A cualquier edad....

Qué suerte tengo yo....

I am a lucky girl! In the past 48 hours, I've gotten to see two amazing shows, one by an old favorite, and one by a new favorite.

But when I say "old" for the first one, I only mean in terms of the number of years I've been watching him. He will never be old, and he will never lose his sex appeal.

I am talking, of course, about Tom Jones!



Dios mío, can this guy put on a show. To paraphrase one of his songs, two hundred pounds – and 90 minutes – of heavenly joy.

My friend Marielle and I both renewed our love for Tom Jones during a trip to Madrid back in 2000, when we caught his version of "Mama Told Me Not To Come" on Spanish MTV. We were hooked, and both bought his album "Reload", which for some ridiculous reason was only available in Europe, not the United States. It had an amazing mix of songs with new artists, including a scorching remake of "Burning Down the House", and our absolute, all-time favorite and now signature song, "Sexbomb."

So when we heard he was coming on February 14, we knew we had to be there .... and it was incredible. The man can sing – he can sing anything – pop, blues, rap, funk, you name it. He can charm. He can move. And he does it all with a sense of humor and never taking himself too seriously.

That is why he's still sexy, and will be at any age.

Then last night, we got to see another singer, one of my new favorites, Rubén Flores, the talented young singer and actor from Mexico who wove the story of his life together with poetry and song at Joe's Pub back in December. This time he treated us to "Latin Love Songs" (including a special surprise duet with Joyce DeWitt, who looked and sounded fabulous!!). Talk about cortavenas ... some of the selections were just heartbreakingly beautiful. Others were so much fun that Marielle and I, along with our famous arepas-making friends Liz and Gilde, were dancing in our seats (Joe's Pub needs a dance floor....).

Again, through it all, Rubén sang, moved, and charmed ... but with warmth and a sense of humor, never taking himself too seriously (he even stopped one song twice, admitting that he'd messed up the lyrics, and had everyone in the audience completely charmed).

And that is why he is sexy, and will be at any age.

And he had teamed up with an equally wonderful producer: Richard Barone, the former lead singer of The Bongos who not only tells his own stories through song (May 13 at Joe's Pub – be there!), but uses his warmth and artistry to produce shows that speak directly to the soul.


Rubén, Joyce and Richard

In fact, I don't know if Richard Barone is Latino, but if he's not Latino by heritage, he is Latino in his soul. So is Tom Jones. And Rubén Flores, well, por supuesto.

Living with passion and creativity and warmth and humor ... this is what makes us all sexy (and Latino de corazón y de alma!) at any age.