Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Betcha Didn't Know...?

Some of the most notable names from the dawn of film and television are of Latino descent. Here are some of them.

In this edition, some men of reality television.

Scott Cooke McCreery (1993- ), better known as Scotty McCreery, is a singer. He was born in Garner, North Carolina, U.S.A. He won the tenth season of "American Idol." His paternal grandmother was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, making him one-fourth Puerto Rican. In an interview with Ryan Seacrest, he said, "Yes, I'm Puerto Rican. I have a little bit of J.Lo ["American Idol" judge and fellow Puerto Rican Jennifer López] in me." He is the second youngest "American Idol" winner (next to Jordin Sparks). He released his coronation single "I Love You This Big" immediately after winning the tenth season of American Idol. The song entered the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart at number 32, becoming the highest debut for a debut single. He has signed with Mercury Nashville and is currently touring with the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2011 through September 10, 2011.

David Archuleta (1990- ), born David James Archuleta Mayorga al estilo latino, is a singer-songwriter. He was born in Miami, Florida to a Honduran mother and a father of Basque, Danish, Irish, German, and Iroquois descent. His family moved to the Sandy, Utah, U.S.A., just outside of Salt Lake City when he was six years old. At ten years old he won the children's division of the Utah Talent Competition leading to other television singing appearances. When he was twelve years old, he became the Junior Vocal Champion on "Star Search 2." In 2007, at sixteen years old, he became one of the youngest contestants on the seventh season of "American Idol." He finished as the runner-up, receiving 44 percent of over 97 million votes. In August 2008 he released "Crush," the first single from his self-titled debut album. The album, released two months later, debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart; it has sold over 750,000 copies in the U.S. and over 900,000 worldwide. He then released a Christmas album. In October 2010 he released a third album, The Other Side of Down.

Javier Colón (1978- ) is a singer-songwriter-musician. He was born in Stratford, Connecticut, U.S.A. to a Dominican father and a Puerto Rican mother. He has referred to his style of music as being "acoustic soul." He was a member of EmcQ, The Derek Trucks Band, and worked with many musicians before going solo. From 2002 to 2006, he was signed to Capitol Records (known then as Javier). But in 2006, the contract was terminated. In 2011, he auditioned for and became the winner of the inaugural season of the U.S. television show on NBC, "The Voice," receiving $100,000 and signing a recording contract with Universal Republic Records. He released the albums Javier (2003), Left of Center (2006) and The Truth-Acoustic EP (2010), the last of which he released under his own imprint, Javier Colón Music. When he performed at the blind audition for "The Voice," he was only one of two contestants to win over all four judges. He released an original song titled "Stitch by Stitch," produced by himself, Adam Levine and Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins. In its first week of release, the song sold 145,000 copies, debuting and peaking at number 17 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. He is currently on tour with The Voice 2011 tour with the top eight finalists from the show (including Colón, they are Xenia, Frenchie Davis, Casey Weston, Nakia, Beverly McClellan, Vicci Martínez and Dia Frampton), as well as working on his next album.

Ronnie Ortiz-Magro (1986- ) was born in the Bronx, New York, U.S.A. to a Puerto Rican father and an Italian mother. He is best known for his appearances on MTV's "Jersey Shore," on which he has appeared in the first five seasons. On the show, he became the boyfriend of fellow castmate Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola. Since the show premiered, he has made appearannces on TV shows such as "Rachael Ray," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," "Good Morning America," "Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show," "The Wendy Williams Show," "Live with Regis and Kelly" and the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards.

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