por Antonio Mejías-Rentas
The Monologues of the Vagina’s play, looks to stop women and girls abuse. Read Calendar.
WINNERS: Latino recording artists picked up Grammy Awards at the Feb. 8 ceremony in Les Angeles.
Colombian singer-songwriter Juanes and Mexican rock band Jaguares captured two of the Grammys in the eight Latin music categories for pop and rock/alternatively recordings, respectively. Two Los Angeles based mariachis tied for the Mexican regional category: Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, a venerable group considered among the best in the world and the all-female Mariachi Divas, which experiments with modern arrangements and instrumentations.
Other winners in the Latino categories included Los Tigres del Norte, Wisin y Yandel, José Feliciano and the Texas-based Rubén Ramos & The Mexican Revolution.
Several Latinos picked up awards in non-Latin categories. The Grammy for Best Musical Show Album went to In the heights, the Broadway show set in a Latino Manhattan neighborhood. Winners included the record producers and original cast members, including show creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda, who did not attend the ceremony. He was performing in New York that day.
The Grammy for Best GrammyHard Rock performance went to Mars Volta, an El Paso-based band formed by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala. The Mexican-American rockers beat such established acts as Motley Crue and Judas Priest.
Among the jazz categories, Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra picked up the Latin Jazz Grammy.
FIRST ‘FEA’ IS BACK: ABC’s decision to drop Ugly Betty from its schedule coincided this month with a return airing of the Colombian telenovela that inspired it. Yo soy, Betty la fea now airs nightly, at 10:00 p m. (Eastern) on the Telefutura network Produced and aired originally in 1996 by Colombia’s RCN, the soap opera was a huge success that aired around the world and spawned versions in various languages. The U.S. adaptation is the Emmy winning Ugly Betty, now in its third season on ABC.
The hour-long, weekly comedy starring America Ferrera has been dwindling in ratings and was removed from the network’s schedule in time for the February sweeps period. The network has not cancelled the show and the remainder of the current season is likely to return in a few weeks.
In a related item, the latest Betty adaptation has been announced in Brazil, where the Portuguese-language Betty la fea is expected to begin airing in May. Hispanic Link.
