The band...
After singing the initial opening number, Shiela E played percussion for the stage band, and the whole group was fantastic. Not a sour note among them. Their ending number was a terrific percussion number with Sheila as the lead bongo-banger.

The music played on and on and on and on...and on and on...
The musical numbers were outstanding, and they offered a wide variety of music in both Spanish and English, but - you knew that was coming, didn't you? - there were just FAR TOO MANY of them! As an audience member, I just couldn't believe how many songs they packed into that show! 

It got to the point where the audience actually groaned every time another singer ran out on stage. And run they did - the producer had them lined up backstage and ready to go! I really have to give the music coordinator credit for that. I was fairly certain that many of the numbers would not actually make it to air due to time constraints, but they did.

Let's make a mountain out of a molehill...
The awards themselves were VERY contrived. It's almost as if whomever was responsible for choosing the nominees searched through the TV channels and movie listings to find anyone at all who is vaguely Latino and then submitted their name for some kind of award. 

For example, in the category of Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama, they nominated Marisa Ramirez - the ONLY Latina name on General Hospital's cast list, and a minor player at that. This isn't to say that Marisa isn't a talented actress, I'm just pointing out that she was more than likely nominated solely for her last name than for her acting abilities - as were many (in my opinion) on the nominees' list. What value is an award based solely on your last name or ethnic heritage?

Hey! Why not reward the awards?
Some of the categories were more than a little contrived too. Imagine nominating an awards show for an award...There's actually a category called "Outstanding Music or Awards Special" which pitted some big-name concerts against other awards shows. (Carlos Santana won.) 

You're kidding, right?
In what other awards show would you find Martin Sheen up against actors like Cheech Marin and Wilmer Valderrama (That 70's Show)? I can't believe they were even on the same program, let alone up for the same award. Any guesses as to who won that one? That's a duh! And Martin Sheen didn't even bother to show up to collect his statuette! It seemed that a majority of the nominees didn't bother to show up either. Jessica Alba won, but wasn't there - her father ended up accepting it for her. Jimmy Smits was nominated, but MIA, as was Charlie Sheen.
If the nominees don't take the ALMA Awards seriously enough to show up, then how can the general public be expected to?

Thanks for the award - hasta!
Carlos Santana and A Martinez both showed up - and left immediately after they collected their prize. Liz Torres made an appearance too. To his credit, John Leguizamo stayed throughout and the only other "big-name" celebrity who stuck around until the end of the show was Jennifer Lopez, whose award happened to be the last one given. Hmmm...coincidence? I think not.

Much ado about nada...
All-in-all the awards show was a good offering. However, it just struck me as an exercise in aggrandizement. It seems pointless to make up some awards, and hold a show to celebrate the contributions of a small group of Latino entertainers in American television and film, when the Latino entertainers themselves don't even seem to be interested enough to show up. And really - any award given should be earned on merit - not simply because of one's ethnic heritage. 

But what do I know? I'm just a gavacha...

Kaye Mallory