Miguel Receives Three 2012 BET Awards Nominations

The nominations for the 2012 BET Awards have been unveiled… And, rising star Miguel leads the Latino pack of nominees with three nods.

The 25-year-old half-Mexican R&B singer/songwriter has received a nomination in the Best Male R&B Artist category. He’ll face off against fellow Latino singer Bruno Mars, as well as Chris Brown, Trey Songz and Usher.

Miguel

In addition, Miguel has been nominated in the Best Collaboration category with Wale for their song Lotus Flower Bomb.” Other nominees include Beyonce f/ J. Cole – “Party,” Big Sean f/ Kanye West & Roscoe Dash – “Marvin & Chardonnay,” DJ Khaled f/ Drake, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne – “I’m On One,” Drake f/ Lil Wayne & Tyga – “The Motto,” The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West) f/ Otis Redding – “Otis.”

Miguel’s final nod comes in the Coca-Cola Viewer’s Choice Award category for his same collaboration with Wale on “Lotus Flower Bomb.” The pair will face off against Beyonce – “Love On Top,” Chris Brown – “Turn Up the Music,” Drake f/ Lil Wayne & Tyga – “The Motto,” Mindless Behavior – and “Hello,” The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West) f/ Otis Redding – “Otis.”

But Miguel and Bruno Mars aren’t the only Latino artists getting nominations… Zoe Saldana received a nod in the Best Actress category, while New York Giants’ star Victor Cruz was nominated in the Subway Sportsman of the Year category.

The 2012 BET Awards, which will be hosted by Samuel L. Jackson, will be held on July 1 at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium. Last year’s awards show drew 7.7 million viewers on BET.

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Giants Star Cruz Earns His First Super Bowl Ring…

New York Giants’ star Victor Cruz has plenty of reason to salsa… He’s now the proud owner of a Super Bowl championship ring in only his second season in the National Football League.

Victor Cruz

The 25-year-old half-Puerto Rican wide receiver scored the first touchdown of the night during Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday to help lead the Giants to a 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots in a tightly-contested match.

New England almost forced a turnover and prevented a score during the Giants’ 10-play, 78-yard drive, but a Cruz fumble on third down in the red zone was undone by a 12 men on the field penalty, which gave the Giants a first and goal. They managed to convert with the scoring pass from Eli Manning, who was named this year’s Super Bowl MVP, to Cruz.

Following his touchdown—at the 3:24 mark in the first quarterthe All-Pro selection even celebrated by doing what he’s done all season long… dance salsa in the end zone… in front of more than 100 million people worldwide.

The New Jersey-born Cruz attended the University of Massachusetts and scored 11 touchdowns in his career and had just under 2,000 receiving yards.

Click here to watch an interview with Cruz reflecting on his improbable journey.

But Cruz wasn’t the only Latino to score a touchdown during the Super Bowl game…

Aaron Hernandez

In the third quarter, Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez caught a 12-yard pass from Tom Brady to put the Patriots up 17-9.

The 22-year-old Connecticut-born Hernandez—also a second year NFL player—attended the University of Florida where he, along with Tim Tebow, led the Gators to a 2009 BCS Championship. While at Florida, he was nicknamed “Chico” by his college teammates because he was the only Puerto Rican on the team, something he came to embrace.