| | |  Entertainment | January 2009 
Channeling Mexican Pop Stars
 Matt O'Brien - Contra Costa Times
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Bay Point By day, she cleans other people's houses. By night, Juanita Figueroa is one of the reigning stars of the East Bay's growing Mexican karaoke scene.
The rest of her life has become a nonstop rehearsal for her three-nights-a-week role as karaoke maven at Los Gallitos restaurant.
"I am always practicing," she said. "In the car, in the shower, while I'm working."
On a recent evening, as a curtain behind her shimmered with a disco-light glow, the 51-year-old Concord resident was the first of the night to take up the microphone. She approached the stage from her dinner table like a newly confident wallflower, standing still as she launched into a sad, romantic ballad.
The lyrics scrolled along a TV screen above the restaurant's food counter, but she rarely needed to read them. Diners glanced her way, continued their conversations and joined in applause when she finished.
"It's like a second home for me," Figueroa said.
When owner Jorge Huezo opened the Mexican-Salvadoran restaurant about two years ago, making savory pupusas was on his agenda karaoke was not. But conversations with Figueroa, a customer, helped spark an experiment that has transformed the restaurant into a casual weekend cabaret that attracts a multigenerational crowd. The venue, formerly a diner called Aunt Catty's Farm House, sits next to a Mexican-style supermarket on Willow Pass Road.
Dressed up in wingtip shoes, Pittsburg gardener Francisco Guevara is one of the night's regulars. Guevara, who moved to California from El Salvador a decade ago, said he happened upon Los Gallitos by accident one night.
He returned with enough confidence to sing "La Mujer Que Sone", a love song by Mexican pop group Los Temerarios. Now, he visits Los Gallitos about three nights a week, but even that has not satisfied his urge to sing. He bought a karaoke machine at a store several weeks ago so he can practice at home, he said.
Concord nanny Aida Saldate grew up loving to sing. As a youth, she joined a traditional orchestra in her hometown of Hermosillo, Mexico. These days, she can be found hopping from one Contra Costa County karaoke joint to another other local venues that cater to Spanish-language tunes include Bay Point's nearby El Guamuchilito and Concord's La Cabana on Wednesday nights.
On a recent night at Los Gallitos, Saldate sang a showstopping ranchera by Mexican singer Alicia Villareal.
Los Gallitos differs from typical karaoke bars in the variety of activity that follows its amateur singers. When the songs are finished, the lights dim and a fresh crowd arrives twentysomethings hustling through the entrance and past a Christmas tree to take up the restaurant's empty booths and tables. They crowd the dance floor, bouncing to the sounds of cumbia and banda.
Later, they, too, will move to the sidelines at least on Fridays, when the restaurant invites a musical comedy trio of transgender performers who call themselves the Queens of the Night. The group's leader, Tony "Jacqueline" Alvarado, evokes both Rocio Durcal and Cyndi Lauper, wearing a striped tank top, flowered pants and purple sandals.
"Here the people pay more attention to the show," Alvarado said, preparing backstage with lipstick in one hand and a glass of Michelada beer and Clamato in the other. The mostly straight but open-minded crowd pays them a lot of respect, Alvarado said.
For Figueroa, nights at Los Gallitos are frequently a family affair. Her son, Amaury Contreras, 29, serves as the karaoke jockey, managing the sound system and introducing guests. But he is also one of the venue's top stars, winning first place in the restaurant's last karaoke tournament.
With his dulcet voice, mustache, boots and cowboy hat, Contreras regularly channels his favorite singer, the superstar crooner Vicente Fernandez, whose Tres Potrillos ranch Contreras used to live near while growing up in Mexico.
Figueroa's daughter, Diane Aguilar, 19, also shows up some nights. She stays away from the microphone but enjoys watching her mom.
As the night progressed, the seemingly mild-mannered Figueroa moved from slow ballads to brash dirges by Paquita la del Barrio that had her strutting across the restaurant.
"I'm proud of her, you know," Aguilar said as her mother took to the stage again. "She's doing her thing. I'm just watching. I'm proud. She's proud."
Reach Matt O'Brien at mattobrien(at)bayareanewsgroup.com. |
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