Asi Soy Yo

by Evan C. GutierrezHaving triumphed over the Latino copy of American Idol, Anais dives into the larger pond of the mainstream market with her debut album, Asi Soy Yo. With the requisite skimpy wardrobe and dreamy pop ballads, "Estoy con Él y Pienso en Ti" and "Lo Que Son las Cosas," Anais seems ready to take her competitive edge to the charts. Having broken Billboard's Hot 100, and done quite well on the Latin charts, it seems that she's got more than what it takes. Armed with a gutsy voice, and plenty of ganas to back it up, Anais is able to take her song's wind-blown drama to another level. Staying stylistically well within pop boundaries, Asi Soy Yo is a simple backdrop for the Puerto Rican songstress. No envelopes are being pushed here, with the possible exception of testing her audience's tolerance for repackaging. The album's producers have taken the trend of remixing an album's single in a new style (version salsa, version bachata, etc.) to a level of stupidity. The record's two singles appear on the record a total of eight times, including some very poor stylistic choices. That aside, Asi Soy Yo could have been more kindly titled "here's my first try," as the vocalist's talents seem to outstrip the quality of the production.