Eva Longoria to Take Part in Presidential & Vice Presidential Inauguration Special “Celebrating America”

Posted on January 17, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Eva Longoria is celebrating America in a special way…

The 45-year-old Mexican American actress and producer will introduce segments during the two-hour Joe Biden and Kamala Harris inauguration special that starts at 8:30 pm ET on January 20th.

While Tom Hanks will serve as the official host the program, Longoria and Kerry Washington will reprise their duties from last summer’s semi-virtual Democratic National Convention, which had the same producers.

The Celebrating America television special will air on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC and more next week.

Biden and Harris are scheduled to give remarks of their own during Celebrating America.

The finale for the five-day America United themed event in a deeply and violently divided nation, Celebrating America has already made public that Justin Timberlake will be busting a move or two onstage. Demi Lovato, Ant Clemons and that other Garden State superstar Jon Bon Jovi will be performing also.

More acts and big names are expected to be revealed by the Presidential Inaugural Committee in the next few days.

Along with the TV networks, Celebrating America will be seen on Amazon Prime Video, Microsoft Bing, NewsNOW from Fox, and AT&T DIRECTV and U-verse as well as the PIC’s social media feeds.

Monica Hernandez to Moderate the Next Democratic Presidential Debate

Posted on January 26, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Monica Hernandezis getting political…

The Latina broadcast journalist and WMUR-TV anchor/reporter will serve as a moderator at the next Democratic presidential debate, alongside ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos, World News Tonight’s David Muir, ABC News correspondent Linsey Davis, and WMUR-TV’s Adam Sexton.

The debate is set for February 7 at 8:00 pm ET in Manchester, New Hampshire, wedged between the Iowa Caucusesfour days before and the New Hampshire primary four days after.

The eighth debate of the primary cycle is hosted by ABC News, WMUR-TV and Apple News. It is set at St. Anselm Collegein Manchester and will air on ABC, Hearst Television’s WMUR-TV, Apple News and on ABC News Live.

So far, all six of the candidates who qualified for the previous debate – Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer and Elizabeth Warren— appear to have met the fundraising and polling thresholds to qualify for the debate. Another way in per Democratic National Committeerules would be to score a pledged delegate in Iowa.

The qualifying criteria involving grassroots fundraising (225,000 individual donors with 1,000 unique donors or more per state) likely will keep out candidate Michael Bloomberg, who is self-financing.

The previous debate hosted by CNNat Drake Universityin Des Moines, Iowa on January 14 drew an estimated 7.3 million viewers, a slight uptick from the 6.17 million who watched the debate in December, sponsored by PBSand Politico, and the 6.5 million who watched November’s event, hosted by MSNBC.

The New Hampshire debate is the second of four in each of the key voting states. Next up is February 19 in Las Vegas, hosted by NBC News and MSNBC with The Nevada Independent, and February 25 in in Charleston, SC, hosted by CBS News, the Congressional Black Caucus Institute and Twitter.

Paola Ramos Joins Vice News as Correspondent

Posted on December 6, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Paola Ramos is joining the Vicesquad…

The Latina journalist is joining Vice News as a correspondent, starting this week, in the first notable new hire by Jesse Angelo since he joined the company as head of news and entertainment in June.

Ramos has previously written for Vice.com and hosted Latin-X, a Vice series focused on under-reported stories about the Latinx community.

In her new role, Ramos will work across platforms. Two key venues for her work will be Vice and Vice News Tonight, which are both set to relaunch on new networks after a multi-year deal with HBO wound down a few months ago. Vice, a documentary series, will debut on Showtime next spring, and Vice News Tonight will start airing on the Viceland cable network in early 2020.

“Paola is an extraordinary talent and has done some incredible reporting in her career. The depth of her coverage on the Latinx community goes beyond the typical stories of immigration and the crisis at the border, and taps into underrepresented issues that matter to Millennial and Gen Z viewers,” Angelo said. “She connects with audiences in ways that make her exactly the type of person we want to tell Vice News stories.”

A regular contributor to Telemundo and MSNBC, Ramos is the former Deputy Director of Hispanic Media for Hillary Clinton and a former political appointee in the Obama White House. She holds degrees from Barnard Collegeand Harvard’sKennedy School.

Next year “will go down in history as one of the most consequential years of our lifetime and I cannot think of a better platform to inspire and mobilize young people across the country,” Ramos said. “I look forward to telling stories that impact our generation, to uncovering untold truths and to shedding light on the voices that are on the front lines of change.”

Becky G to Serve as Co-Host at This Year’s Global Citizen Festival

Posted on August 28, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Becky G is thinking globally…

The 22-year-old Mexican American singer/rapper and actress will serve as a co-host at this year’s Global Citizen Festival, taking place on September 28 at Central Parkin New York City.

The event has been held in New York every year since 2012, and calls on music fans to take action on a number of important issues to earn tickets to the show.

Global Citizen, a social advocacy group, hosts the festival to drive action toward its goal to end extreme poverty by 2030.

This year, Global Citizens are urged to pressure decision-makers to help end child marriage, support family planning, promote women’s entrepreneurship and shine a light on workplace safety.

In addition to Becky G, this year’s co-host roster includes Connie Britton, Nina Dobrev, Dakota Johnson, Becky Lynch,Aasif Mandvi, Bridget Moynahan, Kal Penn,Erin Richards, Seth Rollinsand Savannah Seller.

The lineup of performers includes David Gray, NCT 127, Queen + Adam Lambert, Pharrell Williams, Alicia Keys, OneRepublic, H.E.R., and Carole King, with special guests French Montana, Ben Platt, and Jon Batiste & Stay Human.

For the sixth straight year, MSNBCand Comcast NBCUniversalwill air a live simulcast of the event on MSNBC, and Ken Ehrlichand Live Nation will produce.

The festival will also be livestreamed on YouTubeand Twitter.

Demi Lovato to Serve as Co-Host at This Year’s Global Citizen Festival

Posted on September 10, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Demi Lovato is celebrating her global citizenship…

Global Citizen has announced several guest appearances for its annual Global Citizen Festival on September 23, including the 25-year-old part-Mexican American actress/singer.

Lovato will serve as a co-host, alongside Aaron Paul, Priyanka Chopra, Kal Penn, Lupita Nyong’o, Nashville‘s Connie Britton and many more.

Hugh Jackman and actor/producer Deborra-lee Furness will serve as lead hosts.

Dianna Agron, Freida Pinto, Wendy Williams, Mark Cuban, Bridget Moynahan, Daymond John, Camren Bicondova, Elaine Welteroth, Erin Richards, Latina supermodel Joan Smalls, Malin Akerman, Rachel Brosnahan, Michelle Monaghan and Serge Ibaka will also serve as hosts for this year’s festival, taking place in New York City’s Central Park.

The social advocacy group hosts the free festival each year to raise awareness of its goal to end extreme poverty by 2030.

Fans can earn their tickets by taking part in Action Journeys, a series of challenges designed to promote social activism.

This year’s headliners include Stevie Wonder, Green Day, The Killers and The Lumineers, with featured performances by The Chainsmokers, Pharrell Williams, Big Sean, Andra Day and Alessia Cara.

The one-day festival will also be broadcast live from Central Park on YouTube, Twitter and MSNBC.

To hear more from this year’s hosts and learn more about the festival, visit Global Citizen’s official site.

Gomez to Headline This Year’s Global Citizen Festival

Posted on July 28, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Selena Gomez is a global citizen…

The 24-year-old half-Mexican American singer/actress has been named one of the headline acts at this year’s Global Citizen Festival.

The annual free-ticketed event, which is held on the Great Lawn in New York City’s Central Park, will take place on Saturday, September 24, 2016.

In addition to Gomez, other headliners include Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, Major Lazer and Metallica.

The Festival will harness actions from millions of Global Citizens around the world to hold world leaders accountable to the progress made toward achieving the Global Goals set out by the United Nations last year.

Special guest performers include Usher, Chris Martin, Eddie Vedder, Ellie Goulding, Yandel, and Yusuf/Cat Stevens.

Hosts for this year’s festival include Chelsea Handler, Deborra-lee & Hugh Jackman, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra, Salma Hayek Pinault and Seth Meyers.

Since 2012, more than six million actions from Global Citizens have led world leaders to enact policy changes and commit significant resources to issues of girls and women’s equality, education, health, water and sanitation, environment, finance and innovation, and food and hunger. These financial and policy commitments and announcements are set to affect the lives of up to 656 million people.

“I couldn’t be more honored to participate in the Global Citizen Festival as it continues to help solve important issues around the world. I am particularly proud to be involved this year as the focus is on education. As an artist with many young fans, I believe everyone has the right to an education,” said Gomez.

A live simulcast of the full concert will air on MSNBC and MSNBC.com.

Global Citizens can earn their admission to the free-ticketed Festival by joining the social action platform at globalcitizenfestival.com. Ticket draws will occur throughout the summer and fans will be notified via Global Citizen when they have been selected. A limited number of VIP tickets will also be available for purchase through Ticketmaster starting on Thursday, July 28th.

Perez Makes Her Debut on a High-Rated Premiere Episode of ABC’s “The View”

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Rosie Perez has taken her seat at the table and her place in television history…

The 49-year-old Puerto Rican actress, dancer and community activist, who was announced as the newest member of ABC’s The View, made her debut on the daytime talker on Monday as the show’s first-ever Latina co-host.

Perez is considered the panel’s most under-the-radar addition despite being an Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe nominee. She served as a guest host on The View in February. And she’s been a guest on Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC program, formerly executive-produced by Bill Wolff, the ABC talker’s new executive producer.

Monday’s premiere, which also saw the return of the polarizing Rosie O’Donnell registered 3.902 million viewers — the show’s biggest opening audience in eight years — which is also the time when O’Donnell joined the show the first time back in 2006.

Monday’s opening was the long-running show’s second-biggest opening on record and hit a three-year high in target demos of women 18-49 and 25-54 with year-to-year opening leaps of 15% and 20%, respectively. In the younger demo, Monday’s debut logged 683,000 viewers and in the older it posted 911,000.

In addition to the two Rosies, former Republican political operative Nicolle Wallace also joins the The View. Whoopi Goldberg, meantime, is the only returning host from last season.

Wallace and Perez replaced Sherri Shepherd and Jenny McCarthy.

Gonzalez Among the Frontrunners to Join ABC’s “The View”

Posted on August 9, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It looks like October Gonzalez may be sharing her view(s) with the world…

Gonzalez, the wife of retiring football star Tony Gonzalez is reportedly one of the frontrunners to join Whoopi Goldberg and Rosie O’Donnell on ABC’s The View when the daytime talk show returns in September.

Gonzalez, who famously posed naked with her husband for PETA to discourage fur wearing, was among the prospects that ABC chemistry-tested Thursday on the set of The Chew before a test audience.

If selected to serve on the panel, the self-described “Mommy, Wife, Sister, blogger and love of life” would become the show’s first Latina to co-host the daytime talker.

“It’s all speculation at this point — we don’t have any announcement; no decisions have been made,” a rep for The View told Deadline.com.

Gonzalez and the other semi-finalists have done practice rounds with Goldberg and O’Donnell for the express purpose of chem-testing them to reach some conclusions as to how to best cast a new panel that includes the two hosts who are set to return — O’Donnell after a several-season break.

Other contenders include MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace, CNN Crossfire’s S.E. Cupp, CNN contributing legal analyst Sunny Hostin, CNN political contributor Ana Navarro, Bloomberg TV managing editor Stephanie Ruhle; ESPN anchor Sage Steele, ESPN.com columnist Jemele Hill, and Good Day LA co-host Lauren Sanchez.

Show producers are reportedly searching for their first Latina as well as a more conservative voice to join the panel – a seat once filled by Fox and Friends co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

Viqueira Named White House Correspondent for Al Jazeera America

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Michael Viqueira is headed to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue…

The half-Spanish American journalist has been named the White House correspondent for Al Jazeera America, which is prepares to launch this year.

Working from the news organization’s D.C. bureau, Viqueira will cover White House daily press briefings, all presidential events and trips and other White House news and events.

“Michael Viqueira is a seasoned national correspondent with deep experience covering Washington politics,” said Ehab Al Shihabi, Executive Director of International Operations for Al Jazeera and the senior executive in charge of developing Al Jazeera America.

“Every political activity in the Capitol has an impact on the average American and his knowledge and extensive network of contacts will allow him to dig deeper to bring important news and information to light for the American public.”

Viqueira, a two-time News Emmy winner for his coverage of the financial crisis and 2008 elections, most recently reported from the White House for NBC’s Today, Nightly News, NBC Radio, MSNBC and MSNBC.com.

“This is a great opportunity, both because of Al Jazeera America’s commitment to the kind of straight-forward, hard-nosed journalism that all good reporters value, and because it’s tremendously exciting to be building something that will fill today’s critical need for real, unfiltered and fact-based news,” said Viqueira.

Aguilera to Perform on NBC’s Hurricane Sandy Benefit Telethon

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Following the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy in the Northeast, Christina Aguilera is stepping up to help.

The 31-year-old half-Ecuadorian American singer and The Voice coach, who was born in Staten Island, will perform at Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together, a one-hour live benefit telethon organized by the networks of NBCUniversal — including NBC, Bravo, CNBC, E!, G4, MSNBC, Style, Syfy and USA.

Hosted by Today anchor Matt Lauer, the telethon will be broadcast from NBC’s the New York studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. It’ll air live across the East Coast and tape-delayed on the West. Additional networks could join the broadcast of the telethon prior to airtime.

Along with Aguilera, the list of performers includes: Jon Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen and Sting. Additionally, the telethon will feature appearances by Jimmy Fallon and NBC News’ Brian Williams.

Money collected will be donated to the American Red Cross relief efforts for Hurricane Sandy.

Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together will be broadcast live on Friday, November 2 at 8:00 pm ET.

To donate, people can visit http://www.redcross.org/, call 1-800-RED-CROSS or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

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Celebrating the Latino Influence

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