Category: Latin celebrities

The Oscars Are Still White, but the Oscar Statuette Is Mexican

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It is no secret that Hispanics continue to be underrepresented in the entertainment business (that is, when they don’t call us to play the maid or the mean narcos.)

But some of us couldn’t care less, because there is something far more interesting: The 8-pound, 24-carat-gold-plated statuette that will be handed out at the Academy Awards Sunday night is said to be modeled after Emilio ‘El Indio’ Fernández, a Mexican director –and actor– who used to live in Hollywood in the 1920s.

And while many people still dispute that story, I believe it’s true and will remain true as far as this blog is concerned.

[Oh, and incidentally, El Indio Fernández was actually acquainted with my mom, who was Mexican although not really “colored,” but that’s a whole other story.]

¡Viva México cabrones!

Via: NPR

CBS Wants you to Know Bad Bunny Sings in Non-English

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If you caught the Grammy Awards ceremony last Sunday (and you are someone like me always looking for the awkwardness) you might have noticed the closed captioning during Bad Bunny’s opening act, which was… well… awkward.

And that is because while he was presenting or singing away, the captions only read “[SPEAKING NON-ENGLISH]” and “[SINGING IN NON-ENGLISH]” apparently, because that’s the language spoken by my people.

Ok, CBS, I get it. To be real honest, I have no idea what he’s talking *and* singing about most of the time. Still…

The only great thing about the closed captioning brouhaha is that someone came up with the awesome idea of launching a non-English Spotify list, featuring –who else?– Bad Bunny himself along with other English –non-English– performers.

Photo: Variety

Who Needs Ramsays and Stewarts when you Have Doña Ángela?

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“Hola, mi gente!” My favorite YouTuber continues to kick butt

Doña Ángela, the adorable abuelita behind the super successful YouTube channel De mi rancho a tu cocina, continues to reign on the video channel, where she has amassed (pun intended) over 4 million subscribers –and counting.

Doña Ángela is not TV famous, and her kitchen does not boast any Michelin stars, and that’s because she’s the real enchilada, cooking all kinds of delicious stuff from her humble kitchen in Michoacán. Watch her make everything, from juicy carnitas to cheese-stuffed chayotes (yum!)

But the best part of the whole thing (at least for this blogger) is that Doña Ángela continues to get way more pageviews than other folks pretending to cook online, including Martha Stewart (and her molcajete cat) and Gordon Ramsay, who once said dulce de leche tastes like shit (yup he did.)

Hat tip & chart: Latinometrics

Mini Mariachi Singer Stars in Will Smith’s Super Bowl Commercial

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7-year-old Mateo López stars in new ‘Bel-Air’ commercial airing Sunday

Football Americano? Nah…

I’ve never been fond of this so-called sport and was not going to watch it this year either, but…

I just learned that San Antonio’s renowned mini mariachi singer, Mateo López, is the star of one of the ads.

According to KSAT, the seven-year-old makes a brief appeareance in Smith’s minute-long commercial promoting the premiere of the revamped “Bel-Air,” a spinoff series from “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”

So, yup, babies, I’ll be watching!

Just look at him! 😍

Via: KSAT.com

 

Andrés Cantor Goes Back to the Super Bowl with a Pricey, 30-Second ¡GOOOOOL!

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Andrés Cantor’s famous ‘GOOOOOL!’ to air at a hefty price during the 2022 Super Bowl.

I was going to buy an ad to promote my blog at this year’s Super Bowl. Alas, NBC has sold out all of its inventory for the Big Game, some at record prices of $7 million.

Oh well… I might give it a try again next year.

In the meantime, here’s Telemundo’s :30-second Super Bowl spot featuring Andrés Cantor teaching people across the U.S. how to do his signature ¡GOOOOOOOOL!

The spot is to promote the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and is slated to run during the broadcast of Super Bowl LVI on Sunday, Feb. 13.

While this blogger can’t stand American Football, she’ll  be watching, mostly to bring you all the Latin/Hispanic/Mexican/Hispanic highlights of the excruciatingly boring event.

(Oh, also to check on how the Avocados From Mexico people plan to torture us this year.)

Watch Telemundo’s Super Bowl spot below:

Spanglish Version of “Georgia on My Mind” Is Catchy –and Will Hopefully Help Flip Georgia

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Georgia on My Mind’s Spanglish version will make you get up dance –and hopefully vote.

The East Los Angeles-band Las Cafeteras has partnered with the New Georgia Project to create a Spanglish version of the iconic song “Georgia on My Mind” to support Black and Hispanic participation in the Georgia US Senate Runoffs.

“We re-imagined the song as a cumbia w/trap elements to build bridges among the changing demographics in the South,” said Las Cafeteras on their YouTube channel. According to NBC, the The Latino electorate in Georgia is relatively young, and many are U.S.-born children of immigrants. Latinos are about 380,000 out of the 7.5 million eligible voters in Georgia overall, per the Pew Research Center.

The runoff elections, which will take place January 5, are very important as they will determine if Republicans or Democrats control the U.S. Senate.

The catchy song was launched with a video directed by Roberto Escamilla Garduno and Giovanni Solis. It tells a story of all those who are looking to Georgia, travelling to the state “to amplify the voices of the people organizing to #FinishTheFight”

WATCH. DANCE. VOTE. HELP FLIP GEORGIA:

Via: NBC

RIP Diego Maradona

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Football legend Diego Maradona has died at the age of 60, multiple media reported on Wednesday, November 25.

This blogger was hoping the reports were false but at the time of this writing it looked like it had been confirmed. There is not much to say right now, except he was quite the character and among this blogger’s favorite moments was when he called Donal Trump “El Peluca” and snapped at him for not giving him a U.S. visa.

Maradona was so beloved in his native Argentina that there is even a “Maradonian Church,” with it’s own version of The Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary.

This post would be updated as anecdotes (and of course memes) start to trickle in. In the meantime, Buen Viaje, D10s!

This Book Wants you to Find Frida the Same Way you Find Waldo

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What better way to celebrate Frida Kahlo’s upcoming birthday than… by making a book to find her as we go about finding Waldo?

Publisher Laurence King is busy promoting Find Frida, a new book by Catherine Ingram (illustrated by Laura Callaghan) which promises to immerse the reader in the colourful world of Frida Kahlo using “twelve intricately drawn scenes, each detailing a key aspect of her life – from her eccentric teenaged years and infatuation with Diego Rivera, to her dynamic arrival as an international artist, her incredible studio and house in Mexico and her deep love of Mexican culture.” All of this for only $17.99 a copy.

I’m not sure she would be thrilled about the idea, but then again, who cares? Communist-loving Frida has proven to be a money-making machine for many non-communist companies that this might also be a hit.

On your mark… Get Set… Find Frida!

Images by: Laura Callaghan

Snoop Dogg Drops Banda Single ‘Qué Maldición,’ Because it’s 2020 and Everything’s Weird

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I don’t know what to think, really, but why not?

Snoop Dogg and Banda Ms on Friday released Qué Maldición, a long awaited collaboration between America’s famed pothead and the Sinaloa insanely popular band. It’s by far the weirdest Anglo-Latin collaboration I’ve seen in a long time and I’m not sure I’m 100 percent sold.

Watch & listen at your own peril. I’ll be somewhere still trying to figure out 2020.

Hat tip: The great Mafer

I May Have Found a Reason to Watch this Year’s Super Bowl …

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Several reasons, actually: Los Tigres del Norte do the Super Bowl LIV.

I’ve never been a fan of so-called American football –and you wouldn’t catch me dead watching hours upon hours of a Super Bowl. But all this will very likely change on Sunday, February 2, 2020 when my favorite band EVER is set to star in the opening video for Fox Sports’ broadcast of Super Bowl LIV.

Per a company press release:

Los Tigres del Norte and FOX Deportes joined forces for the first time to create a video, filmed in San Jose, celebrating the legacy of Los Tigres del Norte, the 100 seasons of the NFL, and the passion felt by Hispanics for football.

Okay, I might just watch my tigres doing their thing and then move onto more interesting things (happy hour at my local pub probably), but still… ¡Ajúa!

Via: Fox Sports

Shanti Ananda Is Dead: RIP Walter Mercado

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Adiós, Walter Mercado

Famed astrologer Walter Mercado passed away on the night of Nov. 2, 2019 in his natal Puerto Rico. According to multiple press reports, the flamboyant astrologer/actor/writer was in a bad shape for some time and finally perished from an apparent kidney failure.

Mercado, who had to change his name to Shanti Ananda following a bizarre legal battle, was known not only for his extravagant, sequin capes and shiny jewelry, but for sending his millions of followers a lot of amor and good fortunes in his daily horoscope readings.

Followers to this blogger will know I was particularly fond of the extravagant way he delivered his horoscope readings, like this time around Valentine’s Day when he had some good stuff to announce for us Taurus, “sons of Venus.”

Adiós, pues, Shanti-Walter whatever. Go read my mom her daily horoscope and rest in peace and with mucho, mucho, mucho… amor. 

JLo’s 25th Fragrance [Yes, 25th!] Was Inspired by Warren Buffet –for Some Reason

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Not content with making us jealous of her $3,000 coat and being booked to perform at the 2020 Super Bowl’s halftime, Jennifer Lopez (aka Jenny from the Block) is launching her 25th fragrance (yes 25th!) which –according to Lopez and most proably her army of publicists– “represents all the promises we make to ourselves everyday.”

But unlike the 24th previous JLo fragrances, Promise has been inspired by none other than billionaire Warren Buffett:

“About a year or two ago, I was having dinner with Warren Buffet. He told me something that really resonated with me, that a brand is a promise,” she said. “I just feel like everything I put out in the world has to be a promise. We have to have promises to ourselves…I thought it was the perfect time in my life to name a fragrance Promise, because every time we create something new it’s a promise that it’s something that will make your life better, make you feel sexy and beautiful.”

I promise I’ll try your Promise, Jenny, just please promise me I’ll end up looking like this 👇🏽 👇🏽 👇🏽 👇🏽

Eva Longoria to Direct Movie about Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. Yay!

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Spicy snacks and Latinos in Hollywood? Count me in!

Eva Longoria (aka this blogger’s favorite retroacculturated Latina) has landed the directing gig of movie about Richard Montanez, none other than the creator of the spicy Flamin’ Hot Cheetos snack.

The Fox Searchlight biopic will tell the story of Montanez as he went from working as a janitor at Frito-Lay to achieve the American Dream (namely, to create a very spicy botana for the hungry masses.)

According to press reports, Montanez’ spicy creation was reportedly “inspired by the flavors of his community, helped revitalize the company and disrupted the food industry, creating a pop culture phenomenon that continues today.” Because, if there’s something Latinos (especially Mexicans) are good at is at spicing up the lives of others.

Say what you will about Mrs. Longoria or Cheetos. I’m all up for spicy and more Latinos (retroacculturated or not) in Hollywood.

Via: CNN

La Reina del Sur Is Back –and She’s One Badass Mexican

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Eight years after the debut of La Reina del Sur, Kate del Castillo (Teresa Mendoza) is back as a badass mexicana as La Reina del Sur Season 2 premieres April 22 on Telemundo.

La Reina del Sur Season 2 is set eight years after Mendoza disappeared into the U.S. Federal Witness Protection Program for bringing down a Mexican presidential candidate. Now, she is coming out of anonymity and is determined to reclaim her throne as the Queen of the South –while whacking a few bad hombres in the process.

The controversial Del Castillo became world famous not precisely because of La Reina del Sur but because of her secret meeting with Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera and the now infamous Sean Penn journalistic brouhaha.

WATCH as this Mexican sorts out all kinds of shit in order to get ahead of her game.