Latina.com Blog

OK, so let’s be honest: VH1’s Viva Hollywood wasn’t exactly ratings gold when it aired this spring, and the whole thing was more than a little corny. But the reality show did do one thing right: it named talented actor, Berto Colon, its first (and last) “Numero Uno Telenovela Star.”

It’s been almost six months since Berto won Viva Hollywood and snagged a myriad of prizes, including a condo in Miami Beach and a grand prize of $100,000, and now the Nuyorican actor is ready to accept his final reward: a role on a Spanish telenovela premiering in January ‘09. Press play below to listen to my audio interview with Berto and find out how he feels about “Viva Hollywood” now, plus his recent roles on English soaps like “One Life to Live” and “As the World Turns” and why he knows that his college sweetheart is The One.

LISTEN:

-Lee

Are you one of the few ladies who will be spending your holidays in a warm locale? If so, then lucky you! Make sure you pack smart– no one wants to lug around a big maleta full of clothes, shoes and stuff you’ll never wear. I just saw this great Retro Print Trapunto Halter Dress ($69, anntaylorloft.com) and thought, what a perfect thing to pack for a quick resort getaway. Play it down down with flats or gladiator sandals, or dress it up with metallic strappy sandals…either way, you’ll be having fun in the sun while others stay in the frigid cold–including me!

- Melissa

I love contradictions. Can’t stand simplicity. Don’t ask me why. I just do. Hence, why I enjoyed a little indie flick called The Matador, now showing in select theaters in New York, Arizona, California, and, starting tomorrow, Florida. At a basic level, the pic follows David Fandila’s quest to become one of the few (there have been 12 to date) bullfighters in history to complete 100 corridas in a single season. It’s a journey that takes the Granada-born fighter from his native Spain to Peru, confronting the obvious physical danger that each fight poses–at one point El Fandi suffers from a twisted ankle and a deep gore to his abdomen– his own fear of failure, and the harsh criticism of those who see bullfighting as just plain slaughter (I won’t reveal where I stand, but suffice it to say, I can’t stand blood). So, if you’re with PETA, this may not be the film for you. But on a deeper level, it’s a love story–of a people honoring their traditions, of a family who stands by their unlikely hero through thick and thin, and the fighter’s contradictory love for the beast he must simultaneously glorify and destroy. That said, it’s easy to see why Stephen Higgins and Nina Gilden Seavey’s flick was extremely well received at this year’s SXSW festival.

Latina recently had the chance to speak to El Fandi in person while he was in NYC on promo. The extremely press-shy torero, who somehow manages to have a long-distance GF (sombreros off to him!) revealed what he took away from watching himself in the documentary: “I learned that sometimes you have to get outside of yourself to realize how to be better, both in your everyday technique and also to appreciate how much you’ve grown.” Spoken like a true fighter.

Oh my God. I just ate a whole bag of Cheez-Its. Anyway, several doctors have told me I have to start taking vitamins. And I will. Someday. When I’m not so lazy to remember to take them everyday. And I was reminded of this fact when I saw this new line of Vitamin Shampoo ($7 each, CVS stores nationwide). My faithful readers, you know I’m a sucker for cute packaging, and these bottles are just adorable. They look like energy drinks, and each shampoo is filled with kick-ass nutrients. For example, the hydrating cleanser has coconut milk and lemongrass oil. The Nutritional variety has antioxidants like Acai Berry and Soymilk proteins (protein and moisture are the two most important things your hair needs to stay gorgeous). They’re a nice little steal at seven bucks and they totally make you feel like you’re doing cardio for your hair. It’s just good for it!

The other day, I was looking for inexpensive and fun jewelry that wasn’t from the usual retail suspects (Forever 21, Claire’s, etc.) for an upcoming Latina photo shoot. Our contributing stylist, John Moore, introduced me to Girl Props, which is this cool boutique in downtown NYC where fashionistas go for cute accessories. If you especially love to rock ’80s-inspired jewelry–from two-finger rings with initials to bamboo earrings–this is the place! And the fact that every item is dirt cheap is just more reason to love them. My favorite find at Girl Props so far is their Gumball ring ($1.99, girlprops.com). That’s right, ladies–they have a website, so if you’re not from NYC, so can still score some stylish jewelry on a budget. Go ahead and get your 80’s look on…

-Melissa

Do y’all remember the whole Maxim magazine Vs. Sarah Jessica Parker drama? The glossy named her one of the most “unsexy” girls on the planet. Now, as a girl can you think of any worse insult to get from a guy? I can’t. I mean, I’m thinking and I can’t come up with one other comment that would sting as much. It was rude, unnecessary and untrue (this horrid mean girl I went to high school with is much less sexy – you know who you are!). However, what is quite unsexy are wrinkly man hands. Not to point any fingers, but some (chain smoking) startlets have them. So start paying attention to your digits, ladies. I was recently given Lancome Absolue Hand ($42, lancome-usa.com) and am trying really hard to use it everyday. It not only hydrates but helps attack those dark sun or age spots, too. Cause all our parts should be lookin’ sexy – and no one should ever tell us they’re not!

Dessa strikes a pose!

One of my favorite parts about pregnancy is the hunt for the perfect baby name. Never exactly crazy about my own name (Carla, meh) I always dreamed of exotic and enchanting names for my kids.

I had two important criteria:

1. I wanted a different name but not too different.
2. My Spanish-only speaking family has to be able to pronounce it.

Right off the bat I started out with classic Latina names. Pilar, Ines, Xiomara, and Thalia were my top girl contenders, all of which my husband shot down with the quickness. Jeremy (that’s the hubby)—well, he had some ideas of his own. His number one choice for a girl? Piper. Yup, you read that right, Piper. Can you imagine if I had allowed such a thing? Not because I think it’s an awful name, but I could already hear my mami and abuelito butchering it! Peeper, Pie-pa, Peepa—yikes!

So you’re probably wondering how our baby girl Dessa finally get her name. It’s a funny story actually. One fateful day, Jeremy was heading to his “porcelain throne”and picked up a bunch of parenting mags on the way so that he could have something to read while attending to his business. All of a sudden he shouted out, “Hey, what do you think of Dessa?” I thought it was pretty and asked where he’d come up with it. Turns out there was an ad for “sexy” nursing lingerie from a company called Condessa in the back of the mag he was reading.

In a month, December 23rd to be exact, we’ll be playing the name game again when we find out if we’re have a girl or a boy in the Spring. We agree so quickly on boy names that I’m not sweating those but I am going to add one newbie to my list of girl names. Paloma is at the top of my list (thanks Salma!) but this time I’ll have to worry about my hubby’s family will destroy that name.

What are your favorite baby names? Or better yet, which ones do you absolutely hate?

I’ll be the first to admit that all that Christmas tunage does get old. I’m no Grinchetta, either, but this weekend alone, I heard “(There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays” by Karen Carpenter at the nail salon, the laundromat, AND the grocery store. Now, I love Karen’s voice as much as the next person, but the repetitiveness of it all prompted me to update my own tired holiday collection. I’m not saying you should get rid of Mariah, Christina, and Gloria, I’m just saying pop in something fresh, like the new Los Lonely Boys’ Christmas Spirit album, which was recorded by our Grammy-winning boys in Willie Nelson’s very own studio in Austin. It’s even got two new jingles. And for those of you who just can’t get enough of the classics, it’s got plenty of those, too. Now if only I could find someone to sip hot apple cider with as we watch Love Actually for the 400th time…

I’m a sucker for year-end lists. As redundant as they often are, it’s still fun to read other people’s rankings of all the cultural highs and lows of the past 12 months–and it’s even more fun to analyze/disagree with them!

So the first thing I noticed when iTunes released its numbers for 2008 today is that A) My least favorite band in the entire world, Coldplay, had the best selling album this year, with their very faux-Latin sounding Viva La Vida. Feel free to disagree with me in the comments, but in my opinion this is a most undeserved accolade. Who’s buying this crap?!

On to B: There are zero Latin artists on the list! What a shame. Being the pesky audiophiliac I am, I immediately hit up the folks at iTunes Latino to get our numbers, and they were quick to send me this link with all the rankings. Now let’s break this baby down.

For starters, the top-selling single of ‘08 is, tragically, “Te Quiero,” a reggaeton love song (is there any other kind of reggaeton song these days?) by the panameño known as Flex* (pictured above). This, plus the presence of either Wisin, Yandel or Wisin & Yandel four times in the top 15, proves that the only way to approach reggaeton and be commercially successful nowadays is to treat your song’s lyrics as Ne-Yo would, and just romance the hell out of us ladies. Recounting life en el barrio or providing social commentary just won’t do.

The top-selling albums of the year are Juanes’ La Vida…Es Un Ratico and Luis Miguel’s Complices. You might expect me to complain about this, too, but I actually had such a huge crush on Luismi as a tween, that I once waited outside the back entrance of Radio City Music Hall for a full hour after his concert, just to catch a closer glimpse of the man himself. When I finally did, I cried happy tears. I can’t believe I’m confessing that but it’s true.

More reactions: I wish there were more female artists included. I’m super psyched to see Angel y Khriz included on the Best New Artist list, because I think they’re the future of reggaeton. And I love that Manu Chao’s Radiolina and Julieta Venegas’ Unplugged are the #5 and #6 top selling albums–very promising for Latin alternative acts! Maybe one day we can even come up with a better genre name for them.

My personal fave albums of the year are Calle 13’s Los De Atras Vienen Conmigo, Monte Negro’s Cicatrix and…wait a minute! I’m not going to give it all away just yet. Come back for my fully fleshed out list of the Top Songs and Albums of 2008, and start making your own list, too. Heck, make a list of the worst ones. I’m all ears.

-Monica

*Only in the U.S. Outside of the States, Flex is known as the N-word, a fact that continues to boggle my mind.

Come this spring, we can all dress like we’re off to an Ibizan getaway! That’s because H&M recently announced that British designer Matthew Williamson will be designing a capsule collection for the retail giant to hit stores in mid-April. Other big names who have created collections for H&M include Madonna, Stella McCartney, Karl Lagerfeld, and most recently, Rei Kawakubo from Comme des Garcons. But I’m especially excited for the Williamson collabo because he’s known for using vibrant colors and prints that make a girl feel…well, like a girl! I can only imagine what beautiful prints we’ll be seeing in the spring collection.

Ever since H&M started teaming up with designers to do capsule collections, I’ve been trying to pick up at least two items from each one…as collector’s items, if you will. How about you? What’s been your favorite H&M capsule collection so far?

-Melissa