Jay Leno joked during his Tonight Show monologue on Thursday night, “Congratulations to Ricky Martin. He was honored in New York yesterday as the Latin Recording Academy’s Person of The Year. Unfortunately, the year was 1998.”
A source tells TMZ that Ricky Martin is such a huge fan of the hip shaking Zumba workout that he spent about $10,000 on 200 Zumba DVDs to give to his family and friends.
While talking with ‘The Tonight Show’ host Jay Leno about whether he agreed with Jay that Terri Schiavo was brain-dead before removing her feeding tube in 2005, Bill Maher responded, “So did I. Brain-dead. But then a few months later a woman, a brain-dead woman, gave birth to a baby. And I said congratulations, Britney.” Later, when discussing how the latest Republican wedge issue for this year’s mid-term elections was illegal immigration, after employing anti-gay marriage initiatives in 2004, Maher said, “That’s true. You’re right. Last time it was gay marriage. Now it’s Mexican immigration. That Ricky Martin can’t catch a a break, can he? I tell you.”
The Jerusalem Post reports that Ricky Martin officially canceled his first Israeli concert Saturday night, apologizing to fans and promising a visit to Israel at an unspecified future date. Full refunds were promised to fans who had bought tickets for Martin’s June 3rd show, which was moved earlier this month from the Rishon Lezion Amphitheater to the smaller Rana’ana Amphitheater due to sluggish ticket sales. Just 300 tickets had reportedly been sold for Martin’s Israeli debut when the change in location was announced, and fewer than 1,000 additional tickets were sold by the time of the cancellation. Martin had unintentionally caused alarm among some Israeli pop fans last summer after wearing an Arab headdress during a visit to Jordan marked in Arabic with the words, “Jerusalem is ours.”
In an interview with The Sun, Latin singer Juanes rejected comparisons to Ricky Martin. “I’m not the new Ricky Martin,” he insisted. “People have the wrong idea about Latin music in Europe. Latin music is so diverse, it can go from metal music to reggaeton to hip hop to funk. The music that I make fuses rock and the old folk side of Colombian music. I write about the reality of life in general. Violence, death, family, religion, all the elements that effect my way of living.”
The story at thesun.co.uk has since been removed.
Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias were on hand for the Mega TV Channel 22 launch party, a new television channel targeted to young Hispanics in South Florida, on Saturday (March 4) at the Raul Alarcon residence in Miami, Florida. Check out pictures from FilmMagic.
E. A. Ollie Middle School and Madison High School, two academic institutions located in Houston that where severely stricken by hurricane Katrina, received with enthusiasm humanitarian support from the Ricky Martin Foundation. “We feel very fortunate to aid the most vulnerable population. This relief effort is only achievable by forging alliances. We sincerely appreciate the support given by the private sector, The Salvation Army, local non-profits such as Saving Lives through Alternate Options (SLAO) and many individuals. We will also like to congratulate the teachers for being leaders in times of social turmoil”, Martin said prior to his concert in Houston.
Laura Emerick of The Chicago Sun-Times reviewed Ricky Martin’s performance at the Chicago Theatre on Thursday (February 2). Emerick writes, “Maybe time and trends have moved on, but Martin’s still partying like it’s 1999. His state of the art staging at the Chicago Theatre offered elaborate video projections, lighting effects and nonstop action, especially by Martin, who twirled and whirled like a Tasmanian devil, executing cartwheels, splits, hand-stands, and even flamenco and capoeira flourishes. It was a dazzling display from a natural showman.”
The story at suntimes.com has since been removed.
Ricky Martin is considering a one-time appearance on the ‘General Hospital’, the first show he ever worked on as an actor. “The show gave me a huge break and I like the idea of returning to the start of your career,” Martin explained to Neil Sean of Sky News. “I still have great affection for the show.”
Contributed by Mehrunisa:
Ricky Martin celebrated the enactment of a new federal legislation dubbed Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act recently signed by the President of the United Status, George W. Bush. The bipartisan bill assigns $361 billion for the next two years to help identify and assist victims that had been kidnapped, exploited, enslaved by their employment, trafficked involuntarily or falsely incarcerated by means of fraud or coerciveness, as well as sexual commercial exploitation, sexual tourism, prostitution or pornography, being abused to the degree of being murdered.
“The signing of this bipartisan bill reflects compassion, compromise and awareness. Child sex traffickers use their victims as merchandise that they unscrupulously sell and which consumers submit to the most despicable acts, stealing them of their childhood, their innocence,” Martin said.
Neil Sean of Sky News reports that after Ricky Martin’s attempt to update his sound by collaborating with Amerie and Fat Joe on ‘I Don’t Care’, the Latin star is going back to basics, enlisting the help of Dido. “We’re working on a track together which is going to be awesome,” Ricky told a spy. “I love the way she writes, and it will touch the heart.”
The Las Vegas Review Journal reports Ricky Martin was spotted ordering pizzas and calamari at the Rainbow Bar & Grill for Monday’s private jet trip back to Miami. Meanwhile, Paris Hilton was across town mixing her new CD at the Palms’ new recording studios.
The 8th Wonder of the World announced Wednesday (December 14) that Ricky Martin will be performing at the international concert series’ kickoff event at the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, February 25th. “We are both delighted and honored that Ricky has agreed to join us at 8th Wonder of the World’s inaugural event at the Taj Mahal in February,” said Farook Singh, co-chairman of 8th Wonder of the World. “Not only is he a captivating performer, he is a truly committed ambassador who by lending his support is helping draw attention to the misery visited upon millions of the world’s children by HIV/AIDS.”
