por Marvin Ramírez
Hernaldo Zuniga
After receiving $14 thousand dollars from the promoter Emma Alfaro, that were used for his promotional and touristic tour, during which he took the opportunity to visit family in the Bay Area, singer Hernaldo Zuniga left promoter Emma Alfaro with no show and a cheated anddisappointed audience on May 22nd. A lot of fans came from and outside SF and the rest of the State to listen to the Nicaraguan singer, settled in Mexico.
The journey for the artist’s show was organized as a promotional tour after Zúniga’s manager, María Gonzáles, informed Alfaro that he accepted her offer to perform in San Francisco in exchange for the artist to be promoted in the US and open up to the American market, especially in the Bay Area. Alfaro, highly enthusiastic about the singer’s music, was willing to accept the conditions demanded by Zúniga’s office.
The deal was that Zuniga would perform in this city, in exchange of an intense advertising campaign on TV, radio and print, to boost his image, in exchange for a brief show of less than two hours. The event was offered to the public for $30 and it would last for 6 hours –1 to 7 p.m., consisting on Zúniga’s peformance, two local orchestras, a reggaeton show, DJ music, and the unscheduled presentation of the singer Alfredo Fiore.
The audience was mostly Nicaraguan, despite the fact that the singer demanded not to be promoted only within the Nicaraguan community and the experience was going to be an unforgettableone to the promoter Alfaro, who aimed to put on a first class show.
In January 2011, Alfaro undertook the advertisement campaign promised to Zuniga through the distribution of posters, vynil banners varand colorful flyers all over the Bay Area. This included commercials and paid live interviews with Univisión, Telemundo, Telefutura, and KIQI radio and advertisement in print media, telemarketing and emails, besides a one-hour long autograph signing in a Nicaraguan restaurant in SF., where Zúniga did not show up.
Emma Alfaro
According to the promoter, Zúniga’s sudden noshow caused her economic and emotional damages, as a small number of people began to discredit her through internet’s social networks at a local and international level, accusing her of fraud because the main singer did not perform, due to an alleged throat ache.
According to Zúniga, his absence was due to an inflammation in his vocal cords, which forced him to rest in order to be recovered by Sunday, the day of his presentation. But he claimed not to be healthy yet.
“I trust that things are going to come out with the truth in the future and I am consulting about my legal options related to the fact that Hernaldo Zúniga did not sing on May 22nd”, said Alfaro to El Reportero. “I am going to keep the public informed about how the situation develops, because it was Hernaldo who failed, and not me, as some people are discrediting me. I met my commitment of bringing him here and it wasn’t my fault that he hadn’t sung. He should have had an insurance to cover my losses, as well as a refund to the public for their tickets”.
Alfaro said that the loss accounts for more than $14,000, not including the four months work plus the emotional damage. According to sources in Nicaragua, this is not the first time that Zúniga doesn’t show up to perform. E l R e p o r t e ro r e quested an interview with Zúniga during the event without success.
