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By Michael Lopez

Susie Castillo did it, Alicia Machado did it, so why not Ximena Navarrete? The transition from beauty queen to actress has worked out quite well for a number of Latinas and now novela producers are hoping to court 2010's Miss Universe to do the same.

There is no denying that Mexican-born Ximena was one of this decade's most popular pageant winners. With her gorgeous smile and perky personality, she's already scored contracts with a number of high-profile advertisers. And though Navarrete's said that she doesn't want to pursue acting, we think a lucrative TV contract could change her mind.

The producers behind William Levy's Triunfo del Amor are hoping to cast Ximena in their upcoming soap, Aventura. The plot would involve her playing a sweet small town girl who gets seduced by the world of nightclub dancing.

That already sounds like a winning story to us, but will Navarette commit to it? Right now she is doing film work to promote tourism in Mexico. Let's hope she takes on Aventura after that (or at least drops by for a cameo on Popland!).

Do you think Ximena would make a good novela star? Sound off in the comments or @MTV3.

Tags Aventura, Blogger: Michael Lopez, Miss Universe, Novelas, popnews, Television, Triunfo del Amor, Ximena Navarrete

By Michael Lopez

There's nothing wrong with respecting a celebrity's privacy, but when they become too private the gossip blogs begin to wonder. For years Aventura frontman Romeo Santos has been extra tight-lipped about his dating status, prompting some sites to wonder about his sexual preferences. But this week, Santos came clean about everything in an exclusive interview with Don Francisco.

"Not even bisexual—neither homosexual or bisexual," Romeo stated when addressing the gay rumors.

He also went on to explain how he was deeply in love and has been with the same woman for over seven years. When asked why he was so secretive about everything, Santos responded,

"I've talked about my mother very openly, about my son, and all my loved ones, [because] this business doesn't affect my relationship with them. [But] this business can affect a [romantic] relationship. This business can bring many negative consequences to that type of relationship. I have seen it."

One other relationship that Romeo was not so candid about is the one he has with his three Aventura band mates. For months, rumors have been flying about animosity between the group and their famous frontman. Romeo didn't necessarily address any of that. But he did seem to allude that all was well between the four bachata kings.

Though Francisco did an admirable job of grilling Santos, it seems like the tough questions were never really asked. Perhaps if Romeo books an appearance on Piers Morgan's show, we can get a few more juicy details.

Do you think Romeo was completely honest about his love life? Sound off in the comments or @MTV3.

Tags Aventura, Blogger: Michael Lopez, Celebrities, Chisme, Don Francisco, Romeo Santos

By Michael Lopez

Sure they're going after the same audience, but that doesn't mean that Prince Royce and Aventura's Romeo Santos have to be enemies, right? Though some in the media would like you to think that the bacheteros are caught up in a bitter feud, Royce assured his fans that wasn't the case.

"There's no competition between me and Romeo," Prince told Latina. "We see it as a Latin movement, as a Dominican movement, as a bachata movement…If it goes well for him, it goes well for me. If it goes well for me, it goes well for him."

At the moment, things seem to be going very well for both of them. Royce is about to set off on a tour with Enrique Iglesias and Romeo's been topping the Billboard charts with his solo single, "You."

Royce and Romeo actually both appeared at last week's Premio Juventud awards, much to the delight of their millions of fans. Prince walked away with four statues and, for the record, he did beat Aventura in the Mi Artista Tropical category.

But it's clear that there are no hard feelings between the two. In fact, we're hoping we can someday see them unite for a bachata all-star duet. Perhaps on that highly-anticipated new Prince album?

Do you think most of the music feuds are just hype? Sound off in the comments or @MTV3.

Tags Aventura, Blogger: Michael Lopez, Celebrities, Chisme, Música, Prince Royce, Romeo Santos

By Michael Lopez

People en Español got quite the cover story this week. In an exclusive sit-down interview, Aventura frontman Romeo Santos talked about his 10-year-old son Alex, who many fans didn't even know existed.

Posing next to his lookalike hijo, Romeo confessed that he hasn't always been the best father figure to Alex. Originally when he found out his ex-girlfriend had became pregnant, Santos (who was then only 19) walked away and acted like, as he puts it, a "coward."

"No fue planeado y huí como un cobarde", Romeo admitted "[Nuestra relación] era como de lejitos. Decía: ‘no, no, no’. Sentí que era un niño teniendo a un niño y me alejé por dos años".

But now, it looks like father and son have definitely patched up their relationship. And we're sure little Alex is now very proud of his famous daddy. Especially when you consider that Romeo's "You" single is still the #1 on Billboard Latin Song charts.

Did you know about Romeo’s 10-year-old son? Sound off in the comments or @MTV3.

Tags Alex Santos, Aventura, Celebrities, Chisme, People En Espanol, Romeo, Romeo Santos

By Simone Hilliard

If anyone questioned whether Aventura heartthrob Romeo Santos would garner commercial success without the help of his back-up bachata crooners, think again. Santos' short solo career made waves this week when his first solo effort "You" landed at the top of the Billboard Latin Hot Songs list in its debut week.

Santos stole the #1 spot from Maná's "Lluvia al Corazón,"  which has held the peak position for several weeks.

On his success, Romeo told the Dominican Newspaper El Nacional:

"It's the first time that any of my songs makes the number one spot in its debut week on the market. It didn't happen that way with Aventura and I have to be very grateful to God, to my fans and you all for always supporting me."

While fans will have to wait till October before the release of the full LP Formula, Santos hinted that supporters can expect ten bachata inspired songs, in addition to five English canciones which will fuse Romeo's love of R&B and pop. But those are all the details Romeo's releasing, the bachata star told EL Nacional:

"I want to hold back details for when the album comes out in October. What I can tell you is that there will be many great surprises.”

Like a collaboration with fellow Dominican bachatero Luis Vargas? Swoon! We can't wait. After the release of Formula, fans will have to wait till 2013 for the next Aventura project. If it happens that is! We're pretty sure Romeo will enjoy his newfound solo steez!

What do you think of Romeo's "You?" Sound off in the comments, or @MTV3.

Tags Aventura, Formula, Luis Vargas, Mana, Romeo Santos, You

By Michael Lopez

Think of today as a bittersweet moment for Aventura fans. On one hand, it marks the highly-anticipated release of frontman Anthony "Romeo" Santos’ first solo single "You." But it’s also a sign that the mega-popular bachata band will not be regrouping anytime soon, especially if the song becomes a major hit.

Romeo’s management seems very excited about the release of "You" and its accompanying record, Formula. Though his solo album’s actual release date was not revealed, news did drop that plenty of the album’s songs will be recorded in English.

A heavily-produced ballad, "You"makes sure to accentuate Romeo’s romantic qualities. It’s got acoustic guitars, heavy bass, and some catchy lady backup singers to boot (not to mention a brooding Santos striking a pose for the cover art). But will it be a hit?

Promotions for the single have already begun on Aventura’s hugely-popular Twitter page and Romeo is helping spread the word on his official Facebook account. Plus, seeing how it’s been two long years since we’ve gotten new studio tracks from the guys, we’re sure die-hard Aventura fans will make a point to add "You" to their summer Playlists.

What do you think of Romeo’s new single? Sound off in the comments or @MTV3.

Tags Anthony Santos, Aventura, Formula, Hot Stuff, Música, Romeo, You

By Sugey Palomares

Aventura may be assuring fans that they are still together, but all signs are pointing to a temporary split. While Romeo is busy launching his first solo single "You," Max and Lenny are working on premiering a new musical project D'Element.

The talented guitarist and bassist are joining forces with Dominican vocalists, Sammy Genao, a finalist from the Spanish-language "American Idol"  (called "Objetivo Fama"), and Aileen Rosario, a runner-up on P. Diddy's "Making the Band 2."

The group will pay homage to traditional bachata, but with a dance and techno twist. The brothers are wasting no time on this new project! They are already working on shooting the video for their first single, "You and Me."

Here is what Max and Lenny had to say about their new venture:

"We are starting fresh, but we are positioned high which for us is something marvelous!" - Max

"The sound is now more upbeat and energetic. We are try to put our part in on every song we are recording."-Lenny

We are super excited for the brothers, but we hope they don't forget about Aventura! We all know what happened to Destiny's Child when they started working on solo projects!

Do you think Aventura will stay together in the long run?

Tags Aventura, bachata, D'Element, Max and Lenny, Romeo

By Michael Lopez

It’s clear that Miami’s Bank United Center was the place to be on Thursday night. The 11th annual Billboard Latin Music Awards not only brought out plenty of famous faces, it delivered an evening of incredible live performances. From Luis Fonsi’s tweet parade, to Gloria Trevi’s motorcycle-themed dance number, it easily gave this year’s ceremony a run for its money.

Enrique Iglesias gets the credit as the big winner of the night. Taking home nine awards (including Artist of the Year), he made sure to thank the collaborators that helped him create his smash Euphoria album. Juan Luis Guerra, Pitbull, and Wisin y Yandel (who joined Enrique onstage for “No Me Digas”) all got their shout outs in his acceptance speeches.

Expressing his love for the Latin culture at the podium, Enrique said,

"My life has been filled with good moments and bad moments but there is one thing that has been constant and that's been the public. We have to keep having babies so there can be more and more of us and, hopefully, one day, there will be there will be more Latins than anything. We are already almost there."

Other big winners of the night included Aventura (who took the stage minus Romeo) and Camila. Proving they were still very much intact, Mario Domm and company wowed the crowd with a performance that included a giant white angel.

Tr3s fave Prince Royce walked away with four awards during the night, while Shakira kept her arms full with six Billboard statuettes. Gloria Estefan got a huge response from the crowd when she walked onstage to accept her Billboard Spirit of Hope Award, which honored her philanthropic work.

And as far as the performances went, Don Omar’s live interpretation of “Danza Kuduro” (which is currently being featured in Fast Five) got a huge response, as did Marc Anthony’s showstopping ballad.

But nothing can quite top the night’s grand finale, which united Pitbull, T-Pain, and Jencarlos Canela for triple set of uptempo songs. Perhaps El Don summed up the evening best with his enthusiastic tweet from the afterparty.

“Una noche HISTORICA! Gracias a todos!”

What did you think of this year’s Billboard Latin Music Awards? Sound off in the comments or @MTV3.

Tags Aventura, Award Shows, Billboard Latin Music Awards, Camila, Celebrities, Don Omar, Enrique Iglesias, Gloria Estefan, Gloria Trevi, Hot Stuff, Jencarlos Canela, Luis Fonsi, Música, Prince Royce, Shakira

By Michael Lopez

With more than $10 million on the line, it’s pretty clear that Jive Records has high hopes for Romeo Santos’ solo debut. The Aventura lead singer has been dropping hints about his solo ideas for years, but now he’s talking specifics. The bachata frontman told the Santo Domingo Times what fans can expect from his album.

“Musicalmente, el disco tendrá un 65 por ciento de lo que la gente conoce de mí,” he said in the exclusive interview.

If that’s the case, then a majority of the record will have all the thumping beats and high energy that Aventura fans love. But what can we expect in that extra 35 percent? According to Romeo, it will consist of R&B and a few pop ballads.

Of course with several albums included as part of the deal, that leaves room for a lot of experimentation.

“En realidad son tres producciones con opción a grabar dos más,” said Romeo when explaining his contract. “Para mí es un orgullo ser el primer latino o uno de los pocos latinos en firmar un contrato tan grande.”

With that much money on the line, many artists woud get nervous, but Romeo didn’t seem too worried. Mentioning his recent recognitions with ASCAP, the singer displayed a strong confidence about his musical abilities.

“Tengo dos años consecutivos ganando en la categoría de Compositor del Año en los premios de la American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) … cosas así me marcan y me hacen sentir que mi trabajo ha sido reconocido.”

Receiving the Songwriter of the Year Award is quite an accomplishment (just ask Tito “El Bambino”). And we expect to hear some very interesting sounds when Romeo starts releasing his first solo singles in the fall.

Do you think Romeo will put together a good solo album? Sound off in the comments or @MTV3.

Tags Aventura, Hot Stuff, Jive Records, Música, Romeo, Romeo Santos

By Michael Lopez

Cristian Castro knows all about the importance of a winning collaboration. His recent chart-topping album featured duets with Jose Jose and both Carlos Santana and Jose Feliciano have incorporated his trademark vocals into their tracks. Now it sounds like the Mexican crooner may be dabbling in bachata, with rumors of a possible Aventura partnership.

"Este disco que voy a ser en vivo, voy a incluir mi amor al Caribe y quiero invitar a muchos dominicanos que quiero anunciarlos aquí.” Cristian recently explained. “No sé cuántos pueda incluir, pero ya tengo acercamiento con Henry, de Aventura, con quien me junté en Nueva York".

In other words, Castro’s been chumming up with Aventura’s Henry and may be planning on recording with the entire group. If they were to indeed work together, it would definitely open the door to some interesting experimentation.

Cristian’s primary musical influences have always been pop, mixed with hints of mariachi styles (courtesy of another collaborator – Vicente Fernandez) and bolero. Aventura, on the other hand, specialize in thumping bachata beats. Could the two work out a successful sonic partnership?

As of right now, it’s all speculative. Neither Henry nor any of the Aventura members have mentioned Castro in their daily tweets. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a top secret recording session happening at the moment. If the rumors are true, we think it would make for some serious creative growth from both ends – and just maybe a fifth voice when the bachata kings kick off their 2012 live tour.

Would you like to see a Cristian Castro/Aventura collaboration? Sound off in the comments or @MTV3.

Tags Aventura, Chisme, Cristian Castro, Hot Stuff, Música