Mayra Veronica
Encyclopedia
Mayra Verónica is a Cuban-born, American-raised model and singer who acquired her fame in the United States. Verónica's role on Univision's Don Francisco
Presenta brought her to the attention of FHM
magazine's US edition. After appearing in FHM she was included in its 2004 calendar and went on to do additional magazine work. She made appearances on many Spanish language television shows, as well as appearing in music videos and television commercials.
She is noted for being a spokeswoman for USO.
A gifted student, Verónica made her way through ballet school by befriending other girls (other students from her school who could afford the training), while surviving difficult financial circumstances at home. Her body began maturing during her middle school years, she became too voluptuous for ballet, and began noticing the effect she had on boys. Her first boyfriend, at the age of 15, was an artist of the same age who often painted her nude or semi-nude.
majoring in Psychology and Theater) she did not know much about being a reporter but determined she could act like one.
She began as a correspondent, but was promoted to celebrity hostess for the show. She interviewed celebrities like Donald Trump
, Oscar de la Renta
, Hugh Hefner
, and Dennis Rodman
. Throughout, Verónica traveled to New York to continue acting training at the Lee Strasberg Institute to fine tune her craft, until the station (owned by Media One) was bought by AT&T
and subsequently closed.
Verónica landed a made-for-TV movie called The Suitor and did commercial campaigns for Nike
, L'Oréal
, and Coca Cola. Univision
announcing a new show hosted by Don Francisco
. They wanted Verónica to be their model and co-host, but with one catch. Due to her ample curves, her last appearance on screen for the day would entail her backside presented before turning around to face the camera, which she gladly agreed. Once the show aired, the model with the great backside became the talk of Latinos everywhere, so much so the American press became interested.
, the top men's magazine of the time, contacted Veronica's publicist to ask for a feature spread on their magazine. Veronica agreed and after mail requesting her return, she went on to appear on the cover of the FHM exclusive collection book, which included top sex symbols of the decade such as Pamela Anderson
, Eva Longoria
, and Carmen Electra
. She was featured on other covers for FHM, Maxim
, Edge, GQ, and over 100 other national and international covers. Her popularity on such covers made her website at the time one of the top requested websites with more than 4 million hits biweekly.
With her popularity came email from soldiers stationed in Iraq
asking for her posters and by now famous calendars. Veronica's management sent a care package of approximately 5000 posters. Shortly, the military named her favorite pin-up girl for the US Marines and the USO asked her to tour with the troops.
, comedian Russell Peters
, traveling to six countries in six days: Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, Turkey, Africa, and Greenland. The troops' response was overwhelming and although Verónica had decided not to do any more calendars, she changed her mind and decided to do one in 2008 dedicating proceeds to the Wounded Warrior Project
.
Upon her return from the tour, she was described as a "modern day Betty Grable
". Verónica continued touring with the USO and became an official spokesperson, appearing with then-President George W. Bush
and Gary Sinise
on a panel for CSPAN about the organization.
On July 2, 2009, the New York Stock Exchange
asked her to ring the NASDAQ bell for the Fourth of July week. Verónica decided to bring awareness to two of the organizations for which she's an advocate and spokesperson, The USO and UNICEF, and brought them to the bell ringing ceremony.
music movement and Verónica's album included as its first single "Vengo Con To" which was later quoted by King magazine: "Mayra Verónica's moaning make Madonna
's Erotica sound like bubblegum pop… chew on that Daddy Yankee." The song soared to number one on the top station in the country (New York) and made top 40 on Billboard
. The video was banned from Latin television because her curves seemed too much for TV.
Europe did not seem to mind and Mayra signed a deal with a German label for the European release of the album. The album's popularity landed Verónica a deal with Universal Motown, which put out a second single from the album titled "Mamma Mia" which also did very well on radio.
A third single, "Es Tan Dificil Olvidarte", dedicated to the fallen troops, put Verónica in the top 10 on the pop contemporary charts. Verónica continued her work with the troops by visiting the wounded at camp Lejeune.
of Mach 1 Music, (who is co-writing and producing the entire debut English album) with a new album titled Saint Nor Sinner due out in 2010.
Don Francisco (television host)
Mario Luis Kreutzberger Blumenfeld , better known by his stage name, Don Francisco, is a Chilean television personality, and a popular television personality on the Univision network reaching Spanish-speaking viewers in the United States...
Presenta brought her to the attention of FHM
FHM
FHM, originally published as For Him Magazine, is an international monthly men's lifestyle magazine.- History :The magazine began publication in 1985 in the United Kingdom under the name For Him and changed its title to FHM in 1994 when Emap Consumer Media bought the magazine, although the full For...
magazine's US edition. After appearing in FHM she was included in its 2004 calendar and went on to do additional magazine work. She made appearances on many Spanish language television shows, as well as appearing in music videos and television commercials.
She is noted for being a spokeswoman for USO.
Early life
"Mayra Verónica was born in Havana, Cuba, where her father was a member Cuba’s big band, Los Dada. In 1984, she came to the US with her mother, Mayra Rodriguez, leaving behind the rest of her family including her father, Arturo Aruca, and sister Giselle Guzman. Her father came a year later and reunited with Veronica and her mother, while her sister was unable to meet them until thirteen years later. Mayra grew up with little money and food was sometimes scarce.A gifted student, Verónica made her way through ballet school by befriending other girls (other students from her school who could afford the training), while surviving difficult financial circumstances at home. Her body began maturing during her middle school years, she became too voluptuous for ballet, and began noticing the effect she had on boys. Her first boyfriend, at the age of 15, was an artist of the same age who often painted her nude or semi-nude.
Pageants and modeling
Verónica continued school and after joining a local beauty pageant and becoming Ms. Miami, she met a photographer who would do the pictures for the event, and noticed the photographer was captivated by Mayra's photos and invited her to his studio for free sessions. Thus, Mayra obtained her first modeling book and signed with a local agent in Miami. This agent sent her out for an audition for a local TV entertainment news show "Miami Hoy" (at the time Mayra was at Florida International UniversityFlorida International University
Florida International University is an American public research university in metropolitan Miami, Florida, in the United States, with its main campus in University Park...
majoring in Psychology and Theater) she did not know much about being a reporter but determined she could act like one.
She began as a correspondent, but was promoted to celebrity hostess for the show. She interviewed celebrities like Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
, Oscar de la Renta
Oscar de la Renta
Oscar de la Renta is one of the world's leading fashion designers. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1973.-Career:...
, Hugh Hefner
Hugh Hefner
Hugh Marston "Hef" Hefner is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.-Early life:...
, and Dennis Rodman
Dennis Rodman
Dennis Keith Rodman is a retired American Hall of Fame professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association's Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, he was nicknamed "Dennis the Menace" and "The...
. Throughout, Verónica traveled to New York to continue acting training at the Lee Strasberg Institute to fine tune her craft, until the station (owned by Media One) was bought by AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
and subsequently closed.
Verónica landed a made-for-TV movie called The Suitor and did commercial campaigns for Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
, L'Oréal
L'Oréal
The L'Oréal Group is the world's largest cosmetics and beauty company. With its registered office in Paris and head office in the Paris suburb of Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France, it has developed activities in the field of cosmetics...
, and Coca Cola. Univision
Univision
Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva...
announcing a new show hosted by Don Francisco
Don Francisco (television host)
Mario Luis Kreutzberger Blumenfeld , better known by his stage name, Don Francisco, is a Chilean television personality, and a popular television personality on the Univision network reaching Spanish-speaking viewers in the United States...
. They wanted Verónica to be their model and co-host, but with one catch. Due to her ample curves, her last appearance on screen for the day would entail her backside presented before turning around to face the camera, which she gladly agreed. Once the show aired, the model with the great backside became the talk of Latinos everywhere, so much so the American press became interested.
Cover girl
FHMFHM
FHM, originally published as For Him Magazine, is an international monthly men's lifestyle magazine.- History :The magazine began publication in 1985 in the United Kingdom under the name For Him and changed its title to FHM in 1994 when Emap Consumer Media bought the magazine, although the full For...
, the top men's magazine of the time, contacted Veronica's publicist to ask for a feature spread on their magazine. Veronica agreed and after mail requesting her return, she went on to appear on the cover of the FHM exclusive collection book, which included top sex symbols of the decade such as Pamela Anderson
Pamela Anderson
Pamela Denise Anderson is a Canadian-American actress, model, producer, author, activist, and former showgirl, known for her roles on the television series Home Improvement, Baywatch, and V.I.P. She was chosen as a Playmate of the Month for Playboy magazine in February 1990...
, Eva Longoria
Eva Longoria
Eva Jacqueline Longoria is an American actress, best known for portraying Gabrielle Solis on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives...
, and Carmen Electra
Carmen Electra
Tara Leigh Patrick , professionally known as Carmen Electra, is an American glamour model, actress, television personality, singer, and dancer...
. She was featured on other covers for FHM, Maxim
Maxim (magazine)
Maxim is an international men's magazine based in the United Kingdom and known for its pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, sometimes pictured dressed, often pictured scantily dressed but not fully nude....
, Edge, GQ, and over 100 other national and international covers. Her popularity on such covers made her website at the time one of the top requested websites with more than 4 million hits biweekly.
With her popularity came email from soldiers stationed in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
asking for her posters and by now famous calendars. Veronica's management sent a care package of approximately 5000 posters. Shortly, the military named her favorite pin-up girl for the US Marines and the USO asked her to tour with the troops.
USO tour
The USO tour became a special Thanksgiving tour with Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General James Cartwright, actor Wilmer ValderramaWilmer Valderrama
Wilmer Eduardo Valderrama is an American actor and television personality, known for the role of Fez in the sitcom That '70s Show, hosting the MTV series Yo Momma, and voicing the character of Manny in the children's show Handy Manny.-Early life:Valderrama was born in Miami, Florida the son of...
, comedian Russell Peters
Russell Peters
Russell Dominic Peters is an Indo-Canadian comedian, actor and disc jockey. He began performing in Toronto in 1989 and has been nominated for four Gemini Awards.-Early life :...
, traveling to six countries in six days: Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, Turkey, Africa, and Greenland. The troops' response was overwhelming and although Verónica had decided not to do any more calendars, she changed her mind and decided to do one in 2008 dedicating proceeds to the Wounded Warrior Project
Wounded Warrior Project
The Wounded Warrior Project is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to "honor and empower wounded warriors" of the United States Armed Forces...
.
Upon her return from the tour, she was described as a "modern day Betty Grable
Betty Grable
Elizabeth Ruth "Betty" Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer.Her iconic bathing suit photo made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the LIFE magazine project "100 Photos that Changed the World"...
". Verónica continued touring with the USO and became an official spokesperson, appearing with then-President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
and Gary Sinise
Gary Sinise
Gary Alan Sinise is an American actor, film director and musician. During his career, Sinise has won various awards including an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Academy Award. In 1992, Sinise directed, and played the role of George Milton in the successful film adaptation of...
on a panel for CSPAN about the organization.
On July 2, 2009, the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
asked her to ring the NASDAQ bell for the Fourth of July week. Verónica decided to bring awareness to two of the organizations for which she's an advocate and spokesperson, The USO and UNICEF, and brought them to the bell ringing ceremony.
Vengo Con To
During her time with the Univision Network, Veronica had the opportunity to meet top ranked music producers who collaborated with her on her first music album. It was titled Vengo Con To (I'm coming at you with everything). It was also a popular time for the reggaetónReggaeton
Reggaeton is a form of Puerto Rican and Latin American urban and Caribbean music. After its mainstream exposure in 2004, it spread to North American, European and Asian audiences. Reggaeton originated in Puerto Rico but is also has roots from Reggae en Español from Panama and Puerto Rico and...
music movement and Verónica's album included as its first single "Vengo Con To" which was later quoted by King magazine: "Mayra Verónica's moaning make Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
's Erotica sound like bubblegum pop… chew on that Daddy Yankee." The song soared to number one on the top station in the country (New York) and made top 40 on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
. The video was banned from Latin television because her curves seemed too much for TV.
Europe did not seem to mind and Mayra signed a deal with a German label for the European release of the album. The album's popularity landed Verónica a deal with Universal Motown, which put out a second single from the album titled "Mamma Mia" which also did very well on radio.
A third single, "Es Tan Dificil Olvidarte", dedicated to the fallen troops, put Verónica in the top 10 on the pop contemporary charts. Verónica continued her work with the troops by visiting the wounded at camp Lejeune.
Saint Nor Sinner
Verónica began 2010 on the cover of Billboard magazine with a new single, "If You Wanna Fly," that reached #9 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart, #11 on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay chart, #5 on Billboard Dance/Electronic sales and #74 Hot 100 Chart. She continues working with producer Eddie GalanEddie Galan
Eddie Galan is a Los Angeles born singer/musician, songwriter and record producer, who has worked on albums that have accumulated over 18 million in sales worldwide, garnered him 5 #1 records as a writer/producer and 4 #1 records as a publisher...
of Mach 1 Music, (who is co-writing and producing the entire debut English album) with a new album titled Saint Nor Sinner due out in 2010.
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot Dance Club Play Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs... |
Hot Dance Airplay Hot Dance Airplay Dance/Mix Show Airplay is a monitored electronic dance music radio chart that is featured weekly in Billboard magazine. The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic dance music on the radio in the United States and the stations that program it... |
Heatseeker Songs | Dance/Electronic Digital Songs | ||||||
| 2010 | "If You Wanna Fly" | 9 | 11 | 21 | 5 | Saint Nor Sinner | |||
| 2011 | "Freak Like Me" | 3 | 18 | - | 28 | Saint Nor Sinner | |||
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | |||||||||