Sony/ATV Latin America has signed a worldwide publishing agreement with Mexican pop star Paulina Rubio. The deal covers all songs written by Rubio, including those from her mos recent album, "Gran City Pop." This is Rubio's first publishing deal. The singer's first co-writes appeared in her 1996 release "Planeta Paulina." In "Gran City Pop," she collaborated in eight of the album's tracks, writing alongside established songwriters like Estéfano.
Dressed in her customary wacky attire and with her trademark braces in place, Ugly Betty star America Ferrera proved she had plenty of animal magnetism.
She larked around with Cassie, a 16-year-old sea lion, while shooting scenes for the fourth season of the hit show in the Bahamas.
And it appeared the actress was having a flipping good time as held on to playful Kelly the dolphin, aged 34, after managing to get her to sit upright in the water.
Ferrera was pictured in the stunning 14-acre Dolphin Cay sanctuary in the Atlantis Paradise Island yesterday.
On Tuesday the actress was filming at the Atlantis Hotel alongside co-star Becki Newton.
The pair were seen racing down the challenger slides at the exclusive holiday destination.
Meanwhile it has emerged that Betty Suarez is set to lose her signature metal-laden smile in the next series of the comedy drama.
The revelation was made by co-host Ana Ortiz, who guest co-hosted on U.S. show The View yesterday.
'They are coming off [in season four],' said Ortiz. 'Even in the first episode - it's a two-hour episode, it's brilliant - she starts to make the transition. It's really exciting.'
Ortiz, who plays Betty's older sister Hilda on the show, noted that the makeover won't be popular with everybody since the topic has already caused 'controversy' on the Ugly Betty blogs.
But she reassured fans: 'We are not going to turn her into a supermodel. She is Betty and she will always be Betty, but she's going to evolve.'
Ortiz, who recently gave birth to her first child, Paloma in June, was in the Bahamas, shooting with the rest of the Ugly Betty cast. She flew back for her appearance on The View.
Season four will premiere in the U.S. later this month.
"In Performance at the White House: Fiesta Latina" is a concert hosted by the President and Mrs. Obama on the South Lawn of the White House that will be broadcast by PBS. Thesixty-minute program, to be taped live by WETA Washington, D.C., on October 13, will celebrate Hispanic musical heritage and airs on the final day of National Hispanic Heritage Month, October 15, 2009 at 8 p.m. ET, on PBS stations nationwide. (Check local listings.) It will also be broadcast on Telemundo, the American Spanish-language television network, on Sunday, October 18 at 6 p.m. ET, and on V-me, the national Spanish language network partnered with public television, on Friday, December 25. The program, part of the WETA "In Performance at the White House" series, will include Chicano rock band Los Lobos, Marc Anthony, Jimmy Smits, Pete Escovedo, Gloria Estefan, José Feliciano, George Lopez, Thalía, Tito "El Bambino", and the Bachata music group Aventura, with Sheila E. leading the house band. Further talent information may be announced in the coming days.
"In Performance at the White House" has been produced by WETA since 1978 and spans every administration since President Carter's. The series began with an East Room recital by the legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz. Since then, "In Performance at the White House" has embraced virtually every genre of American performance: pop, country, gospel, jazz, blues, theatre and dance among them. The series was created to showcase the rich fabric of American culture in the setting of the nation's most famous home.
The evening concert will be streamed live by the White House on www.WhiteHouse.govand available to stream on the series website on PBSafter the broadcast.
The Boy Scouts are making their debut "en espanol," with an advertising campaign launched Thursday and a soon-to-come Spanish-language Scout Handbook intended to draw Latinos to the ranks of the nearly century-old organization.
The Spanish-language campaign, called "Valores para toda la vida," translated as "Values for life," includes television, radio and online spots that speak to the nation's largest minority in their language.
The outreach is intended to keep the Scouting movement relevant and growing as the country's cultural landscape shifts, taking a toll on Scout ranks. Boy Scouts of America is still the country's largest youth organization, with 2.8 million members, but that is half its membership in its peak year, 1972.
There is more competition for the attention of boys now. The country also looks different than it did 30 years ago, and the Scouts haven't kept up with the change. Latinos make up one in five children in the United States, according to the U.S. Census, but they are only 3 percent of Scouts.
The organization hopes to double its Hispanic membership by their centennial in 2010, and the campaign is a key part of that push, said Bob Mazzuca, Chief Scout Executive.
In the ads, boys and girls in uniforms explain what they like about Scouting — perspectives that Scout leaders hope will introduce the venerable organization to a new audience while resonating with Latino values and culture. The children in the ads say Scouting taught them to help others, but they also talk about the soccer games they love, and how their family can take part in activities as well.
The Scouts are making changes designed to accommodate Latinos, based on information gathered with the help of a Washington-based media and marketing company and a committee of Hispanic leaders.
One example: including family members in traditional scouting activities such as camping trips.
"We recognized in the Hispanic community the absolute importance of family — of doing things as a family," Mazzuca said. "So we've modified our program delivery to include family in many ways that our programs historically didn't."
The approach worked for Concha Roque, whose son, Nicholas, joined the Boy Scouts after meeting them after mass in Montebello, east of downtown Los Angeles. Roque was raising her sons without her husband, who had returned to Mexico, and liked the idea of an organization that gave them role models.
It also pleased her that she was invited along on Nicholas' first camping trip.
Translating the Scout handbook will help other Latinos feel welcome, Roque said.
The book, expected to come out in December, will feature a cover that touches on core Scouting themes — boys rafting in the background, an eagle in the foreground. But it will be a clear sign the Scouts are interested in attracting Latinos, said Nicholas Roque, 17, a high school senior.
"It's like a welcome mat," he said. "It says we're open to them."
On the morning of October 8, Grito Mundial, the first single off Yankee’s latest album Daddy Yankee Mundial, will simultaneously premiere in ten different countries.
Daddy Yankee Mundial, is set for a spring 2010 release and like all things Yankee, this latest project is an ambitious one. Not only is he looking to surpass the success and excitement of Talento de Barrio, but will also be introducing new elements to the world of urban music.
The new record will feature El Cartel Records new logo: a triangle, the three points of which represent past, present, and future and all connect to form one body, one figure. Grito Mundial literally translates to “worldwide scream,” a message he wants to send to everyone to look past the social and musical divide, and come together as one. Tired of the clichés and repetitive messages riddled throughout the urban scene, Daddy wants to encourage his audiences to embrace one another and bond through the love of music.
“This album is a call to union through song and dance. Even in our toughest times, joy can bring us together,” Yankee says.
On October 9, Yankee will embark on a second round of shows through Chile, Argentina, and Venezuela to finalize the Talento de Barrio tour.
Talento de Barrio has been nominated for a Best Urban Album award at this year’s Latin Grammys, and the track Llamado de Emergencia has been nominated for Best Urban Song.
For the past few weeks, TBS has been putting the hard sell on its upcoming foray into Late Night TV, called Lopez Tonight, and starring George Lopez, famous comedian whose main focus is his Mexican-American heritage. (Not to be confused with Carlos Mencia, who is an unfunny, joke stealing pr*ck.) Even though the show is more than a month away, TBS has been airing nonstop promotions during its hour-long Seinfeld/Office/The Mummy 2 marathons.
But what makes these promotions Powerpoint Tire Screeching Sound Effects is that they star our very own American President, Barack Obama. That’s right: President Obama has now publicly endorsed George Lopez. Witness after the jump …
To be fair, Obama taped these spots before he actually won the election last year — you’ll note the barely visible “from the ‘08 campaign” in the bottom left-hand corner. But to the viewing public, this could not be worse publicity. Shouldn’t he be, you know… fixing that whole health care thing… or ending the war… instead of ENDORSING LOPEZ TONIGHT??? The above video might be the strongest piece of evidence Obama haters have to get people on their side.
WASHINGTON — Financial pressures, not a lack of aspiration, are pushing young Latinos to abandon higher education, according to a national survey released Wednesday.
Almost 90 percent of Latinos surveyed by the Pew Hispanic Center said attending college is important to get ahead, a belief held by only 74 percent of the general population.
But three out of four Latinos surveyed in the 16-to-25-year-old age group said financial obstacles are getting in the way of their education.
"Far and away, it's the reason" for Latinos to stop attending college, said Mark Lopez, associate director of the Pew Hispanic Center and author of the survey. "Latinos need to support their families."
Lopez is attending a national conference in Washington on Educating Latino Children, where the results of the survey were first unveiled.
The national survey of Latinos was conducted between Aug. 9 and Sept. 16 and garnered 2,012 responses — 1,240 of them from individuals ages 6 to 26, and 772 older than 26.
"This is really important information for everyone to have, not only in colleges but also in the general public," Hartnell College spokeswoman Terri Pyer said. "It paints a very different picture of the obstacles we face in trying to improve the college-going rate of folks in our community from the one that is generally espoused."
The survey found Latinos valued education more than the general population, and valued getting a college education more than getting a full-time job.
"It isn't very surprising to those of us working with Latinos for some time," said Andrew Fuligni, co-director of the Family Research Consortium at the University of California-Los Angeles. "It shows quite a bit in our studies: Latinos are just as, if not more, motivated than their European peers."
The results echo findings by Carola Suarez-Orozco, professor of applied psychology and co-director of immigration studies at New York University. Suarez-Orozco found that about 50 percent of Latinos who go to college attend a community college, but only about 10 percent graduate.
"A few Latinos don't feel they belong," Suarez-Orozco said at the conference. "They still don't have the social networks. If you are a third-generation college student, you know how to play the game."
But while a higher percentage of Latinos feel a college education is necessary, only 48 percent of Latinos between 18 and 25 said they are planning to get a four-year degree. Among the general population, 60 percent said they plan to get a bachelor's degree.
That's what Lopez calls the "aspiration gap." It's reflected in the fact that only 24 percent of young Latinos are enrolled in college, compared with 34 percent of the general population, according to the Census Bureau.
The study confirms what Philip Tabera, professor of Chicano and Latino studies at San Jose State University, has observed in the past few months: Higher education is slipping from students' hands.
"It's getting worse, especially for Latinas," Tabera said. "There are more women than men who begin college, but they drop out. The problem for a large number is in our own CSU system — for increasing fees, putting caps on classes. They can't get financial aid. You're seeing a lot of students working full time and part time and going to school at the same time. Then the cost of books is huge, the cost of housing. It's so difficult for kids to go to school nowadays."
The implications of the survey's results pose a challenge not just for Monterey County, where 50 percent of the population is of Latino origin, but for California and the country, where Latinos are the fastest growing segment of the population.
"We're facing a societal dilemma," said Suarez-Orozco. "These students are highly motivated, and yet there's the achievement gap."
When it comes to food, Latino culture offers more than tacos and tamales.
Like the culture, the food is intense, colorful, spicy and full of variety. Each country and region within those countries has its own cooking techniques and key ingredients that add certain characteristics and authenticity to their dishes.
"It all starts with the ingredients," said Jesus Medina, chef at the recently opened Aztek Grill in downtown Richmond, which serves dishes from all over Latin America. "The number one ingredient in Mexican food, for example, is the hot pepper."
Preparation techniques, too, are different all across the region, said Medina, a native of Mexico.
Corn tortillas, for example, a staple in Mexico and Central America --and now increasingly popular in the U.S. market -- are made and used differently and vary in size and thickness depending on the region. Flour tortillas -- even more popular in the U.S. -- also have their own purposes and often accompany meals as flatbread.
Mexican cuisine, the most popular Latin food in the U.S., has very strong flavors. Key ingredients include cumin and cilantro. The commonly used hot peppers include jalapeño, poblano, serrano, guajillo, chipotle and habanero. One of Mexico's most popular dishes, chiles rellenos, uses poblano peppers.
Peruvian cuisine, not as well-known as Mexican food, also offers mouth-watering and distinctive dishes including various recipes of the country's staple dish, ceviche (raw fish marinated in lemon juice). Aside from fresh fish, a key ingredient in Peru's gastronomy is the aji (pronounced ah-hee) pepper, which is found all across the country.
The cuisine of El Salvador, similar to that of its neighbors and Mexico, relies too on indigenous foods like corn, beans and tomatoes. The influence of Mayan culture is strong, and it is mixed with the contributions of Spanish food. The most popular dish, pupusas are similar to corn tortillas, only thicker and stuffed with cheese, beans and/or meat.
Using fresh produce and ingredients native to each region is important to making authentic food, said Mercedes Giron, a native of El Salvador and owner and cook of Pupuseria Mercedes on Meadowdale Boulevard in Chesterfield County.
For instance, she said, Salvadoreans use loroco, a perennial plant native of El Salvador, in the cuisine, including as stuffing in pupusas.
U.S. consumers these days find products such as loroco at ethnic grocery stores or sometimes even in mainstream supermarkets. Avocados, mangos and cilantro are easily found in produce departments, and many supermarkets have aisles assigned to Hispanic food, a sign of the increasing demand for the cuisine.
"The Hispanic culture is becoming more and more influential here, and the food is such a big component," said Medina. Proof of this, he said, is that Richmond residents have several options in town where they can try authentic Latin American food and at the same time learn about Latin culture.
Stars from Ugly Betty – including America Ferrera and Vanessa Williams – have teamed up with the United Nations to raise awareness of malaria.
The first episode of the new season of the ABC show – which starts on October 16 – will feature the U.N.’s Nothing But Nets initiative and a plotline that will “reveal the role mosquito nets play in preventing the disease”.
The show is the first comedy to be shot inside the U.N.’s New York City headquarters.
Sony/ATV Latin America has signed a worldwide publishing agreement with Mexican pop star Paulina Rubio. 
