Lourdes Munguía: Suffering forms our character

The 65-year-old actress reflects on pain, food and what she learns from young performers.

For Lourdes Munguía, food goes beyond pleasure. The 65-year-old actress assures that behind each dish there are memories that build an emotional memory.

“Black mole reminds me a lot of my grandmother, my mother, the smell in the kitchen from early on making it, with a talk, a family coexistence that is beautiful,” he says.

Character as a mixture of ingredients. Munguía observes life as a combination where complex emotions also fit. Suffering, he says, is a condiment that he has learned to look at differently over the years.

“All the things and sufferings have formed our character and we are what we are because of that. I don’t know a person who has not suffered. When I suffer I turn left and right and say: ‘Forgive God for misusing your energy,'” he explains.

Today she looks at other women with empathy. Think about the stories behind the daily routine. “I see how strong women are. I see a waitress and I say: ‘How can I complain if her feet must hurt all day from standing? What am I complaining about? The heels?'” he reflects.

RelatedLourdes Ponce wins the first gold for Mexico in Tokyo 2025

New look at young people

The actress also observes the new generations of performers and confesses that she has learned from them.

“I love new actors, they bring an incredible chip. They arrive with their tablet, they bring an impressive memory and a very cool concept of the graphics of their character. I learn from them and from that rhythm,” he says.

That energy and what she learned from other women are present in “Lupita”, a monologue by Francisco Oyanguren. The work follows the story of a cook, a single mother who struggles to raise her children while facing the pain of seeing how organized crime and drugs threaten to change their lives.

Latin stars headline Billboard Week 2026

Greeicy, Jay Wheeler and more will be speakers in Miami.

Billboard Latin Music Week 2026 already has its first round of confirmed speakers. These include Greeicy, Jay Wheeler, Jessi Uribe, Kany García and Rawayana.

Lola Índigo, Paola Jara, Rainao, Ryan Castro, Trueno and Zhamira will also participate. All will offer exclusive sessions during the event.

“We are honored to welcome this year’s talent as we continue to inspire conversations that drive the industry forward,” said Billboard CEO Mike Van.

Who are the speakers?

For more than three decades, Billboard Latin Music Week has fueled key conversations and industry highlights.

The 2026 edition will be held from October 19 to 22 at the Faena Forum Miami Beach. The agenda includes performances, panels and workshops that bring together artists, creators and executives with the public.

Tickets are now available at Billboardlatinmusicweek.com.

Among the executive panelists, Nat Pastor, Victor Gonzalez and Tommy Mottola stand out. More participants will be announced soon.

The event will coincide with the Billboard Latin Music Awards, which will be presented on October 22 in Miami. The ceremony will be broadcast live on Telemundo and Peacock.

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World Cup spectacle boosts artists’ streaming

The World Cup halftime show skyrocketed the views of Madonna, Bieber and BTS.

The halftime performance of the World Cup final, with Madonna, Justin Bieber, BTS and Shakira, not only captivated the global audience. It also generated an immediate rebound in the reproductions of his songs on digital platforms.

Luminate, a firm specializing in music industry data, analyzed listening behavior two days before the event and compared it to the day of the final and the day after. The results show significant increases in each interpreted theme.

  • Justin BieberEverything Hallelujah rose 110% globally: from 592 thousand views to 1.25 million.
  • MadonnaMusic grew 66%, going from 193 thousand to 321 thousand.
  • BTSDynamite increased 43%, from 2.14 million to 3.05 million.
  • Shakira and Burna BoyDai Dai, official anthem of the 2026 World Cup, rose 24% globally (from 14.78 to 18.27 million) and 52% in the US (from 1.68 to 2.55 million).

Luminate’s study also revealed that the increase was limited to songs performed in the field, not artists’ entire catalogs. A phenomenon similar to that which occurs with the Super Bowl halftime show.

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Shark Week 2025: K-Pop and diving stars dive with sharks

Rei Ami and Molly Carlson face their fears at sea for Shark Week.

The singer Rei Ami, known for her participation in the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack, lived a unique experience off the coast of Korea. He dived with 16 reef sharks during a feeding frenzy.

Far from being terrified, he cried in amazement. “I thought I would be more scared, but I was fascinated. It was witnessing nature,” she said. “You can’t describe the emotions you feel.”

Two ways to face fear

Rei Ami did two cage dives and two freediving dives with hammerhead, reef and bull sharks. His partner on the K-Pop Shark Heroes show, comedian Ken Jeong, preferred to stay grounded. “I’m like Christopher Nolan in Shark Odyssey: I just supervise,” he joked.

The new season of Shark Week starts on Sunday on Discovery Channel, with 20 one-hour episodes. Among them, the participation of diver Molly Carlson stands out, who jumped 15 meters from a helicopter into a plexiglass cage surrounded by reef sharks.

Carlson, who suffers from anxiety, accepted the challenge to inspire others. “If I can help that 16-year-old girl who just wants to hide, I’ll find a way,” he said. “It’s okay to be afraid and do it anyway. That was the purpose of this project.”

The program concludes on August 1 with an analysis of the movement of white sharks northward and the technique used by thresher sharks to stun their prey.

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