By JERMECIA EDWARDS
Yaquelin’s eyes brimmed with tears as she pushed past all the reporters to see one of her family’s biggest idols, Marisela Montecristo, representing El Salvador, as one of the five finalists in Miss Beauty Pageant.
“Mi familia le desea lo major,” screamed five-foot tall Yaquelin in Spanish. It means my family wishes you the best.
Miss Beauty Pageant, is the Spanish version to Miss Universe and is just one of many television shows set to premiere on the Spanish-language television network, Univision. Latino actors, newscasters, reality television stars such as Sebastian Rulli, Lili Estefan, Don Francisco, Cesar Conde and Maria Elena Salinas attended the 2013 Univision Upfront Presentation at Espace on Tuesday, to show their appreciation for the network, while fans soaked it all in.
Among fans of the popular network, was 35- year-old Yaquelin Velasquez, who is a mother first, a wife second and a promoter third for SBS, Spanish Broadcasting System. She took off from work to attend Univision’s event as a favor to a friend and to meet the man she calls the Spanish Brad Pitt.
“I just wanted to take pictures with celebrity crush, William Levy,” said Yaquelin, practically glowing. “I had no idea all these celebrities were going to be here, especially not Marisela, she’s one of my family’s biggest idols and I can’t believe she’s here,”
After continuously yelling Marisela’s name, she finally came over to give baby-faced Yaqueline a hug, take pictures and indulge in deep conversation with her which led to her speaking to Yaquelin’s mother and brother via phone.
As yelling and screaming could be heard blasting through her cell, Yaqueline couldn’t keep her composure. Shaking with her phone in her hand and continuously wiping tears from her face, she felt a sense of gratitude.
“You don’t understand,” she said “My uncle is paralyzed from the waist down and this was all he wanted. This is a dream come true for my family but even more for my country, El Salvador. My country is small, poor and close to non-existent. If she wins, people will know our country’s worth and see that it’s an amazing country filled with beautiful faces.”
Marisela represents El Salvador is a celebrity who radiates humiliity. As the rest of the girls fixed their make-up and talked among themselves, Marisela continued to chat with Yaqueline as long as she could before giving her a final hug good-bye.
“Muchas gracias, estoy feliz sólo por estar entre los cinco primeros” said Mariselawith a huge smile that made her rosy red cheeks glow. Her statement means, “Thank you, I’m just happy for being in the top five.
“She made not just my day, but my family’s day. I really hope she wins the competition,” said Yaqueline.
“If people could witness what happened today, they would know why she deserves to be Miss Pageant.”
Photo by Jermecia Edwards. Marisela is in the middle
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