Marta Sanchez And Monica Naranjo Up The Diva Ante In Tijuana

Mike Wass | July 2, 2013 7:03 pm

Every country has their own Madonna — an enduring diva who still delights with catchy pop songs and age-inappropriate clothing. Well, Spain has two. Marta Sanchez and Monica Naranjo have duelled for chart supremacy and column inches in their homeland since the ’90s but recently decided to join forces for a tour of Mexico. Where they are extremely popular if the bumper crowd at El Trompo in Tijuana on June 29 is any indication.

The sexy señoras broke the concert up into small segments with 47-year-old Sanchez and her 39-year-old colleague taking turns performing for the enthusiastic crowd. The format worked well given the duo’s very different styles. Marta kept it light and fluffy, performing upbeat dance songs in increasingly short skirts, while Monica went for a more gothic approach — sitting down to sing her booming pop-opera anthems while projections from what could well have been a horror movie played in the background.

They were both enjoyable but Marta’s carefree approach was the winner on the night. She camped it up with cute choreography and flashy costumes, belting out hits like “Get Together” and “Soy Yo” in fine voice. The highlight was definitely hearing mega-hit (and signature song) “Colgando En Tus Manos”, which she performed while line-dancing in cowboy boots. Yes, it was that kind of night.

Monica, however, slightly missed the mark. While her powerful vocals are beyond reproach, her styling and stage production need a helping hand. She looked like she fell off a float at Madrid Pride and somehow ended up in Mexico. It wouldn’t have killed her to do a couple of fun songs either, instead of sticking with her intense ballads. Not that her fans cared. They were too busy singing along to every word.