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Ahead Of Oscars, Costa Rica's President Makes Video For Nominee Emma Stone

LOURDES GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

The Oscars are tonight, and one special fan is hoping the best actress award goes to Emma Stone for her role in "La La Land." That fan is the president of Costa Rica. As NPR's Carrie Kahn reports, the president made a special video for Stone, complete with his own piano rendition of one of the songs in the movie.

CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: Costa Rica's president, Luis Guillermo Solis, is no Ryan Gosling, but his sincerity is over-the-top endearing. His short video, all in English, already has nearly 15,000 likes on his Facebook page.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)

PRESIDENT LUIS GUILLERMO SOLIS: Hi, Emma. A couple of months ago, you said that you would like to come to Costa Rica. I take your word for it.

KAHN: Apparently, Stone did make the comment to Vogue during a cute video the magazine posts on its website asking stars rapid-fire questions.

(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO, "73 QUESTIONS WITH EMMA STONE")

JOE SABIA: What country in the world would you love to visit?

EMMA STONE: Oh, man, there's too many to name. Let's go with Costa Rica.

KAHN: That was enough for Solis, according to his communications director, Boris Ramirez. He says the president is always looking for ways to shine a spotlight on his tiny, Central American country, complete with white-sand beaches and lush, green rainforests.

BORIS RAMIREZ: (Speaking Spanish).

KAHN: Ramirez says the president just took advantage of the fact that she opened the beautiful possibility of coming to our country and decided to make the extensive invitation to her in the name of the Costa Rican people.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)

SOLIS: Costa Rica's a small paradise with lots of things to see and do.

KAHN: OK. Clearly, it's a slick ploy for the country's tourism industry, but Solis is known as a welcoming kind of guy. His country has been widely recognized for hosting thousands of refugees in recent months. After the tourism plug, the video cuts to Solis sitting at a piano under a black sky full of stars as he plays one of the movie's most memorable songs.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)

SOLIS: Come to Costa Rica, Emma. Perhaps in a few weeks, it would be a good place to celebrate.

KAHN: No word from Stone's publicist whether the actress will come to celebrate. Guess we have to see first who wins tonight.

Carrie Kahn, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Carrie Kahn is NPR's International Correspondent based in Mexico City, Mexico. She covers Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America. Kahn's reports can be heard on NPR's award-winning news programs including All Things Considered, Morning Edition and Weekend Edition, and on NPR.org.

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