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Carlos Baute is a Matchmaker in Spain

11:10 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Celebrities|Music|Spain|TV|Venezuela · Comments Off

30 Mar 2009

Remember how Venezuelan singer Carlos Baute swore he’d never leave Venezuela with his hit song “Yo Me Quedo en Venezuela” (above)? Well the lyrics now ring with irony, as Baute has apparently given up on his homeland and is forging a new career in España. After recording a hit duet with Spanish singer Marta Sanchez, Baute is also hosting a crappy-looking dating show which looks like a refrito of The Dating Game. Preview after the jump. Read more…

Obama on Premio Lo Nuestro : Pandering or Props to Latinos?

11:53 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Media|Obama|Politics|TV · 4 Comments

27 Mar 2009

I didn’t watch Premio lo Nuestro last night. Really, how much silicone and fajas can a mujer watch? Pero apparently the highlight was President Obama making a video appearance on the show.

Here’s what he said:

Buenas noches (Good evening). I want to thank the millions of you who voted for tonight’s winners, and I also want to thank all of you who voted in that other election back in November – even if it wasn’t for me. With the challenges we face right now, it is absolutely critical that you stay involved and make your voices heard. I want you to know that I will always be listening, and my Administration is working hard so that we can expand opportunity for all Americans and reach that better day. Now I know you tuned in for “Premio Lo Nuestro,” so let me get right to it. I don’t know who’ll get married tonight or who’ll get Video of the Year, but I know you’re in for some great performances that celebrate the rich diversity of Latin music, and that’s good news. So enjoy the show, y para los nominados que se preguntan si esta será su noche, les digo, ¡si se puede! (and for all those nominees wondering if tonight is their night, let me just say, ¡yes you can!)

Yesterday, La Macha and Jen were talking about the causal tone that many official presidential events have taken. Pero when is too casual too casual and perhaps downright offensive? Has he and everyone taken the whole Si Se Puede chant/rallying cry out of context so much rendering it meaningless? No mention of important issues like immigration. It’s as if he wants Latino support using buzzwords and catch phrases.

Maybe I’m just too damn cynical/sensitive.

Mainstream Media Finally Talking About Human Rights Violations in Immigration Detention

7:48 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Immigration|Media|TV · 2 Comments

27 Mar 2009

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

It’s been talked about for years. It’s been documented for years pero suddenly when it’s a huge mainstream human rights organization or the mainstream media saying it, it’s real.

I guess we should be happy that the issue of human rights violations in immigrant jails (detention facilities as they say in fancy speak) are getting any play at all. The real important point though is if all the attention leads to some real action on the part of the U.S. government. This means an end to raids that help fill up these jails until the current immigration system is overhauled.

No, I’m not holding my breath.

Via / Citizen Orange

George Lopez Goes Late Night

11:48 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Celebrities|TV · 4 Comments

25 Mar 2009

georgelopeztp At a time when late night talk shows are in a period of transition — what some might call a renaissance — a familiar Latino face is emerging to shake up the genre even more. George Lopez is getting his own late night talk show, which is set to air on TBS and seems to be much more than just a monologue and a guy behind a desk:

Lopez and his producers approached TBS with a pilot episode filmed on an outdoor soundstage, with Eva Longoria, Dane Cook and Samuel L. Jackson as guests. Lopez sat audience members close to the stage, let them ask questions and didn’t sit behind a desk.

“The music was from salsa to Led Zeppelin,” he said. “Look, you can either go to Nieman Marcus or you can go to a flea market. When you go to a swap meet, there’s just a ground-level feel that you can find anything there. At Nieman Marcus, you’re not going to find tube socks and pliers. This will be a flea market feel.”
TBS was sold by the pilot, said Michael Wright, the cable network’s programming chief.

I’m not a huge fan of Lopez’s comedy, but I appreciate what he’s trying to do: represent some diversity in late night, so I’ll be watching. I must admit I’m also attracted by what he said he’s shooting for:

He said he wants to be inclusive, not divisive, in much the same way as Arsenio Hall’s early-1990s talk show.

I loved me some Arsenio!

Via / Yahoo Entertainment News

More Obama on the Tonight Show : Ablism, Special Olympics and Tokenism

10:29 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Media|Obama|TV · 4 Comments

20 Mar 2009

Now here’s the thing. To me Obama’s off the cuff comment about him being praised for a lousy bowling score can be read a few ways.

Is he making fun of the way the Special Olympics tokenizes and infantalizes those with disabilities? To me the Special Olympics always seems akin to awing as a baby rolls on it’s tummy except we are usually dealing with older children an adults. “Aww look at the disabled run, how sweet”.

Or is he making fun of the disabled who choose to participate in the Special Olympics or disabled people in general?

Apparently the President felt that something was off with his comment as well, so much so that even before the show aired he issued an apology. Pero the apology wasn’t to the disabled community. It was to the Special Olympics.

Edited to add: Apparently the Chairman of the Special Olympics reacted to the comment on Good Morning America.

What movement exactly is the Chairman talking about? I think it’s good that yes we talk about words and their danger pero is the Special Olympics the face of the disability movement?

Que creen?

Obama Speaks to Jay Leno about the Country’s Challenges

9:29 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · iran|Politics|TV · 2 Comments

20 Mar 2009

It’s really refreshing to see a U.S. President address the country in a medium that resonates with the regular citizen: late night TV. Refusing just to stand behind a podium and stick to talking points, President Obama sat down with Jay Leno to chat about the country’s biggest issue: the economy. If nothing else, he has guts like no other president has ever had with regard to facing the public. Check out the video:

What’s also refreshing is that he’s explaining complex issues like the AIG crisis in layman’s terms. It remains to be seen what kind of president Obama will be, but at least he’s speaking clearly to the public and not just dodging bullets.

Another really good sign? His opening of doors to the people and the government of Iran. Obama recorded a special New Years video message which was distributed through the Voice of America network, and which you can watch after the jump.
Read more…

Sabado Afternoon Links: Venezuela, El Salvador, Mexico, Brazilians, Washing, and Jon Stewart

14 Mar 2009

Mala is a little stressed out and seeking calm from the internet isn’t really helping.

I mean, mira, scary socialist Chavez is taking over everything, including highways, ports and airports.

It’s not like the U.S. to interfere in the elections of Latin American countries like El Salvador, right?

We could all just unwind in Mexico.

If we wanna a wax we’d have to skip Jersey.

We can’t even wash our kids anymore

Pero thankfully when all else fails, we have Jon Stewart.

MTV to Air Pedro Zamora Movie

5 Mar 2009

Some of you might be a tad too young to remember, but back in 1994, MTV’s The Real World actually retained some element of real, and was actually a pretty engaging show (note: there were actually people with brains in the house). The San Francisco edition was one of its highest points, mainly due to the groundbreaking things that were going on on the show: 21 year old Cubano Pedro Zamora emerged as the first openly gay HIV-positive man to appear on American television, and in following Pedro’s life and death, U.S. TV viewers finally got to know someone living with HIV.

Alex Loynaz stars as earnest Real World cast-member Pedro Zamora in this intimate biopic tracing the HIV-positive immigrant’s rise from humble roots to becoming one of the most instantly recognizable HIV/AIDS activists in the United States as a result of his high profile role on MTV’s pioneering reality… television series. In 1992, The Real World made it’s debut on MTV, forever altering the definition of the term “celebrity,” and providing a sympathetic face to the growing AIDS crisis for the millions of Americans who had yet to meet someone suffering from the devastating autoimmune disorder.

While the show was great, what MTV has got up its sleeve now doesn’t look like it’s going to do it much justice. “Pedro: The Movie” actually looks pretty terrible if the trailers are to be believed (check them out here). MTV movies are infamously bad, so I guess you can’t expect much more, but I would have preferred Pedro’s story be told by a good filmmaker with…a budget. When you check out the trailer, you’ll know what I mean. But before that, check out the clip above of The Real World San Francisco to get a sense of who Pedro was.

Pedro: The Movie is set to air on MTV on April 1st.

Via / SF Citizen

The Oscar’s Spanish Language Moment

23 Feb 2009

Actually there was one Spanish language moment right before Penelope Cruz won for best supporting actress when Angelica Houston, who was charged with giving Pe her nomination tribute, finished off with a “Felicitaciones”.

“This is not going to be 45 seconds, I can say that right now. Has anybody ever fainted here? Because I might be the first one. Thank you so much to the Academy

I want to share this with my fellow nominees and with the amazing ensemble of actors that I had the privilege to work with in this movie. Thank you, Woody, for trusting me with this beautiful character.

Thank for you having written over all these years some of the greatest characters for women. And I cannot talk about great female characters without thanking my friend Pedro Almodóvar for having made me part of so many of his adventures. Thank you, Bigas Luna, Fernando Trueba, for giving me my first movies. Thank you, Harvey Weinstein. I wanted to dedicate this to my parents and to my brother and sister, to my friend Robert Carlo, who is not with us anymore, and to everyone who has helped me from the beginning and you know who you are and I thank you from my heart.

I grew up in a place called Alcobendas, where this was not a very realistic dream. And I, always on the night of the Academy Awards, I stay up to watch the show and I always felt that this was, this ceremony was a moment of unity for the world because art, in any form, is and has been and will always be our universal language and we should do everything we can, everything we can, to protect its survival.

So I thank you so much and I have to say something in Spanish, because everyone? Todos lo que, desde España, ahora están compartiendo éste momento conmigo, y sientan que esto también es de ellos, se los dedico, y a todos los actores de mi país. Muchisimas gracias. Thank you so much.”

Via / Lossip

The Oscars Have a Language Problem

7:00 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Bilingualism|language|Movies|TV · 4 Comments

23 Feb 2009

Gracias to all the twitter followers who watched the Oscars with us last night.

I’ll admit I haven’t seen most of the movies that were nominated and won. Ok, I’ve only seen one pero por lo menos that film saw an award with Penelope Cruz winning mejor supporting actress for her role in Vicky Christina Barcelona. That’s the closest there was to a Latino win (and yes I know Pe’s not Latina. She’s Spanish as in European). Pero Latino weren’t completely absent. I counted four musical references to West Side Story and after the Oscars there was a commercial for a new ABC show that used a racist Latino gang stereotype.

I was very bothered that neither The Garden nor Trouble the Water won for best documentary. That award went to a film about a French tightrope walker.

The Oscars seemed to have a problem with foreigners, especially ones with accents, especially POC. Yes, I know that Slumdog Millionaire won Best Picture. Pero the main awards went to the Brit production teams and the tech awards and musical awards going the actual Indians. I haven’t seen Slumdog pero white directed movies about non-white people always concern me, especially when the directors based the film on a book written by someone from Indian, and let’s not forget the fact that Great Britain colonized India. As I write this I am watching Jimmy Kimmel make references to the child actors from Slumdog Millionaire never acting and never being on sidewalks. And did Ryan Seacrest just hold up a paper with their names because he couldn’t read them?

Pero Hollywood loves POC, especially when they sing and dance. A.R Rahman’s performance complete with a quasi Bollywood dance number was met with much applause. Pero when POC spoke, especially when they spoke with an accent people thought it was hillarious. Take for example the Japanese winner for mejor foreign film Departures. The audience was laughing, not cuz there were jokes pero cuz the winner had an accent. I even saw some tweets on how director Yojiro Takita was screaming cuz no one could understand him.

So POC just keep singing and dancing, just don’t speak, especially if you have an accent.

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