Singing with Stars in Spanish Part 2: Mana

Amerigo likes to Sing

I like singing in Spanish with the Stars. One of my favourite bands from Mexico is Mana. I only found out about them a few years ago when I was staying with a family in Guatemala while studying Spanish. I asked the kids in the family who their favourite singing stars were.

Amerigo is Culturally Challenged

They said "of course there's Mana" and gave me the 'but of course you've listened to them for so many years you probably have all their albums' look. I said I hadn't heard of Mana. This caused quite a stir in the family and I was whisked off to el mercado the next day to hit the stalls. They loaded me up with some great stuff and I have enjoyed Mana and others ever since.

Amerigo Finds Something Other than Videos of Bottle Rockets on YouTube

Imagine my delight when I found Mana videos on YouTube. I had listened to many of Mana's albums before I thought of looking up a Mana on Youtube. It is quite a different experience to see them perform even on video.


This Squidoo site is dedicated to Mana and features some Mana videos with lyrics, trivia , a history of the band from when they were called the Green Hats to their latest tour and a look at a few of their albums.

Enjoy singing along with a few videos of these Mexican superstars.

Amerigo is going on holidays until mid-September. I'll see you then.

Singing With Spanish Stars

On Music videos

Here is a nice little site called called Singing With Videos in Spanish
It features Music Videos in Spanish that you can sing along with. The lyrics are written out to follow and there is even a karaoke version of one of the songs. The songs are written and performed by Rock Superstar Julietta Venegas whose quirky videos are fun to watch and whose songs are infinitely singable. This is a great way to pick up a few more phrases of Spanish in a very enjoyable manner.
http://www.squidoo.com/singvideospanish

Radio Canada International Experiments with Time-Shifting: Ends Up in the Past

Radio Canada International (RCI) Broadcasts in Shortwave around the world. They produce superb daily programming in English, French, Spanish, and other languages. They have a well deserved world-wide following.

They also broadcast online. Their programs used to be available for download in mp3 format. It was great to download a weekend review of the news in Spanish and listen to it while exercising or driving or sitting in the shade. The new world of online broadcasting was wonderful.

Then one dark and stormy night RCI reported they had some copyright issues. Changes were in the wind. What would be their response? What would some of broadcasting's brightest minds come up with? How would they lead us through to a new age of media dissemination?

The media savvy use and interact using a half-dozen delivery modes, often in one day. Millions make their own 'casts of one sort or many. These new Sociocasters insist on choices. If the choice isn't there they'll go elsewhere or more than likely they'll create a new format to get what they want. For millions this is not the future, this is the current base-line.

In the context of these trends, RCI reviewed their copyright issues and came up with a brilliant set of recommendations. They came up with a truly lateral conclusion. They stopped making broadcasts available for download. The exact title of the report was something like, An Off-White Paper on Copyright Solutions by I. Mann Ostrich, LLB.

Now if a quick check of the archives reveals broadcasts only up until 2006.

Listeners want more choices not fewer. They find it irksome when a public broadcasters tell them that the only legal way to use their services is to chain themselves to computer workstation. They don't need infinite choices. So...how about two choices? One of them portable.

Take your heads out of the sand RCI. You can figure out a better solution. Put those heads together where they belong.