Lucero has apparently run out of patience. First came "Fuertes Declaraciones." Now it is "Cero Tolerancia," and judging by the titles of the first two songs from her upcoming album, anyone hoping for a tender message from an ex might want to look elsewhere.
"No, that's it. We should never speak to each other again," Lucero joked during an interview with this reporter in Miami. "Otherwise, we'll hit each other." Then she laughed.
The Mexican star was talking about "Cero Tolerancia," the second single from Conexión Mexicana, the new album she plans to release next year and the follow-up to "Fuertes Declaraciones," which she said remains No. 1 on Mexican radio.
"They're really strong songs. They have a lot of power," she said. "But I love it because I think it's also a way of giving a voice to some people, not just women. Men, women, people who want to dedicate a few words of heartbreak or have something stuck in there with someone."
"Sometimes music is therapy too, right?"
Lucero was in Miami after spending much of the year doing something that, at this point in her career, she doesn't technically have to do: convincing people to fall in love with new Lucero songs.
Miami offered a preview of what comes next. There were television appearances, new music to promote and a reunion with Don Francisco for the premiere of Gigantes con Don Francisco. There is also another reunion consuming plenty of her attention: Yuri.
Lucero and Yuri are taking Entre Amigas to the United States, with Texas dates beginning in November and more U.S. shows ahead. And if putting two Mexican divas with decades of history on the same stage sounds like a recipe for backstage drama, Lucero is happy to disappoint.
"Sometimes they say that between women it's difficult to work together," she said. "But the truth is that she and I have a really beautiful vibe. We have chemistry, an understanding, a super good relationship."
Then there is the part that can't be manufactured for a tour. "I love singing with her," Lucero said. "I've admired her forever."
The Miami visit also put Lucero face-to-face with a man who once made her considerably less relaxed. Don Francisco terrified her, and it wasn't metaphorically. "Yes, he intimidated me enormously," she said, remembering what it felt like to encounter Mario Kreutzberger when she was a young star.
Her fear was very specific. "What if he asks me something and I don't know how to answer?"
It is almost difficult to reconcile that young Lucero with the woman sitting in Miami joking about breakup songs and telling stories about a man she now casually calls her friend.
But Don Francisco eventually became much more than an interviewer she had to survive. "Getting to know him, seeing him more closely, talking, listening to his advice, his stories, has been incredibly gratifying for me," Lucero said. "I'm very grateful to him because he has given me great advice."
One of those lessons went well beyond an appearance on Sábado Gigante. "He was the one who taught me how to host Teletón," she said. That history explains why Lucero was chosen as the first guest of Gigantes, Don Francisco's new Univision which premiered on Oct. 11.
For Don Francisco, it is a return to the network 11 years after Sábado Gigante ended. For Lucero, it is another encounter in a relationship that has followed her from the girl who worried about answering his questions correctly to the veteran entertainer he invited to help open his new show.
"First he scared me," she said. "And now it gives me tremendous joy and a lot of pride to say that I've known him for so many years." There is even tenderness in the way she talks about him now, particularly as she has watched his family grow and their lives change. "I'm so fortunate to have known him for so long," she said.
And, naturally, Don Francisco still has a car to give away, thanks to the segment "Lo Hace, No Lo Hace", sponsored by DirectTV.
Asked what her dream car would be if she were competing for the prize on Gigantes, Lucero did not request a Ferrari, Rolls-Royce or vintage collectible. "Whatever one is brand new," she said. Green, blue, big, small. She wasn't picky.
There was only one problem: "I don't know how to drive very well," Lucero confessed. "I'd crash it anyway."
Her solution? "A chauffeur to drive it," she said, laughing, "so I can crash."
It was perhaps the most Lucero answer possible during a Miami visit that finds her doing what she has done for most of her life: moving between television, music and the people who have accompanied her career, while making sure none of it gets too serious.
Except, perhaps, the message in the new songs. "Cero Tolerancia" means exactly what it says. Starting now, she joked, don't even talk to her.
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