Juanes

US President Barack Obama has welcomed plans for a massive but controversial concert in Havana on Sunday by Miami-based music star Juanes. Obama told US Spanish language network Univision that the concert, which is expected to draw around half a million Cubans, could help improve ties with Cuba. Obama's Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had met the Colombian singer before he left for Cuba, with both drawing criticism from Miami's Cuban exile community for a performance they say will legitimize the island's communist regime. "My understanding is that he's a terrific musician. He puts on a very good concert," Obama told the station as ... Read Full Story

More than half a million Cubans gathered in Havana on Sunday for a concert featuring Miami-based singer Juanes, a gig welcomed by US President Barack Obama, but criticized by Cuban exiles. Hundreds of thousands of parasol-waving fans braced blistering heat in the capital's storied Revolution Square, with merriment belying the political undertones that the concert has produced. Miami's Cuban exile community has criticized the performance, saying it will legitimize the island's communist regime, and Colombian-born singer Juanes received death threats ahead of the "Peace without Borders" concert. Many of those present appeared focused on the need for Cubans everywhere to unite. "We have to ... Read Full Story

The nominations for the 9th annual Latin Grammys are out and, wow, are they ever predictable. All the usual names are firmly in place -- Juanes, Julieta Venegas, Cafe Tacvba, Liberace -- as well as people we knew were "Latin" but not necessarily Latino - like Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli. Then there's bands we heart, like Belanova and Babasonicos and PeopleWhitePeopleLike, like Manu Chao. And, um. That "Te Quiero" song by Flex, which is up for like 97 nominations. That song. Has been stuck in our head. For like six fucking months. Enjoy a sampling of the 17,234 different categories, after the jump: ... Read Full Story

Cuban singer and Yerba Buena co-founder CuCu Diamantes was scheduled to perform at Union City High School in (unsurprisingly) Union City, New Jersey - a city that happens to be home to a relatively substantial Cuban population. However, following her decision to perform in Juanes’ Paz Sin Fronteras concert in La Habana , the New Jersey Board of Educators received pressure from the school community to revoke CuCu’s invitation to visit the school. Explained the board: We must cancel the contract, due to your client’s recent performance at the Paz Sin Fronteras in Cuba, our community, which is comprised of approximately 85 % Cuban ... Read Full Story

by Isabel Sanchez HAVANA (AFP) -- One million Cubans gathered in Havana Sunday for a historic music concert that aimed to unite Cubans here and expatriates from the island's diaspora, said to be the biggest such gathering since the revolution half a century ago. "We are living in an absurd ideological war," said the event's organizer, Miami-based singer Juanes, during an intermission of the "Peace without Borders" concert. "We have to exchange hate for love," he said. Revelers at the massive event braved blistering heat in the capital's storied Revolution Square, with merriment belying the political undertones of the concert. US President Barack Obama ... Read Full Story