We love us some Hispanics. And in the upcoming year, we’ll be watching and delivering hot gossip about our favorite Latinos and Latinas. Here’s a rundown of the people who’ll especially be on our radar.

HISSIP’S HOT LIST (a.k.a. BEST OF THE YEAR, ONES TO WATCH)  

11. Mayra Veronica. Right now she might seem all T&A, but some stars and some future tabloid staples started out that way, didn’t they? Look for Mayra’s skinlicious spreads to pan out into other things like movie roles. 

10. Lymari Nadal. American Gangster was one of the darkest mafia pics of all time.  But on the bright side was Lymari Nadal, the stunning Puerto Rican actress who played a gangster’s moll in the film.  Why do I get the feeling I’ll get to see more of this wife of Edward James Olmos and chemist major?

9. Selena Gomez. She’s cute as a sewn button. She may seem doomed at first sight. She’s after all a Disney kid, having guest-starred on “Hannah Montana”,  and destined for teen star dysfunctionality a la Jamie Lynn Spears, but we’ve got faith in this little Latina, if only because she shares the first name of a certain late Latina legend.

8. Marisol Nichols. Don’t let her gringo last name fool you. Ms. Nichols, who has starred as Nadia Yassir in Nip/Tuck as well as Fox’s 24, is part Mexican, and definitely star material. The stunning beauty is currently filming Felon, Rick Roman Waugh’s drama, in which she’ll be starring opposite Val Kilmer, Anne Archer, and Stephen Dorff.  

7. Pitbull: It was supposed to have been his year. The rapper dropped his The Boatlift album in November, but over the Christmas Shopaday, got himself arrested for DUI in Miami-Dade. The Hissiper to Pitbull: be sober in the ‘08. Por favor.

6. Dania Ramirez. The Heroes star takes our breath away.  Not only is she talented, but she’s always so well put together. Compliments to her stylist and to God who gave her such a great body to rock the red carpet with.

5. Mariah Carey. This year she rocked us with her very own scent M and she’s got the “Emancipation of Mimi” follow-up in the works, not to mention a role in the upcoming movie Tennessee, in which she plays Krystal…’2008 will prove to be yet another career-marking year for Ms. Mariah Careyfly.

4. Jennifer Lopez. We should be tired of her already, but strangely enough we’re not. Yeni is like that big sister that you’re jealous of, but that you love anyway. The upcoming year will mark motherhood, as well as more mature projects from Yeni from the Block. She’s the woman who can’t be stopped.

3. Voltio . Compared to his reggaeton counterparts like Tego Calderon, Daddy Yankee, Voltio is less well-known, but not for long.

2. Belinda. If working with Tommy Mottola isn’t the sign of future stardom, we don’t know what is. Of course Thalia, the last Spanish-language star that Mottola tried to help cross over, didn’t make a splash as hoped, but something tells me it’ll be different for Belinda Peregrín Schüll, who was nominated for Grammys for “Bella Traición” from her Utopia CD.

1. America Ferrera. Is it any surprise that she’s on our list? The Latina star has jumped over weight and race barriers in Hollywood, making the cover of Glamour magazine this year. The upcoming year will be especially good for her. In addition to her Golden Globe-winning role as “Ugly Betty”, America’s got The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 on the horizon, as well as a leading role in the film La Misma Luna. The galaxy is the limit.

Enrique Iglesias told the New Zealand Herald that love and sex don’t come as a combo.

“Sex and love are so different that, of course, you don’t have to be in love with a woman to sleep with her but it’s amazing when you get them both together.”

Aw. At this point, he’s no doubt referring to Ms. Annie Kournikova, his querida of 5 years.
Enrique also dished out on his dad, telling the newspaper that his father’s promiscuity over the years (3,000 women bedded and counting) is just an “an act”.

Huh…so all those 75 kids he’s got with all these different women is just a cover-up for something “else”? Elaborate please Enrique…the suspense is unbearable.

[Source]

Enrique Iglesias told the New Zealand Herald that love and sex don’t come as a combo.

“Sex and love are so different that, of course, you don’t have to be in love with a woman to sleep with her but it’s amazing when you get them both together.”

Aw. At this point, he’s no doubt referring to Ms. Annie Kournikova, his querida of 5 years.
Enrique also dished out on his dad, telling the newspaper that his father’s promiscuity over the years (3,000 women bedded and counting) is just an “an act”.

Huh…so all those 75 kids he’s got with all these different women is just a cover-up for something “else”? Elaborate please Enrique…the suspense is unbearable.

[Source]

No one rocks world music like Putumayo. Their newest compilation entitled Putumayo Presents: Latin Reggae is an audio manual to the reggaeton genre, and is an additional level ambitious from its previous Latin-themed discs as Putumayo Presents: Latin Lounge and Putumayo Presents: Latin Groove. Your abuela probably makes good arroz and pollo, but I doubt she can work a stew like this. The disc features songs from Chilean group Libros Sagrados, and features a Ticklah and Mayra Vego collaboration, the slamming “Si Hecho Palante” as well as a bouncing jam “Reggae Rustico”  from the Puerto Rican reaggaetoners Cultura Profética and ends later with Desbaratado from the culture hybrid Sarazino. Putumayo Presents: Latin Reggae isn’t the first reggaeton compilation, but it sure made you wish that others to come could be as all-compassing.

The Latino pull is just too strong for the mainstream to ignore. Now Marvel Comics is getting in the Hispanic game. The comic book giant will be issuing a special issue of the Fantastic Four entitled “Isla de la Muerte. ” Joe Quesada, the editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics told the New York Times:

“Hispanics don’t only mark the fastest-growing segment of the population but also one of our fastest-rising readership segments.”

For those who are still doubting the Latino community’s economic swagger…so there!

It’s official: mother-to-be Jessica Alba and her boo are engaged. The confirmation came through Steve Carafelli, the future Mrs. Cash Warren’s publicist.  

[Source] pic: (Mark J. Terrill, File / AP Photo)

People Magazine may have selected Javier Bardem as one of the sexiest men of the year, but he sure doesn’t see it that way, telling an interviewer that when he looks at himself in the mirror:

“I see a guy who looks like he’s been beaten with a baseball bat.”

The  SAG and Golden Globe-nominted actor, who’s Penelope Cruz’s boo is not only modest, but happens to hold fame into perspective:

“The most important thing is to do the job. I saw my mom a huge theatre actress, being unemployed for years and that’s why I don’t buy into the shiny stuff, the gold. If it happens, then it’s great but tomorrow somebody could say, ‘I’m tired of him, hire somebody else’.” [Source]

People Magazine may have selected Javier Bardem as one of the sexiest men of the year, but he sure doesn’t see it that way, telling an interviewer that when he looks at himself in the mirror:

“I see a guy who looks like he’s been beaten with a baseball bat.”

The  SAG and Golden Globe-nominted actor, who’s Penelope Cruz’s boo is not only modest, but happens to hold fame into perspective:

“The most important thing is to do the job. I saw my mom a huge theatre actress, being unemployed for years and that’s why I don’t buy into the shiny stuff, the gold. If it happens, then it’s great but tomorrow somebody could say, ‘I’m tired of him, hire somebody else’.” [Source]

Penelope Cruz will be acting in a Bollywood film if Indian film producer has his way. He imagines it this way:
CONTINUE READING

If you envy Jessica Alba to death, you might want to hear this story. It may make you feel better. Not a whole lot though. Just a little bit. Her first date as a teenager with a male friend was a disaster.

“I picked this restaurant, I thought it was going to be an intimate, five-star place, where people wouldn’t recognize us. It turned out to be a theme restaurant - all the waiters were dressed as pirates and the customers were senior citizens. It was so embarrassing!”

As she grew older, it seems that her restaurant eating experience got better. After breaking up earlier this year, she and her man reconciled with the help of some serious restaurant therapy, dining out at her favorite restaurants. [Source]