Ricky Martin is making the comeback of all comebacks. In the past year, he’s come out as a “fortunate homosexual man,” written a best-selling memoir, and after a six-year hiatus, he’s set to release his new album, Musica+Alma+Sexo on February 1.

Not to mention the fact that he’s settled into his most important role yet as father to 2-year old twins Valentino and Matteo.

The 39-year-old opened up to Parade.com about fatherhood, coming out, and why he can’t wait to get back on stage.

What 2011 has in store for Ricky Martin.
“A very intense tour. I just can’t wait to be back on stage. It’s also gonna be a time to relax, believe it or not, because after writing the book and releasing this album and spending years in the studio, I have the time to actually see the reaction of the audience. For the last two years it’s been about the output, so now it’s about the beauty of the stage and going around the world and performing. It will be great.”
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Veteran conga master Poncho Sanchez wove an eclectic, but muted, Latin jazz story at the Knight Concert Hall of Miami’s Arsht Center Friday night, threading far-flung references that could only describe the life of a musician with his depth of experience.

He jetted from salsa to Stax Records-style soul and paid an almost spiritual visit to Duke Ellington.
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Chayanne performs at Hollywood's Hard Rock Live. (Veda Jo Jenkins / sflimages.com)

Photos: Chayanne at Hard Rock Live | Visit this writer’s website

The sexiest man for 2010 may be Ryan Reynolds but I think the 5,000-plus people at the Hard Rock Live would say they got it wrong. Chayanne could easily be the sexiest man alive.

Opening the show with a burst of fireworks, Chayanne appeared amid a cloud of fog under twinkling lights of “No Hay Impossible” high atop the staircase. On stage, his 10-piece band and accompanying dancers escorted Chayanne as he sang “Provocame” down the stairs and Chayanne’s dance moves, contagious smile, and hip thrusts had the crowd screaming his name.

He continued to spellbound the audience with “Lola” and brought it down a bit with “Si No Estas”, the video screen in the background: a tree in spring budding its leaves, coming to life. But the melancholy mood didn’t last long. Breaking into a remix of “Caprichosa”, I was on my feet joining the others in my row, the call of the Latin beat making my body move.
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The Latin Grammy nominations spread the love between established artists and newcomers, nominating songwriters Juan Luis Guerra and Alejandro Sanz in four categories each.

The nominations announced Wednesday at Hollywood’s Avalon nightclub also recognized new talents Jorge Drexler, an Uruguayan songwriter, and Mario Domm, the lead singer of the Mexican band Camila.

The rest of the nominations spanned the Latin Recording Academy’s multitude of genres from across Spain and the Americas, with three nods each to Camila, reggaeton star Daddy Yankee and Uruguay’s alt-rockers El Cuarteto de Nos.

Carlos Santana serenades Cruzan Amphitheatre with his guitar on Sunday. (J. Gwendolynne Berry / Palm Beach Post)

Photos: Santana, Steve Winwood at Cruzan Amphitheatre

Guitar icon Carlos Santana seized a packed Cruzan Amphitheatre in a brazen, rapturous firestorm of sound Sunday night. There was no tepid overture, no throat-clearing, no gradual build-up. There was nothing to build up to — Santana and his formidable band pounced in at full blast with “Yaleo” (from the Supernatural album), every note gleaming, every percussive angle razor-sharp, every element of sound rising to a higher power of syncopation.

In a steep swell of sound, the band boasted its rhythmic gifts from the start, with drums battling congas battling timbales. Only Santana himself, master of border-fusing, genre-melding sounds, could address the crowd after such an electric number and turn romantic, dedicating his show to the ladies in the audience.

“So, baby, this is for you,” he murmured, striking up a sexy, spirited rendition of “Maria Maria”, his guitar weeping as it does best.
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Olga Guillot at her home in Miami Beach in 2008. (Gaston de Cardenas / El Nuevo Herald)

By LUISA YANEZ

Legendary Cuban singer Olga Guillot — the queen of el bolero — died of a heart attack Monday at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach. She was 87.

Guillot, whose career in Cuba was interrupted by the 1959 Cuban revolution, had lived in exile for years — splitting her time between Miami and Mexico.

She was part of a trilogy of the most famous Cuban singing divas — the others were Celia Cruz and La Lupe.

Guillot was the last survivor. Her biggest hit was “Mienteme” (Lie to Me).
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Tiger Woods and his mom after his televised apology (Click on the photo for more)

Embattled golfer Tiger Woods is building a whole lot of homes for a whole lot of people these days.

Woods’ company, ETW, financed his public relations man Glenn Greenspan‘s modest $1 million-dwelling in Stuart.

A Scandinavian-looking house is going up just south, on Jupiter Island, from blue prints bearing the specs of Woods’ wife, Elin Nordegren.

And, according to recent paperwork filed in Palm Beach County, the 22,000-square-foot crib he’s building for his mom, Tida, is moving along quite nicely.

Usually a quiet presence by her son’s side, Tida jumped into the fray with both feet at his made-for-TV apology Friday when she blasted the media treating Woods “like a criminal.”

Still, there’s nothing like the soon-to-be-reformed philandering fool to kick a down real estate market into gear!

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By BETH FEINSTEIN-BARTL

Colombian-born singer Ria. (Photo by Melissa Mahoney/ Courtesy Sun-Sentinel)

For Ria, there’s no place like home when it comes to launching a singing career.

College classes and recording took her to the snowy Northeast. Ria left South Florida in 2003 to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in songwriting and vocal performance in 2006, then stayed on two more years to work on her debut disc. But when it came time for the singular named songstress to get in high gear, she headed back to where it all began.

“Miami is where my heart is,” said the Colombian-born, bilingual indie artist. “It’s where I was raised. It’s where I have my biggest supporters.”
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Bio Ritmo is a Spanglish mash-up of BioRhythm. That means this eight-piece Virginia-based salsa band believes in pumping up said rhythm. They call their style “a classic Nuyorican salsa sound” with flavoring from samba, electronica and Afro-Cuban rhythms, basically any Latin sound you can think of.
The band plays Saturday, 8 p.m., at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center, 14440 Pierson Road, Wellington. Information: (561) 346-2787 or liveartsfl.org

Shakira says her new album contains songs based on fantasies and stories of hers, but also friends' experiences. (AP)

All the single ladies — Shakira is looking out for you!

The Colombian-born singer says the songs on her new album “She Wolf,” out this week, is a reflection of a woman who is looking for her prince charming.

“It’s very much a common thing for women my age, at least my friends, to be in search for the right man and to be somehow dreaming of the prince who’s going to come in and rescue them,” the 32-year-old said. “Some of these songs either reveal my own daydreams or fantasies, but some of them have to do with my girlfriends’ experiences and things that they go through.”

The Grammy-winner says songs like the Brazilian-influenced “Did It Again” and “Men In This Town” will connect women in search of “the one.”
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