Eva Longoria took to Instagram to tell her fans she would soon have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The best part, she said, sharing the honor with fellow Corpus Christi native Selena Quintanilla Perez. Image by Roland Chiapoco
Actress Eva Longoria took to Instagram to humbly gush about being chosen for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Although excited about something she had dreamed about as a young girl in L.A., her biggest thrill came from being named with a fellow honoree: Selena Quintanilla Perez. She seemed equally thrilled to share Corpus Christi as a hometown with the Tejano music superstar, who will be honored posthumously.
"Selena was proud of being from Corpus Christi, Texas, and that made me proud to be from Corpus,” Longoria wrote. “She blazed the way for all of us and I will be forever grateful to her for not only that, but for the pure joy I felt when I got to see her perform. Her smile, her charisma, her beauty put every single person who watched her under a spell.”
Longoria and Perez are part of the Hollywood Walk of Fame’s Class of 2017. Honorees were chosen from among hundreds of nominations to the Walk of Fame Selection Committee in June. Honorees have two years from the date of selection to schedule a public ceremony. Neither Longoria or the Quintanilla Perez family have scheduled a date.
More than 2,500 stars are embedded in sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California. A prime tourist attraction drawing around 10 million visitors a year, the ever growing exhibit is maintained by the Hollywood Chamber Commerce and the Hollywood Historic Trust.
Also a Corpus Christi native, Longoria said she was thrilled to be chosen the same year as Selena.
"I could never have dreamed that one day I would receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,” her Instagram message reads. “But even more ironic is that the same year I receive my star, so does my idol, my inspiration, my fellow Tejana, my fellow Corpus Christi native, Selena Quintanilla. She was the reason I even dared to dream that a better life was possible. And that that life didn't have to distance you from where you came from. So many people become famous and leave a place without ever crediting it with the role it played in shaping their lives."
Longoria is best known for her role on the TV hit series “Desperate Housewives.” She arrived in Los Angeles by way of Corpus Christi 20 years ago. She claims one of the first places she went to visit was the Holiday Walk of Fame.
In a press statement released the day of the announcement, she thanked the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for the honor.
“What makes this even sweeter is that I stand side by side with my idol Selena Quintanilla!” she said. “Corpus girls representing!"
In her Instagram message, Longoria continued her praise of the Tejano Queen, who seems to be making a comeback in popularity since her hometown began holding an annual festival, Fiesta de la Flor, to honor her. The third annual festival is set for March 24-25, 2017.
“Thank you Selena,” Longoria wrote on Instagram. “I know I will receive my star on the Walk of Fame because you dared to dream it first."
