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Romeo Santos on upcoming MetLife show: ‘It’s a blessing’
By MESFIN FEKADU AP Music Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — For Romeo Santos, performing live isn’t just about singing a song. It’s about giving die-hard fans an entertaining, memorable and life-changing experience. “When you go to a concert, when you go pay money, it has to go beyond just perform- ing the song — anyone can do that,” he said. “It has to be special in many ways.”
His commitment to live performance is probably why he’s been able to sell out Yankee Stadium twice and is now set to become the first Latin act to perform at MetLife Stadium, home to the New York Giants and New York Jets. The King of Bachata will perform his “UTOPIA The Concert” at the East Ruther- ford, New Jersey, venue on Sept. 21.
“It is a blessing,” the singer of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent, who hails from the Bronx, said in an interview Monday. “I’ve had loyal fans for quite a while now. To be able to even say that I’ve already sold out two nights
at Yankee Stadium, multiple nights at Madison Square Garden — it’s truly a blessing. Now it’s a new challenge in my career to do MetLife, so I’m super-excited about that.”
At Santos’ concerts, the venue usually turns into something like a nightclub as fans show up dressed in their best outfits, with groups of women enjoying a girls’ night out or couples dancing closely together on date night.
Santos, 37, said he’s never attended a show at MetLife but has been hard at work preparing for the big show. Only a handful of acts have been able to perform a show at MetLife, which can house more than 80,000 fans. They include Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, BTS and the Rolling Stones, who will perform two shows at the venue in August.
“I’m putting more energy into making sure that I show my fans an evolution, produc- tion-wise. I want to make sure people leave that stadium saying this is Romeo’s best show yet,” he said.
Santos, who is the CEO of Roc Nation Lati- no and has collaborated with Drake and Usher, said he hopes to perform his entire new album, “Utopia,” during the show. The album reunites him with his former bandmates in Aventura, the group that gave Santos his start.
“Anything is possible,” he said when asked if Aventura would perform at the MetLife show. “I never reveal surprises.”
“Utopia” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin albums chart in April and features some of the best old-school bachateros, including Antony “El Mayimbe” Santos, Frank Reyes, Raulín Rodriguez and El Chaval de la Bachata.
Santos said he was successful at keeping the project a secret.
“I kept telling each and every artist partici- pating, ‘If this gets out, I’m not going to be able to use your record.’ That really helped,” he said. “They understood that this was so important for the culture.”
Tessa Thompson is OK with the ‘Men in Black’ title, for now
By JOHN CARUCCI Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — The “Men in Black” franchise has a new recruit who isn’t a man, but actress Tessa Thompson is fine with keep- ing the masculine-centered film title — for now.
Joined by co-star Chris Hemsworth on
a black carpet, Thompson shrugged off the gender issue at the world premiere of “Men in Black: International” on Tuesday in New York.
“No, I don’t mind,” Thompson said.
Thompson cited her co-star Emma Thomp- son, who reprises her role in the series, as
a voice of reason when it comes to gender equality and representation.
“She said something great, like ‘I’ve had the conversation, it takes time.’ I think what she’s speaking to is the fact that sometimes change happens quicker than we have language to describe it,” Thompson said.
But if the series continues, Thompson has some ideas for a title change.
“I pitched some ideas like ‘People in Black,’ but that would be ‘PiB,’ which sounds like a sandwich. I pitched ‘Humans in Black,’ which would be ‘HiB,’ which sounds like something you don’t want to get,” Thompson said.
“I think we can change the name at some point,” she added. “I hope we can get to the space where it’s not noteworthy when women topline these films, and I think a film like this helps us get there.”
Thompson and Hemsworth step into the roles Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones made famous. In the sequel, the duo continues to deal with attacks around the world while searching for a mole in the organization. “Men in Black: International” lands in theaters on Friday.
Thompson and Hemsworth had already sta-
blished a kind of playfully combative dynamic in “Thor: Ragnarok.”
Hemsworth, in London on June 3, said it was “good to just hit the ground running, know each other’s rhythms, have the chemistry already, have someone you trust to kind of just improv with.”
The pair said something special happened when they slipped on the iconic Paul Smith suits for the first time at their camera tests.
“You put on the suit and then the glasses and you’re suddenly, for me at least, I remember that day being like ‘Oh we’re in a ‘Men in Black’ film!” Thompson said.
Her co-star agreed: “There was a strange kind of, ‘Wow, we’re doing this.’”
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Associated Press reporter Louise Dixon contributed to this story from London.
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