![]() ![]() ![]() Solis had never done anything like it before. Her daughter had Down syndrome and loved Selena. One of them was a woman named Maria, who wanted Solis to perform as Selena for her daughter’s 46th birthday. “To have a piece of her there with me, I end up getting second place.”Īfter she performed, people blew up Facebook inbox. “It was a feeling I had not felt in so long, because I’ve been without my parents forever – it seems like that,” Solis said. Solis wore the jacket as she sang “¿Qué Creías?” (English: What Did You Think?). I was like, ‘I wonder if she had this made.’ It looks almost identical.” Hers had penguin tails and my mom’s was cropped. “It’s a green jacket and it has this really beautiful velvet design on it. “It was this jacket that looked exactly like the jacket Selena wore the last performance she had here in Houston, which was at Eldorado Bar and Club,” Solis said. But, in what Solis can only attribute to God, she found something intact in the last box. Most of the apparel was weather stricken. It was really hard for me to reach out to her ask her to dig up all these boxes after all those years.” “We didn’t talk about my parents’ death much. “In the ‘90s, my mom dressed like the ‘90s – which was like Madonna, Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul,” Solis said. “Why not?” she thought.īefore her second karaoke performance, Solis reached out to her older sister to see if she had any of their mother’s clothing. Solis didn’t plan to continue, until they told her about the large cash prize. They were like, ‘You know this is going to take you to the next round.’” I went out there after she done broke my arm and sang ‘Bidi Bidi Bom Bom,’ and I end up getting first place. “As a Latina, and having my education, I never looked at myself having those privileges. “I never initially was like, ‘I’m gonna be a singer,’” Solis said. When she and her friend popped over to Zone 504 in Kemah, Texas, she had no intentions of competing in a karaoke contest – until her friend convinced her. Solis graduated from high school, attended college and received her real estate license. It was like, ‘What? My mom used to mop the floors wearing that.’ I always followed her. “I was like, ‘Holy macaroni.’ She reminded me so much of my mom – not so much her resemblance, but her style. “I saw Selena on TV when she grew up,” Solis said. It wasn’t until after her parents’ death that Solis saw Selena’s appearance. Her older brother took over the business.Īs a teenager, Solis was always told she resembled Selena. Solis’ parents died in a car accident when she was 6, leaving Solis, the youngest of five, to live with her older sister. We had good times listening to all that music, my grandma dancing and passing gas trying to break it down, and everybody’s trying to compete dancing.” “My parents would always have barbecues, invite all the family over to our house. “We listened to Tejano music outside while he was working on cars,” Solis said. Her father, Armando Tillo, was inspired to become an entrepreneur, opening a paint and body shop that is still up and running in Texas City. Her parents, both Spanish speaking, moved from Mexico to build a better life in the U.S. Solis was introduced to Tejano music at a young age. Her experiences speak volumes to not only the influence of Selena Quintanilla- Pérez, the Mexican-American queen of Tejano music, but also what it truly means to live the American dream. TEXAS CITY – Amanda Solis isn’t the greatest of storytellers – so she says.Īs the Texas City native unravels the details of how she became a Selena tribute artist, it’s clear her story is one worth being told. Meet Amanda Solis, the Selena tribute artist who planned to perform at the event. The Fort Walton Beach International Week was recently postponed, another casualty of the pandemic that has all but silenced live entertainment along the Emerald Coast. ![]()
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