WORLD OF LATINA'S MOST BEAUTIFUL ACTRESSES

We've seen them, loved them and their story lines keep us at the edge of our seats and eyes GLUED to the T.V! From 1993 to present, our screens have been filled with telenovelas and far from getting bored (even though the new practice now is airing more than one instead of waiting for the previous one to at least end) we keep angling for more; not just because of the telenovela's main plot but because the leading women are just  so beautiful!

SILVIA NAVARO:  She charmed us from her very first scene in Cuando Seas Mia, then Catalina y Sebastian where she and her Cuando Seas Mia co-star Sergio Basanez played the title characters. She also starred with Sergio in La Heredera (The Heiress) and La Calle de las novias (Street of Brides) 

   LUCIA MENDEZ : who played Raquel Lombardo in  Tu O Nadie (No One But You), along with  Andres Garcia. Besides her acting, she's a singer and model. In 2008, she played Alicia  in  Amas de Casa Desesperadas;  the short lived Spanish version of Desperate Housewives. At 59 she's still a knockout! 

VERONICA CASTRO:
Best remembered as the unforgettable heroine Mariana in THE RICH ALSO CRY & Rose in Rosa Salvaje (Wild Rose)

At 61, she remains very active in the acting and music world. 

ADRIANA LOUVIER: 

who played Silvia in La Mujer De Lorenzo. She's also a T.V presenter and in 2012 played an antagonist in the telenovela Corona de Lagrimas (Crown of Tears)

SCARLET ORTIZ: The Venezuelan actress and model  played the title character in To Sobre Camilia (All About Camila) and several other telenovelas, including Rafaela in 2011. She's  married to Yul Burkle who played Alex  in La Mujer De Lorenzo and they are parents to a daughter. 

JACQUELINE BRACAMONTES: 

 starred with William Levy in Sortilegio(Love Spell); the fourth version of Tu O Nadie(No One But You) as Maria Jose Lombardo; making her the 'fourth Raquel'. She represented Mexico in the 2002 Miss Universe pageant and has a model career as well as acting. She's happily married.

ANGELICA RIVERA:  She starred in the 2007 telenovela (with Eduardo Yanez); Destilando Amor( Distilled Love)- which is the second remake of the 1994 Columbian telenovela Cafe, con aroma de Mujer(Coffee, With The Scent of A Woman), the first remake being Cuando Seas Mia. Nigerian fans would probably call her, 'the second Paloma' though in the telenovela her name was Gaviota, like in the original. She is the former sister-in-law of Veronica Castro (The Rich Also Cry) and no longer acting as she is currently the First Lady of Mexico- her husband being President Enrique Nieto.

JEANETTE RODRIGUEZ:  

This beautiful Venezuelan actress  played Gabrielle Suarez (Swanson)  in the 1986 telenovela La Dama De Rosa (The Lady of Rose), a young woman wrongly convicted for drug trafficking and her obsessive need for revenge against the man she believed betrayed her.  Now 52, Jeannette has hardly aged! 

LILIBETH MORILLO: The Venezuelan actress was introduced to our screens in 1997 via the 1997 telenovela, Maria Le Los Angeles (Mary of The Angels)-  where she played the title character who had to deal with an evil aunt, a tug of war between two suitors, a jealous half sister and an even more jealous rival. She has starred in other telenovelas to date.

GLORIA PIRES: 

Still a raving beauty at 50! 

Married and mother of three children,  the Brazilian actress  played Ruth & her conniving seductive twin Raquel in Mulheres de Areia (Sand Women but more known here as Secrets of The Sands) and still actively acting. 

MARIANA OCHOA: 

Singer and actress, her first telenovela was the angst filled La Hija del Jardinero( The Gardener's Daughter); its soundtrack sung by her. She played Luisa Fernanda, a young woman caught in lies and intrigue; her main story being falling in love with a handsome young doctor, not realizing until much later that her biological father is married to the doctor's mother; making Carlos Eduardo her stepbrother. 

She has acted in other telenovelas and released several albums. 

LUCELIA SANTOS:

The  now 56 year old  Brazilian actress, producer and director was introduced to us via her most memorable telenovela Escrava Isaura ( Isaura; The Slave Girl); a story set back in Brazilian slavery era, about a white skinned slave who is the object of lust and obsession of her master but refused to give in to his lustful advances (and threats!) 

She has many works to her credit; as an actress and director.

NATALIA STREIGNARD: 

The Venezuelan actress first appeared as Barbarita in La Mujer de Mi Vida; which she starred with her now ex-husband Mario Cimarro (who also played the resurrected and possessed farmer in El Cuerpo del Deseo- Second Chance). She has appeared in other telenovelas. 

PATRICIA MANTEROLA: 

is a fashion designer as well as an actress. That probably explains her eye catching wardrobe in Acapulco cuerpo y Alma( Acapulco Body & Soul ; the third version of Tu O Nadie(No One But You), making her the 'third Raquel'; the second version-ACAPULCO BAY- played by an American cast. 

WE'RE STILL WAITING... AND PRAYING #BringBackOurGirls

Today makes it a month since the Chibok abduction and the whole country's waiting and praying for this nightmare to end soon. The current report on the abducted Chibok school girls proves more than ever that their actions are more political and militant than religious.On Monday another video was released; this time of the poor terrified girls and the terrorists’ demand is for several Boko Haram members in custody in several states be released or they will be sold and claiming that 'God ordered them' to convert the  Christian girls among them to Islam.

What measures the Federal government will adopt  about seeing to their demands; we  don’t know- but whatever they are, they must not  endanger the girls. Those girls are the real victims here and back home are their worried, grieving parents. For how long is this going to go on before they are finally rescued- these are people's daughters  we're talking about here! It's just so sad and heartbreaking seeing the expressions of those poor girls in the photograph that I even wept as I read the newspapers. Of course they would be bewildered and frightened at the whole ordeal and no doubt wondering the same thing... "WHEN ARE WE GOING HOME???" 

This is more than religious prosecution, it's simply inhumanity staring us in the face and we desperately want this saga to end! The rallies and protests are still going on everywhere and more prayers for the rescue of the Chibok girls continue as we wait for the help we've been offered to come about.

Even after they are finally rescued, we Nigerians must also pray that worse things  than this won’t come about. We simply must keep praying! 

#BringBackOurGirls

T.V SERIES: IDEAS, IDEAS, IDEAS!

A particular classic book, story, movie, or even a cartoon creation spawns out a whole new creation; a successful T.V series and I mean live action, not animated. For example, from the 1960 psychological thriller Psycho came the

currently running series, Bates’ Motel (2013 to present). Thomas Harris’ books Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal & Hannibal Rising have movie adaptations and now a prequel series,

simply called Hannibal (2013 to present) starring Hugh Dancy as Will Graham, Mads Mikkelsen as Dr. Lecter and Laurence Fishburne as Jack Crawford- Graham’s (and much much later Clarice Starling’s) superior.  There’s the series about fairy tale characters (Snow White, Prince Charming, Cinderella, Pinocchio, Rumplestilskin, Red Riding Hood, etc) who are all stuck in the modern real world thanks to a curse by the Regina the Evil Queen a.k.a Snow White’s stepmother; Once Upon A Time, now going into its fourth season. 

There was also the little remembered 1992 movie that later evolved to the supernatural series Buffy, The Vampire Slayer (1997- 2003) plus its spin-off Angel (1999-2004), a 1996 T.V movie which brought about the Australian series McLeod’s Daughters (2001-2009), Stephen King’s The Dead Zone (2002- 2009) based on his 1979 novel (it already has a 1983 movie adaptation), a 2001 Australian series about a very notable Oliver Twist character, Escape of the Artful Dodger, which picked up from where Oliver Twist left off and the one everyone’s currently raving about (based on

the DC comic character Green Arrow) Arrow which began in 2012. 

As a person whose had more than enough of her share of books, movies and series which turned out to be disappointments I’m really impressed at how the T.V world seems determined to keep its status by getting new ideas despite the debut and now popularity of web series. The ones I’ve seen so far is Venice: The Series, The Inn and Beacon Hill; all very good and well written. 

What kills soaps’ rating these days are bad story lines, unnecessary characters, drastic change of a character and bad pairings. I stopped watching Days of our Lives after the end of the Bo Brady and Carly Manning story line then moved on to One Life To Live but alas... it ended up cancelled! So I made do with telenovelas which- trust me-  are  lot more satisfying  than American  soaps and past and present T.V shows I was able to come across; Desperate Housewives (2004-2012), Criminal Minds (2005 to present), Sex & The City (1998-2004), Alias (2001-2006), Prison Break (2005- 2009) and  Once Upon a Time (2011- present).  

With more T.V series being introduced these days, examples being Homeland, 

  a Sex & The City prequel The Carrie Diaries and the upcoming prequel of Batman Gotham, there are so many ideas for even more T.V series- from old movies and books. 

One good idea for a T.V series  would be one based on  a movie I remember very well; the 1984 The Never Ending Story of the young warrior Atreyu and the boy who read the book itself, Bastian. The movie was adapted from Michael Ende's novel of the  same name and apparently deviated too far from the book so probably  The Never Ending Story T.V series could make up for that by following its original concept. I for one hated the part 3; it was more comic than adventurous. 

Another good idea for a T.V series would be from the Harry Potter books. Not about Harry himself ( we fans would rather let the adult Harry have a peaceful life) but a prequel about Voldemort's life as Tom Riddle, until his  evolution to the Dark Lord and the various people he encountered and destroyed along the way; the season's final episode would naturally be the night the curse meant for Harry rebounding on him! (People, why not???) 

If Superman, The Hulk, Wonder Woman, The Flash and now Batman  can have a T.V series each, why not a live action T.V series Dare-Devil? Back in 1989 there was the T.V movie The Trial of The Incredible Hulk which was meant to be a backdoor pilot for a Daredevil series since it featured Matt Murdock/Daredevil who acted as David Banner's defense lawyer after he is arrested for murder and they both go against the Kingpin. But the idea was scrapped and years later after several animated series came the 2003 film where Murdock/Daredevil was played by Ben Affleck. 

Or... 

How about a live action series about  Ghost Rider? And why not, Ghost Rider's dark, supernatural tones plus the fact that Ghost Rider is an anti-hero(es) would made it a great series with high ratings, depending on the writing. 

Another idea  I can think of is Stephen King's The Dark Tower books; the series of course would be about the central character,  Roland Deschain; the  mysterious Gunslinger and his quarry, The Man In Black. I've read three out of the eight books and I honestly feel it deserves to be adapted for T.V. 

Like I said earlier, a lot of possibilities!