Selena ¡Vive! (English: Selena Lives!) was a benefit concert which was held on the tenth anniversary of the death of Tejano superstar Selena Quintanilla-Pérez.[1] The concert was held on April 7, 2005 at the Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas with over 70,000 attendees. The special was produced and filmed by the Spanish language network, Univision, and was the most-watched special in the Spanish language in the history of American television.[2] Event host Univision announced that proceeds from "¡Selena Vive!" will go toward 10 scholarships for students looking to pursue higher education at Texas universities.[3]
The special opened with an introduction by Jennifer Lopez, followed by Selena's original greeting to the fans of her last concert at the Houston Astrodome on February 26, 1995. The musical tribute also included a performance by Mexican singer Thalía's interpretation of one of Selena's songs, "Amor Prohibido". Thalía's performance was followed by many Latin singers, all performing a collection of Selena's songs.
Following another video recalling Selena's international success, Mexican singer Ana Gabriel dedicated her performance of Selena's "Tú, Sólo Tú" to her memory. She then introduced Pepe Aguilar, who dedicated his rendition of "No Me Queda Más". After a video depicting Selena's origins in Texas, the song "Fotos Y Recuerdos" by Paulina Rubio was performed.
The next video segment showed Selena's back-up band, Los Dinos, and was narrated by one of its former members, Pete Astudillo. Astudillo then performed the song he wrote after her death, "Cómo Te Extraño". After a video montage covering Selena's life, Puerto Rico's Olga Tañón performed the song "La Llamada". Singer Gloria Estefan performed Selena's English language hit "I Could Fall in Love".
At the end of the concert, a video of Selena, performing "Como la Flor" played on giant video screens accompanied by Los Dinos, while all the performers returned to the stage to sing the chorus along with a 55-member children's choir from Stevenson Elementary.
Ratings
The special achieved a 35.9 Nielsen rating across the United States under its "Hispanic Television Index" rating, with 3.9 million viewers estimated to watch it live, and at the time was the largest-viewed special in the Spanish language in the history of American television. The special also topped the Nielsen ratings in several markets among viewers 18-34 outside the HTI, against a season 4 episode of Fox's American Idol.[4][2]
The tribute concert was followed up with the release of the album of the performance, released on May 10, 2005. Though it did not include many of the songs performed, it does include many of the highlights.
