Peru: Wendy Sulca, Child Video Sensation

Wendy Sulca LogoThrough FaceBook messages, YouTube and blogs, Peruvian 10 year old Wendy Sulca has become quite popular in the last couple of months, with a sudden surge in the past few days far beyond the Peruvian border.

In Damr.net, she gets touted as the successor of Delfin Quishpe, the Ecuadorian character who became a viral sensation signing about a girlfriend who died on the World Trade Center on 9-11.

Sin palabras con este video, sin duda es la sucesora o hija de Delfin Quishpe.

(aporte de Virginia)

No need for words for this video, it is doubtless that she is the successor or the daughter of Delfin uishpe.

(via Virginia)

The video referred to is “La Tetita” , a song written and sung by her in the Peruvian folkloric style. The song, “The Tittie”, talks about how she really likes to drink from her mother´s breast, and a male voice-over mentions her young age, her virtue, her great voice, and how she´s the hope and example for millions of children in Peru. Following, the “The tittie” video, in Spanish with English subtitles.

Several different users re-posted her videos on the Youtube video sharing site, increasing her popularity. There is a WendySulca YouTube channel with her official videography. The Wendy Sulca Official Fan Website, wendysulcaclub.blogspot.com [es] also has her videos as well as a text biography of the singer “who besides wanting to be a professional singer, wishes to be a teacher”. Videos online have the watermark to the eymard7vivas blog [es].Comments to her videos are varied. Blogger DiscoShawn had this to say about the Wendy Sulca phenomenon:

In recent weeks my inbox has been flooded with messages saying “Nuevo Comentario Sobre: Wendy Sulca – Papito”. After months of virtually no one watching the video, it was apparently re-posted on a few websites, including this porn-ish site (I don't get it either – gross) and a Chilean blog called Por La Puta. The video is now up to around 20,000 views on YouTube, which is still relatively small but an exponential increase from just a couple of weeks ago. The comments section on the video's YouTube page has also exploded with people chiming in about everything from child exploitation to whether the music is folklorico or cumbia.

You´ll find people complaining on these videos ranting about the terrible image that is left of Peru thanks to these artists, like previous Peruvian viral sensation la Tigresa del Oriente and now Wendy. There are others who give her kudos for singing Peruvian folkloric songs, and others just plain love the kitschyness of her videos. Some users, however, are concerned about the mixed message the video sends out when the male “Voice in Off” says that 18 year old men also like “the titties”, and these men, who happen to be the band members, are shown ogling a young girl walking by. It seems to be a far cry from what Wendy Sulca wanted to express through her original song about her love for breastfeeding.

Viewers also find some of her other videos inappropriate for a 10 year old due to the lyrics and images featured on them. “My Life is Worth Nothing” [es], where she sings “my life is worth nothing if you aren´t with me, my love. Even if they take my life, I´ll be in heaven with you forever”, or “Beer, beer” [es] where she croons in her high pitched voice about how she wants the barman to bring her more beer.

Some users have already used her videos as mashups. One of them is ElCuboSpot productions:

Si han escuchado la voz de Wendy Sulca y se han indignado tanto como yo al oir cosa tan mas fea… entonces deben ver este video que deja ver un poco los deseos de los que nos hemos quedado sorprendidos con los videos de esta niña Puruana que esta en manos de producciones Danny.
En este video (que a mi punto de vista denigra el folklor peruano)… presenta nadamas y nada menos que al buen hombre de George Bush que saca sus mas bajos instintos provocados por la aguda voz de esta niña “de tan solo 8 años de edaaad” jajaja

If you have listened to Wendy Sulca´s voice and you´ve been offended as much as I have by listening to such an ugly thing… then you should watch this video that lightly shows the desires of those of us who have been surprised with the videos of this Peruvian girl who´s in the hands of Danny productions. In this video (which from my perspective denigrates Peruvian folklore)… presents no less than the good man George Bush who brings out his most basic instincts provoked by the high pitched squeal of this girl who is “only 8 yeaaaars oooold” hehehe

The following video shows El Cubo´s George Bush Vs. Wendy Sulca:
Other tributes are quickly popping up, like this one, and this one as well.

18 comments

  • My favorite part, without any doubt, is the kid in the tie doing his dance. I wonder if he gives lessons …

  • The saddest part is that you at Global Voices took the time to translate these trashy videos that make fun of indigenous peoples of Peru. Fine, the girl doesn’t sing well, and the lyrics are really stupid. So what is your point? I just lost respect for your blog.

  • I don’t like Tigresa del Oriente Videos, and supposse I won’t like Wendy’s videos too, but the point is that is something that is happening, is something that represents thousands of people, and is made by the same indigenous people that u describe as being used to get fun. Popular culture goes in so differents ways sometimes it’s hard to follow it. Big hug.

  • Juan, this is not about personal taste. There is good and bad in every culture of the world, that is for one to decide but also we must to pick what we promote. Imagine if we pick on the worst of the world, then we Global Voices will become more like TMZ or Perez Hilton.

    Why do we need to promote demeaning videos that will give a bad impression about Andean people and cultures, when there are plenty of better examples of what we are all about?

    I feel that someone thought “this girl is ridiculously funny, let’s join the mock” and that is a waste of resources and I believe is part of a racist way to put down our native peoples.

    We don’t need those roles models, think about our youth. It is not a coincidence the Peruvian media is full of pornography, violence, alcoholism, racims and biased news. Not a coincidence.

    We bloggers can lead a way to do what is right. Not join the evil.

  • When we blog at GlobalVoices, we amplify conversations that are going on already on the internet. For example, the comments on this article, are a faithful example of the current comments throughout the internet regarding this girl´s video.

    It is because this video reached viral status that people *are* discussing issues like whether it shames or represents peruvians, whether it is “racism”, mockery, or we just don´t get it, and whether Wendy should be singing the songs she is…even though the topics are not unusual for other young andean music representantivs in her style, like Doris Rossel and Las Muchachitas del Amor.

    Absent in these comments, though, and unrepresented on this online conversations are the crowds that you can see on footage of Wendy’s concerts, holding up posters of the “wonder girl of Folklore”. It seems she does have a following and supporters who don´t feel she is demeaning andean music, but instead, could believe she is giving andean music a breath of fresh air.

    So it is great that this conversation is kept going, that we exchange opinions and continue discussing these issues.

  • wendy sulca

    Tainkiu for iur comentz gais! Gritinks from Peru!!
    -wendy sulca

  • Alexandra

    Peruanista,
    I am not peruvian and admit I know very little of Peru. One thing is certain though, Peru is not really famous for exporting culture. I live in Milan where thousands of Peruvians live too. They make for the highest gangs percentages in the city together with criminality. As far I know this is a phenomena that extends to other ITalian and european cities. What s the link between this and WS? I guess that Peruvians are not among the most desireable abroad.
    You do mention how there are thousand of examples of good peruvian folkore. Could you please list them? I sont think there really are. It takes a coouople of minutes to watch Peruvian Tv to understand the low level and degradation Peru afflicts culturally on the world.

  • Alonso

    Peruanista: tenemos mejores ejemplos de nuestra cultura musical. Este caso de WS es desastroso (casi todos concuerdan). Dale la oportunidad a otros, con mayor talento musical, ser escuchados.

    We have better examples of our musical culture. This WS case is a mess (I can see that almost everybody´s agree)and bizarre. Give the chance to others with more musical skills to be heared.

  • alexandra

    Can you please list the examples?

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