A Prince Brings Down the House

By Fatima Sesay

Bronx Journal Staff Writer

Bronx music fans offered a rousing welcome to one of their own when Latin pop star Prince Royce gave a concert at Lovinger Theatre on November 12, 2010. The 21-year-old Bronx native and Dominican-American musical sensation gave a three-hour performance in front of hundreds of singing and screaming fans. Royce, whose real name is Geoffrey Royce Rojas, sang some of his biggest hits including “Corazon Sin Cara” and his rendition of “Stand By Me.”

The royal crooner had fans in a swoon and proved quite a tease. “I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m single,” Royce said. He was rewarded with expectant screams from the mesmerized crowd, with one attendee in particular falling under his spell.

Imagine standing front row and suddenly your favorite pop artist requests a kiss from his ‘number one fan.’ By some odd turn of fate, his arm stretches out in your direction. You feel his hand touching yours, pulling you on the stage; instructing you to sit on a chair with a bundle of roses.

A young Latina fan in a red spandex dress settled into the chair, eyes on Royce, dashing in a tan hat, mustard turtleneck, blue scarf and dark-green shoes. He sported a fresh fade haircut, which says something about a man’s grooming.

Royce serenaded her with “Tu y Yo,” one of his fans’ favorite songs. She blushed in the presence of all those dimples and lips, which she assumed were going to be pressed against hers any minute. But wait, he still hasn’t kissed her, so she started moving the chair towards him. He started touching her face and hair, moving his lips close enough that she could feel his breath on her face.

Until…he backed away, and continued with his performance. With a disappointed look on her face, she accepted a kiss on the cheek, and a hug from him, as she is yet again, instructed off the stage.

Mr. Royce started smiling and said to the audience, “Ya know, ya hating, stop hating.”

Crystal Rey, a 23-year-old senior at Lehman College, heard about the event from her girlfriend, 22-year-old girlfriend Erika Guzman, a junior at Lehman. They talked about Prince Royce’s “sudden rise to fame.”

“He got popular really fast by remaking ‘Stand By Me,’” they decide.

“He is well-organized,” said Rey.

Asked what she liked about the concert, Yaniril Mercedes, a 17-year-old student at Marie School for Nursing said, “Everything! His songs, it was amazing!” Yaniril sang along to every song, screaming “I love you!”

Lourdes Perez, a 13-year-old student at High School of Applied Communications, found time to comment on Royce in between screaming and chewing her gum. “Yes, yes, yes! I just love him. I love his music.”

Leslie Caveraz, 20, attended the concert with her boyfriend. Like many fans, her favorite song is “Stand By Me.”

“It’s classical, but modern. They’ve updated it,” she said. “Being Hispanic, I think it’s really nice to have Hispanic figures in our community, especially community colleges. He is representing us up there. Yesterday, he was at the Latin Grammy’s, today he is here. It’s just really nice to be able to actually see a star and have him accessible for everyone.”