Rosa de Lima is the Star of Son Amar

Beautiful, charming, easy going – and she has three jobs! Is Mallorcan girl Rosa De Lima too good to be true?

“Liza – being such a versatile and multi-faceted musical artist – has indeed been an example for me,” says Rosa de Lima (31), confirming the comparison. But she’s mainly referring to the past: “It was sad to see how fame badly affected Liza Minelli’s life.”

It’s not uncommon for successful stars to suffer problems, but this won’t be the destiny for Mallorca’s hottest show star. Basically, it can’t happen to her, because Rosa de Lima – her passport shows the artistic pseudonym too – is much too grounded and solid to go off the rails. But, as she admits, one needs to be a little crazy to be on stage every night.

This is THE show on Mallorca that shouldn’t be missed. The glittering package labelled “Son Amar” combines a superior dining atmosphere with thrilling live entertainment, housed in a historical stone finca. Dance show elements comparable with “Lord of the Dance”, magicians on a level with David Copperfield, and top class musical acts bring a touch of London, Paris and Las Vegas to Mallorca. Son Amar means longterm success.

For more than 40 years, the dinner show venue Son Amar between Palma de Mallorca and Sóller has managed to exceed expectations in a business that doesn’t permit mistakes.

Rosa de Lima – it’s the name of the Peruvian capital’s saint – has been the celebrated venue’s island-born queen since March 2008. Forget the old saying “The prophet fails in his homeland.” This charming girl from Palma rules confidently on Mallorca’s throne of showbiz. She had to travel a long and arduous path to make her greatest dream come true. In September 2007, Rosa became a full member of Son Amar’s ensemble.

She’s also a real professional. Until the age of 15 she had been serving a classical music apprenticeship, concentrating on piano and chant, at the Conservatoire of Palma. However, this kind of music seemed “boring and tight” to her later. She decided to experience showbiz in different places on Mallorca. At Gran Casino Mallorca, Rosa spent five years in the show ensemble. She also worked at the “Es Fogueró″ show restaurant, located between Palma and Santanyí. Simultaneously, she was studying economics and tourism at the Balearic University UIB.

At the moment, Rosa manages to combine three different jobs at the same time. One of them keeps her “down to earth”: account consultant at BBVA bank. The latest step in her showbiz career has been the introduction to television. Since June 21, Rosa de Lima has been one of the announcers of a people and entertainment news show on Balearic TV station IB3. The programme “Quin estiu” is broadcast on Saturdays and Sundays, at 9.30pm. Its topics are celebrity visits to the island, like the Spanish Royal Family’s annual summer holiday, and people news. Each episode lasts 35 minutes.

“A great experience,” as Rosa describes it, but there are no plans for a leap into big TV business like Spain’s TVE channel. On TVE, Catalan girl Sonia Ferrer presents a similar programme, “Gente”. Wouldn’t it be alluring to follow her example?

“I’m a Mallorcan girl, my roots are here,” says Rosa. “TVE is far away and I don’t want to leave.

“The connection between the audience and the artists during a live performance is true magic. Nothing compares with Son Amar.”

Rosa de Lima can compete with Sonia Ferrer – who’s a model besides presenting – in terms of physical beauty. She’s a very attractive woman. During our interview she never behaves in an arrogant or affected way, but is charming, easy going, sometimes cute. It’s a pity that she’s already married! Her husband is “unique” in her opinion, because “he makes my crazy full-time occupation possible. He knows what the job at Son Amar is like because he had been working there for several years himself.”

Every night at 9pm, Rosa’s pulse quickens: showtime at Son Amar – Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. The Mallorcan starlet saves at least half an hour to warm up her vocal chords. When the curtain opens on stage all the pieces of the performance puzzle must fit together. It’s forbidden to bore the audience! Rosa knows the key to success in Son Amar: “We have some highly skilled artists and they’re all professional team players.”

The tiers of spectator seating are slowly shaded and the spotlight illuminates the stage. Rosa de Lima is walking across the stage. Her hair is beautifully styled, and she’s wearing a close-fitting sexy red leather dress. Addressing the audience with a smile on her face and holding the microphone in her hand, one is really reminded of Liza Minelli on New York’s Broadway. When Rosa invites audience participation, almost the entire crowd joins in.

The Spaniards don’t get relaxed “till they’ve finished having dinner,” Rosa remarks. “The young English, Germans and Scandinavians” are always prepared to create some good vibes. It’s easy to join in the party, because Rosa sings well-known songs like “Du gehörst zu mir” (German) or “The Best” (English).

Nothing, though, compares with the Italians. Rosa de Lima’s smile becomes larger when she addresses them. Instantly, they make a lot of noise and raise their hands. As Rosa intones a song from the Italian pop singer Laura Pausini, the Azzurri follow her voice like a choir. “I love their language and we have so much fun together,” Rosa confesses. She speaks Italian well, has practised “on the road”, as she calls it, making small talk with her Italian friends.

During the show, it’s astonishing to observe how relaxed Rosa appears – as if it were nothing out of the ordinary to lift the spirits of a crowd of a thousand people. Even more: the “girl next door” experienced in the interview is transformed into a resplendent princess who enjoys being the centre of her spectators’ attention. It’s a pleasure to watch her playing and flirting with the onlookers. How classy and charming she is! We’ll definately visit the show again during the season, to fall in love with her again and again. Which dress will she be wearing? How will her hair be styled? It’s pure satisfaction that, even nowadays, showbiz is capable of writing amazing real life fairytales.

Text by: Roland Kroiss

Photographer: Thomas Baar