Sunday, April 28, 2013

Se Habla Música: 2013 Billboard Latin Music Awards recap

¡¡¡¡¡VIVA LATINO!!!!   


This past Thursday the stars descended upon Miami for the annual Billboard Latin Music awards.  Now being the total music junkie that I am, I was super excited for this awesome music event! I have had my Billboard Latino CD blaring in my car for weeks in anticipation.

No cares given.  

It's amazing because, no matter the region or countries of origin, these kinds of awards bring together the biggest stars of Latin music onto one stage to celebrate the music that makes us who we are as a people!  

And I'm always down with that!

Not to mention the amazing live performances and touching tributes. If you missed it, here's a quick recap of the festivities and winners:


~Brazilian artist Michel Teló took home the award for Song of the year with his hit (and my personal favorite) "Ai Se Eu Te Pego".

~Also nominated for this award was Don Omar for his collab with Natty Natasha for the song "dutty love".
~Though not a winner for Song of the Year,  Don Omar had a major night scooping up a total of ten yes, that was TEN, Latin Billboard awards including Latin Rhythm Album of the Year and Latin Rhythm Artist of the Year.

~"Fast&Furious 6" co-stars Michelle Rodriguez and Vin Diesle made an appearance announcing Don Omar's Victory as Male Artist of the Year........ but can we just be honest and and talk about how Vin Diesel's speech was super weird and awkward??!  I mean, he seemed to be having some technical issues with the height of the microphone.  Luckily, Michelle Rodriguez looked so stunningly elegant and spoke so eloquently that I nearly forgot the uncomfortable two minutes leading up to that moment.  

~I guess you could say that the night's biggest winner was the late Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera who was killed in a tragic airplane accident in Mexico late last year.

~Jenni Rivera was awarded with six Latin Billboard awards and nominated for ten awards, including two nominations for Album of the Year and two for Mexican regional album of the year.

~The honors continued pouring in as many music stars and industry professionals payed a warm tribute to the life, music, and legacy of Jenni Rivera.

Other winners included Jennifer Lopez, Prince Royce, Maná, Shakira and many more.

For a full list or winners and nominees, check out the Billboard official website.

If you like this post, don't forget to share it and leave me a comment!  I'll be choosing one lucky reader to receive a $25 dollar Target gift card as well as a copy of the 2013 Billboard Latin Music Finalist CD filled with tons of great música to get any party going!

se habla música, target latin music, latin billboard awards, target latin billboard awards


a Rafflecopter giveaway Disclosure: Content and/or other value provided by our partner, Target.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

I am my hair





Name: Jeshua

Age: 22

Location: Los Angeles, California

Occupation: Dancer,  Vocalist, Musician







When I was young, I had really curly hair.

When I was just a toddler the ringlets looked cute, and my mama left it long. As I got older, I got a "proper" boy's haircut, meaning short and cropped on the side with a slight quiff on top.

I would say I wore that hairstyle for my entire childhood-adolescent years.

The first time I really noticed that my hair was different than the other boys was on picture day of my 6th grade year. All the boys in my class were wearing their hair in spikes (an ode to the early 2000's) and naturally, at that age, I wanted to look cool like all the other boys in my class.

I asked the grandma of one of my friends to comb my hair like she had combed her grandson's.
She agreed and pulled out her gel, spray bottle and comb.  However, when she put the products into my hair and began "spiking" it, my hair immediately became very course and thick and almost matted.

                              Nice.

She then let out a little chuckle and told me that I "didn't have good hair for spiking" which immediately gave me a slight complex.

Because that's exactly what a 12 year old boy wants to hear, right?
I mean, it wasn't bad enough that I was the ONLY Latino boy in my class, slightly overweight, glasses-wearing, super socially awkward and way too self-aware for my age.

Now I added to the list..."weird hair".

You see I didn't hear the "for spiking" part, all I heard was "you don't have good hair" which in turn was translated as "you're not good". It may not seem like a big deal for some, but when you are already teased and out cast for being different, it just seems like another leaf in the pile.

But that's all a story for another time.
   
Anyway.

I went through my teen years fighting against my hair. Keeping it short, straightening it, and gelling it to death attempting to keep puffiness at bay.

In high school, I attended a private school that was very conservative and a bit repressive when it came to any sort of artistic endeavor...or individuality for that matter.

 I mean, they didn't allow us to dance at all because they thought it would lead to sex....really...not joking. No school dances, no talent shows. Nada. We weren't even allowed to talk about it...lame.

They were adamant that boys hair be no more than three inches long on top and the sides could not cover your ear or touch the collar of your shirt in the back. Let me tell you, they were vigilant when it came to the enforcing of these rules.

It wasn't until I graduated from high school and got myself away from ignorant, small-minded people, that I really discovered who I was as an artist/dancer/ musician/performer.

That's when I decided to let my hair be free. It was sort of a metaphor for all the junk I had carried around for all those years and a sort of rebellion to the ones who thought long hair was only for hippies and drug addicts.

I guess I kinda saw it as a way to say "hey, look! I have long hair, I am still a good person, I still love God, I don't steal, I have manners."

It was a polite middle finger to the world, I suppose.

So, four years later my hair is long and natural and I love it and I have no intention of cutting it anytime soon. Funny enough, it has kind of taken on a life of its own.  From my arsenal of hair products to all the attention and stares I receive, I have come to realize that I am my hair.


Last week I had the awesome opportunity to meet the WONDERFUL chica from DailyCurlz.com. We were both rocking the big curls in Miami! Check out her blog and YouTube for great tips, product recommendations and tutorials for curly hair.  Connect with Daily Curlz on Twitter and like her page on Facebook!






"I've had enough! This is my prayer, that I'll die living just as free as my hair. I've had enough, I'm not a freak. --it's all the glory that I bear.  I am my hair"



Thursday, April 4, 2013

How does one "sexy?"


So if you don't know, I'm a dancer. I'm not exactly sure why it is that I'm telling this story, but it's late as I'm writing this so just go with it.

Once I was dancing backup for an artist and in one particular part of the show, the singer was to run off stage to do a wardrobe change.  During the time while she was changing, we dancers were suppose to make our way to the front of the stage and "be sexy"


...lol...be sexy.

In rehearsals everyone just marked through the "sexy time" not really making any effort, assuming everyone would know what they were doing come showtime. Each time it got to that part in the show I would just kindof joke around and make weird faces to make the other dancers laugh.

The night of the show we did a quick run-through of counts and choreography then made our way backstage for hair and makeup.

Show starts, we're all dancing hard, hitting choreo hard. The energy onstage was great, the crowd was amazing, everything seems to be going off as planned. 

 So the musical cue hit and the singer runs off for wardrobe change as we all strut to the front of the stage. 


THEN... IT HIT ME-

As I looked to my left and to my right I could see  my fellow dancer serving up some SERIOUS sexual  chocolate, where as I was serving Danimals Yogurt realness. 

-I HAD NO FREAKING IDEA WHAT I WAS DOING!!!!
 I stood there in complete panic for what felt like 5 years, when in actuality it was probably 4 seconds.

 I had NOT fully thought through the fact that, come showtime, I'd have to actually have a "sexy" thinggy planned. 
I don't effin know how to be sexy yo!????

AND- if that's not bad enough, I could see the poor people in the front row directly in front of me.  While the entire crowd was jumping and dancing and yelling for the other dancers who were so effectively engaging, those poor souls in front of me just looked about as confused and uncomfortable as I was- awkwardly staring out into the audience making a pathetic attempt at licking my lips and grinding my hips around for like .5 seconds.  I'm pretty sure after that I just dropped into a squat and stayed there the entire time hahahaha

A SQUAT, A FREAKING SQUAT PEOPLE!!! THE LEAST SEXY BODY POSITION EVER!!!!!!!!

Oh man... that was seriously one of THEE longest few minutes of my life!
  
I wish I could say there was some dramatic life lesson to be learned from this, but if there is, I've yet to discover it.
For now it just ranks as one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. haha




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