If there is one thing my interviewee has never lacked, it is personality, as although he has played with ambiguity, he has always known exactly what he liked with certainty.
He has sung with half the world… even with Celia Cruz! A prolific and controversial artist who has never gone unnoticed; the gossipmongers have tried to take advantage, but he only speaks when, like today, he feels like it.
Love and respect are reserved for friends and family. Today, secrets will emerge, along with laughter and the different facets of an original artist who has faced all challenges, always with a motto as his banner that, in the end, he managed to follow "in his own way."
For me, this gentleman is an oasis of absolute freedom, kindness, and talent, whom the mistress of the sea protects with reason… Welcome Eduardo Antonio, The Divo of Placetas and of Cuba!
Tell us about Eduardo Antonio's early days in Placetas. What was your house and your family like?
Placetas is everything in my life. My family, a wonderful, joyful, united family. I was a child, a grandchild of my grandparents, raised by our grandmother along with my parents, but we lived very close by, both families, on my mother’s side and my father’s side. My mom had a brother who married my dad's sister; so my cousins were also like siblings to me.
We grew up with a lot of joy, playing. I was a happy child, a child who took part in everything that kids did. I loved to play top, play marbles, and play ball. My dad was a hero to me; he was my Robin Hood. He would take all my friends to the river to hunt and fly kites.
I was a child in every sense of the word, very loved and very cherished. I have a sister, but we grew up with many cousins, in a way, together. Every summer we spent 15 days in Varadero and 15 days in Guanabo; we would spend the whole month of August on vacation.
My parents worked hard, but we always had many things. My dad was a hero, I’ll say it again, and he always gave us everything. I feel so proud, with many mixed emotions, because he was a great father just like my mother, who gave us everything. My childhood was wonderful.
How did you come to music, and why folk music?
I started singing from a very young age because my mom and dad sang. Dad played the guitar, and they taught me how to play it. I began my studies. I made my way to children's television with the help of Luciano Mesa and Virginia Wong, on shows like “Variedades infantiles,” “Caritas,” and “Fiesta de verano”; at national festivals, where I won first place many times.
I was introduced to rural music after my voice changed when I returned to singing. My grandmother told me she really liked a song and sang it to me, “Alborada guajira.” I learned it, and at some point, I wrote a song for Celina González. I presented it to her and began singing on the show “Palmas y Cañas,” achieving great success with those songs my grandmother taught me.
Has it been difficult for you to maintain personal balance after success?
I have always been a self-assured man; I was a confident young man, and I was a self-assured child. I clearly understand that there are two moments: the moment on stage, which is the moment for the world.
But you have a moment that is very much your own, a personal moment, and I have tried to manage it as best I can. I am not perfect, I am human, and being human means being imperfect. So I try to do my best to stay sane, to stay consistent, to stay real in my day-to-day life, with my family, with my partner, with my child, with my true affections, my good friends.
So, I believe I have handled it somehow with humility and I have managed it with transparency and kindness, regardless of what the world may think of me.
There is an Eduardo Antonio who is the artist, the diva, the character, if you want to see it that way, but there is another side to him that is the guajirito, the warm, family-oriented, friendly man who loves to cook, enjoys having friends over, celebrates parties, cherishes family, and loves to love.
Has your unique way of being and presenting yourself influenced your career?
It hasn't conditioned her, but it has influenced her. I believe that in some way I've imposed my personality, because I am very much myself, very much in my own way, as you mentioned at the beginning of this interview.
And I believe that people understand that I am a man of character and that, in some way, I assert myself just as I am, with truth, with legitimacy, with honesty, with courage, and with truth.
Is it more important for El Divo to sing than to tell?
Let's recount life; it goes hand in hand, because when I sing, in a way I'm narrating through my body language what I've experienced, who I am, who I want to be, how I want to be seen, and where I want to go. And if we're talking about counting just for the sake of it... counting money, I love it after I sing, it fascinates me!
What do you think of the Divo from more than 20 years ago, when Don Francisco hadn't yet baptized you?
I arrived at that program with a lot of excitement. It was my first international program in the United States, and it was wonderful. A special first moment clip.
I believe I loved him, and he loved me artistically, and we admired each other in a profound way. He understood my desires. I think he saw himself reflected in his own beginnings, just as he saw me fighting for my story.
He understood me, embraced me, protected me, cared for me, gave me a place, offered me the opportunity to grow on his stage, and named me El Divo. I only have gratitude and many blessings for him. May God grant him good health and long life.
The number one communicator for all of Latin America… Don Francisco, my godfather!
How well do you handle criticism?
When criticism is constructive, sincere, and truthful, I have no problem with it. But when I'm criticized to hurt, to wound, or for trivial reasons, especially when incoherent things are said about who I am, I don't understand it. Tell me whatever you want, but tell me with honesty.
You may not like how I sing or how I act, but don't tell me that I'm a bad singer or a bad artist. I don't understand that and I can't accept it because it's not true. I can accept that you may not like it; that's different.
And I believe I've made this very clear in each of the critiques I've responded to, as a way to challenge myself mentally and to exercise my quick thinking and eloquence. I believe I've answered them with truth, accuracy, and all the humility, but also with the strength that the response deserves.
What have you given up since becoming a successful man?
Look, you give up certain things. You cannot have the extreme freedom that an ordinary human being might enjoy. I always say that artists are neither better nor worse; we are artists, we don't have a social class nor a seasonal style, because we dress however we feel like it, or at least I do as I please.
But for example, and I find this very funny, I love sucking on bones, I love sucking the bones from a spicy tail, sucking on chicken bones, from wings and that sort of thing… If I do it in public, I do it very discreetly so that no one sees me.
That's just to give you an example. I can't go out on the street like that, just getting up and going out however I want; I don't do that, I can't do that, because I have great respect for my audience. I believe my audience likes to see me always looking my best, so those are things I take care of.
If I go to a market, I have never stopped doing that. I enjoy doing my grocery shopping; I don’t like to shop over the phone. I like to see what I’m buying. In fact, I shop at all the markets in this city; I love it.
I love going from picking fruits in Krome to Homestead to get the Mexican tortillas that I eat; I enjoy visiting all the supermarkets because I always find something I want. In other words, I don’t shop at the same grocery store and I haven’t stopped doing it because I believe it adds a human touch to my daily life.
I love eating at restaurants that I enjoy, but I also love grabbing something on the street, a hot dog, some arepas sold from a food truck, a Honduran flauta sold from another food truck; I love being myself, I love walking freely with my partner, I love being recognized and greeted by the people I have worked for over so many years, walking down the street, for example, when they call out to me, Divo, “Divo from Placetas, we love you,” that for me is my vitamin C with collagen, with everything that a good vitamin needs for everyday life.
Do you know, Divo? You’re lovely, very lovely; I like telling you that. Do you think artists in general should have a social responsibility? What’s happening with artists in Cuba?
This question is very interesting, and I have a clear understanding of it. You can be an artist, but you cannot be blind, and you cannot turn a blind eye when observing the situations in all countries, including the situation in the United States, and what immigrants are going through, among other issues.
And if I speak to you about Cuba, you can't turn away and say that we have a dictatorship, that our country is in the worst moment in history. Then you can't say, "I am an artist, I don't get involved in politics."
No, no, no, if you are an artist, you must have a voice and raise it to speak out and share your perspective; you may not change anything, but you will contribute to the change.
You are a voice that people will follow, and those who admire you will realize that you are also on the journey and in the thread of what is experienced daily, because we do not cease to be, even as artists, human beings, social beings.
It is the word; we are social beings, and as such, we must be in society and with society.
Do you have a message for the people of Cuba, that people who live in poverty and in a great prison, that people who follow you?
Indeed, Cuba lives in a great prison. I dream of one day singing to my people, and I have prayed to the Virgin, not only to La Caridad del Cobre but also to Guadalupe, to place her hand, for the dictatorship to fall, for Cuba to be free, for Cubans to find happiness, and for us not to remain in the vile misery in which we are immersed.
So, my answer is Long live a free Cuba! and God bless each and every Cuban around the world, because we are so fragmented that it is incredibly sad.
That makes me extremely melancholic, and that's why whenever I sing, I try to convey my message to all Cubans. God bless you, and once again, long live a free Cuba!
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