Gaudelia Díaz Explained
Gaudelia Díaz Romero (born in 1964) is a Mexican former paralympic athlete who competed mainly in category B1 distance events. She is also a singer, pianist and actress who has performed under the pseudonym Crystal since the 1980s. Among her hits are "Suavemente" and "No Me Pregunten Por Él".[1]
In the 1990s, Díaz was part of the Mexican team that traveled to Barcelona, Spain for the 1992 Summer Paralympics. There she competed in the 800 meters (ended fourth), 1500m (ended fourth) and 3000m, the last one earned her a bronze medal.
Early life and musical career
Gaudelia Díaz Romero was born in Acapulco, Guerrero, in 1964. Díaz was born blind in a poor family, with her brothers harassing her as she was growing up.[2] She learned to play the piano by ear.[2] She began practicing various sports as a child, including skating, soccer and gymnastics, but gave up the last one because of the need to see the parallel bars. Instead, a friend invited her to go running and she became interested in running.[3]
Around 1981, Díaz met, a Mexican record producer, and both composed "Suavemente", which was selected for the 1982 OTI Festival and made it to the finals.[4] Díaz and Andrade started dating and he became her manager. After this, their relationship became violent as Andrade constantly threatened to physically attack her. According to an interview given to Mara Patricia Castañeda, Díaz said that Andrade psychologically humiliated her when she made mistakes in her singing or piano playing, including one occasion at the World Popular Song Festival in Japan where he threatened to break her arm to justify why she could not play the piano on that occasion.[2] [5] Their relationship lasted three years until she realized that she was not living in a normal situation. Mexican singer Juan Gabriel helped her leave Andrade after asking him for advice.[5] Because of that, Andrade did not let her perform at the 1984 OTI Festival the song "Tiempos Mejores", a song about a blind person expecting better times, which ultimately ended up being sung by Yuri and that would win the national contest.[6]
Sports career
Díaz participated in the 1991 Parapan American Games, held in Puerto Rico—at the time the games had no official recognition—where she won gold in the 400, 800 and 1500 meters events.[3] The next year, she participated in the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona, at the 800, 1500 and 3000 meters events. She ended third in the last one and fourth in the others, earning her a bronze medal.[7] She left her career in athletics due to a lack of support.[3]
Post-Paralympics and personal life
After her return from Barcelona, Emilio Azcárraga Milmo, then-CEO of Televisa, asked her to join the company.[3] She acted in the telenovela Lazos de Amor.[4] At some point, she met Miguel Ángel Huerta, whom she married. Both were in charge of the Sports Federation for the Blind and Visually Impaired (Huerta is also visually impaired but to a lesser degree), and Huerta was director of the Mexican Paralympic Committee.[4] As of 2021, Díaz has stated that she is single and living in Acapulco, where she aids visually impaired children with musical education.[2]
Discography
Adapted from AllMusic and iTunes.
- Suavemente (1982)[8] [9]
- Eso No Se Hace (1983)[10] [11]
- Acaríciame el Alma (1985)[12]
- Noche Mágica (1986)[13]
- Mis Secretos (2001)[14]
- Las Canciones de Mi Vida (2002)[15]
- Sentimientos de México (2003)[16]
- Homenaje a Juan Gabriel (2008)[17]
- De una Vez por Todas (2011)[18] [19]
Filmography
Notes and References
- Web site: De qué murió Raúl Velasco y cómo pasó sus últimos días. 15 November 2022. Debate. Jorge. Rodarte. 22 December 2022. es. How Raul Velasco died and how he spent his last days.
- Web site: El gran éxito de Crystal, la dulce cantante y medallista paralímpica, tras la pesadilla que vivió con Sergio Andrade. Yahoo!. Miguel. Cane. 22 April 2021. 23 October 2021. Es. The great success of Crystal, the sweet singer and Paralympic medalist, after the nightmare that lived with Sergio Andrade. 24 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211024043435/https://es-us.vida-estilo.yahoo.com/la-vida-de-crystal-la-dulce-cantante-y-medallista-paralimpica-tras-el-horror-que-vivio-con-sergio-andrade-211631077.html. live.
- Web site: Crystal, la cantante que logró un bronce en Paralímpicos. Es. Crystal, the singer that won a Paralympic bronze. Milenio. Carlos. Cruz. Mexico City. 15 October 2020. 23 October 2021. 21 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211021093533/https://www.milenio.com/deportes/mas-aficion/crystal-la-cantante-que-logro-un-bronce-en-paralimpicos. live.
- Web site: Crystal consideró imprescindible ser parte de 'Los triunfadores del festival'. Crystal considered essential being part of 'the Festival's Winners'. 20 Minutos. 31 March 2017. es. Notimex. 23 October 2021. 6 November 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171106224300/http://www.20minutos.com.mx/noticia/204653/0/crystal-considero-imprescindible-ser-parte-de-los-triunfadores-del-festival/. live.
- Web site: Crystal detalló los abusos que sufrió por parte de Sergio Andrade. Crystal detailed the abuse she suffered at the hands of Sergio Andrade. 21 April 2021. 23 October 2021. Telemundo. es. 24 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211024043428/https://www.telemundo.com/entretenimiento/farandula/famosos/crystal-detallo-los-abusos-que-sufrio-por-parte-de-sergio-andrade-tmna3878967. live.
- Web site: ¡Por celos Sergio Andrade le quitó a Crystal la posibilidad de ganar el OTI!. Out of jealousy, Sergio Andrade took away Crystal's chance to win the OTI!. TV Notas. 17 September 2018. Martha. Rivera. Es. 23 October 2021. 9 August 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190809081248/http://www.tvnotas.com.mx/noticias-espectaculos-mexico/por-celos-sergio-andrade-le-quito-crystal-la-posibilidad-de-ganar-el. live.
- Web site: Gaudelia Diaz . . . 23 October 2021 . 24 October 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211024043427/https://www.paralympic.org/gaudelia-diaz . live .
- Web site: Crystal – Suavemente. AllMusic. 23 October 2021. 24 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211024043428/https://www.allmusic.com/album/suavemente-mw0003361757. live.
- Web site: Suavemente – Crystal. iTunes. Apple, Inc.. 23 October 2021. 24 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211024043429/https://music.apple.com/us/album/suavemente/1495431207. live.
- Web site: Crystal – Eso No Se Hace. AllMusic. 23 October 2021. 24 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211024043429/https://www.allmusic.com/album/eso-no-se-hace-mw0003355890. live.
- Web site: Eso No Se Hace – Crystal. iTunes. Apple, Inc.. 23 October 2021. 24 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211024043455/https://music.apple.com/us/album/eso-no-se-hace/1495525043. live.
- Web site: Crystal – Acaríciame el Alma. AllMusic. 23 October 2021. 24 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211024043429/https://www.allmusic.com/album/acariciame-el-alma-mw0003354474. live.
- Web site: Crystal – Noche Mágica. AllMusic. 23 October 2021. 24 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211024043454/https://www.allmusic.com/album/noche-magica-mw0003355947. live.
- Web site: Mis Secretos – Crystal. iTunes. Apple, Inc.. 23 October 2021. 24 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211024043433/https://music.apple.com/us/album/mis-secretos/1056602957. live.
- Web site: Las Canciones de Mi Vida – Crystal. iTunes. Apple, Inc.. 23 October 2021. 24 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211024043433/https://music.apple.com/mx/album/las-canciones-de-mi-vida/1053024606. live.
- Web site: Sentimientos de México – Crystal. iTunes. Apple, Inc.. 23 October 2021. 24 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211024043433/https://music.apple.com/mx/album/sentimientos-de-m%C3%A9xico/1056593449. live.
- Web site: Homenaje a Juan Gabriel – Crystal. iTunes. Apple, Inc.. 23 October 2021. 24 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211024043433/https://music.apple.com/mx/album/homenaje-a-juan-gabriel/1056598522. live.
- Web site: Crystal – De Una Vez Por Todas. AllMusic. 23 October 2021. 24 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211024043432/https://www.allmusic.com/album/de-una-vez-por-todas-mw0003361753. live.
- Web site: De Una Vez Por Todas – Crystal. iTunes. Apple, Inc.. 23 October 2021. 24 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211024043433/https://music.apple.com/us/album/de-una-vez-por-todas/1495528778. live.
- Web site: Desde Gayola de Telehit cumple tres años. Telehit's Desde Gayola turns three years old. Produ. 18 February 2005. es. 23 October 2021. 24 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211024043433/https://www.produ.com/noticias/desde-gayola-de-telehit-cumple-tres-anos. live.