So, I’m assuming we’ve all seen Charo perform Rihanna’s “Please Don’t Stop the Music” on the latest Jerry Lewis’s MDA telethon. At least three different friends of mine posted the performance on Facebook. In case you haven’t seen it (or are addicted to it, like me), here you go.
Note: If you don’t need dottering old Jerry Lewis punctuating the performance with a stupid erection joke — and who does? – stop the clip at 4:02.
Now, I don’t want to cut off a discussion about what it might mean for a woman to cover another woman’s song. I don’t want to get away from the campy magic of this performance and how it factors into Charo’s public image (zany 50-something Spanish pop star sex kitten). I really don’t want to take us away from that image, as it’s wonderful (even if it admittedly has had some work done). Seriously? The male back-up dancers? The seamless transition from English to Spanish to English? The draggy campy slapstickiness of it all? The genuine joy this female sex symbol has in playing the clown? THE INSISTENCE THAT WE DANCE? The closest thing I’ve seen as raptureously queer lately is Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page’s feelings for each other in their cover story for October’s Marie Claire. Why would I want to tarnish that? If anything, I think more pop stars could stand to be this unselfconscious and happy. I can only hope Beyoncé is this fun at 58.
However, my friend David was quick to remind me that Charo is a helluva guitar player. A classical flamenco guitar player at that. And it goes without saying that the guitar is often configured as a dude’s instrument. Thus, I think we’d be wise to remember who our awesome female guitarists are, especially when they seem normatively, perhaps grotesquely, feminine. In short, I’d like her campiness to co-exist with her beautiful tone and impeccable technique. I think Charo might like that too. She did name her last album Charo and Guitar, after all.
And with that in mind, some live performances. If you know of others, please share.
