In terms of ratings, American soap operas fell on hard times in the early to mid-2000s -- and soap-oriented publications lamented the fact that the audience for CBS, NBC and ABC's daytime soaps had shrunk considerably. But for Latin American telenovelas, the first half of the 2000s were a very different story; from Mexico's Televisa to Venezuela's Venevision, Latin soaps continued to bring huge ratings among Spanish-speaking audiences. In Latin entertainment, someone who is both a telenovela actress and a recording artist has a definite advantage -- and
Ninel Conde is both things. The Mexican singer/actress had a major role on the telenovela Rebelde in 2004, and in late 2005, Universal Latino released her album
La Rebelde (The Female Rebel). This CD isn't a five-star masterpiece, but it's an enjoyable Latin pop effort along the lines of
Pilar Montenegro,
Mariana Seoane, and
Ana Bárbara. Pop is definitely the operative word here.
Conde incorporates cumbia on "No Hay Mal," "Que No Te Asombre," and the title track, norteño/Tex-Mex on "Todo Conmigo" and "Ingrato," and Colombian vallenato on "Cuando Me Vaya de Tu Lado," but whatever she is incorporating, there is never any question that
Conde is a pop singer first and foremost. One could say that
Conde exemplifies the Mexican/Colombian connection in Latin music. Regional Mexican music is popular in Colombia, and cumbia -- which originated in Columbia -- has been huge among Mexicans for many years (much more popular than salsa or merengue, in fact). So it comes as no surprise that a Mexican artist like
Conde would have both Mexican and Colombian influences.
La Rebelde falls short of the excellence of
Bárbara and
Montenegro's best work, but again, it's a likable outing from this Latin pop/telenovela star. ~ Alex Henderson