Manzano to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmys

Posted on April 7, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Sonia Manzano is getting her Emmy moment…

The 65-year-old Puerto Rican actress and writer will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ 43rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards on May 1 in Los Angeles.

Manzano is best known for playing Maria on Sesame Street from 1971 until her retirement in 2015.

During her 45 years on Sesame Street, Manzano picked up 15 Emmys for her work as a writer on the groundbreaking public television show.

“My children and just about every child in America has grown up learning their ABC’s from the iconic character of Maria on Sesame Street played by Sonia Manzano,” said NATAS President Bob Mauro. “Sonia not only brought the life events of marriage, having a baby and being a mother to viewers young and old, she also brought a seldom-seen diversity, a Latin role model, unlike anything on television at the time.”

A borinqueña daughter of the South Bronx and graduate of NYC’s famed High School of the Performing Arts, Manzano made her professional debut in the original off-Broadway cast of Godspell before joining Sesame Street in 1971. Her own life — from teenager through growing up, marrying and becoming a mother — was integrated into the complex social fabric of Sesame Street, the Peyton Place of the pre-pubescent set.

A community activist, occasional stage actress and author, Manzano wrote a memoir, Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx, that was published in August by Scholastic Press.

Gomez Earns Triple Threat Trophy at the iHeartRadio Music Awards

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Move over Jennifer Lopez… Selena Gomez is the new Triple Threat…

The 23-year-old half-Mexican American singer/actress picked up the award for Biggest Triple Threat at this year’s iHeartRadio Music Awards, which were handed out Sunday night.

Gomez, heralded as a singer, actor and dancer, beat out Lady Gaga, Hailee Steinfeld, Jason Derulo, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Timberlake, Nick Jonas, Troye Sivan, Usher and Zendaya for the prize.

Bruno Mars continues to Funk things up. The 30-year-old part-Puerto Rican singer won the award for Best Collaboration for his smash hit single “Uptown Funk“ with Mark Ronson.

Meanwhile, Ally Brooke Hernadez, Camila Cabello and Lauren Jauregui and their fellow Fifth Harmony members, as well as 22-year-old half-Mexican American singer Jasmine V, picked up the award for Best Cover Song for Mars and Ronson’s “Uptown Funk.” They share the award with Jacob Whitesides and Mahogany Lox.

Other winners include Pitbull for Latin Artist of the Year, and Nicky Jam and Enrique Iglesias’ smash hit single “El Perdón“ for Latin Song of the Year.

The awards show aired live on TBS, TNT and truTV from the Forum in Inglewood, California. Jason Derulo served as the night’s host.

Here’s a look at this year’s Latino winners:

Triple Threat: Selena Gomez – Singer/Actor/Dancer
Best Collaboration: “Uptown Funk” – Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
Best Cover Song: “Uptown Funk” – Fifth Harmony, Jasmine V, Jacob Whitesides and Mahogany Lox covering Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
Latin Artist of the Year: Pitbull
Latin Song of the Year: “El Perdón” – Nicky Jam & Enrique Iglesias
Regional Mexican Artist of the Year: Banda Los Recoditos
Regional Mexican Song of the Year: “Levantando Polvadera” – Voz de Mando

Bedella Wins Olivier Award for His West End Performance in “In The Heights”

Posted on April 3, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

David Bedella’s career is reach new award-winning Heights…

The 53-year-old Mexican American television and musical stage actor took home the prize for Best Actor in a Supporting Role at last night’s Laurence Olivier Awards.

Bedella won the award for playing the role of Kevin Rosario in the Tony Award-winning musical In The Heights at the Kings Cross theatre in London.

It’s Bedella’s second Olivier award, following his win in the Best Actor in a Musical category for his performance in Jerry Springer – The Opera.

Meanwhile, the show’s star on Broadway Lin-Manuel Miranda won the Olivier Award for best score for the current London production of In the Heights — the show Miranda conceived, wrote, scored and starred in before doing the same for current musico-historico blockbuster Hamilton.

But that’s not all… In the Heights choreographer Drew McOnie won, as did Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman, the show’s orchestrators and arrangers.

2016 Olivier Award winners featuring Latinos:
Outstanding Achievement in Music: In The Heights, music and Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, orchestrated and arranged by Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman, at King’s Cross Theatre.
Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical: David Bedella, In The Heights.

Lovato to Receive Vanguard Award at This Year’s GLAAD Media Awards

Posted on March 3, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

There’s no denying Demi Lovato is a vanguard… And, now she’ll have the award to prove it.

The 23-year-old part-Mexican American actress will be honored with the Vanguard Award at this year’s GLAAD Media Awards.

Lovato is being feted for her commitment to supporting LGBT youth.

In 2013, the “Cool for the Summer” singer was the GLAAD ambassador for Spirit Day, part of their anti-bullying campaign. Additionally, Lovato’s was applauded for filming the official music video for her single “Really Don’t Care” at the annual L.A. Pride parade in West Hollywood.

Previous honorees have included Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson, Kerry Washington and others.

A few of this year’s nominees include Adam Lambert and Le1f for outstanding music artist; Caitlyn Jenner’s I Am Cait for outstanding reality series; and the documentary Mala Mala for outstanding documentary.

The 27th annual GLAAD Media Awards will be held at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on April 2.

Delgado Wins First-Ever Costume Designers Guild Award

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Paco Delgado is this year’s period king…

The Spanish costume designer picked up his first Costume Designers Guild Award for Excellence in Period Film, which was handed out at the Beverly Hilton.

Delgado, who previously earned a CDG nomination in the same category for his work on Les Misérables, won the award for his work on The Danish Girl, starring Eddie Redmayne as Lili Elbe, the first person to undergo gender confirmation surgery, in 1930s Germany.

“When I start doing the research into a new subject or a new model, I always try to see as much material as possible. In this case, because they were artists, we wanted to recreate this sort of artistic mold into the clothes,” says Delgado of his work. “Yes, we definitely did base a lot of ideas—we didn’t copy things completely except the dress that Gerda is painting of a portrait of Ulla as a ballerina. It was the only dress we copied completely. The rest, we tried much more to get the feeling of the painting. What sort of feelings they had in sense of color, in terms of sensuality, in terms of what materials Gerda was depicting. And trying to get that translated into what they were wearing at the time. But I mean, much of the research was made around the designers of the period.”

Delgado is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design for the same film.

Here’s the complete list of tonight’s winners:

Excellence in Fantasy Film: Mad Max: Fury Road, Jenny Beavan
Excellence in Period Film: The Danish Girl, Paco Delgado
Excellence in Contemporary Film: Beasts of No Nation, Jenny Eagan
Excellence in Short Form Design: Most Interesting Man in the World Wins on Land, Sea & Air, Dos Equis Commercial, Julie Vogel
Outstanding Fantasy Television Series: Game of Thrones, Michele Clapton
Outstanding Period Television Series: The Knick, Ellen Mirojnick
Outstanding Contemporary Television Series: American Horror Story: Hotel, Lou Eyrich

Alboran Wins Goya Award for Best Original Song

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Pablo Alborán now has the equivalent of an Oscar…

The 26-year-old Spanish pop star won the 2016 Goya Award for best original song at this weekends celebration of the awards frequently referred to as Spain’s equivalent of the Oscars.

Alborán is also nominated for a Grammy in the Latin Pop category for his album Terral. He was on tour in the United States and Canada before returning to Spain to attend the Goya ceremonies in Madrid. He was the top-selling artist in Spain in 2014.

The 26-year-old sensation sings the track “Palmeras en la Nieve,” a collaboration with Lucas Vidal, who composed the soundtrack for the movie of the same name.

Vidal, who lives in Los Angeles, also took home the prize for best original score for another movie, Nadie Quiere la Noche, directed by Isabel Cloixet and starring Juliette Binoche.

The Spanish composer, a Berklee grad who has written scores for Fast & Furious 6, The Raven, and other Hollywood films, said in his acceptance speech that he hoped that his and Alborán’s wins would inspire young people to enter the music field.

Leyva and Her “Orange Is the New Black” Castmates Take Home Second Consecutive SAG Award

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Life’s still a SAG for Selenis Leyva…

This weekend, the 43-year-old Cuban and Dominican actress and her fellow Orange Is the New Black castmates took home the award for Best Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

The Netflix series was nominated alongside CBS‘ The Big Bang Theory, Comedy Central‘s Key & Peele, ABC‘s Modern Family, Amazon‘s Transparent and HBO‘s Veep.

In addition to Leyva, other Latinas who form part of the ensemble cast include Jackie Cruz, Dianne Guerrero, Dascha Polanco and Elizabeth Rodriguez.

J.K. Simmons and Patricia Arquette presented the award to the OITNB cast, who won in the comedy ensemble category for the second consecutive year.

The 22nd Annual SAG Awards, honoring achievements in film and television, took place at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles.

Here’s a complete look at this year’s winners.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Uzo Aduba, Orange Is the New Black

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
Orange Is the New Black

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Queen Latifah, Bessie

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Idris Elba, Luther

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Spotlight

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Leonardo DiCaprio, The

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Brie Larson, Room

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Downton Abbey

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
Mad Max: Fury Road

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series
Game of Thrones

Iglesias Wins Favorite Latin Artist at the American Music Awards

Posted on November 23, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

It’s Lucky No. 7 for Enrique Iglesias…

The 40-year-old Spanish singer-songwriter picked up his seventh AMA at Sunday night’s American Music Awards.

Iglesias beat out Ricky Martin and Romeo Santos for Favorite Latin Artist.

“I can’t belive its been 16 years since my first #AMA. Thank you to all my fans for making this possible,” he wrote in an Instagram post that accompanied a picture of the singer kissing his award. “I really couldn’t do this without you guys!!! Gracias a todos mis fans! I love you!”

Iglesias holds the record for the most Favorite Latin Artist AMAs.

Iglesias picked up his first trophy in the category in 1999, and won the award again in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2014, before repeating as a winner this year.

Lafourcade Leads the Pack of Latin Grammy Winners

Posted on November 20, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Natalia Lafourcade is this year’s Latin Grammys darling…

The 31-year-old Mexican pop-rock singer-songwriter proved to be the big winner at this year’s awards show.

Lafourcade made good on four of her five nominations for her album Hasta la Raiz.

But she lost out on the top prize, Album of the Year, which went to Dominican bachata artist Juan Luis Guerra for Todo Tiene su Hora.

Lafourcade still walked away with two of the night’s most prestigious awards, Song of the Year and Record of the Year for the title track of “Hasta la Raiz.”

“My friend, how amazing that we made this disc together,” Lafourcade said to her friend and collaborator Leonel Garcia, with whom she shared three nominations as cowriters of the album’s title track.

Lafourcade, who more than doubled her career Latin Grammy haul in one night, now has seven Latin Grammys.

Meanwhile, Guerra picked up three awards. Along with Album of the Year, the Dominican musician took home the Latin Grammys for Best Contemporary Tropical Album and Best Tropical Song.

Meanwhile, J Balvin and Nicky Jam become first time Latin Grammy winners.

The biggest night in Latin music was presented in Spanish and English and featured a mix of rhythms, from alternative to mariachi.

The Latin Grammy Awards were broadcast live on Univision from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Actresses Jacqueline Bracamontes and Roselyn Sanchez hosted the three-hour ceremony.

Here’s a look at this year’s Latin Grammy winners:

RECORD OF THE YEAR
Hasta La Raíz – Natalia Lafourcade

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Todo Tiene Su Hora – Juan Luis Guerra 4.40

SONG OF THE YEAR
Hasta La Raíz – Leonel Garcia & Natalia Lafourcade

BEST NEW ARTIST
Monsieur Periné

BEST CONTEMPORARY POP VOCAL ALBUM
Sirope – Alejandro Sanz

BEST TRADITIONAL POP VOCAL ALBUM
Necesito Un Bolero – Gilberto Santa Rosa

BEST URBAN PERFORMANCE
El Perdón – Nicky Jam & Enrique Iglesias

BEST URBAN MUSIC ALBUM
El Que Sabe, Sabe – Tego Calderón

BEST URBAN SONG
Ay Vamos – J Balvin, Rene Cano, Alejandro “Mosty” Patiño & Alejandro “Sky” Ramírez

BEST ROCK ALBUM
B – Diamante Eléctrico

BEST POP/ROCK ALBUM
Cama Incendiada – Maná

BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM
Hasta La Raíz – Natalia Lafourcade

BEST ALTERNATIVE SONG
Hasta La Raíz – Leonel García & Natalia Lafourcade

BEST SALSA ALBUM
Son De Panamá – Rubén Blades Con Roberto Delgado & Orquesta

BEST CUMBIA/VALLENATO ALBUM
Sencillamente – Jorge Celedón & Gustavo García

BEST CONTEMPORARY TROPICAL ALBUM
Todo Tiene Su Hora – Juan Luis Guerra 4.40

BEST TRADITIONAL TROPICAL ALBUM
Tributo A Los Compadres No Quiero Llanto – José Alberto “El Canario” & Septeto Santiaguero

BEST TROPICAL FUSION ALBUM
El Mismo – ChocQuibTown

BEST TROPICAL SONG
Tus Besos – Juan Luis Guerra

BEST SINGER-SONGWRITER ALBUM
Healer – Alex Cuba

BEST RANCHERO ALBUM
Acaríciame El Corazón – Pedro Fernández

BEST BANDA ALBUM
Mi Vicio Más Grande – Banda El Recodo De Don Cruz Lizárraga

BEST TEJANO ALBUM
Sentimientos – Sólido

BEST REGIONAL SONG
Todo Tuyo – Mauricio Arriaga, Edgar Barrera & Eduardo Murguía, Banda El Recodo De Cruz Lizárraga

BEST INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM
Dr. Ed Calle Presents Mamblue – Ed Calle & Mamblue

BEST FOLK ALBUM
Balas y Chocolate – Lila Downs

BEST TANGO ALBUM
Homenaje A Astor Piazzolla – Orquesta Del Tango De Buenos Aires

BEST FLAMENCO ALBUM
Entre 20 Aguas: A La Música De Paco De Lucía – Varios Artistas

BEST LATIN JAZZ ALBUM
Jazz Meets The Classics – Paquito D’Rivera

BEST CHRISTIAN ALBUM (SPANISH LANGUAGE)
Derroche De Amor – Alex Campos

BEST CHRISTIAN ALBUM (PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE)
Da Eternidade – Fernanda Brum

BEST BRAZILIAN CONTEMPORARY POP ALBUM
Dancê – Tulipa Ruiz

BEST BRAZILIAN ROCK ALBUM
Sol-Te – Suricato

BEST SAMBA/PAGODE ALBUM
Só Felicidade – Fundo de Quintal

BEST SERTANEJA MUSIC ALBUM
Amizade Sincera II – Renato Teixeira & Sérgio Reis

BEST BRAZILIAN SONG
Bossa Negra – Hamilton de Holanda, Diogo Nogueira & Marcos Portinari, songwriters Diogo Nogueira & Hamilton de Holanda

BEST LATIN CHILDREN’S ALBUM
Los Animales – Mister G BEST CLASSICAL ALBUM: Alma Brasileira – Débora Halász, Franz Halász & Radamés Gnattali; Marcelo Amaral, Debora Halász & Johannes Müller, producers (Tie)

Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 18 – Montero: Ex Patria, Op. 1 & Improvisations – Gabriela Montero; Jonathan Allen, album producer (Tie)

BEST CLASSICAL CONTEMPORARY COMPOSITION
Capriccio – Carlos Franzetti, composer (Allison Brewster Franzetti)

BEST RECORDING PACKAGE
Este Instante – Natalia Ayala, Carlos Dussan Gómez & Juliana Jaramillo, art directors (Marta Gómez)

BEST ENGINEERED ALBUM
Hasta La Raíz – Andrés Borda, Eduardo Del Águila, Demián Nava, Alan Ortiz Grande, Alan Saucedo & Sebastián Schunt, engineers; Eduardo Del Águila & Cesar Sogbe, mixers; José Blanco, mastering engineer (Natalia Lafourcade)

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Sebastian Krys

BEST SHORT FORM MUSIC VIDEO
Ojos Color Sol – Calle 13 Featuring Silvio Rodríguez

BEST LONG FORM MUSIC VIDEO
Loco De Amor “La Historia” – Juanes

Guerra’s “Embrace of the Serpent” Wins Best Film at Mar del Plata Film Fest

Posted on November 8, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Ciro Guerra continues his winning ways…

The 34-year-old Colombian film director and screenwriter ‘s latest film Embrace of the Serpent took the Astor award for best film at the 30th edition of the Festival Internacional de Cine de Mar del Plata, which officially closed on Saturday night.

Earlier this year, the Colombian-Venezuelan-Argentine co-production topped the Director’s Fortnight at the last edition of the Cannes Film Festival, and was selected by the Colombian Film Academy as the country’s submission for the Oscars in the best foreign-language film category.

The best actor award was delivered to the entire male cast of Pablo Larrain‘s The Club: Alfredo Castro, Roberto Farias, Jaime Vadell and Alejandro Goic.

The film, Chile’s Oscar candidate, also grabbed best screenplay for writers Guillermo Calderon, Daniel Villalobos and Pablo Larrain.

The best actress award went to Erica Rivas (Wild Tales), for Ariel Rotter‘s Incident Light.

In the Latin American competition, the jury formed by Valdivia film fest director Raul Camargo Borquez, Jang Byungwon, and Andrea Picard selected Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias‘ Santa Teresa & Other Stories as best film, and Natural Arpajou‘s Princesas for best short.

Benjamin Naishtat‘s Locarno entry El movimiento won best film in the local competition.

The best director award went to Fernando Salem for How Most Things Work.

The only A class festival in Latin America, Mar del Plata runs October 30 to Novenber 7.

Here’s a look at the main awards:

International Competition
Best Film: Embrace of the Serpent (Ciro Guerra)
Best Director: Ivan Ostrochovsky, for Koza.
Best Actor: the male cast of The Club – Alfredo Castro, Roberto Farías, Jaime Vadell and Alejandro Goic.
Best Actress: Erica Rivas (Incident Light)
Best Screenplay: The Club – Guillermo Calderon, Daniel Villalobos and Pablo Larrain.

Latin American Competition
Best Film: Santa Teresa & Other Stories (Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias)
Best Short Film: Princesas (Natural Arpajou)

Argentine Competition
Best Film: El movimiento (Benjamin Naishtat)
Special Mention: Docile Bodies (Matias Scarvaci and Diego Gachassin)
Best Director: Fernando Salem, for How Most Things Work.
Best Short Film: Fantastico (Matias Sposato)
Best Short Film Director: Pablo Camaiti, for Gomorra.
DAC Award for Best Argentine Film in All Competitions: Docile Bodies

Other Awards
FIPRESCI Award: Incident Light (Ariel Rotter)
Best Work in Progress: The Corroborators (Luis Bernardez)
Jury Prize Work in Progress: La helada negra (Maximiliano Schonfeld)
Alfredo Alcon Award: Guillermo Francella

Hispanically Yours

Celebrating the Latino Influence

Category Archives: Awards