I publicly support Ylenia Padilla, and I sign it with my name

I put it in the title and I'm not hiding: I publicly support Ylenia Padilla. The song works almost like a protest banner, the kind you hold up with both hands and repeat until whoever walks past has learned it.

The lyrics are short and stubborn. Nearly everything is a variation on the same idea: «Yo soy como Ylenia Padilla» ("I'm like Ylenia Padilla"), I defend her, I'm on her side, I understand her. There's no story, no gossip, no judgement of anyone. What there is, is a phrase that fills up with meaning by sheer repetition, like when someone tells you «te creo» ("I believe you") three times in a row and by the third time you finally believe it yourself.

The part I care about most is the middle verse, the one about feeling that the whole world has failed you and turned its back on you at the worst possible moment. Anyone who has been exposed, singled out or simply alone when they most needed company knows that feeling. That's where support stops being a fan joke and becomes pure identification: I've been there too.

I love the contrast. On one hand, the tone is camp, almost a reality-show placard, with that full name repeated like a mantra. On the other, there's something very sincere underneath. Defending out loud a TV personality who has been talked about endlessly is a small gesture, but it's also a stance: I'd rather have empathy than a lynching.

Who would I dedicate it to? Anyone going through a stretch when it feels like the whole world has decided to look at them sideways. And also to anyone in the habit of passing judgement on other people's lives too quickly, so they try standing on the other side, even if only for three minutes.

Turn it up, play it again, and if you know it by the second chorus, perfect: that means you're already on her side.

The full lyrics are below. Listen on Spotify