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 Sophia’s National Palace of Culture fills for Osvaldo Rios and Bulgarian singer Yordanka Hristova
Bulgaria ? An almost unbelievable sight, but there it was, a 6,000-strong audience, the voices of Bulgaria’s top singer Yordanka Hristova and Puerto Rican Osvaldo Rios reverberating across a 6,000-strong audience to the strains of nostalgia, romance, and guitar. The Bolero concert supporting the Asen Zlatarov Orphanage was packed, and the walls of Sophia’s National Palace of Culture shook when Noel Estrada’s immortal classic “En mi viejo San Juan” (“In my old San Juan”) was sung.
 Apart from songs sung in Spanish, the program included romantic boleros and Latin rhythms such as “El Breve Espacio En Que No Estas” (“The moment you were gone”); “En El Alma Y En La Piel” (“With all my body and soul”), the title song from Osvaldo’s album; “Guantanamera”; “Alma, Corazon Y Vida” (“Spirit, heart, life”); “El Mar Y El Cielo” (“Sea and sky”); and “Madrigal” (“Love song”). The audience joined in a huge chorus for the TV drama themes songs from La Viuda De Blanco (Blanco’s Widow) and Alicia. And of course, the show could not have been complete without Yodanka singing the hugely popular theme song, “Mana.” After all, it was thanks to this guardian angel that another Puerto Rican, Ricky Martin, also became famous.
In other words, the evening took the form of a charity event to help fellow human beings and grateful to the singers and a visitor who joined them, the Bulgarian audience shared wonderful memories. What a magnificent event!
Osvaldo Rios found several similarities between Bulgarians and Puerto Ricans.
 Says Rios: “This trip has been a singular opportunity for me to grow tremendously, not only by enabling me to know the people of Bulgaria, but also by teaching me who we Puerto Ricans are. Not only that, it taught me that the most important thing is how similar we all are as human beings. Over many centuries Bulgaria has continually endured intervention from foreign pressure, yet the people have the ability to feel the joy of living, appreciate art, and preserve their cultural identity. One thing that’s for sure is that they are able to exchange smiles with strangers despite having been through various hardships.”
When Rios arrived in Sophia, the concert tickets were already sold out, and so the artist was immensely satisfied. Why? Because all the proceeds were to be donated to the Asen Zlatarov Orphanage. This success is most probably due to the doors opened to Rios in Germany, Rumania, the Czech Republic, Bosnia, and Turkey by his starring role as a gypsy boy in the TV drama Kassandra, which was set in this region.
 “I think that a large part of this success has to do with the strong influence of gypsies, both culturally and socially, in this region. Probably thanks to that, people here felt a particular empathy with a TV drama about gypsies,” Rios suggests.
Kassandra and Tres Destinos (Three Destinies) were watched by audiences in over 100 countries, and La Viuda de Blanco, currently enjoying tremendous success, can be seen in more than 52 markets. In Bulgaria, reruns have been so popular that they are broadcast twice a day, in the morning and evening.
The Success of La Viuda de Blanco
This amazing success is related to Bulgaria’s economic boom. Although under the domination of communist Yugoslavia, today Bulgaria has a free market economy. Eurocom is a new commercial TV station and is part of a table television group; the station decided to introduce a serialized soap opera like La Viuda de Blanco for audiences as a test, and the audience is clearly thrilled with this test.
The script for La Viuda de Blanco is special, unlike those of any previous soap operas. Approval was received for somewhat risque expressions that previously would not have been allowed in a communist country. La Viuda de Blanco was brought TV dramas back to a level recognized internationally not only on a creative level, but also for photography, artistry, acting, and screenplay. “It is wonderful to see how a work that we created penetrates places many kilometers from Puerto Rico,” says Rios in the midst of snow, leaving behind the heat of his countrymen.
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