El fantasma de Elena

El fantasma de Elena
Created by	Humberto Kico Olivieri
Developed by	Telemundo Studios, Miami
Directed by	David Posada Nicolas Di Blasi Ricardo Schwarz
Starring	Elizabeth Gutierrez Segundo Cernadas Ana Layevska Fabian Rios
Theme music composer	Patricia Manterola
Opening theme	"Y Llegarás" by Patricia Manterola
Country of origin	United States
Original language	Spanish
No. of episodes	117
Production
Executive producer	Aurelio Valcarcel Carrol
Producer	Jairo Arcila
Production location	Miami
Editor	Hader Antivar Duque
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	42 minutes
Original release
Network	Telemundo
Release	United States July 20, 2010 - January 7, 2011 Panama August 25, 2010 - February 3, 2011 Nicaragua October 25, 2010 - April 8, 2011 Albania November 15, 2010 - April 26, 2011 Venezuela November 30, 2010 - May 02, 2011 Serbia December 8, 2010 - May 24, 2011 Dominican Republic November 29, 2010 - May 10, 2011 Croatia January 3, 2011 - June 14, 2011 Costa Rica January 3, 2011 - June 14, 2011 El Salvador January 3, 2011 - June 14, 2011 Chile January 10, 2011 - June 21, 2011 Poland January 20, 2011 - July 1, 2011 Georgia (country) February 10, 2011 - June 21, 2011 Paraguay March 7, 2011 - ... Russia April 21, 2011 Bulgaria 2011

El Fantasma de Elena (Elena's Ghost) is a Spanish-language telenovela produced by the United States-based television network Telemundo.

The first season comprised 117 episodes transmitted in the USA from 20 July 2010 to 7 January 2011. As with most of its other soap operas, the network broadcasts English subtitles as closed captions on CC3.

It stars Elizabeth Gutierrez and Segundo Cernadas as protagonists and Ana Layevska as the main antagonist in a double role (Elena & Daniela).

It has had different subtitles. When the original story was changed after just 30 episodes, the novela was renamed Elena Contra Elena (Elena vs. Elena). 2 weeks later, the script was taken to a new direction again and its title was changed to La Venganza De Elena (Elena's Revenge). Finally, the novela was named El Desafio De Elena (Elena's Challenge) just after 20 episodes. After the 60th episode, the novela was renamed back to its original name El Fantasma de Elena (Elena's Ghost). Humberto Kiko Olivieri was often criticised for changing the original script, which was done to gain more viewers; successfully,as the rating rose from 3-4 to 4-5 in USA.

Even though the novela underperformed in USA compared to its predecessor (Perro Amor), it was a major success in South-American and European countries. It proved an audience leader in countries like Panama, Serbia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Poland, Albania and Croatia and is among the most watched telenovelas in the others. It was sold to 70 countries around the world.

Story

Young and beautiful, Elena and her widowed father, Tomas manage a small but excellent hotel on the ocean shore in Key West. Raised in her father’s shadow and shielded from the maternal side of her family, Elena has never known true love. That is until she finds Eduardo unconscious in the middle of the forest, and Elena falls hopelessly in love as she nurses him back to health. The rich, young businessman is equally passionate, and they’re married in an impromptu ceremony on the beach. Elena joins Eduardo in his mansion, where he resides with several family members and household staff. From a photograph, Elena learns about Eduardo’s deceased wife, also named Elena, who died in a tragic accident on her wedding day. The new bride isn’t given the warmest of welcomes to the castle, but it’s the screams and moans coming from the castle’s tower that most terrify Elena. Additionally, she begins to find out that her husband and his brothers belong to this mythological race, which hides many secrets and conspiracies. The twists and turns of the ocean-front locale mirror a storyline intertwined with secret loves, unusual characters and a mysterious aura. Kico spins a web of mystery and chance, until we discover the secret behind Elena’s Ghost.

Elena Lafe (Elizabeth Gutierrez) is a talented horse rider and a very young and beautiful woman whose life is about to change from the moment she finds Eduardo (Segundo Cernadas) in the middle of the forest. She takes him to her father's hotel and takes care of him. They fall in love and later get married. She and her best friend Laura (Wanda D'Isidoro) move to his mansion, where they receive a cold welcome from Eduardo's relatives. Elena learns from Corina (Maritza Bustamante) about the relationship Eduardo had with Elena Calcano (Ana Layevska) who was to be his wife, but committed suicide on the day of the wedding, after having been left at the altar. Elena also has a twin sister named Daniela (Ana Layevska) who has got mad after Elena's death. From this moment on, Elena Lafe will have to confront a ghost who wants revenge, a witch who casts spells on her, the half brother of Eduardo, a very strange man, a crazy twin sister who wants to kill her and hundreds of secrets that will change her life forever.

Later on in the novela it is revealed that in fact Elena Calcano has been pretending to be Daniela all these years and that she was very much alive and the one that died was Daniela. She puts the mansion on fire and kills various characters including Elena Lafe's step mother. A war begins between the two for Eduardo's love. Elena Calcano remains officially Eduardo's wife.Elena Calcano lies to Eduardo and said he would sign the papers for divorce.She poured something into his drink, and then she lied down beside him, waiting to Elena Lafe comes and finds them together.After that, Elena Lafe saw them and Elena Calcano tells her that she and Eduardo made love.Elena Lafe looks for revenge. She marries Montecristo (Fabian Rios), leaves Eduardo and Elena Calcano in penury, so that they have no option, but to work for her. The things get complicated after she finds out she is pregnant with Eduardo's child, but lies to everybody pretending it is Montecristo's. After the birth, Elena Calcano steals the child, says it is hers and tells Elena that her child died after the birth. Elena Lafe goes mad and leaves the mansion, disappearing with a doll which she believes to be her child. She is later found by Eduardo who doesn't know Elena Calcano's baby is in fact Elena's baby. Finally Elena Lafe is kidnapped by Montecristo and ends up in the Mafia's hands. She is rescued by Eduardo and returns to the mansion. The twin steals again her baby and throws in air the mansion by the meaning of a bomb, believing she had killed Eduardo. Elena Lafe, hurt after all she had lived, looks for a final revenge. Orders the death of Montecristo, seduces and entraps the boss of the Mafia, and takes him to the police. Meanwhile, Eduardo is on the streets with no memory and the twin plans to kill Elena's baby.

In the end, Elena finds Eduardo and her child who is being rescued. The twin goes mad and ends up in asylum where she dies. Elena Lafe and Eduardo live happy with their children.

Cast

Main cast in order of Appearance

Actor	Character	Known as
Elizabeth Gutierrez	Elena Lafé	Main heroine, in love with Eduardo, Montecristo's ex-wife, at the end with Eduardo
Segundo Cernadas	Eduardo Girón	Main hero, in love with Elena Lafé
Ana Layevska	Elena Calcaño † / Daniela Calcaño †	Main female villain, wants to destroy Elena Lafé and Eduardo, dies in insane asylum / her sister, killed by Elena Calcaño
Fabian Rios	Montecristo Palacio †	Main male villain, half brother of Eduardo and Dario, killed by some prisoners in prison, in love with Elena Lafé
Maritza Bustamante	Corina Santander	Villain, later becomes good, Rebeca's sister, was engaged with Walter
Carlos Montilla	Darío Girón †	Villain, Eduardo's brother, died after surgery in which he gave his bone marrow to Andrea
Elluz Peraza	Antonia "Latoña" Sulbarán	Villain, later becomes good, mother of Elena and Daniela
Katie Barberi	Rebeca Santander de Girón	Villain, later becomes good, Corina's sister
Jessica Mas	Dulce Uzcátegui †	Third main villain, kills 6 people, died in a hospital by traffic accident
Zully Montero	Margót Uzcátegui † / Ruth Merchán (La Reina)	Elena Lafe's grandmother, poisoned by Dulce / Margot's step sister (formerly homeless)
Henry Zakka	Alan Martin	Former police officer, currently personal assistant/protector of Elena Lafe
Eva Tamargo	Mariela Lafé †	Elena Lafe's stepmother, died in the fire of the Giron mansion
Braulio Castillo	Tomás Lafé †	Elena Lafe's father, killed in car crash caused by Dulce
Gerardo Riveron	Samuel †	Jesusa's husband, died in the fire of the Giron mansion
Adrian Carvajal	Benjamín Girón †	Villain, Rebeca's and Dario's son, has a plan with Montecristo Palacios, has Laura captive, drugged a young girl to pretend to be Elena's ghost, died in the fire of the Giron mansion, Andrea's brother
Marisol Calero	Nena Ochoa	Fake spirit medium, currently acts as medium for the ghost of Daniela Calcaño and ally of Latoña
Freddy Viquez	Anacleto/Said	Nena Ochoa's friend
Juan Pablo Llano	Walter	Chaffeur, in love with Andrea, was engaged to Corina
Victor Corona	Kalima †	Villain. Montecristo's friend, killed by police
Beatriz Monroy	Jesusa	Chief servant in the Giron mansion, adopted mother of Milady
Wanda D'Isidoro	Laura Luna	Elena Lafe's best friend, survives being Benjamin's prisoner
Liannet Borrego	Milady Margarita	Servant at the Giron mansion, biological daughter of Clara, married to Michel
Michelle Jones	Gandica	Police officer
Yuly Ferreira	Sandra †	Dancer, Corina's friend, Montecristo's ex-lover, killed by Kalima
Leslie Stewart	Victoria "Vicky" Ortega †	Rebeca's friend, also sent to prison for attempting to kill Dulce's son, killed by Butterfly in a shooting in a mall trying to escape with Rebeca from prison
Isabella Castillo	Andrea Girón	Rebeca's and Dario's daughter, in love with Walter

Secondary cast and Special participations

Actor	Character	Known as
Alexandra Pomales	Lucia	Michel and Milady's sister
Anabel Leal		Walter's mother
Andres Mistage	Octavio	was going to marry Elena Lafe but she told him that she didn't love him in the 1st episode
Ariel Texido	Tulio Peñaloza †	Lawyer, killed by Dulce
Ernesto Tapia	Pancho	Worker of the Giron's mansion, Leonor's brother
Hilda Luna	Cristina †	Killed by Dulce with a hair dryer while she was taking a bath
Juan Cepero	Dr. Lorenzo Tapia	Doctor of the Giron family
Johnny Nessy		Criminal
Karen Garcia	Clara Bertuol-Mayerston	Miledy's real mom, Michel adopter him since he was an baby and biological mother of Lucia
Jorge Hernandez	El Greco
Juan David Ferrer	Dr. Roland	Doctor that attended Elena Calcaño when she was crazy
Lino Martone	Ramiro Sanchez Quejada	Greko's boss, wants Montecristo to rot in jail, wants to buy the hacienda of Elena, captured by police
Luke Grande	Barman
Maria Malgrat
Mauricio Hénao	Michel	Adopted son of Clara, married to Milady
Morella Silva	Butterfly	In prison, paid by Dulce to kill Rebeca and Vicky
Nini Vásquez	Maoli
Nury Flores	Felipa Chaparro	Former women's prison guard, now employed by Elena Lafé to find Elena Calcaño
Omar Santana	Macaco	Worker in the bar where Corina works
Rayner Garranchan
Reinaldo Cruz	Mauricio Verti	Real father of Milady
Tely Ganas
Shafik Palis	Eduardito Girón	Son of Dulce and Dario
Vanessa González	Leonor	Pancho's sister, used to work as the maid of Margot & Dulce,now works on the Girons mansion
Vivian Morales		Beggar, helped Montecristo and Kalima to find Elena
Xavier Coronel	Padre Aguas	Priest and confidant of various persons
Yoel Román	Abundio †	Killed by Kalima
Guadalupe Hernández		Kidnapper of Andrea, work for Dulce
Rosa Calzadillo

Broadcasting

Country	TV network(s)	Series premiere
United States	Telemundo	July 20, 2010
Panama	TVN	August 25, 2010
Nicaragua	Televicentro	October 25, 2010
Albania	Digit-Alb	November 15, 2010
Dominican Republic	Antena Latina	November 29, 2010
Venezuela	Televen	November 30, 2010
Serbia	Prva	December 8, 2010
Croatia	Doma TV	January 3, 2011
Costa Rica	Teletica	January 3, 2011
El Salvador	Canal 4	January 3, 2011
Chile	CHV	January 10, 2011
Poland	TV Puls	January 20, 2011
Georgia	Rustavi 2	February 10, 2011
Paraguay	LaTele	March 7, 2011
Bulgaria	BTV	June 15, 2011

In the majority of the countries it was released in, the novela had the highest ratings in its time slot and was one of the most watched overall. It was successful in specific areas of the South American continent including Panama, El Salvador, Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, Paraguay, Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, where it became the most watched series, ahead of Univision and Televisa.

The novela was very well received in Europe, being released in more than 15 European countries. The continent proved the best market for the novela which has reached enourmous succes and very good critics.

Overall, the novela has been released in more than 70 countries worldwide, being even more successful than Olivieri's previous work.