Cristina: Tell me, what's the worse that has happened to you?

Selena: Not only me but the whole group. Just because I am a woman, the promoters didn't want to let me give shows, or promote the group because I was a woman and also very young. That's one of the problems with the group when we first started, they didn't want to give us the opportunity to play.

Cristina: Okay, we will talk about your father who you've mentioned 4 times in one segment, a person very important in your life and your representative. And the person that said "You're gonna sing!" (Selena laughs) and the nest segment, today it's incredible to believe when Selena was a child she prefered to play football with the boys instead of playing with dolls. We'll be back.

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Selena Interview Part 2

Cristina: Here we are back with Selena. The first thing I want to ask you in this segment is how come you have this "bow" done? (hairstyle) or how do yo say "bow" in Mexico? Chongo? (pony tail)

Selena: Gajos..(meaning orange slices shaped)

Cristina: How come you put your hairdo so big today?

Selena: Because...(laughs)...I don't know..

Cristina: Did you do it all by yourself?

Selena: Yes..

Cristina: I've very amazed! How can someone can do that all by themselves??!

Selena: I don't know, I don't know..

Cristina: Do you do your own make-up too?

Selena: Yes, everything, everything.

Cristina: Wow...

Selena: Thank you very much!

Cristina: Wow! My god...I am very impressed. Great, well, we're going to talk about the father whose face isn't very friendly and in this segment I want to ask what did your father do for all of you to be "professional musicians." Tell me what you used to do and what happened during your life?

Selena: Everyday we had to practice only 15 minutes. We didn't like it at all but when you're really young you want to play with your friends and neighbors. Just to pass the time and have fun! And to practice 15 minutes! It was, "AHH!!! But papa, we wanna play!" But those minutes paid off!

Cristina: What kinda work did your father do? He ran a restaurant?

Selena: Yes, a restaurant.

Cristina: Where the kids used to play?

Selena: Yes, that was like a hobby...to pass the time. I believe my father never thought that this was going to be our career, being an artist.

Cristina: Your father was a musician too?

Selena: Yes, a musician way before. He had a group called "Abe y Los Dinos."  That's why we called ourselves "Selena y Los Dinos,"  because it is 2nd generation.

Cristina: You have a brother and a sister.

Selena: Yes

Cristina: Both are older than you?

Selena: Exactly..

Cristina: You are the baby?

Selena: The baby.

Cristina: Okay, aren't they jealous of "the baby"?

Selena: No..

Cristina: That it's "Selena y los Dinos" and not "Los Dinos and also Selena"?

Selena: No, no, no..All of us have..we grew up with morals and also respect for everyone. My father also treated us EQUAL and we're not different. We all have talent even if they are in different aspects.

Cristina: What do you think of one father, that is also a manager, like Michael Jackson's father? They came out with a lot of books and his kids who are now adults are now complaining about how he used to make them work, how he was very abusive. He used to hit them and that they didn't really have a childhood. What's your opinion of a situation like this one?

Selena: First I want to say that my father wasn't like that. My father, he saw the talent and he tried to cultivate it and tried to do something about it. But it wasn't in a bad way. It was to help us to do something in life. I think it is something very sad because not all parents are like that. And even if the father of Michael Jackson did that, you have to love your parents even if they do bad things. (Applause) Thank you. You know, it's like the roles, like they reverse. When a child does bad things, the parents are always going to love their child even if they do something bad. They are always going to love them. It's like that love you have within a family.

Cristina: You think that those kids should have more respect and love them even though the parents made them go through something like that?

Selena: I think that Michael Jackson loves his father. They've gone through a lot of bad things.

Cristina: Did you think you lost something because you were a child star? Like what ordinary kids had?

Selena: I believe so.... but I won in other aspects. I met other goals. Even though I was a girl and I lost some of my childhood it was for a good cause. To help my family because we've been working since we were very little to put food on the table.

Cristina: So you didn't used to dream about being a singer or a star? Like other girls who get a spoon or a soda bottle and practice in front of a mirror because they dream of becoming a big famous singer! And you, no?

Selena: No... I never thought about it.

Cristina: What did you want to be?

Selena: I wanted to have my own business and I had a dream about being a designer and I am doing that.

Cristina: You are designing and we're going to show them today here. How come you used to climb trees with the boys and you didn't like dolls and you are a designer!?

Selena: (Laughs) I don't know! I love a lot of sports. The boys were more challenging. I could do anything like the men! It was equal!

Cristina: How come that is so important to you?

Selena: The truth is I don't know. I just wanted to play with the boys at that time, now I don't! (Laughs)

Cristina: What do you like to do to relax?

Selena: To relax? To tell the truth, I don't know how to rest! I am a person that has to do something all the time. When I relax I am working on business.

Cristina; Selena thinks that a singing job is the same as working in a factory or secretary?

Selena: It's a job.

Cristina: But it doesn't pay the same Selena?

Selena: (Laughs) That's true, but it's work! A person...The life of an artist is not all glamorous. It's a lot of work. A lot of people think that it's very easy. They think you always stay in good hotels, you buy good things, but it is not like that. You have to work very hard like everybody.

Cristina: How do you like being a star? How do you like when you get to a hotel and the whole world seems to be after you? When you're having dinner, when you're walking, when they ask for an autograph and when they ask for your picture all the time, when you're feeling good and when you're not feeling good?

Selena: Well, for me it's totally something! When I am... like when I don't feel good at the same time I think they don't know my private life. How can you take that little magic that they have in you? The image they have of you, if you treat them good...you understand, if you treat somebody bad, they're not going to buy your record! Why, why would you want to treat someone like that?

Cristina: Always when they ask for a photo or autograph, you will give it to them?

Selena: Yes.

Cristina: You never refuse?

Selena: No...or I say when I'm with my family and I want to relax little with them, I'll say "Could you wait a little and after I'll sign?"

Cristina: What do you think about the artists who don't do that?

Selena: (Makes a face) For me, how can you do that when the public has you up there? (gestures with hands) You understand? (applause) How can you do that? They are the ones who make the artist! They buy the records, they buy everything. And you have to be grateful to the public in that way to give autographs if they want an autograph, you give them an autograph! It's not going to take very much of your time, I do it!

Cristina: It's not a big deal, in other words?

Selena: Exactly!

Cristina: When we come back, we're going to learn why Selena says that women have to be LISTEN TO THIS GIRLS submissive towards their man. We'll be right back!

Special Thanks to SelenaPals for the above information.

Selena, Always & Forever In My Heart
Selena Message Board
Selena, The Making of the Queen of Tejano
Chris Perez Talks About Selena
The Creator of this Website

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