Some characters turned 45 or older and the others hardly aged. raquel's child was only about 6. pedro's kids were still in high school. the inconsistencies were distracting. the original cast, the younger versions of the characters, particularly carolina gaitan was more enjoyable to watch. good, convincing acting. the mature Lola overdid the fingers over the mouth gestures, like she had to make sure to do the thing that Lola does, all the time! would've given more stars if not for those inconsistencies. Loved the representation of Afro Latins, loved Celia and the bands, salsa, rumba, the rhythm and music ! that's a 10!

I think most people didn't realize what they were getting into when they started watching the show. It wasn't show in the History channel, and it wasn't a biography either. With that in mind, I really liked Celia's story. I watched it on Netflix so I was able to skip most of Lola's stories and all the damn flashbacks (WAY TOO MANY). The characters tried their best to portrait Cuban people, but seriously no one in Cuba says "plata" when talking about money, some barely even tried to have a Cuban accent. There were so many of those little things that just destroy the illusion but overall it was OK. I give it a 5 because if you cut all the unnecessary plots (Lola's) and flashbacks the show would probably be closer to 40 episodes. The lip sync was also a bit weird at moments (probably edited badly) and the way people got old in the show was really weird and confusing. So my advice if you are considering watching is to skip all the flashbacks and scenes with Lola in them.

WARNING!!! MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!What started off as a promising biopic/series filled with energetic performances and musical numbers, tragically failed to get it right in the long run. The series was given 80 episodes to tell the story of a legend (80 EPISODES) and yet wasted most of the show's run showing us irrelevant character story lines of people that didn't even really exist; they were fictional characters. The director felt the need to fill in some gaps with stories that not only dragged, but had absolutely nothing to with Celia or her accomplishments. Eventually these story lines became the center of attention for most episodes. Mario, Raquel, Myrelys, Renee, Lola Calvo; all characters who pretty much took more screen time away from the principal artist herself. They wasted so much time on scenarios that weren't needed and characters that had no real meaning to the story line that sadly, the last 15 episodes were rushed. Jumping 10 years within one episode. One of the biggest disappointments was the portrayal of Celia's career with Fania Records in the 1970's. The 70's was when Celia Cruz was at her prime. I anticipated seeing her in that prime; perform at large venues (similarly to her Madison Square Garden concert scene in the first episode) I was hoping to hear all the great songs she recorded and performed with Fania. I wanted to see more of her friendship with Johnny Pacheco and others like Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe and Pete El Conde. We didn't get any of that in this show, instead we got 3 of her hits, 1 of which was only heard as background music. We had two archive concert footage of the real Celia performing in Yankee Stadium and Africa. No scenes recreated, no effort what so ever and her 1970's prime was only shown within 5 episodes, most of which consisted of Mario, Raquel and Myrelys love triangle story line that was not needed or wanted. I was hoping to see and hear more. It was way too little bit of music and performances for a show with so many time on its hands.I wanted to see more of Celia and her life. I get that supporting roles are needed and I would've wanted that as well, but with characters who meant something to Celia or her career. People who contributed professionally and personally like Johnny Pacheco. Why not show us more of the artists who were apart of her life and music? Those artist who were her friends? They did succeed in the beginning with the supporting roles of Myrta Silva and Rogelio Martinez; that's what we needed more of, those characters.Now Lola Calvo. This character was adored as a fictional secondary character. She was a friend who happened to be an aspiring artist as well. Then we find out she based on Latina legend soul singer, La Lupe. Then we see her character get treated with the utmost disrespect and become annoying, hateful and just pathetic. It was a slap in the face to La Lupe and her legacy. For starters, La Lupe wasn't raped as a teen or young adult; she didn't have a step father her real father loved her very much and was very supportive. She came from a happy family who adored her; her mother was always apart of her life. Her music career was the greatest of any Latino entertainer of that time in that genre of music. She was never friends with Celia. She never spoke bad of or even mentioned Celia ever. Their only negative encounter was in 1978 when La Lupe had jokingly remarked that Pedro Knight was a santero, which angered Celia. That was it. I had high hopes for this, they had so much potential. Most biopics get 2 hours or less to tell the story of a legend and many fail to tell the full story because of it. Celia had 80 EPISODES and ended up rushing through the years in the end. There was no need for that. It failed in many ways and I'm truly disappointed.

I am such a big fan of Celia Cruz, I admire the Lady and I was really looking forward to watching this show. I was watching chapter six, but I couldn't go on. All is wrong, the music, the acting, it's all so fake that it hurts to watch. It's almost like a cheap "telenovela", oh wait a minute, so, that's what is it?. Pity, so many good ingredients, the characters, the time in history, the revolution, Al Capone, the great National Hotel, the music, the "Malecon", the Santería. I don't get it, with all that how could it go so wrong? Sorry to my humble point of view is one of the worst shows ever. Please see it for yourselfCelia you deserve better !!!!