/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/MUSIC-CHILE: Disabled Boy on Road to Fame

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Gonzalez

SANTIAGO, Jan 3 2002 (IPS) - “Mas alla de las estrellas” (Beyond the Stars) is the first album by Juan Diego Alarcon, an Ecuadorian- born adolescent with muscular dystrophy who, in spite of the limitations imposed by his wheelchair, is attempting to launch a career as a professional singer.

The recording was released during the Christmas holiday in Chile, the country where Alarcon has lived with his parents for more than a decade and where he entered the public spotlight when he performed at the closing of an internationally broadcast fund- raising Telethon in 2000.

The Telethon, a television variety show marathon organised nearly every year by Mario Kreutzberger – better known as Don Francisco – is a charity event that benefits rehabilitation centres for people who are disabled in some way. The foundation entrusted with managing the funds was created by the entrepreneur and TV personality Kreutzberger himself.

The recording label Warner Music, which produced “Mas alla de las estrellas”, is studying the possibility of the 14-year-old Alarcon recording duet performances with famous singers like U.S. artists Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston.

At age four, Alarcon was diagnosed with congenital muscular dystrophy, a disease arising from a permanent deficit in the production of a certain enzyme, leading to a progressive deterioration of mobility and strength.

It was because of his health condition that his parents, Gonzalo Alarcon and Maria Soledad Valencia, decided to move to Chile so that their son could have access to regular medical treatment from the clinics run by the Telethon Foundation.

At age 10, Alarcon began to dedicate himself to developing his singing skills. He was encouraged by his mother to perform for friends and relatives.

His talent was ratified by the second-place award he won at the variety show contest “A Star is Born”, organised by Santiago’s Channel 13 television station.

He also participated in student musical contests and took classes at the Alicia Puccio music academy, one of Chile’s most prestigious schools.

Last year the teenager performed on the TV programmes “Sabado gigante”, also hosted by Don Francisco, and “Bravo, bravisimo”, both on Channel 13, which organised a special show for children with cerebral palsy who are undergoing treatment at the Alter Ego Foundation.

With such experiences under his belt and because of his own physical disability, Alarcon was invited to sing before the 80,000 people that filled the National Stadium in Santiago for the finale of the Telethon in December 2000.

His performance of the classic “Ode to Joy” shone the spotlight on his vocal range and set the precedent for his entry into the world of professional singers.

But the professional status is relative due to his age, and the fact that he must continue his studies at the International Preparatory School, where he had temporarily interrupted his eighth grade studies.

The process of recording “Mas alla de las estrellas” meant six months of hard work. The album includes 13 songs, seven of which are “covers” (songs that have been performed by other artists) and six are previously unrecorded works by composer Francisco Becker.

One of the songs on the album is titled “Toma una esperanza” (Take Some Hope), by Chilean singer-songwriter Alberto Plaza, who invited the young Alarcon to sing with him a few months ago at a concert in the Ecuadorian port city of Guayaquil.

Alarcon received an award from the parliament in Ecuador for setting an example of overcoming the limitation s imposed by his health condition. The teen is even mentioned in primary school texts.