Mexican Singer in Tune With U.S. Audiences

Mexican entertainers are finding big audiences in the United States, and Daniela Romo is right out there in front.

The 28-year-old actress and singerwanted to be a performer from the time she was born.

But even in her wildest dreams, Romo said, she couldn’t have imagined performing before 20,000 fans at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Her fourth album has broken through to her widest audience yet.

The single, “Enamorate de Mi” (“Fall in Love With Me”) topped Billboard’s list of Latin hits in the United States for 1987. The album “Mujer de Todos, Mujer de Nadie” (“Everyone’s Woman, No One’s Woman”) was the No. 8 Latin album of the year.

Just as U.S. entertainment companies have discovered through such hits as the movie “La Bamba” that the Hispanic market can add significantly to U. S. grosses, Mexican performers have learned that they no longer need to cross the border only to stop at ethnic nightclubs. Romo’s first concert this year was at the Municipal Auditorium in San Antonio, Texas.

Mexican performers have had a long success in Hollywood, dating back to such performers as Dolores Del Rio in the 1930s. However, the idea of singing in theaters and arenas in the United States seems to have become more accepted in the past five years.

Romo credits such veteran Mexican singers as Jose Jose and Juan Gabriel and their tireless touring for helping establish the routes. Spanish superstar Julio Iglesias’ success in singing in English has helped enormously, but her own plans are simply to concentrate on the Spanish-speaking audience in the United States.

“It’s an enormous population that is eager to hear its own things,” Romo said.

Romo jokes that executives suddenly discovered the potential Hispanic marketplace that had been there all along.

“When they realized, they said, ‘Oh My God.’ . . . There’s a Latin American population all over the place.”