Javier (Jay) De La Cueva Rosales is known to many in Mexico by the stage name “Brian Amadeus Moderatto,” under which guise he serves as lead singer of the group Moderatto. Here we find Brian making a guest appearance with Belanova during a live show in Guadalajara, much to the delight of the tapatíos who filled the hall.

We are all familiar with ¿Cómo se dice…?, “How do you say…”—it’s a very useful phrase when inquiring about the right words to use. Denisse Guererro repeatedly uses a similar phrase, asking the audience ¿Cóme dice?, which also sounds like it might be something like “How does one say?” but in fact this is Spanish for “How does it go?”—she wants the crowd to sing along!

In this concert at their natal Guadalajara, Belanova wanted to showcase the local talent. That’s why they invited a local group of musicians for this song, imparting a new sound to one of their best known hits.

When one of their friends suggested that the band’s name should be Belafunk, just half of a bell rang for them. They wanted something more cosmic, stellar, and looking in the closest encyclopedia they ran into the word Nova. That’s how Belanova — a beautiful star — got its name.

Belanova, the electropop band from Mexico, sounds like it was influenced by nightclub epiphanies, Japanese anime and sweet lollipops. "Niño", one of the songs off their album Dulce Beat, is a painful goodbye, adios, au revoir, arrivederci—but it’s somehow lightened by the constant use of the word “boy” (niño) to address the unlucky target of the bad news.

Spanish singer, Bebé, pleads to be loved in her single, "Kiéreme."

Colombian painter, Beatriz Noguera, tells us a bit about her work and its cultural and mythological inspirations.

Did you know what a pepper, a radish, a cucumber, a caraway seed, a fig, and an egg have in common? Don't miss this video about food idioms, in which Beatriz will explain several of them, some of which are very entertaining!

Let's continue with Beatriz in the kitchen to learn the meanings of several more food-related idioms that include foods like pineapple, noodles, cod, and even the famous Spanish tortilla [potato omelette]!

Beatriz teaches us some of the most "colorful" idiomatic expressions in Spanish, literally and figuratively!

This time, Beatriz talks to us about some interesting Spanish expressions that use weather-related terms to describe circumstances, attitudes, and/or feelings.

Polysemic words are terms that have two or more meanings and can occasionally give rise to some amusing misunderstandings! Beatriz introduces us to several in the Spanish language with a plethora of examples to make their different meanings more clear.

In part two of her lesson on polysemic words, Beatriz focuses on Spanish words for animals that can also have quite different meanings.

Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt. It’s also the theme of Bárbara Muñoz song “Miénteme” (“Lie to me”). Born in Chile, Ms. Muñoz moved to Mexico in 2006 to further her musical career as a singer and songwriter. As you’ll see in this video, “Miénteme” is an emotion-ridden plea not to know what she doesn’t want to know.

Meet some of the members of Banda Pionero, a Sinaloa style band from Mazatlan, Mexico. These guys are really friendly and even sang a capella for us.