by Antonio Mejías-Rentas
Peter and Benjamín Bratt during the filming of their movie La Mission at Mission and 24th street.
WINNERS ALL: Actors Penélope Cruz, Benjamin Brat, Lauren Vélez, Óscar Nuñez, John Leguizamo and Selena Gómez were among ALMA Awards recipients at a ceremony held Sept. 17 in Los Angeles.
Leguizemo won as best film actor for Nothing Like the Holidays, which also earned awards for director Alfredo De Villa and screenwriter Rick Najera.
The ALMA Awards, given by the National Council of La Raza, also handed out special honors to Salma Hayek and boxer Óscar de la Hoya. The ceremony, hosted by executive producer Eva Longoria Parker and George López, aired on ABC on Sept. 18. Rita Moreno presented a special tribute to the late actor Ricardo Montalbán.
In a related item, Latin Grammy nominees were also announced in Los Angeles
on the same day.
Puerto Rican acts dominated this year’s list of nominees, with urban duo Calle 13 receiving five nods, more than any other artist.
Other boricua multiple nominees include Wisin y Yandel, Don Omar, Daddy Yankee, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Luis Fonsi and Tito “EI Bamblao.”
Calle 13’s nominations include the principal Album of the Year category, for Los de atrás vienen conmigo. Others in that category are Andres Cepeda (Día tras día), Luis Enrique (Ciclos), Iván Lins & The Metropole Orchestra (Regencia – Vince Mendoza) and Mercedes Sosa (Cantora 1).
The Latin Recording Academy will hand out the awards Nov. 5 in Las Vegas. This month the organization also announced that Mexican singer-songwriter Juan Gabriel is its Person of the Year.
ONE LINERS: Actor Adonis Losada, who plays the character of Doña Concha in comedy sketches on Univisión’s Sábado Gigante, was arrested Sept. 18 and charged with 30 counts of possession and distribution of child pornography.
After performing at the Sept. 20 Paz sin fronteras concert in Havana, Cuban singer Cucu Diamantes, a U.S. resident, was removed from a planned performance in Union City, New Jersey; according to officials, Cuban-American residents planned to disrupt the Sept. 28 show at a local high school.
And according to Guiness, Mexico holds the record for the largest number of people dancing simultaneously to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, after an Aug. 29 event gathered 13,597 people in Mexico City… Hispanic Link.
