Gomez to Host This Year’s WE Day

It’s all about WE for Selena Gomez

The 24-year-old Mexican American singer is set to host this year’s WE Day, a one-day event aiming to celebrate America’s youth by bringing together 16,000 young people and encouraging them to take action on social issues.

Selena Gomez

“The electricity of an arena full of thousands of young people who are making real change in the world is like nothing I’ve ever experienced,” Gomez, who has attended the event in the past, said in a statement. “I am grateful to be a part of such a supportive community and hope I can inspire the kids at WE Day just as they continue to inspire me.”

The star-studded lineup also includes a musical performance by Alicia Keys and appearances by Demi Lovato, Tyrese Gibson, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Bryan CranstonAlessia CaraDJ KhaledEmeli Sandé, Shay Mitchell and more. Even Miss Piggy and the other Muppets will grace the stage.

WE Day is connected to a yearlong educational program, WE Schools, which provides schools and community groups with curriculum, educational resources and action campaigns.

The event will take place on April 27, at The Forum in Inglewood, California.

Disney Releases the Miranda-Penned Single “How Far I’ll Go” from the Upcoming Film “Moana”

Lin-Manuel Miranda is going far…

Disney has released “How Far I’ll Go,” a track penned by the 36-year-old Puerto Rican actor, composer, rapper and writer for the upcoming movie Moana.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Alessia Cara provides the vocals on the track.

A bouncy, uplifting tune follows Moana‘s plot of a young girl who sets out on a journey to a fabled island to save her people (“If the wind on my sail on the sea stays behind me/ One day I’ll know, if I go, there’s just no telling how far I’ll go”).

The song can be heard in the film twice, with Auli’i Cravalho — the voice of protagonist Moana — singing the track during the film, and Cara’s version playing during the credits.

Moana will feature another song written by Miranda, “You’re Welcome,” which is sung by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

The film opens in theaters on November 23, but the soundtrack will be available on November 18.

Pentatonix to Perform on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest”

Kirstie Maldonado is Square-ing up for New Years Eve…

The 23-year-old half-Mexican, part Spanish-American singer and her fellow Pentatonix members have been added to the list of performers for this year’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest in Times Square, New York City.

Pentatonix

It will be Pentatonix’s first appearance on the annual holiday extravaganza.

In addition to Pentatonix, the list of recently added performers includes Nick Jonas, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and Joe Jonas-fronted DNCE.

Additionally, Alessia Cara, OMI and Nathan Sykes will join the fun of the New Year festivities.

In Los Angeles, there will be the West Coast celebration hosted by Fergie and will feature the last performance from One Direction before their indefinite hiatus.

Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve will broadcast live at 8 p.m. EST on Thursday, December 31 on ABC.

Sofia Receives Vevo Lift Nomination

It’s a special is Lift off for Raquel Sofia

The Puerto Rican singer-songwriter, nominated for Best New Artist at this year’s Latin Grammys, has received a nomination in Vevo’s artist development program, Lift.

Raquel Sofia

Launched in 2011, the program lends promotional support to a handful of emerging artists per year, giving them a special landing page on Vevo with exclusive content including interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, video premieres and more to expose their music to a broader audience.

Jessie J, Sam Smith, Lorde, and Tori Kelly are among the famous artists who make up part of the Vevo Lift alumni.

In this current round, Sofia is up for the Vevo Lift slot with Canadian R&B singer/songwriter Alessia Cara and Swedish pop singer Zara Larsson.

Online fan voting determines the winner, but if Sofia — who herself has a love affair with jazz, blues, folk, rock and pop — does anywhere near as well as she’s done on Spotify (17 million total streams and counting), she stands a good chance.

And then there’s the fact that she’s learned from the best, having performed backing vocals for Shakira and Juanes, among others.

“They’re so professional and so talented and they’ve worked so hard, so you get to see why they are at the top,” she recently told Billboard of working with major artists. “So I guess more than advice I learned just from being around them, like osmosis, just absorbing everything that they did, watching them perform. It’s just incredible.”

“I just remember listening to a lot of Bob Marley, the Beatles, Juan Luis Guerra and Shakira. Wanting to do that, especially the songwriting part,” she told us when discussing her childhood in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico and the influences around her debut album, Te Quiero Los Domingos.

Fans can vote for Sofia here until October 19.

Lovato to Make Appearance at This Year’s Advertising Week

Demi Lovato is ready to rock this year’s Advertising Week

The 23-year-old part-Mexican American will make an appearance at the 12th annual industry gathering, which will be taking place in New York City on September 28-October 2.

Demi Lovato

Lovato will participate in a special Universal Showcase that includes Alessia Cara, as well as Joe Jonas with his new band DNCE (in partnership with Universal Music Group and Complex) on September 29 at Highline Ballroom.

But Lovato isn’t the only Hispanic artist to participate this year…

Zoe Saldana will speak on a September 29 panel about the future of social entertainment and the importance of reinventing how advertisers and millennials think about content, delivery and access.

Others Latinos appearing at Advertising Week include Saturday Night Live alumni Horatio Sanz, Emilio and Gloria Estefan, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Dascha Polanco,.

Advertising Week will feature 250 distinct seminars, all taking place at venues in its Times Square hub: B.B. King’s; the Hard Rock; Liberty Theater; NASDAQ MarketSite; and the Times Center. All seminars and workshops will be streamed live, powered by MLB Advanced Media, at advertisingweek.com and in the official app.