Entertainment

Selena's Google Tribute Perfectly Shows What She Meant To '90s Girls Everywhere

by Josie Rhodes Cook

If you haven't had a reason to go on Google this Tuesday afternoon, this is your chance. You're going to want to check out the Doodle featured on the site on Tuesday, especially if you're a fan of the singer and entertainer Selena. The Selena Google Doodle is the perfect celebration of all the young lives the singer touched during her career and life — and it's super entertaining, too.

The Doodle commemorates Selena, the singer's solo debut album, which was released on Oct. 17, 1989, according to Billboard. That was 28 years ago, which is really wild to think about. And apparently, the Doodle itself has been a long time in the making. The idea of a Selena Doodle was first submitted two years ago, Forbes reported. Perla Campos, Global Marketing Lead for Google Doodles, told Forbes:

This is someone I looked up to my entire my life and I wanted to create something special.

And she's far from alone. A lot of young girls were inspired by the singer, and the Doodle is actually a really wonderful way of paying tribute to that fact. In a statement featured on Google's website, Campos went on to say that Selena was, "one of the people who taught me growing up that no matter who you are or where you come from, anything is possible."

That's a message that every young person should learn, and Google is doing its part when it comes to educating others about one entertainer who represented that message wonderfully — especially, as Campos pointed out, for "Latinx, immigrant, and bicultural communities" worldwide.

Selena was very successful at a young age — her music topped Billboard charts, and she earned a Grammy for best Mexican American album for "Selena Live!" in 1994, according to The Los Angeles Times. But she had a limited time to rise as an entertainer and to celebrate her successes — tragically, she was shot and killed by the president of her fan club in 1995, USA Today reported. She was just 23 years old.

But Selena is still beloved by fans, all these years later. In fact, one person in particularly is excited: Selena's sister, Suzette Quintanilla. Quintanilla told Forbes:

What a great way to celebrate an icon. I think it will bring great joy to all her fans who follow her and look up to her as a role model. Selena would be so excited. It’s such an honor.

Getting a Google Doodle is definitely an honor, and one that can be enjoyed the world over. The Selena Google Doodle is featured in 14 different countries, including the United States and Mexico, according to The Los Angeles Times. Selena was considered a "Tex-Mex," or Tejano music star, so the inclusion of both of those countries is incredibly important and very fitting.

It's really amazing that Selena's legacy continues on so strongly all these years after her career was cut short so horribly. In her statement, Campos expressed exactly how much Selena meant to her as a young woman, and it really captured why the singer and her career are still so incredibly empowering for young people. In the statement, Campos said:

Aside from incredible dance moves and how to belt some serious notes, watching Selena taught me that being Latina was a powerful thing, and that with hard work and focus I could do whatever I set my mind to. Watching her showed me that this hybrid cultural identity of mine was a valuable gift I should embrace. Watching her made me proud of being Mexicana.

The Doodle itself does a great job of expressing what Selena's inspiring career looked like to young Latinx and Mexican people. It opens on an animation of Selena singing, and then shows a little girl singing in various settings. At one point, the girl sings with a man who seems to be her father, and he encourages her. The girl eventually ends up on a stage, performing before crowds in settings like a wedding and a birthday party.

The animation then switches back to Selena performing onstage, then going on tour and appearing before adoring crowds. The little girl, it seems, may have been Selena herself, and the message is clear — she was able to do it, and if other young people are "proud of who they are," "embrace their differences," and "work hard," as Campos put it her statement, they can too.

The Selena Google Doodle is entertaining, empowering, and an amazing celebration of the life Selena lived and the lives she touched. It will be hard to top this Doodle in the future, but Google can certainly try.

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