NKOTB Honor Selena Quintanilla at Corpus Christi Concert
For most little Latinas running around listening to music in the early ’90s, we only had two musical sensations that ruled our lives: New Kids On the Block and Selena Quintanilla
Photo: YouTube/Patty G
For most little Latinas running around listening to music in the early ’90s, we only had two musical sensations that ruled our lives: New Kids On the Block and Selena Quintanilla. The music of these two pop stars perfectly exemplifies how I juggled two cultures. I had pop dance music on one side, and Tejano cumbias on the other. Now, in 2019, they finally came together. On Monday night, NKOTB played a show in Corpus Christi, Texas and paid tribute to the Queen in her hometown. We have seen several tributes to Selena lately coming out of Texas, including Cardi B, Kacey Musgraves, Prince Royce, and Camila Cabello. So, how did NKOTB stand up among the rest? Eh, it could have been better. Let me explain.
The guys, who are back on another reunion tour, honored the Tejano star differently than the rest. For starters, they can’t sing in Spanish, and secondly, they didn’t actually cover Selena at all. Instead, they played Selena’s “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” while on stage with her picture displayed as a backdrop. They had a group of cheerleaders on stage with them as well, and some of the guys attempted to dance to the music. The moment, which should have been planned better, looked unorganized as some of the guys stood around while another couple of them tried to dance with no one in particular. Then they invited a random woman to come on stage and sing the song, which she could not do. We love that they had a real Selena fan on stage, while they goofed around, but the moment that was intended to be a tribute fell flat and looked silly.
There was one cool moment. Selena’s sister, Suzette Quintanilla, happened to be in the front row and the guys had no idea. Once Donnie spotted her, he said everything just stopped.
“When you play a concert in Corpus Christi Texas, and you do a tribute to an angel — Selena — without even knowing that her wonderful sister Suzette — an angel herself — is standing in the front row. Then you see her in the front row and time literally stops! I am so humbled by this moment. So blessed to have been a part of this moment. So overwhelmed to see the love and respect that this amazing family rightfully gets in their hometown! Much love and respect to A.B. and Suzette! #RIPSelena.”
Suzette had similar words of praise. She said on Instagram, “Crazy that I had the opportunity tonite to be taking in the MIXTAPE TOUR and out of nowhere they show mad love to SELENA!!! Donnie Wahlberg, Thank You for being super sweet and having our hometown sing along to BIDI BIDI BOM BOM … truly a moment I’m definitely never gonna forget.”
While we would have liked to have seen them do a super choreographed dance to any of Selena’s song, I suppose this lackluster tribute will do. If Suzette is happy, that’s all that matters right?
Here’s the “performance” below and let us know what you think!
