Best-loved Thalia telenovelas
September 27, 2007
triciacampos2007
When Thalia arrived in the Philippines in August 1996, the media frenzy caused by the Mexican superstar’s visit was surpassed only by Pope John Paul II’s visit a year earlier in 1995.
The darling of the Filipino people invaded local television via her Mexican telenovelas that made Thalia a household name. RPN-9 made a killing when it made the move to dub foreign shows into Tagalized programs that sparked a revolution in the boob tube. The pioneer show Marimar paved the way for more foreign shows to be introduced in the Philippine market.
On the downside, Mexican telenovela craze also became a butt of jokes for others. Remember the badly dubbed episodes wherein the voices don’t exactly match the character’s lines? Or how about the spoof of TV characters such as Sergio Santibañez with his chest hair peeking out from his shirt?
Despite these shortcomings, Filipinos fell in love with the oppressed characters played by the sensual Thalia in her telenovelas. But did you know that the sexy actress was actually a tomboy while growing up? Thalia, whose real name is Adriana Thalia Sodi Miranda, preferred playing sports with boys and being outdoors. She became more feminine when she enrolled in a school to be trained in classical ballet.
Thalia grew up to become a pop singer for the group Timbiriche and she worked her way up from playing bit roles in soap operas to being the queen of telenovelas.
A producer named Valentin Pimstein approached Thalia sometime in the ‘90s and asked her to do a trilogy of soap operas with the lead characters all named Maria. The first one, Maria Mercedes, came out in 1992 and immediately broke all ratings records. Two years later, Thalia did Marimar, and it topped TV ratings lists in the United States. The last installment, Maria la del Barrio, established her as an international superstar. From then on, Thalia’s name became synonymous with Mexico in more than 120 countries worldwide.
Here is PEP’s refresher course on Thalia’s most memorable Mexicanovelas. Be warned, though, there are spoilers ahead.
Maria Mercedes (1992). In the first installment of the famed “Maria” trilogy, Thalia was able to act with her sister, Laura Zapata, who was cast in the TV series as Malvina del Olmo. Maria Mercedes is a professional street urchin and lottery ticket vendor who struggles to raise her ungrateful siblings. Abandoned by their mother, she and her siblings suffer from the neglect of their drunkard father.
Maria Mercedes is spotted by Santiago del Olmo, a wealthy man who lives in a posh village in Mexico City. The dying man leaves his house and fortune to the street urchin instead of giving his inheritance to his materialistic sister-in-law, Malvina. Santiago concocts a plan to marry Maria but the young girl falls in love with Malvina’s son Jose Luis, who just happens to be impotent.
A marriage proposal, a grandiose wedding, a last will and testament, and a conniving plan by a crazed Malvina are the elements that will turn upside down the lives of everyone in the del Olmo household.
Marimar (1994). Who can forget the seaside beauty Marimar and her story of sweet revenge? Marimar is a poor girl who lives by the sea with her grandparents. When she is caught red-handed while trying to steal produce from Hacienda Ibanez, the young master Sergio Santibañez (Eduardo Capetillo) defends Marimar. He is attracted to her sweet, innocent look despite her untidiness.
To spite his father Renato and his young stepmother and ex-girlfriend Angelica, Sergio marries the “dirty girl from the beach.” When he leaves to earn money for the two of them, Angelica frames Marimar and tells the police that she stole a bracelet from her. While Marimar served time in jail, Angelica orders a servant to burn down Marimar’s seaside hut, killing the helpless grandparents. As a final blow, Angelica forges Sergio’s handwriting and writes a letter to Marimar declaring that he never loved her and demanding a divorce. Marimar vows to exact revenge from Sergio, his father, and Angelica.
A pregnant Marimar relocates to Mexico City where she becomes the maid of a wealthy older man, Gustavo Aldama. She begins studying and receiving lessons on how to be a refined lady. She assumes the identity of “Bella Aldama” and later on discovers that she is actually Gustavo’s heir.
Marimar crosses paths again with Sergio and his family, leading her to plot the downfall of her enemies. She manages to bankrupt Sergio’s father and humiliate his stepmother Angelica, leaving them virtually homeless, while Marimar becomes the proud owner of all her adversary’s properties. Sergio divorces Marimar while Angelica dies in a horrible car accident.
In order to keep his finances afloat, Sergio marries a rich woman named Innocencia. She develops a brain tumor and agrees to divorce Sergio, leaving him free to remarry his great love, Marimar.
Maria la del Barrio (1995). Thalia assumes the role of a scavenger once again in the telenovela Maria la del Barrio. She is adopted by a rich businessman and falls in love with Luis Fernando, the arrogant son. Don Fernando de la Vega brings Maria into his household as his ward, making her a target of hostility for his wife, Victoria de la Vega, and her niece, Soraya Montenegro.
Luis Fernando and Maria tie the knot and are soon expecting their first child. The husband happens to witness an innocent embrace between Maria and his brother Vladimir. He storms out, overcome with jealousy. Luis Fernando does not believe Maria’s baby is his, so when her son is born, Maria gives him away during a temporary bout of insanity.
Luis Fernando rescues her from an asylum and adopts another child for her, but she still wonders about the location of her firstborn son. Maria eventually finds lost son named Fernandito, who grew up to be a respectable and good looking young man.
By this time, Soraya returns to get revenge on Maria for taking Luis Fernando away from her (but it was actually Soraya who lured Luis to marry her under false pretenses prior to his marriage to Maria). Soraya ends up seducing Fernandito and for a time turns him against his biological mother, Maria.
Rosalinda (1999). This telenovela is the last TV series aired in the country starring Mexican singer-actress Thalia.
Rosalinda is a beautiful young woman who works in a flower shop to pay for her education while aspiring to become a great singer. One day, while delivering flowers to a restaurant, she meets Fernando Jose Altamirano, a wealthy pianist. She instantly falls in love with Fernando Jose and tells him of her dream of becoming a singer.
They fall in love, get married, and have a child named Erika, but circumstances force them apart. Fernando Jose’s stepmother Valeria splits the couple up by informing him that Rosalinda’s biological mother Soledad is serving a 25-year prison sentence for the murder of Fernando Jose’s real father. The truth is, Soledad is innocent and just forced to take the blame.
After learning about this horrible news, Fernando Jose abandons Rosalinda and their daughter. Valeria kidnaps Erika. Rosalinda becomes depressed and eventually loses her sanity. She is locked up in a mental asylum.
Rosalinda is able to escape from the asylum but gets amnesia in the process. She meets Alex Dorantes while trying to steal from his house. The talent agent cleans her up and transforms her into the singer Paloma Dorantes. She falls in love with Alex while Fernando Jose marries Rosalinda’s sister, Fedra.
Rosalinda and Alex attend one of Fernando Jose’s concerts wherein one of his songs reminds her of the past. She gets hit by a car and all her memories come flooding back. She realizes that she is not Paloma, but Rosalinda.
She must then choose between Fernando Jose, her former lover or Alex, her current flame.
THALIA THE STAR. Thalia single-handedly captivated the hearts of Filipinos with her unique mix of innocence and sensuality. Viewers loved Thalia as the underdog who rose above the challenges and harsh treatment of jealous women, often her mother-in-law.
Her one-week stay in the Philippines in August 1996 received non-stop press coverage and eclipsed the fact that a peace agreement was being signed with Muslim guerrillas and that the date coincided with the centennial anniversary of the Philippine revolution.
In the midst of the festivities, the archipelago became known as “Republica de Mari Mar.” The rags-to-riches story and bouts of amnesia in her telenovelas may not be too original, but her charisma as an actress puts Thalia in a class of her own. And of course, the fact that she’s a good dancer and singer endeared her more to the Pinoys.
JOCELYN DIMACULANGAN
Philippine Entertainment Portal
Entry Filed under: international news,showbiz
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Trish's Weblog 
1.
shirley |
September 20, 2008 at 5:32 pm
tu has sido mi cantante actriz y todo lo que tu hacesx
2.
shirley |
September 20, 2008 at 5:36 pm
tu has sido mi cantante actriz y todo lo que tu haces me parece de lo mejor yo tengo 16 años pero mi mama es tu mayor admiradora y yo la sigo espero que te baya mejor en tu carrera y que nunca cambies
3.
Yure vs. 12/1 |
October 30, 2008 at 1:35 am
\.Xmiss maria mercedes,ieie;].|
4.
Thalisman |
December 20, 2008 at 7:26 am
Thalia, LA REINA!
5.
ابتسام |
May 29, 2009 at 5:23 pm
مشكووور عالصور marysoma13@hotmail.com
6.
Ricardo Saraiva de Paiva |
July 21, 2009 at 12:35 am
Maria la del Barrio es La mejor telenovela de mi vida.
No hay otra como esta.
Soy brazileño, pero no me gusta de las brazileñas,si no El clon,y La favorita en Rede globo de produções, como la segunda. Pero solo hay assistido la , de la metade adelante!!
Perdon por mi español, televisa! no tengo una buena fluencia, si no en inglés.
7.
starvillanueva |
August 12, 2009 at 10:17 pm
She is truly missed in Philippine TV For sure!
8.
mirlinda |
September 15, 2009 at 12:51 pm
thalia te amo mucho moa mor te dua shummmmmmmmm i love yuoooooooooooooo kosova
9.
mirlinda |
September 15, 2009 at 12:55 pm
thalia te amo muchio mia mao te kero tanto te dua shummmmmmmmm i love youuuuu rosalinda kosovaaaaa
10.
mirlinda |
September 15, 2009 at 12:57 pm
thalia 111111111 te amo muchio te kerro tanto te dua shummmmmmmm i love youuuuuuuu mirlinda kosova
11.
Lighting Fixture : |
October 28, 2010 at 12:19 pm
i think most flower shops these days use plant food to extend the life of cut flowers;-‘
12.
sary |
September 15, 2011 at 4:08 am
Hi, I’ve been a lurker about your weblog for several months. I really like this write-up and your whole web site! Searching forward to reading alot more!
13. Luxury Self Catering Fife&hellip | January 2, 2012 at 12:10 pm
Made me want to read more…
I know you will need to read lots on this….