10:34 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Food| TV · 6 Comments
11 Jun 2007
I confess, I sometimes watch the Food Network. And with the exception of very few shows (one of which has been cancelled), I consider it trash. The kind of trash you want to watch again and again, and at various times of the day, religiously. In watching a whole lot of the Food Network, I noticed that there are very few people of color on the channel, and the few that are there are relegated to the deadly early morning or late night hours. Up until now — and in spite of the fact that Latin America boasts some of the most diverse and awe-inspiring cuisines in the world — there was no Latino representation on the Food Network, but that’s history now:
Ingrid Hoffmann has been tempting Spanish-language audiences by cooking traditional food with a modern twist and offering common-sense tips for entertaining. Now she wants to translate that recipe into English.With her new show “Simply Delicioso,” airing Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. beginning July 14, the Colombian-born Miami resident becomes the Food Network’s first Latina host. Already known to Spanish TV watchers through her cable show Delicioso on Galavision and segments on Univision’s Despierta America, Hoffman will join the ranks of other Spanish-language stars who have tried to cross over to English – not always successfully.
Indeed, not always successfully.
Check out a video of the new food diva here and tell us what you think. Does she stand a fighting chance on the Food Network?
Via / Hispanic Business
Image via Hispanic PR Wire
3:26 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Cuba| Politics| TV · Comments Off
31 May 2007
A.M. fluff-fest The Today Show is going after an edgier story: the political and social situation on the island nation of Cuba. And they are taking their camera and host Matt Lauer there to report from the country next week.
Matt Lauer and NBC’s “Today” show will broadcast live from Cuba next Tuesday to report on the political and economic climate there.Although Lauer is a frequent round-the-world traveler for “Today,” it took 18 months to arrange the visit to a country only 90 miles from the United States, said Jim Bell, the show’s executive producer. Bell used his ability to speak Spanish in the negotiations.
“It’s always timely to go to Cuba,” Bell said. “There’s always news there. Being there is news in itself.”
Somehow I don’t see Matt Lauer as the kind of hard journalist to cover this type of story, or The Today Show as being the forum for a discussion on topics like future regime change, civil liberties, communism and the embargo. You can’t with a clear conscience do a fluff piece on Cuba. But then again, Matt’s cutesy former co-host Katie Couric is hosting the CBS Evening News so I guess anything can happen.
Via / Hispanic Business
6:30 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Events| TV · Comments Off
16 Jan 2007
Hooray! It’s a landmark moment for Latinos on TV. A show by Latinos, with a Latino cast and a Latino storyline, adapted from a script born in Latin America, has taken the Golden Globe for Best Comedy, with America Ferrera taking home her own for Best Comic Actress on TV.
Betty’s producer, Silvio Horta, got all teary-eyed (and so did I, I confess) when he said that Ugly Betty was an immigrant story and that Betty herself symbolizes the American dream. The immigrant angle, I think, is what has taken an ordinary Cinderella tale and turned it into something meaningful that so many people can relate to.
While Horta gave his speech, Salma Hayek, the show’s star executive producer stood back, and cast member Vanessa Williams jumped up and down and shouted with glee. Horta ended his speech by sending a shout out to his mom: “Te quiero, mami!”
11:53 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Celebrities| Chismes| dance · Comments Off
29 Dec 2006
JLo’s got a new TV dance show out, and so does ex hubby Cris Judd: coincidence? I think not:
Judd’s show is the reality competition “Dirty Dancing” on the Women’s Entertainment cable channel, airing Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST. Lopez is producing MTV’s “DanceLife,” about six aspiring dancers struggling to make it. The eight-episode series premieres Jan. 15 at 10:30 p.m.Judd’s show was inspired by the ’80s classic “Dirty Dancing,” starring
Jennifer Grey as rich girl Baby and Patrick Swayze as poor dance instructor Johnny. The premise: Eighteen women compete at a summer camp for a dance contract and the right to play Baby — to whichever professional ballroom dancer becomes Johnny — during the finale.
11:51 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Entertainment| race · 1 Comment
30 Nov 2006
No hoorays for Hollywood. Hispanic Tips linked to a story today with the headline “Study: Whites get majority of acting jobs” and added “is anyone surprised by these findings?” My answer is no, not surprising. Even with more Latino, blacks and Asians in television and film these days, it’s clear to anyone that whites dominate the entertainment business. According to the UCLA study:
Ethnic minorities were not cast in about 80 percent of first-, second- and third-billed leading roles in Hollywood films last year, according to a study released Wednesday.This level of representation of Latino, black, Asian-American and American Indian actors is based on a review of the 171 commercially released films in 2005 that reported a gross of at least $1 million.
In addition, the first-time study from the UCLA School of Law and the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center showed that 69 percent of all casting notices for three months this summer specifically asked for white actors. Roles advertised for a specific ethnicity other than whites ranged from 0.5 percent to 8 percent of the total, it found.
Also during that three-month period, white actors could compete with minorities for an additional 8.5 percent of total parts – beyond the nearly 70 percent that specifically sought white actors.
4:59 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Celebrities| TV| mexico · Comments Off
27 Nov 2006
As reviled as he was loved, it’s an undeniable fact that Raul Velasco, host of the famed Mexican variety show Siempre en Domingo was an important figure in Mexican popular culture. Some say he’s guilty of destroying Mexican popular culture. His death Sunday marks the end of an era for Mexican television and for many 20-30-40-somethings who first saw their favorite Mexican stars make their debut on Siempre en Domingo:
Raul Velasco, who hosted one of Mexico’s most popular and enduring television programs, “Siempre en Domingo,” died Sunday at his home in the Pacific coast resort of Acapulco, his network said. He was 73.Velasco, whose variety show has been compared to “The Ed Sullivan Show,” was credited with launching many of Mexico’s biggest pop stars to fame by having them appear on his show, which was broadcast from 1969-1998.
3:24 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Entertainment| TV · 1 Comment
1 Nov 2006
Think you’re special? Think you could be the next big thing on Latino TV? Well, guess what — SI TV is looking for Latin TV stars for its new show “Flow and Tell”. It looks like they are starting their search in Tucson:
Attention rappers, ranters, poets and just plain folks: Si TV wants to give you an opportunity to go on camera and express your thoughts and opinions for its new series Flow & Tell when the show visits Tucson Thursday. The program will debut on Si TV, an English-language Latino- themed network, in 2007.The station premieres in Tucson Monday on Comcast Channel 635.
The music video series mixes everyday people’s on-camera thoughts and rants with today’s hottest music videos to create an outlet for self-expression.
Hope to see you on TV!
Via / AP and The Tuscon Citizen
6:47 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · TV| World · Comments Off
18 Oct 2006
In an affirmation that telenovelas are truly crossing into the mainstream (as evidenced by the recent success of ABC’s “Ugly Betty”, an adapation of the famed Colombian novela “Betty la fea”), the UK’s most important network, the BBC, is going to do some skanky soaps of their own, in an effort to bump up ratings:
…BBC is investing millions in its own telenovela, working on several ideas with famous screenwriters and has put British playwright Jonathan Harvey in charge of developing the project with the Talkback Thames independent production company.The director of the BBC’s fiction division, Jane Tranter, says that the series will follow the structure of a telenovela.
“We will know how many epidodes it will have from the beginning; a beginning, a twist and plot points, but we will tape each episode a couple of days before broadcasting it.”
According to EFE, the advantage of the Latin American telenovela structure is that is has a definite end date, which helps boost ratings, instead of going on forever until viewers eventually disappear.
If they really want to make a good telenovela, they need to scrap the renowned playwright, take a plane to Mexico and meet with Televisa writers. They know how to write a good novela. They created the formula that doesn’t fail. Why reinvent the wheel?
Via / Terra EFE
12:47 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Brazil| Celebrities| Women| sex · 1 Comment
29 Sep 2006
Remember Xuxa? Yeah, that hot little number that all your anglo friends’ moms would turn off when you were watching “a kids show” on “the Spanish channel”. Her legendary sexy kids show has circled the globe, and has even been parodied by The Simpsons. Now, Xuxa’s coming clean about how she learned to be sexy:
Actress and singer Xuxa, who still reigns supreme in the world of children at 43 years of age, revealed in an interview the secrets that made her a sex symbol two decades ago, when she was still a virgin.A pencil helped make a pretty, innocent blonde with blue eyes, who still slept with a teddy bear into a femme fatale, according to Istoé Gente magazine.
She had never made love but was already considered a sex symbol. How could she show a face of desire if she had never done anything, Xuxa asked herself. Laughing, the “reina de los bajitos” remembers her first sessions as a model and when she got her director instructions from the: “Bite the pencil, Xuxa! Now imagine that the sun is in your eyes. Keep wrinkling your brow, with your eyes almost closed. Now suck on the air. That’s a face of desire!”
Yuck. What I find ironic is that Xuxa started her career as a porn star, in a movie in which she seduces a 13 year old, and someone thought it would be great idea to make her into a kids show idol.
Via / El Confidencial
VivirLatino is a daily publication published by 2 Mujeres Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse and influential Latino and Latina community in the U.S.
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