Avenida Brasil, the biggest winner of the 2013 Contigo! awards

On May 13th, the 15th edition of the Brazilian Contigo! awards show was held at the Golden Room of the Copacabana Palace. It is one of the most important award ceremonies for Brazilian television. In spite of the big competition, and having many novelas and actors nominated for the various awards, it was last year’s smashing hit telenovela “Avenida Brasil” that snagged the most: a total of 7 out of 13 nominations, including awards for best leading actor, best leading actress, best supporting actor, best child actress, best script, best director and best telenovela.

Adriana Esteves, who won the best actress nomination for her unforgettable role as the villain Carminha, said: “Of course, I’m very happy, you know that. I want to thank all the unforgettable team of the telenovela, my son Cauã (Reymond), the amazing cast… those who are and who aren’t here. What we went through this year was emotional. I also want to thank those who personally worked with me.”

She dedicated her award to her good friend and main “enemy” in “Avenida Brasil”, Débora Falabella: “I want to share this award with a great partner, Débora Falabella. Without Nina there would not be Carminha.”

Full winners list:

Best telenovela: Avenida Brasil

Best script: João Emanuel Carneiro (Avenida Brasil)
Best direction: Amora Mautner, José Luiz Villamarim and Ricardo Waddington (Avenida Brasil)
Best leading actor: Murilo Benício (Tufão – Avenida Brasil)

Best leading actress: Adriana Esteves (Carminha – Avenida Brasil)
Best supporting actor: José de Abreu (Nilo – Avenida Brasil)
Best supporting actress: Totia Meirelles (Wanda – Salve Jorge)
TV revelations: Ivete Sangalo (Maria Machadão – Gabriela) and Titina Medeiros (Socorro – Cheias de Charme)
Best child actor: Jean Paulo Campos (Cirilo – Carrossel)
Best child actress: Mel Maia (Rita – Avenida Brasil)
Best actor in a series or miniseries: Domingos Montagner (Paulo Ventura – O Brado Retumbante)
Best actress in a series or miniseries: Andréa Beltrão (Tapas & Beijos)
Best series or miniseries: As Brasileiras

Eugenia Suárez, enjoying her last days of pregnancy

Pregnant of eight months, Eugenia “China” Suárez (21) is preparing for the arrival of her first daughter in the middle of June. After successfully finishing her participation in the hit series “Solamente vos”, where she played the daughter of Adrián Suar, Suárez has the time to prepare her daughter’s nursery, to rest and to enjoy the company of her loved ones.

Suárez previously commented that the final stages of her pregnancy were very relaxed and that she didn’t have any carvings during the pregnancy. She also confessed that her boyfriend, actor Nicolás Cabré (33), has been more protective and caring than ever, and that he is the one who’s most anxious to finally see his daughter’s face and to hold her in his arms. Regarding the name of their little bundle of joy, Suárez said: “We’ve already decided the name of our daughter, but we will only reveal it when she’s born because we want it to be a surprise.”

"Salve Jorge" ends its run with a rating of 45 points

Brazilian primetime novela "Salve Jorge" ended its run on Globo yesterday with a rating of 45 points. In spite of the nice numbers, it didn’t reach the rating of its predecessor “Avenida Brasil”, which ended with 52 points and 80% of share. The telenovela, which began airing on October 22nd, ended after 179 episoded and provided a happy ending for Théo and Morena.

The ending the telenovela also provided several trending topics for the Brazilian twitters users. Among the most commented ones were #ObrigadoGioAntonellieAlexandreNero (#ThanksGioAntonelliandAlexandreNero) and “Helô e Stenio”, dedicated by the many fans of the couple played by Giovanna Antonelli and Alexandre Nero, who in the opinion of many was much better than the protagonist couple.

Other trending topics were #Vaza Jorge (#Go away Jorge), which hinted at the dissatisfaction of many viewers with the series and “Sister Wanda”, which made reference to the villain played by Totia Meirelles.

On Monday, Globo’s newest primetime novela Amor à Vida, starring Paolla Oliveira and Malvino Salvador, will premiere.

Telemundo announces its new lineup of telenovelas for 2013-2014

At its annual upfront presentation, held last week, Telemundo announced its programming for 2013-2014, which is expected to feature over 1000 hours of new content, including five telenovelas:  “Dama y Obrero” (Lady and The Worker), “La Impostora” (The Imposter), “Reina de Corazones” (Queen of Hearts), “Santa Diabla”—working title (Holy Devil) and “Camelia la Tejana” (Camelia The Texan). 

“Dama y Obrero” (starred by Ana Layevska, José Luis Reséndez and Fabián Ríos) features Ignacia, a young engineer who works in a large construction company owned by her boyfriend Tomás. Ignacia and Tomás have been together for a long time and finally decide to get married, although Ignacia could never imagine the kind of man Tomás really is. Days before the wedding, they have a heated argument, and Ignacia decides to leave town and have some time to herself. From there, she meets Pedro, a man who appears to be wealthy and with whom she spends an unforgettable weekend. However, Ignacia knows she is only living a dream, a pause in her life, so the next morning, Pedro wakes up to find a note from Ignacia but with no trace of how to find her. Regretting what has happened, she goes back home where Tomás is waiting for her with an offer for an impressive promotion at his company and expects that this will make her forgive him. When Ignacia, now in a powerful position, discovers that Pedro is an average construction worker, the two will find that despite having every reason on earth not to be together, they will love each other despite prejudice, differences and rejection that threaten to pull them apart.

“La Impostora” is an endearing romantic story with a touch of classic melodrama, set in Playa del Carmen, the heart of the Mayan Riviera. The story follows the adventures of Blanca Guerrero, a good-looking and witty aspiring actress who makes a living as a waitress in a picturesque restaurant that caters to tourists. Blanca gets her big break when she is hired by famous Hollywood actor Adriano Ferrer to pose as Victoria San Marino, a millionaire investor from New York. In this role, she will infiltrate the powerful Altamira family with the secret intent of discovering the whereabouts of a son that Adriano had twenty years before with Alexandra, a now-deceased daughter of the Altamira. Adriano’s scheme is put in jeopardy when Blanca falls in love with Eduardo, the handsome and charismatic scion of the Altamira clan. There are no official casting news for this series, but Litzy, Fabián Ríos and Felicia Mercado participated in the trailer. As Fabián Ríos and Felicia Mercado will play villains in “Dama y Obrero”, it is quite likely that the cast of “La Impostora” will be changed unless production is delayed.

“Reina de Corazones,” set amidst the glitz of Sin City, is the story of Reina and Diego, a young couple madly in love and about to get married in Las Vegas. Tragically, when the groom never shows up for the wedding, a devastated Reina faints at the doorstep of the chapel upon learning that her beloved has been fatally shot. When Reina comes to and opens her eyes again, she realizes that the chapel is no longer the same, she is now in a majestic church, with hundreds of guests seated awaiting a splendorous ceremony and the groom waiting for her at the altar is not her Diego, but Victor, a powerful gangster. Many secrets are revealed as Reina discovers she has forgotten the last five years of her life and tries to put the pieces of the puzzle back together. Reportedly, the protagonists for this original telenovela by Corazón Valiente’s author Marcela Citterio, will be Eugenio Siller and Adriana Fonseca, who both collaborated with Citterio before (Siller in “Aurora” and Fonseca in “Corazón Valiente”).

“Camelia la Tejana” is inspired by a song of the same name from the legendary Mexican regional music band Los Tigres Del Norte, the same tune that inspired one of the most successful stories ever told on Spanish-language TV, “La Reina del Sur.” The story begins in the 1970s and is centered around Camelia, a young, innocent and beautiful woman who tries to escape from one of Mexico’s most powerful drug lords, Don Antonio. While fleeing her small town, Camelia encounters love in Emilio Varela, a man who will turn out to be Camelia’s greatest betrayer. It is because of Emilio that Camelia embarks down a criminal path that would change her life forever, but after he betrays her, Camelia vows to make him pay. Camelia’s strength and character will make her a legend, but first, she will become the most wanted woman on both sides of the law and the border between the U.S and Mexico. Sara Maldonado portrayed Camelia in the trailer. The series will be a coproduction between Telemundo and Argos.

“Doña Diabla” centers on a dramatic twist of fate that leads Santa Martinez to live the worst of nightmares—the loss of her husband, following an obsessed woman’s terrible plot to destroy him. Santa is driven to devise a plan for the “perfect” revenge. The flaw in her plan will arise when she realizes that love is, once again, knocking on her door. That is when she will have to choose whether to sacrifice love or the revenge she fought to have. The telenovela will be starred by Gaby Espino and Aarón Díaz, while Ximena Duque will play the villain. Rumor has it that Carlos Ponce will also act in this anticipated telenovela.

Paloma Bernardi: “Through Rosângela I discovered that when I’m bad, I’m even better”

The character of Rosângela became an important turning point in the career of the gorgeous Paloma Bernardi, who before used to portray mainly innocent girls. The girl who in the beginning of “Salve Jorge” was a human trafficking victim quickly became one of the biggest villains of the telenovela by becoming a member of the human trafficking mafia and becoming an obstacle in Morena’s way to freedom. However, she finally got her punishment in the last episode, which was aired yesterday. She was finally arrested when trying to board a flight in Rio de Janeiro.

Bernardi already misses the telenovela and her first villain Rosângela. She jokingly said: “My last scene was the one filmed at the airport. This character changed my life and made me discover that when I’m good, I’m great, but when I’m bad, I’m even better!”

Her next project will be a movie: “I’m going to participate in a movie that has a ludic universe, which will be very different from “Salve Jorge”.

Raúl Quintanilla: 90% of the telenovela protagonists are TV Azteca graduates

According to producer, director and acting coach Raúl Quintanilla, 90% of the protagonists of telenovelas which are produced in Mexico or in the U.S. (by companies like Televisa, Argos, Telemundo and TV Azteca itself) are graduates of TV Azteca’s CEFAT (center of formation for television actors). Andrés Palacios, Paola Núñez, Carla Hernández, Ana Serradilla, Silvia Navarro, Marimar Vega, Adriana Louvier, Víctor González, Pablo Azar, Bárbara Mori are among the alumni of CEFAT, among many others.

Quintanilla, who directed "Mirada de Mujer: El regreso", commented on the plans of Televisa to make a remake of the successful plot of “Mirada de Mujer”. He said that he doesn’t judge the work of other companies’ remakes, but said: “at the end of the day, the important thing is that the story can be told several times.”

When asked about the debut of Ximena Navarrete in "La Temprestad", he said: “Everyone have the right to make their projects as they want, it is a company and these are ways of making business.” He added: “Maybe they think that she has a big potential. It is recommendable to prepare her well and to help her because the public not only wants to see a pretty face.”

People en Español’s ’50 most beautiful’ celebrate with a big party

After presenting their “50 most beautiful of 2013” list last week, People En Español threw a party for their favorite stars, which was held at New York's Marquee Club. A big crowd of fans gathered outside to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars, and many of them looked amazing, which justified them being picked as the most beautiful of the year. Sebastián Rulli and Maite Perroni were among the first to arrive, followed by many other dazzling stars who posed on the event’s pink carpet: Jason Canela, Jencarlos Canela, Gaby Espino, Adamari López, David Zepeda, Marjorie De Sousa, Juan Soler, Aarón Díaz, Eugenio Siller and many others.

Check out some of the photos from this glamorous event, which was attended by some of the hottest telenovela stars:

(click on thumbnails to enlarge)