Mexico may have suffered from bad publicity this year, but for Puerto Rico is just another matter. That little island and commonwealth has just been selected as the

Of course Puerto Ricans everywhere are ecstatic over this coup.

Here’s what some had to say upon hearing the news:

“My island has always been witness to important musical events and for it to be the location for the 2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards brings great pride to our culture.”

- Ricky Martin

Luis Fonsi reacted joyously saying,

“Music and my beautiful Puerto Rico will be the great protagonists of the Billboard Latin Music Awards. I am proud that once again we’ll make history before the world.”

(With his recent separation from Adamari Lopez, this has got to be the best news the Puerto Rican papi has heard all day).

Says Puerto Rican loverboy Chayanne:

“I feel very proud that my island has been selected for the production of the Billboard Latin Music Awards. We’ll try to be the best hosts so that artists, as well as the industry and the media alike feel right at home in Puerto Rico. We want to present a show like no other, in tune with the music we represent.”

Puerto Rican celebs aren’t the only ones who marvelled at the good news; other Latino celebs joined in, among them Mexico’s La Chica Dorada Paulina Rubio, who let out this statement:

“I think it’s an inspiring decision that the Billboard Latin Music Awards is celebrated in the island. I plan to be there. Puerto Rico - I love you!”

And Colombian rocker Juanes:

“I celebrate with great joy the fact that Puerto Rico will be the location for the Billboard Latin Music Awards; all the music in the region, in the island of music. Go Puerto Rico!”

“It’s great that the awards will take place in Puerto Rico! Puerto Rico is a marvelous land, full of hospitality, happiness, and great music. It’s the Pearl of the Caribbean; it’s always great to visit there and they always welcome us in an incredible manner! Congratulations.” - Alejandro Fernandez

“In my career, Puerto Rico and Billboard have been two very important pillars; now for the first time they join in the production of such prestigious awards for Latin music. The best wishes for April of this year” - Myriam Hernandez

Boricuas, stand up!

Eva Longoria was among the many celebrities who came out to the Latin Grammys, the 10th Annual edition.

While the Latin Grammys were happening, one major Latino celebrity was absent, and that was our Shakira.

Shaki was in Europe that night, at the MTV Europe Awards, and boy did she rock the house!

Here she is chatting on the red carpet, prior to her awesome performance.

And what else went on during Latino celebrity week?

Well, some people swear that Pau doesn’t eat. Well, she was spotted doing just that at Da Silvano restaurant in New York with Colate.

Enrique Iglesias and David Bisbal were among the Latino celebrities who came out to support Juan Gabriel, as he was being given the Person of the Year Award by the Latin Recording Academy in Las Vegas.

Eva Mendes and her cute little mole showed up at the American Film Institute Fest in Los Angeles.

Luis Fonsi, a longtime benefactor of the St. Jude’s Hospital, was given the title of Celebrity Ambassador by the medical institution.

Lala Vazquez and Carmelo Anthony decided that marriage is not too far away. Somewhat far, but not too much.

Plenty of Latino celebrities came to the movie premiere of Precious, the Lee Daniels film, starring Mariah Carey.

Mario Lopez was the cover subject for Catalina Magazine’s latest issue.

With all the mirth that was going on in Latino celebrity week, there was also some bad news.

First, Jorge Vargas, considered by many to be one of the best actors of his generation, died at the age of 68 of complications following a colon cancer surgery. The actor’s son Ernesto D’Alessio and the rest of the family received the public’s outpouring love.

At least Mr. Vargas had a lustrous career starting with his first role in the novela Más Fuerte que tu amor as well as in others like La Otra, as well as the 1977 version of Corazón Salvaje.

But enough bad news.

(via)

Rumors ran rampant that William Levy and Maite Perroni were going to be in a play together, but it was eventually announced that Maite didn’t want the part, so former Miss Universe Alicia Machado Un amante a la Medida was more than happy to come alongside William.

And some naughty, naughty news.

Mario Cimarro has been accused of being a brute by more than one of his past co-stars. The latest person to complain about the bulky hunk? None other than his Mar de amor co-star Ninel Conde!

Ninel said that she was verbally abused and physically assaulted by Mario Cimarro on the set of the telenovela that they’re starring in together. Imagine El Bombón Asesino being roughed up by her leading man!

Mario had better register for some anger management classes, like, fast. Juan Zepeda, Ninel’s husband is surely not going to put up with that kind of behavior, and has made that known. Mario may be stronger, but Juancho just might have some unseen strenghts to surprise us all.

And what did Mario have to say for himself? He claims that oh, he was supposed to be rough in that scene, blah, blah, and there had been changes in the atmosphere that the script called for that Ninel wasn’t aware of.

Poor Ninel. This isn’t the first time the poor girl has been a victim of co-stars claiming that they were being physically rough with her for the sake of script realism. Remember this?

It was a wonderful Latino celebrity week, and what a week it was.

Now what do we have here? Yes, indeed it is La Chica Dorada, yes, our very own Pau, with her husband Nicolas Vallejo Najera and a friend…her agent, perhaps, having dinner at Da Silvano.

The restaurant isone of the most popular restaurants in the West Village area in New York, especially for celebrities, so you can imagine that Pau had a very hearty meal.

Aren’t you glad that she’s holding a cell phone in her hands, as opposed to a cigarette?

Good for you Pau.

Photo Credit: Bauer Griffin

Paulina Rubio loves her fans.

Need proof? Just watch the video of below of of La Chica Dorada taking the time to meet and greet some of her fans at a Bilingual AT&T store in Miami, despite the fact that she’s in the middle of her grueling Gran City Pop tour.

Pau is actually going to be giving a private concert in Miami at the Gusman Performing Arts Theater. She will surely rock the house.

Enrique Iglesias, Paulina Rubio, David Bisbal, Luis Fonsi, Gloria Trevi, Alejandro Sanz, Cristian Castro, Arthur Hanlon, Alexander Acha, Don Omar and Fanny Lu are all big stars.

But where would they be without Latin radio?

Probably singing in their bathroom with a toothbrush as a microphone.

They all realize the strength of Latin radio, no doubt, which is why they are all coming together to celebrate the radio genre, mainly the anniversary of Spanish radio company SBS.

Billboard Magazine reports that SBS pop station Amor, 93.1 FM (WPAT)in New York is going to be the host radio station for a two-day concert at Madison Square Garden starting August 28th!

On August 29th, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Olga Tañón, Elvis Crespo, Toño Rosario, Domingo Quiñones, Tito El Bambino, Alexis y Fido and Flex as well as an assortment of Latino artists will be performing.

Can you imagine having all these fabulous Latin artists sing on each of those two nights? It will be more spectacular than a night of premios!

Photo Credit: Roger Kisby/Getty; Google Images

Pau is everywhere these days, even on magazine covers. I just love her style. Go Paulina!

Paulina Rubio has already expressed her desire to leave behind a massive legacy just like her idol Michael Jackson. As the daughter of the great actress Susan Dossamantes, Pau already has the entertainment family thing down.

She’s been acting and singing since she was little, so that takes care of the Michael’s Jackson 5 era; now she’s set to return back to telenovelas!

The last one she did was in the mid-1990s, Pobre niña rica but this time around she’s not going to have a leading role, but have a secondary part in the cast.

Pau would be joining Danna Paola as part of the cast of Atrévete a soñar, a refrito of Patito feo, a telenovela made in Argentina.

For those of you who want more of Pau, well there you are!

Photo via

It looks like the biological clocks of many Latino celebrities are just tick-tocking away. Not too long ago, Shakira expressed how much she longs being a mother, and now Paulina Rubio is letting the whole world know that she feels similarly.

And, ahem, she wants “special arrangements”.

“A mi me gustaría que mi hijo naciera en el agua, para empezar, que naciera de una forma natural, aunque se que las mamás de ahora no están tan preparadas para eso, pero yo creo soy muy fuerte y de esa manera me encantaría tenerlo, de hecho tengo algunas amigas que están por aquí que lo tuvieron así.”

When the swine flu stigma hit Mexico, Pau was among the first Mexican celebrities to show support for the country, so it’s not a surprise that La Chica Dorada said,

“Me gustaría planear que naciera en México, creo que su genética va a ser de aquí, entonces que por qué no va a nacer aquí, no creo que en el DF por la altura pero sí a lo mejor en el pacífico o en la Riviera Maya o en algún lugar así, cerca del mar”.

Wonder what her marido Nicolás “Colate” Vallejo-Nájera and part-time fellow marijuana smoker thinks of all this?

Pau told El Universal,

“El rey del pop es Michael Jackson y ahora empieza una nueva era, su legado es increíble, su música… Espero que cuando yo me muera, pues aunque yo me muera físicamente (sic) también se quede mi música y mi legado”.

She added:

“Que se trata de “una canción que por generaciones se sigue cantando, que habla de tu momento de tu identidad, que puedes ehh… que se vuelven parte de una generación, que pasa de una generación a otra, que se vuelve parte de tu vida, te recuerdan una época en la cual te casaste o te enamoraste, una canción himno quiere decir un tema que se dedica y que se reinterpreta, y que se hace en diferentes programas de televisión, diferentes mezclas…”.

Some cynics would probably say, “Good luck with that”, but I for one will point out that there is at least one similiarity. Michael had Bubbles. Remember Pau and her beloved pet?

What do you all think? Does Pau have a chance of having a legacy lilke Michael Jackson?

Latino celebrities shined at the BET Awards, like stars after dark. Jessica Alba showed up with her husband Warren Cash on her arms.

The show was part of a tribute to Michael Jackson El Rey del Pop. The death of Mr. Jackson hit a lot of Latino celebrities really hard. Thalia was one of them. Mrs. Mottola released this statement:

“Hace mucho no sentía una tristeza colectiva así, de las que se sienten en el pecho y te dejan abrumado. Es un sentimiento de ’shock’ y de pérdida muy específico. Sin opción alguna, esta pérdida te hace revivir momentos personales de vida que fueron acompañados por el ’soundtrack’ de su música y por las imágenes innovadoras de sus videos”.

She was not alone; other Latino artists expressed their grief as well.

At least Michael left us a Spanish version of “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You”, which is perfect for a boda—and other memories.

And then there were the movie premieres.

Cameron Diaz’s latest is My Sister’s Keeper, some movie that’s bound to squeeze some lagrimas out of you, judging from the theatrical trailers I’ve seen.

Mariah Carey made a video for her song “Obsessed”, and dressed as Eminem for the video, prompting a lot of people to think that the song is a rebuttal for Eminem’s dissing of the beautiful Venezuelan diva in the past. But here’s what her husband Nick Cannon had to say about the whole thing:

“People keep saying ['Obsessed'] was directed at certain people,” Cannon said. “To be completely honest, she did the record ’cause she’s a huge fan of this movie ‘Mean Girls,’ and there’s a line in the movie where one of the girls is like, ‘Why are you so obsessed with me?’ She says that at the beginning of the song, and that’s where the concept came from. But you know, art imitates life.”

He’s such a good sport, he also added:

“I always say I thought the record was about me, ’cause I’m obsessed with my wife,” he said. “But if somebody’s out there and you feel like you might have been obsessed, then the record’s about you.”

And me? What do I think? To me, she doesn’t even look anything like Eminem; she looks more like Fred Durst!

(Tamarra/Getty Images)

Paulina Rubio’s latest album, Gran City Pop, went platinum, and it’s been barely a good three months since Pau’s album was released!

La Chica Dorada has a big comeback, no doubt!

So, went the Latino celebrity week! And what a week it was!