Isabel Pantoja is not just an artist, but a cultural phenomenon that encapsulates half a century of Spanish entertainment history. Her appearance on the stage of the Gran Canaria Arena was more than a performance; It was a kind of reunion with her fans, and a window into the soul of the singer, that she starts her national tour.
Because in addition to being a singer, she is also a communicator. From the moment the singer took the stage, something was evident: her presence was a mixture of emotion and sincerity. The choice of her to open the show, Today I want to confess, was not accidental.
The song, known for its melancholy, served as an open book in which Pantoja could narrate his story. When she emphasized the “I’m kind of tired” part, she was referring not only to the physical rigors of a life in music but also to the emotional toll of years of controversy and public scrutiny.
Isabel Pantoja has never been a stranger to controversy. Her personal life has been the subject of countless headlines, but she has rarely had the opportunity to tell her own version of it. So during the concert, she used the song art to directly address the audience. In performing Hold Me, she dedicated words that underscored her authentic connection to the melody, insisting that “it’s never too much when you’re true and you really want it.”
But the true moment of magic came when she sang Marino de luces, a tribute to her late husband, the bullfighter Francisco ‘Paquirri’ Rivera. Her emotions so overwhelmed her that she asked the audience to sing for her as she wiped away her tears.
One of the most notable additions to her repertoire was It Was My Life He, a song that she herself tweaked live to include “they were my life, they are still my life,” remembering the loved ones she has lost, including her parents, as well as her children and grandchildren, from whom she is estranged after a series of disagreements.
Therefore, it was a direct message, not only to her audience, but also to herself and to television sets that have questioned her role as a grandmother. In this sense, she also assured that she had “sang many lullabies softly, many lullabies.”
