ALMA Awards Provide a Cause for Celebration and Dismay

During an awards ceremony that featured performances from musical legends, a little-known Latina actress who’s held on to her small role on NBC’s “ER” for four years learned she’d won one of the biggest prizes of the night.

Laura Ceron graciously accepted the gold statuette for outstanding actress in a television series for her role as Nurse Marquez at the 5th annual ALMA Awards inside the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on Saturday night. But after thanking her family and friends, Ceron inadvertently summed up an uncomfortable aspect of the ceremony for Latino artists.

“Thank you for putting on this amazing, fun show every year, even if they run out of people to nominate,” Ceron said.

It wasn’t just people to nominate. It was presenters, too.

Many of the ALMA presenters were pooled from the small circle of Latinos that have flourished in mainstream Hollywood, like actors Jimmy Smits, Edward James Olmos and Jennifer Lopez. And while the event’s intimacy provided for rich entertainment, the ALMA Awards are both a celebration of Latino talent and a stark look at the faces that are largely missing from Hollywood.

With few Latino directors or leading men to select from, Antonio Banderas was richly rewarded for projects that received tepid reviews.

Looking down at his wife, Melanie Griffith, who wore a red sequined dress, corn rows in her hair and heavy eyeliner, Banderas accepted his award for outstanding actor in “The 13th Warrior,” a film in which he, too, wore eyeliner. He also won outstanding director for “Crazy in Alabama,” a movie panned by critics that was in video stores within four months of its premiere.

The stars of the ALMA Awards were undoubtedly the musicians, who were spontaneous and polished. Jose Feliciano, who has won six Grammy Awards and been nominated for 16 in the past three decades, agreed to an impromptu version of his biggest hit, the Doors’ “Light My Fire.”

Another musical boon for the show occurred when Beck sang with Ozomatli, the East L.A. band that is garnering national recognition for its powerful, danceable Latin sound. The large band (four horn players, three drum players, two guitarists and one keyboard player) are also providing the soundtrack to “Resurrection Blvd.,” a forthcoming weekly drama on Showtime. It will be the first all-Latino drama series on cable television.

Some bilingual performances included a duet between country singer Reba McEntire and Latino balladeer Jon Secada. Young Christina Aguilera, whose career took off after last year’s ALMA performance, sang “I Turn to You,” in alternate Spanish and English verses.

And an otherwise upbeat, quickly paced ceremony was hampered by two no-shows: Cameron Diaz, who won outstanding actress in a feature film for her role in “Any Given Sunday,” and Ricky Martin, who won entertainer of the year.

And while Spanish-language television and movies are not considered during the award-voting process, Spanish-language media mogul Cristina Saralegui was honored for her work to fight HIV and AIDS. Through her No. 1-rated talk show on Univision, the country’s largest Spanish-language television network, as well as her English-language magazine and public appearances, she earned the National Council of La Raza/Kraft ALMA Community Service Award.

She urged audience members to come on her Univision show, telling them she would help them if their Spanish faltered.

“We are not English-dominant Latinos. We are not Spanish-language Latinos. We are not bilingual Latinos,” she said. “We are all Latinos.”

The ceremony will be edited into a two-hour ABC special, scheduled for broadcast on June 17.