In November 2019, when the best of her career was going, Anahí de Cárdenas had to stop to face the hardest test of her life: fighting a cancer that was silently advancing in her body. She was not defeated and now, a year after finishing her treatment and being discharged, she has returned to demonstrate her vocal talents on the show. Artist of the year.
Last Saturday the 22nd he made a great version of the 80s hit from Alaska, Who cares, and won the applause of the jury and the viewing public. That proposal to participate in a singing program came to him at the right time. This year he is dedicating his best efforts to music. In March he released a video clip with the theme Dignity, the first of several he is preparing.
“I have several songs on the way and one that is about to come out called Show Up, is in mixing and mastering. I’m getting into music hard, taking singing classes, and ballroom dancing in my spare time to relax. And I’m focused on Artist of the year, trying to overcome what is done every week ”, he says.
Music has always been very present in Anahí’s career. He studied piano, has participated in several musical works and in 2013 he recorded a disc of ten songs of his own that was called Who’s Thats Girl? and that he launched with Sony. Since college she was already composing and now she wants people to start getting to know her more in that area.
“After the 2013 album, I did not continue because I did not understand the item very well, how it moved. And now older, with more experience, I am trying again because I believe that rather than looking for people to help you, or promote you, you have to give yourself the opportunity to fulfill your dreams, “he says.
On his YouTube channel one can find the video clip that he released this year, several of his first album and also a mini-concert with his friends, a group they call “There is no plan B” because -explains- when one has a plan B, sometimes you don’t focus on plan A, which is the one that really matters.
“They are all actors, singers. A group with whom I started doing musical theater, and with whom I will surely continue working. They are talented people, in whom I trust, admire them and I like to work with them ”, he says. Now that because of the pandemic he has time to create, he takes advantage of it. “It’s what I try every day: take advantage of my time for my career, my personal life, my emotional well-being.”
Feel alive
-A few days ago you published on your networks that this month (May) was a year since you finished your treatment and you were discharged. How do you feel at this moment Anahí?
It has been incredible. I feel extraordinary. And I am very grateful. Little by little I am coming out of this. There are still things I have to do. I still have four more years of treatment. But every time I feel closer to my goal, so to speak.
-You are leaving behind that hard experience
Exactly. And also wanting to help other people. Just as I have had the opportunity to move forward with this, I would like to help other people to do so as well. And that is precisely why I created my association Previene Perú.
-An experience as strong as having cancer and perhaps feeling death near, changes you. What changed in you after this Anahí?
Absolutely everything. The world looks different, you have no idea. Your perspective on life, your relationship with people changes. There is a huge thank you for just being alive. That is reflected in the interactions and relationships you have with everything in life. Not only with your family, with your friends. Just going for a walk down the street is the best.
-You enjoy the simplest things …
You start to really appreciate the little things in life that we often overlook. To breathe. Breathe in the smell of freshly cut grass, little things. And you say: what peace.
-You have said that your family, your close circle, were a great support
I have a great relationship with my family. My mom, my dad, my brother, my in-laws. Everyone has been there to support me. It has been a situation that has united my family. If the ties were already good, he has improved them. We have improved the dialogue, we have learned to speak, to set limits. It has been something that has taught us all a lot.
-In your networks you made a kind of diary of your recovery and people responded with great affection
Yes. People are socializing with me to this day and they have been a great support. I felt like a great responsibility, as a public figure, to always be able to give my best. And this company of people through thick and thin, I feel it as something beautiful. The public gives me so much with their acceptance, their applause, with being aware, with following me. There is a phrase that artists always say: that they are due to their audience. That is something that I have understood as a result of this and I only have words of thanks. This would not have been the same without them and without their support.
Tell it all
The disease has not only changed her perspective on life, but now Anahí has become a cancer prevention activist through an organization she has created: Previene Perú. With it he seeks to give information and education on the subject to people. Some time ago he held a concert where 400 thousand soles were raised. He worked with the Peruvian Cancer Foundation (FPC) and the Food Bank, with whom he joined for the event.
“When I was sick and undergoing chemotherapy, I realized that many people had never been to have a cancer checkup, or did not know about the self-exam. I discovered my cancer by doing a self-exam. It was information that I had and felt that I should share ”, he says.
In its networks it also supports ventures for which it obtains an amount that goes to Previene Peru. “We want to continue carrying out activities to bring prevention and free mammograms to places where they are needed, together with the Peruvian Cancer Foundation. They have a mobile mammogram and all of that can be done, ”he says.
Anahí, singer, actress, dancer, does not stop. These days he also continues to write a book where he will tell aspects that were not seen in his networks about how hard it was to face the disease. She started writing it as soon as she was diagnosed and, she says, talks about her entire treatment and recovery process. It is like the B side of everything that was known. “It has many stories. It’s intimate, thoughtful and personal, ”he says.
Returning to music, he is also writing a musical series. “The music is always present,” he says. I had already written before You of aunts, musical comedy that can be seen virtually through Joinnus. For this reason, when Gisela Valcárcel called her to participate in the Artist of the year (América TV) never doubted it.
“It was a good decision to be on the show. It has given me a lot of security. Every Saturday I feel better, stronger. I like what I’m doing, I enjoy it. I’m happy, ”she explains. His maxim is: Think happy, be happy and give yourself a chance.
– .
