Who is Paulina Rubio and why is she a new judge on The X-Factor USA?

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Recently the line-up of new judges on that disaster called The X-Factor US has been known, and among past judges Simon Cowell and Demi Lovato, two new stars has been announced as a regular on the series: Kelly Rowland, former Destiny's Child member and judge on the UK version of Factor, and Paulina Rubio.

 

Many american people -and possibly around the world - were like: who the heck is Paulina Rubio? Me, being Mexican, I'm very familiar with her and I think is my duty to explain why an otherwise obscure artist to most English-speaking world has been granted such a role on this program, supposedly replacing the likes of Britney Spears, nonetheless.

 

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At least in Mexico, Paulina has been a star since she was a child. Member of the 80's group Timbiriche, she has always been a household name but not always on a good way. Being regarded as obnoxious and diva-ish, Paulina is either loved or hated; no middle ground about her.

 

After Timbiriche she became a soloist and release several mediocre albums, with two or three good songs and starred on several telenovelas, all forgettable (maybe you should check Baila Conmigo on You Tube, to see a mexican take of the 50's and 60's era. Be warned). After that, she decided to expand her horizons and contracted several composers and producers to record a great album called Paulina, circa 2000.

  

Of course it was a hit. The best album she has come up with. For 2000's standards, this was such a breath of fresh air, on Mexico and all Latin America. Always syrupy ballads, midtempo numbers and then some girl defy the chances and made an album into dance-meets-latin pop and we all go nuts. even a ranchera-hip hop hybrid was on point.

Then, the crossover was inevitable. And indeed, with the latin boom on the US, this was a no brainer. Then Border Girl came, and although it wasn't a real success on America, at least established her as a real power on latin music and a force to be reckoned with. And if you check the video of "Don't Say Goodbye", you will realize it served as an inspiration of various pop divas on their own videos (looking at you, Shania Twain and Britney Spears, of all people).





After nothing happened on the US, she continued to amaze us with incredible music and videos. Pau-latina, her next effort, was a consistent album well ahead of the Latin Pop market at that time, and rightly so. Excellenet music and videos, like the ones above, made her a well-established name in Mexico and Spain, where she had made a good career pretending to have an Spanish accent and marrying washed up wannabes from that country.





An aside: Do you find something oddly familiar in the Algo Tienes video?

Yep, Lady Gaga took inspiration from her for the "Telephone" video. Now, people would say: "Lady Gaga doesnt even know who Paulina is" and I will say for Gaga, that is a great advantage. Taking fashion and inspiration for obscure artists is something Gaga knows what to do very well, right? Besides, who look better on that outfit? End of aside.

So, it's safe to say that even if Paulina is certainly not that talented and great singer as many other latin artists, she has a certain je ne sais quois to her advantage. It doesn't hurt that she always chooses songs very infectious and fun, and made them her own.







Besides, she has an experience being a coach on musical talent shows. Before the X-Factor gig, she was a coach during the second season of The Voice Mexico version, and on "The Voice Kids" on the US. So she had a minimal experience in these kind of shows, something that can work on her advantage (not that she was the best coach, either, but definitley one of her alumni is right now the most happy person in the world. Just saying).

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So, I'm gonna say: Simon Cowell could be as egotistical and maniac as he is, but sure he knows what he's doing. Bringing something as big as Britney, but equally lifeless and boring didn't work on the long term, so maybe it's better to bring some sort of D-listers (as much as he was back on the day on American Idol), and turn the show into something tolerable and fun. Hopefully, he will get it.

 

 

So, for the record: Yay for Paulina for getting this big opportunity on the US. As a mexican, I'm proud of that. But she better does a great job, or else I'm going to deny everything I said in this post!

 

 

And finally, a photo so you can get to know all of Paulina Rubio (including her camel toe):

 

 

You're welcome.