ENTERTAINMENT

* Ricardo Montalban was gracious as ever when the UCLA Mexican Arts Series honored his 50th anniversary of movie-acting last month with a spectacular mariachi concert at Royce Hall. Montalban turned the tables and paid tribute to the performers when he addressed Mexican Consul General Jose Angel Pescador Osuna from the stage and said in Spanish, “I was suckled with that music and with that music I will die.” With Nati Cano as the musical director, his Mariachi Los Camperos headlined the concert and supplemented performances by Mariachi UCLA and Grupo Folklorico de UCLA students, as well as Conjunto Hueyapan, Ballet Folklorico Ollin, the Tonantzin Dance Co., dancer-violinist Olga Breeskin and trick-rope artist Tony Munoz. Noting that the tribute capped 50 years of his life, Montalban joked, “Well, I’m working on the next 50 now!”

When Luis Enrique, then 15, left his small hometown in Nicaragua in 1978 to join his older brother in Los Angeles, his dream was to become a musician. He graduated from high school in Whittier, where he was one of the few Latinos to sing in the choir. Enrique says he later received the best schooling--”that of real life,” and went on to succeed as a percussionist, although he also plays guitar and piano. Enrique, who writes and produces much of his material, is regarded as an outstanding musician by his peers. The innovative “salsero,” who entertained at L.A. Fiesta Broadway, will be at the Greek Theater on June 27 as part of a U.S. tour. He then will head to Spain to appear in a star-studded pre-Olympic TV special.

Julio Iglesias’ new Spanish album, “Calor,” with versions in English, French, Portuguese, Italian and German, can best be described as a journey through the world of Spanish-language music, with songs representing the diversity of various countries, including Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and Spain. The LP, his 19th in Spanish, was recorded over a two-year period. “It’s an album filled with warmth, with illusion,” Iglesias said. “It’s as if I were once again 20 years old and beginning to sing.” “Calor” features material from Carlos Gardel, the Argentine legend who immortalized the tango in the 1920s, to Jose Maria Cano, of “Mecano,” Spain’s leading rock group. “There is great similarity between Gardel and Cano,” he said, adding that they are both very good.

Xuxa, who was recently named by People magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world, is learning English in anticipation of trying to cross over to the English-language market in the United States. Many will remember her well-received appearance at last year’s L.A. Fiesta Broadway. The blonde Brazilian, who years ago learned Spanish, is one of the most popular performers in Spanish-language entertainment, with a successful television and recording career.