{"id":264148,"date":"2023-01-26T18:55:18","date_gmt":"2023-01-26T23:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=264148"},"modified":"2023-01-26T18:55:18","modified_gmt":"2023-01-26T23:55:18","slug":"betsy-remedios-after-got-talent-my-goal-is-not-fame-i-want-to-sing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/migration\/betsy-remedios-after-got-talent-my-goal-is-not-fame-i-want-to-sing\/","title":{"rendered":"Betsy Remedios after Got Talent: \u201cMy goal is not fame, I want to sing\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

She was born 33 years ago in a town called Los \u00c1ngeles, Banes municipality, in the province of Holgu\u00edn.<\/span><\/p>\n

From a very young age, Betsy Remedios was clear about her vocation. \u201cAt the age of 7, according to my father, I said that I wanted to sing opera. I didn\u2019t know that word, but I imitated the singers who appeared then on the program <\/span>De la gran escena<\/span><\/i>,\u201d Betsy now recalls from the Community of Galicia, Spain.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t until much later that she started on that path. Before she graduated in Economics, she worked for two years in the Holgu\u00edn transport company. She then decided to take the tests at the Higher Institute of Art (ISA), for which she started to prepare. At the age of 21, she received the first singing lessons of her life.<\/span><\/p>\n

After several months, and although her teacher told her that she was not ready yet, she dared to apply and managed to obtain a position in the Holgu\u00edn branch of ISA.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Zarzuela \u201cMar\u00eda La O.\u201d Photo: Courtesy of the interviewee.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIn the second year of my degree, I had a leading role with the Teatro L\u00edrico with <\/span>Caballer\u00eda Rusticana<\/span><\/i>. It had been twenty-five years since an opera was performed in Holgu\u00edn,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n

After graduation, she became a soloist at the Rodrigo Prats Light Opera Theater. She played <\/span>Mar\u00eda La O<\/b><\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>The Merry Widow<\/b><\/a> and Cecilia Vald\u00e9s. She also belonged to theater groups and collaborated with other artists. Her work was awarded at various festivals, until\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Last act of \u201cThe Merry Widow.\u201d Photo: Courtesy of the interviewee.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe moment came when I hit rock bottom\u2026and I understood that I had to leave; above all because I had different criteria than the people who directed me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Second act of \u201cThe Merry Widow.\u201d Photo: Courtesy of the interviewee.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Journey to success<\/b><\/p>\n

Like many other Cubans, she began her trip to Russia at the end of 2021. \u201cI spent two months working in Moscow. When my permit to be there was about to expire, I decided to continue. Spain was my first option because my roots are here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe journey was very hard,\u201d she confesses. \u201cWhen you are crossing borders illegally there is always a high risk of getting caught and thousands of things happening. In Serbia, I had a bad experience. They mugged me and almost killed me. Two gentlemen from Kosovo rescued me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She arrived in Greece with the intention of continuing to Spain but she was arrested five times. \u201cIn one of them, they took me to a refugee camp. I don\u2019t wish the experience on anyone. That stage was very difficult, with the uncertainty of deportation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Conditions in the camp were appalling. It is enough to do an Internet search on the refugee camps in Greece to get an idea of what Betsy refers to as \u201cinhumane conditions.\u201d She told some stories from those days, only on the condition that they remain off the record.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough we spoke English and could communicate perfectly with the workers there, they did not want to give us information. It was total uncertainty, surviving in very bad conditions,\u201d she concluded.<\/span><\/p>\n

The soul on stage<\/b><\/p>\n

When she finally arrived in Spain, several of her friends suggested that she apply for Got Talent, a popular British television contest that has become global. \u201cI had nothing to lose, and I sent my first audition. Months and months went by and they didn\u2019t call me. Until one day they told me to go to the face-to-face auditions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When she was selected to participate in the contest, she was asked to sing \u201cMemories\u201d in a Spanish version. \u201cAt first I wasn\u2019t very convinced until I found a beautiful audition sung by Kika Edgard. When I heard the lyrics, it was what I was feeling at the time. All the nostalgia, all that pain for the things that have happened, for what one wanted. I identified with it and made it mine. I put my soul on stage, it was like my cry of relief.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n