| ElNuevoDia Interview - Complete transcript -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It took me a lifetime to get it all done (the four pages)... at first they looked small and easy to transcribe and translate but it took me a lot of time...LOL... But here it goes... I hope you enjoy it: Around the World with Ricky Martin by Bibiana Ferraiuoli Suarez I wouldn't imagine that first encounter. In my mind, I was shuffling images of a blushed face, of stuttering. But nothing of that went on. While they were opening and closing the hotel's door, I turned around, I shake my hand with his and I told him: "It's a pleasure". Who was shaking my hand, with a smile, was Ricky Martin. But I wouldn't expect what would happen in the next seven days, where the human being -not to mention the artist- would be revealing himself during an extensive chat while we were, literally, going around the world in his private jet. London, Calcutta, Russia, Alaska, Miami. Surreal. In England he had to walk faster. It was Ricky, the artist, surrounded by his producer and his manager, along with several guards. But even though he had all those people around him, he knew how to stop his pace to greet his fans, coming from Germany, Italy and Spain. And he, being the pride of his land. An autograph here, a photo over there, to then get in the black car, to the rehearsal. It was a year and a half ago since Ricky wasn't on a stage. And on the next day, he was about to open the historical concert in the Buckingham Palace gardens, due to Queen Elizabeth's 50th Anniversary. Days after that, the euphoria of fans waving the English flag, the TV cameras, the make-up, the star's clothes, would be left behind. The "star" adjective would be too big for Ricky. In Calcutta it would reveal a man, simple and fortunate, walking with messed hair around India's streets with the will of giving a friendly hand to the misery. A thing worth more than a thousand applauses in any world stage. During the interview with Revista Domingo, Ricky defeated his silence from past years. It was the first time he was talking with the press in a long, long time. He needed space, without any hurry or appointment. It was the first sabbatical he was taking in a career that started when he was twelve years old, from a frenzy that he didn't rest of until now. A necessary time Away from the stage during 18 months, Ricky confesses that he still trying to fit in time (in the picture). That he didn't miss show business at all. He asked for a couple of minutes to organize his thoughts and he repeats loudly the question: What has been this year for me? And he answers in the "crossover language": "In the Billboard Awards I found Celine Dion and she asked me: Hey Ricky, did you miss it?" and he answered "No". "Cooool, 'cause neither did I". He just went up to the stage when it was a spountaneous invitation. During the Elton John and Billy Joel concert, the binomial of legends invited him to sing. "In that moment I had almost a year and a half without being on stage. I read the 'rundown' and I saw that 'Great balls of fire' was the first song that they were singing together, face to face. And I said to myself: f@#k it, let's do it. I felt again the incredible thing of being on stage. Because it just came like that, without a rehearsal, pure adrenaline", he narrates with emotion. Without wanting it, the new studio he built in his home in Miami also converted into a platform for those spountaneous feelings. Living the process of creating the studio -being able to detail the color of the panels, choosing the wood for the floor, selecting the sofa, testing the sound equipment- was essential for Ricky. The studio returned in him the will of creation. "But now I work in a less compulsive way. Being back in the studio was a mellow thing. It allowed me to write things that pop up without planning them, with the guitar, during bohemian nights with friends. I wasn't forced, since I didn't want it to be as before. I needed something fresh, girl. It's a 20-year career and everything was 'you have to, you have to, you have to'". What scared him the most was seeing himself on stage -synonym of giving himself- in a bad mood. He confessed that the exhaustion began during a tour in Spain, where he did 40 concerts in a month and a half. "I don't like to talk in third person, but I said to Angelo, 'we are talking about a Ricky Martin before and after Spain, two different persons'. But the wave was getting bigger". In the Iberian Peninsula started the chain of the euphoria. Because of Spain, France got infected. He lived a year in Paris and his music kept being heard in all of Europe. Then he opened the show in the Soccer's World Cup, which catapulted him as an international artist. "And I was tired, but it was what I dreamt of. Then came the Grammys, which compliments my career. What I want to tell you is that I was looking for the sabbatical since long time ago but I couldn't". But when he was ending his Asian tour he couldn't hold on any longer. Ricky felt his like his arms were crossed. He was sure that he didn't wanted another picture, not even an additional interview, "because I don't want, I don't want. What I wanted was being at home. I made myself the nightmare of my manager. Not even in my teenager years I was such a rebel", he admits. Also his team felt frustrated because his second CD, "Sound Loaded", sold only 9 million copies comparing it with the 18 million copies sold by "Livin' la vida loca". But "selling 9 million copies is a success", he says from the airplane's sofa. He fills his lungs and adds: "I didn't want to release the album when it was released. I wanted to delay a year to record my second album, but because of political things of a record company the situation was forced. For me, I don't like my CD. I can't listen to it. And that won't happen with the new one. I have never talked about this" he says, and then he smiles as if he just confessed a secret. Returning in Buckingham If we take the rehearsal in England as evidence, the sabbatical time did well for him. He has a positive aura. The tired eyes are no longer there. His smile comes from the inside. And he shows his sense of humor, since when he was walking down on the stairs with his brown colored shoes, he almost lost balance and falls between the six dancers. Because of the scary moment, he just started laughing like crazy, like wanting to say 'who can make that'. He didn't think twice, and he took off the shoes. "The Cup of Life" and "Livin la vida loca" medley's rhythm seemed to gain power and freedom when he danced while being barefoot. Near to Ricky, there was the rehearsal of another musical star: Paul McCartney. They didn't meet that afternoon, but on June 4 there were both starring in the Queen's Jubilee. The Puerto Rican enerziged the concert with his powerful music rhythms, while the ex Beatle did the closing act with a patriotic feeling. And at the end, along with all -Rod Stewart, Tony Bennett, Phil Collins, Tom Jones, Ozzy Osbourne, Queen, Eric Clapton, Ricky, Paul- got on stage to honor the royalty in front of a crowd clapping along with the fireworks. At midnight, Ricky was telling of the thrill to every member of his team, inside the private jet, that he greeted the Queen, Prince Charles and Paul McCartney. He was as incredulous as I was, since I was travelling in that allucinating "hotel-airplane", model G3. Next morning, Queen Elizabeth's pic smiling, along with Paul McCartney, Ricky and Prince Charles, was going around the world. It was along with the headlines of several newspapers, such as The New York Times. Again in India As soon as he landed in Calcutta, after a 10-hour flight from London, Ricky seemed to have a different face. He slept well and he woke up serene. Even though, the scene in India was surrounded by the strong possibility of a war against Pakistan, his mission was about peace. Also, in India, a country that he was visiting for the ninth time, he almost feels as if it was home. His first visit was in 1997 and he went to Puri, a fishing village at the northeast coast of the country. That city, known as an important spiritual pilgrimage point, changed him. There he discovered the practice of kriya yoga ("do whatever you want with your soul") and he met his guru, Swami Yogeswarananda. In the private jet he left the modern white suit designed by Robert Cavalli and the boots he used for the show. But it was the same Ricky greeting the city of Calcutta as an incognito, with rubber sandals and wide pants. His hair was freely messed. He explains that between Ricky "the artist" and Ricky "the person" exists really no difference. But there's always a "mystical element". "If I say I'm just one, a lot of people may say I'm bringing to the stage my private life, although this is already a stage. But no, there has to be a very thin line in between. At home, I take off my shoes and I eat in my bed while watching TV. That doesn't mean I put on a mask to go to the stage. It's just that there has to be a formality, as in any other career". When we arrived at Calcutta's airport who was going on was Ricky "the person". He was walking with a lot of security and authority of himself. He assures that since the sabbatical he trusts even more his instincts, in the things he believed at first hand. He also lost that during the walk of getting higher. However, he felt his emptiness of those days writing. Composing for his two new CDs makes him think as if it is freedom. "Writing has been purely cathartic. And is not a planned thing. I start with an idea in mind and I end like in the farthest point of Earth. Is like a blank canvas where I quit, I add, and I divide ideas until I just have a little stick. I'm not the type of person that sits and writes 15 songs in a row". "I'm focused, a week goes by and something happens that tells me you're doing right", he adds. That's why he wants to return to the stage, at his time. And the release of his albums, he says, will be "very casual, spountaneous, joyful". He suddenly, starts singing happily a song he got inspired from a TV image of an afghan kid, survivor of an earthquake during war time. But it's also the song of the kids of India, of the poor in Latin America, as well as a memory of Marcelo, a brazilian guy that was a symbol kid of Menudo that travelled with them and returned to the streets to die in the hands of a gang. He calls it "Shape of a Prayer". I am sending you my love in the shape of a prayer Now I know what you are feeling Now I see oceans of tears A thousand years you must have lived before me You are the only flower forced to grow Sending you my love in the shape of a prayer "And it's subject to changes", says Ricky, laughing for a while. To the service of social justice With composing he also had the clarity. He also enjoyed the philantropic work. Since a kid he went to the Children's Hospital in Puerto Rico and then he was a UNICEF ambassador as a member of Menudo. He kept that mission after being a soloist, but in silence and without press. He works very closely with the United Nations kids with AIDS. But he needed to decipher his comeback. He looked at how to marry the music with the social justice. While explaining the formula, he doesn't forget he's talking with a journalist. "I don't know how to state it since it's a little bit delicate. If I go to a Latin American country and the press wants to see me, they will have to go to the orphanage or to the school. That's the way from now on. I of course will keep doing the interviews, since it has to be like that. But I will get involved with people. I isolated myself from people a lot. Not from an audience, since it's always there, but there was always a wall. That turned me untouchable", he says, with a scorn feeling. Going deeper and accepting his bad things returned to Ricky his humanity. "I do it because I like it. This moves me. If you point a gun at my head to choose between music or humanitarian work, Oh my God, you made it a hard one to decide". The visit to Sabera Foundation -the organization in charge of rescuing girls in Calcutta- was responding perfectly to that musical and humanitarian fusion. As soon as he got out of the airport, Nacho Cano (ex Mecano) and Sabera founder; Carlos Duran, the executive director, and the girls Madu and Celestine were waiting for him with arms wide open. In a white 4x4 Tata model vehicle, we went to the Park Plaza Hotel in Calcutta. The crudity of the poverty image was following me. Ricky warned me during the rehearsal in London that I let India trail me. That I see it as a picture so I can understand it without getting depressed. But it's very hard when the definition of poverty that you know has no point of comparation with the ruins of trash, log and plastic that the hindi call home. And despite misery that was moving, my eyes seemed to be prisioners of the view. I couldn't shut them down even if I wanted to. Naked kids, dusty streets, men plowing like oxes. At the same time, it was raining. The rescue of three girls that I saw later during the night, in a Calcutta street, meant a lot. From the car, I saw Nacho and Ricky getting into the house -a blue plastic carpet tightened to a fence in the street's asphalt-. Minutes later, Ricky returned to the car with the little one in his arms. She was deeply sleeping. But she was delirious because of fever. Later I knew her name was Zoida. Her older sisters, barely awake, were staring at the eyes of the strangers. They were Ashira and Anura. Between the fatigue and the farewell to the nightmare they were trusting us more. Walking around the corridors of the hotel, the girls and their mom were showing a shy smile. After two hours, Ricky, who is supporting the girls now, had already their trust. They had a pillow fight, they painted in drawing books and they enjoyed a meal. But they were enchanted with the fruit-flavored pops. Meanwhile, the little girl still had a fever. At the time, a doctor was treating her. The mom had a wound in her knee. That night, the three sisters slept in Esther Ca�adas room -an international recognized model working with Sabera Foundation for the past 2 years-. It was the dawn now. A visit to the temple The sun was rising in India now. And barely awaken we went in a car to the Kali Temple. It was a special morning for Ricky, since we would pick up his guru. Swami Yoeswarananda lives in a Calcutta little corner, where the sidewalks are crowded of fruit and flower salesmen. He was dressed with a color peach monk suit and white sandals with blue details. While we were walking back to the car, the neighbors were greeting him, saying "namastei". With a slow and careful pace, Ricky and him walked to the car. In the temple, the artist was owner of his space. He explained that his yoga practice is a discipline, that his point of reference still being Jesus Christ. The yoga has simply taught to him to listen to the silence. And the silence, said the Swami, in an apart chat, it's the language of God. That was Ricky's second visit to the Kali Temple. That first time, the people's line covered the whole temple's circumference. This time, the natural offerings -some red poppy flowers- were given quickly. The morning's wind makes you forget India's hot weather. The mosaic of saris, the tens of people around all the stairs of Ganges river, near to the temple, were sparks of sprituality. At the last staircase, there were families bathing thanking their Creator. Between all those microworlds, Ricky was solemn. He observed the majesty of the river and then he entered to the twelve chapels, to offer some flowers to the goddess Shiva. In each chapel, he rang the bell. He had a dozen positive thoughts. He didn't expect anything else from there. Although he enjoys talking about yoga, he recognizes that he just knows a little bit of the discipline. His guru describes him as "a receptive student". "I love talking about it, but I don't want to sound like I'm preaching. It's better to be quiet and serve as an example. Yoga has being teaching me to be in silence. Silence preceeds the creation. Before, I didn't know how to be in my home without turning on the TV. It is not either like if I don't meditate 20 minutes daily I stop working. But I rather dig that", he expresses. Going to Sabera That afternoon belonged to the Sabera Foundation, located outside Calcutta. There, the 115 girls that have been supported by enterprises and other celebrities -Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Alejandro Sanz, Esther Ca�adas- sang to Ricky. They kissed him. They danced "She Bangs". They dressed his neck with necklaces made with natural flowers. Hours of party where he didn't stop saying 'This is wonderful'. The next day he was "champion" at the soccer field of Kalitala, hosting place of the Foundation. He was filming the footage of a video for fundraising to improve the institution. The teammates of the 'Royal Madrid' of Calcutta let him make four goals. The heat resembled a furnace. Then they recorded the song. Zoida, Ashira and Anura, very close to him, showed to the cameras that India knows how to shake the body. Then we were back to the hotel, to rest, and later, we went to the market. But Ricky wasn't incognito anymore, since the papparazzi were following him until Kalitala. Security plans were felt then. To get out of the hotel they had to design a strategy. To his luck, he could go to a smaller market, where he bought necklaces and fabric just as another traveller. And while other members of his team were finishing their shopping, Ricky sat in front of a TV nearby to watch a World Cup game. India's stay was close to its end. He didn't say goodbye to the girls. He knows he'll see them again. He's already thinking of adopting them. He was really kind and sensitive with them. Ricky the Puerto Rican There were two days left of the journey. We stopped in Russia to refuel the private jet. There, the airport guards of the city of Khabarovsk were saying: "Puerto Rico, Ricky Martin, Miss Universe". Eight hours later we were flying over Bristol bay, in Anchorage, Alaska. There we slept for a night. The crew needed to rest. Ricky arrived to United States willing to eat french fries, hamburger and ice cream. We stopped at a Tastee Freeze. And in the parking he was signing again autographs. Some American girls were celebrating with screams the fact that they had his signature. That white night -it doesn't get dark there until midnight- we went all to the cinema. Then we picked up a recently fished salmon that the residents gifted him. He swears he knows how to cook it. The next morning the journey around the world was almost over. We talked for about two hours. He said that he wanted to have a big family with lots of kids. That during his next visit to Puerto Rico, he would go to the music schools to gift musical instruments. He just have bought hundreds of thousands of dollars of them. The least expected day, Ricky will be knocking the door of a professor. He also talked about Isla Nena (Vieques). When he dedicated the Grammy to the kids of Vieques he was asked if he had some will of politician. He just ignored the comment and everytime possible, he repeats his defense on it. Now he's close in relations with Cerdegna -an island located at the south of Italy- where they are living a similar situation to the Puerto Rican one. The artist defends what he thinks is fair. The breakfast was already cold and the chat kept going on. He thanked his parents for the strength they gave him during his spare time. "They trust Kiki even with their eyes shut. Maybe they don't know about it, but they have given me more strength than ever. This is a point where I'm as thankful as possible for them. They know music is missing, but they're expecting it". Just as the wait we're having in our country. For seven days I copied his look at India. I tried to get in the picture of his humanity to reach inside of him. And I found a good Puerto Rican, called Ricky Martin. Edited by: ritz26 at: 6/24/02 11:17:38 am |