Jeanette Giacomazza, 82, president of the Tucson chapter of the Luis Miguel fan club, has a room in her home dedicated to the Mexican singer advertisement.
We always get calls or e-mails from rabid fans asking if we're going to publicize upcoming concerts by their favorite artists. Last month, Luis Miguel fan Jeanette Giacomazza e-mailed us, wanting to know what kind of coverage we were planning for the Mexican singer's concert at the Tucson Convention Center on March 5.
We figured she was just another of his overeager young female admirers trying to push her latest crush on us. Boy, were we wrong.
She is an 82-year-old great-grandmother, president of the Tucson chapter of the Luis Miguel fan club and his No. 1 fan.
In correspondence with her, she struck us as a little too obsessed with the Latin heartthrob (She has a room in her home devoted to him), so we were somewhat reluctant (and scared) to interview her. But we were feeling adventurous and decided to live dangerously. Here are snippets of our conversation with the adorable, funny and sane Brooklyn, N.Y., native and former secretary for the University of Arizona Wildcat Club:
Question: OK, first things first. Does Luis Miguel have a restraining order against you?
Answer: (Laughter) No.
(Editor's note: We didn't have time to check with Miguel's security staff, so we'll have to take her word for it.)
Q: When and how did you discover him?
A: In 1991, my son went to Ecuador with his fiancee to meet her family. While he was there he heard Luis Miguel's tape of "Romances" and he made a tape for me. When he came home he gave it to me, and as soon as I played it I fell in love. I didn't know who he was, what he looked like. I didn't know his name. A month later, I asked my son and he told me.
Q. What makes him so special?
A: The first thing, he's gorgeous. But aside from that, he's got a beautiful voice. He sings these love songs and he makes it seem he's singing them to you, even though I don't understand what he's saying. It's just something about him. He mesmerizes you. Once I gave him a bouquet of roses and after it was all over I had to call my friend and ask her what happened.
Q: Tell me more about your special "moment" with Luis.
A: At the (Tucson) Convention Center, there's like a guardrail before you get to the stage and there's a guard that stands behind it. When I went up to the rail with my bouquet of roses, the guard says, 'Oh, he won't take those while he's singing.' I said, 'He always does.' So I just sat there and Luis was looking straight ahead, singing and then all of a sudden he looked down and he saw me and he kept on singing. But he smiled and pointed to me, so I handed the flowers to the guard and he reached up and gave them to Luis. And then Luis kept them to his chest until he finished singing.
Q: When did you get your tickets for his March 5 concert?
A: I got front-row seats. I usually go to L.A., Vegas and Phoenix and Tucson and I've never had front-row seats, but I got one now.
Q: Are you married?
A: Oh, yes, 59 years.
Q: What does your husband (Carl, 83) think of your infatuation?
A: (Laughter) He goes along with it. I think at first he was jealous but now after all this time since 1991 (when she founded the local fan club), I think he's resigned to the fact that this is what it is.
Q: If you could tell Luis one thing what would it be?
A: That I love him.
Q: How many times have you seen him in concert?
A: Six times.
Q: Have you actually corresponded with him or tried to contact him?
A: No, he's a very private person. But I'm trying now to get his management company to see if I can meet him. Before I die, I'd like to.
Q: Do you think that he'd be attracted to an experienced, older woman?
A: Like me? No (laughter). He only goes for these beautiful women like Daisy Fuentes and Mariah Carey.
Jeanette dishes on Luis' women
"I'm like the Jewish mother - no one's ever good enough for my son, my Luis," says Jeanette Giacomazza, president of the local Luis Miguel fan club. Here are her thoughts on three of the Mexican heartthrob's most famous lovers.
On former MTV veejay and reigning Pilates queen Daisy Fuentes:
"She was all right."
On pop diva and sometime actress Mariah Carey (whom she "can't stand"):
"When he broke up with her, she had a nervous breakdown. That's what he does to women."
On his current love, former Univisión news show host Myrka Dellanos:
"She's pretty neat, down to earth."