Posted 6-30-06

BOLD & BEAUTIFUL STAR ANNOUNCES IMAGEN FINALISTS
Award winning actor Lorenzo Lamas, acclaimed for his role as Hector Ramirez, a Los Angeles firefighter on NBC’s daytime drama The Bold And the Beautiful, announced the finalists for the 2006 Imagen Awards at a news conference held June 29 at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in North Hollywood.

Imagen President Helen Hernandez, who is executive producer of the Imagen Awards Program, said the Foundation would only be awarding 16 awards out of the 19 award categories. She noted that no awards would be presented in the categories of Best Live Theatrical Production, or Best Supporting Actor or Actress in Film because there were not sufficient submissions in each of these categories to warrant an award.

Several of the finalists are no strangers to the Imagen Awards. Among them, Andy Garcia, who is a finalist as Best Director and Best Actor for The Lost City is recipient of Imagen’s 2002 Creative Achievement Award.

Robert Rodriguez nominated as Best Director (Sin City, The Adventures of Sharkboy & Lavagirl) won the Best Director Award and the Norman Lear Writer’s Award in 2003.

Antonio Banderas, a finalist as Best Actor in Take the Lead and The Legend of Zorro, picked up two Imagen Awards in 2004 for Best Actor in a Television Drama and in a film.

If the versatile John Leguizamo wins this year for Best Actor, it will mark his third win following his 1999 win for Freak and the 2004 Norman Lear Writer’s Award.

For Best Primetime Series in Television, The West Wing, again nominated in that category, picked up its first Imagen in 2000 and again in 2005, beating out the George Lopez Show which picked up awards in 2003 (Best Comedy) and 2004 (Best Primetime Series). Lopez, who is again a Best Actor finalist, won that award in 2004 and is recipient of Imagen’s Vision Award, in 2003.

Constance Marie, who plays Lopez’s wife on the George Lopez Show, is again a finalist this year for Best Actress, an award she won in 2004.

Jimmy Smits, who beat out George Lopez last year in the Best Actor in Television category, may just do it again this year as a finalist for his role in The West Wing.

A finalist this year, Edward James Olmos received Imagen’s Creative Achievement Award in 1988.

Rosa Blasi, who was a finalist for her role in Strong Medicine, is once again nominated this year for her work on the same program.

A big time winner is Freddy Rodriguez (Six Feet Under) who has picked up the Best Supporting Actor award in television each year since 2003, and he just might do it again this year.

LATV, nominated for two programs in the Best Variety or Reality Show this year, has won an Imagen in this category for three consecutive years since 2003.

A finalist almost every year in the Best Children’s Programming category, Dora the Explorer is once again a finalist in 2006. A winner each year since 2001, the program lost out in 2005 to Nick News With Linda Ellerbee, whose program is once again a finalist this year.

In Best Local Informational Programming, ABC7’s Vista L.A. is up for another award, hoping to add to its previous wins in 1995, 2000, 2004 and 2005.

American Latino TV, which won the 2005 award for Best National Informational Programming has once again thrown its hat into the ring in a bid for another win.

This year, Imagen has added an Outstanding National Leadership Award to its Special Awards category to honor those individuals who continually confront and address issues of importance to all Americans, Latinos in particular, in all areas of life with courage and conviction.

This year’s inaugural award will be presented to Chicago Congressman Luis Gutierrez. Award winning director and choreographer Kenny Ortega will receive the Creative Achievement Award. Writer, director, and producer Gregory Nava will receive a well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award.

Awards will be presented at the 21st Annual Imagen Awards Gala, August 18 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. Click on “Imagen Awards” for a detailed list of all the finalists and for information regarding the upcoming event.

MARLENE FORTE & SHALIM HEADLINE MUSICAL CABARET
Actress Marlene Forte and international singing star Shalim headline the legendary King King in an Oliver Mayer Musical Cabaret Rocio! In Spite of It All, directed by Armando Molina, one of the founders of the notorious comedy troupe Latins Anonymous.

Rocio! In Spite of It All, a unique, highly entertaining musical cabaret, penned by critically acclaimed playwright, Oliver Mayer (Blade to the Heat, Young Valiant) takes a trip inside the hearts of icons, Rocio del Rio (goddess of 70s Spanish language TV) and arch rival Inez Maduro (who took Rocio’s torch songs and transformed them into pre-Reggaeton fanny-shaking salsa). Now, after many years, they sing again, intense and hilarious songs in Spanish and English, all about love!

The all-star cast includes Marlene Forte, actor-singer Shalim, Lidia Ramirez (I Love America, Cutting Open Wings), Lesley Ann Machado (Host of TV Guide Channel) and Jose Quintero (Numbers, Shaft).

Forte, whose television credits include a series of recurring and guest-starring roles, is known for her supporting role in the critically acclaimed feature film Glow Ropes, winner of the 2005 New York International Film Festival. She next co-stars in the feature film Stand by Your Man alongside Malcolm McDowell and Faye Dunaway, before taking on a lead role in the upcoming psychological thriller 1/9, starring Heather Graham, Billy Baldwin and Elizabeth Peña.

Shalim, who was featured in People en Español’s 100 Most Beautiful People (June 2006 issue), hails from Puerto Rico, and was raised in the U.K. He is a keyboard player, composer, songwriter, and producer who writes and produces his own music which he defines as western pop/dance. He is the son of famous Puerto Rican entertainer Elin Ortiz and his wife, Charytin Goyco, television host and a legendary singer across Latin America. An advocate of the American Diabetes Association, Shalim is a spokesperson for the Hispanic population of the United States.

This production is also aimed as a platform for newly USC student graduates to become professionals. Already cast in the play, these students will be eligible to get their equity card.

This one-of-a kind unforgettable musical cabaret that promises diva-like entertainment, comedy, music, dancing and drama, runs through July 31 at King King, 6555 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Performances are on Sundays and Mondays at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at www.kingking.com or www.smarttix.com.

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