RebekahDelRio


 Sex

 

Female

Quote:

"… pero es verdad, es la verdad …"

Age

Early 30s

Address

Club Silencio

Occupation

Singer

Relationship

EmCee

Doppelganger

Diane?, Camilla?


Rebekah Del Rio"Rebekah Del Rio's performance is an indication that, according to Diane, there is a large game, a  large reality, and she is merely a pawn in it. Like an actor she can mouth the words - she might be able to perform the brilliantly, in fact - but they've already been written by someone else, and if she drops out, the larger story will continue." 

Wrapped in Plastic #57

"Del Rio has a tear painted on her right cheek as part of her make-up, indication that she is aware of the illusion - this is all fake. Yet she pours herself into her performance completely."

Rebekah Del Rio incidentally mirrors Betty, who is also 'of the river' - Deep River, Ontario - and who is also 'crying over' unrequited love. - (Scott Loren)


"Señoras y señores, el Club Silencio les presenta - la llorona de Los Angeles, Rebekah del Rio!"

The female singer is introduced as "La Llorona de Los Angeles". "La Llorona" (The Crying Lady) is a traditional ghost of Mexico City. Legend has it that circa 1550 a mestiza, Luisa de Oliveros, in despair drowns her children in a river, after being despised by her lover, Dom Nuno de Montesclaros, who loved her by preferred to marry a Spanish lady of noble blood. After nights of weeping in remorse she drowns herself. It is said that her voice is still heard in Mexico City, by night, lamenting her children: "Mis hijos, mis hijos, donde estan mis hijos" or something to that effect. - (Braulio Tavares)

In a certain sense, this is a hint that Diane's grief of her breakup with Camilla, a woman who jilted her, has made her homicidal as well as suicidal. And later we find out that Diane is in fact responsible for a homicide. So, even before her song is done, Rebekah del Rio collapses, probably in death, as if to emphasize to Diane that death is all around, and all hope is lost. - (Alan Shaw)

Related: La Llorona on Wikipedia


The tear drop

The singer's got a painted tear drop on her cheek. Another symbol for Betty/Diane to realize what she has done to one she had loved? 

Wikipedia: 
The tear tattoo is a symbolic tattoo that is placed underneath one's eye to create the impression that the individual is crying. [...] Often, it signifies that an individual has killed another person [...] Teardrop tattoos can also signify the loss of a friend or loved one has died. An empty tear signifies that the loved one had been murdered. A filled tattoo signifies that the loved one had killed themselves or was killed in another cause other than murder (car crash, death penalty etc.).

Link: Tear tattoo


EmCeeGeno Silva (Cookie/EmCee) on the "Llorona" reference

You know that intro I do for Rebekah? I made that up: "La Llorona de Los Angeles." La Llorona in Southwestern legend, is a mythic, spooky character of your childhood. It is a wailing woman you hear at night. She's crying because she lost her two children in the Rio Grande. It is a story you hear all over the Southwest. When she was singing "Crying" I said, "David, how about we call her La Llorona - the crying woman - of Los Angeles, because that's what she's doing." Some people will get it and some people won't.

Wrapped in Plastic #57


I thought that perhaps Camilla (the real Camilla) used to work as the singer in Club Silencio (hence her knowing the song) and that when the singer fell down it was part of Betty's illusion falling apart. It also reminded her of what she had done (hired the killer) which is why she had such an intense reaction. The reason the music plays on is probably because although Camilla is now dead, they just replace her and the show goes on. - (lokegotcrucified)


Rebekah Del RioNote that Rebekah del Rio naturally features a much darker hair color and skin tone due to her hispanic background, yet has been miscolored intentional in make-up, probably to underpin the connection to Rita Hayworth starring in Gilda.

Related: Rita Hayworth Connection | Real-life connection to Rita Hayworth


Trivia

Rebekah del Rio on how she ended up in the movie

When I met David that fateful morning I was not aware that he was recording my voice. I sang with all of my heart and soul and I left very shortly after. Little did I know that the recording would haunt David to the point of writing a special part in his then pilot, “Mulholland Drive”. It was such a thrill to receive the phone call from my faithful friend and agent, Brian Loucks at CAA while I was struggling in Nashville to say that David wanted me to fly to L.A. and film my part.
It was my first movie... my first trailer… my first 15 hour day on a set. Whew!!! Actors work really hard. I developed a whole new respect for the art and the actor. It was long hard work but I loved every minute of it.

John Neff (MD sound designer) on how the song was recorded

"She came into the studio with her agent in November or December of '98. And she walked in, and the guy was telling us what a great voice she had… she's real nice, she's very personable, and very friendly, and Dave just… she's in there 5 minutes and he says 'Well, sing us something.' Meanwhile, I had a beautiful old tube mic heated up in an isolation room, and a Protools system up and running. So she walked in the booth, put on headphones, I had some reverb on it, and she blasts out “Llorando” right there. And except for one tiny edit, just to shorten a note just a hair, what you hear in the film is exactly what she walked in the room and did. No EQ. No compression. No nothing. Just reverb added. She walked in and knocked this out acappella, and knocked us out right off the bat.

David wrote her into the TV Pilot based on that. Now she's in the movie, and it's sort of a pivotal scene. And we're also producing some other stuff with her. We've got one song finished, and a couple of other songs started with her. We'll also have some showcase shows slightly after the film is released."

Richard Green (The Magician) on Rebekah's performance

When we shot my scene, Rebekah Del Rio was there as well. We shot most of my wide shots first, and then we brought her in. Listening to that recording (of "Llorando") in this big theater was astounding. I mean, it is an astounding vocal rendition. I came back to my studio afterwards and thought, "I can't believe what I just heard. This woman is amazing. That was an amazing recording." I figured they recorded it with a track, and then they pulled the track and decided to use the a cappella version. So when I was at the Cannes Film Festival, John Neff and I were talking, and I said, "What a great performance. Did you record that?" And he laughed and told me the true story. (Wrapped in Plastic #57)

Blue Velvet: Dean Stockwell singing to Orbison's 'In Dreams'Lynch and Roy Orbison

Lynch is said to be a fan of Roy Orbison. As in Mulholland Dr. there's also a scene in "Blue Velvet" where Dean Stockwell is singing to Orbison's "In Dreams" ("In dreams, I walk with you …"). The lipsyncing is exposed when Dennis Hopper's character stops the tape.


Related:
"Llorando" Song Lyrics
Club Silencio
Rita Hayworth Connection

Music Downloads:
Llorando (Film version).mp3 (1 MB)
Llorando (Band version).mp3 (1 MB)
Llorando (MD Fan Tribute).mp3 (6.5 MB)

Links:
Rebekah performing "Llorando" live
The Rebekah Del Rio Official Website
Notes on Llorando