By Jamie Ruby

Friday, September 21, the NCLR ALMA Awards will return to NBC. The star-studded event for Hispanic Heritage Month will for the third time be hosted by Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives) and George Lopez (Take Me Out). The show celebrates the achievements of Latinos in the entertainment industry. The 2012 NCLR ALMA Awards will be produced by Dick Clark Productions' executive producers Orly Adelson and Barry Adelman as well as Longoria and Janet Murguia. Murguia is currently the president and CEO of NCLR (National Council of La Raza).

Longoria, Lopez, Murguia, and Adelman recently talked to the media about the upcoming special event.

NBC Universal Conference Call
ALMA Awards
Eva Longoria, George Lopez, Janet Murguia from NCLR, and Barry Adelman from Dick Clark Productions.

September 10, 2012
12:30 pm CT

JANET MURGUIA: I'm President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza and we are the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the US. And as Jill mentioned I'm also one of the executive producers of the NCLR ALMA Awards. And I want to thank you all for joining us on this call.

NCLR is the organization behind the ALMA Awards. We created the awards in 1995 as a complement to our work advocating for Latino families and the Latino community in the United States to honor Latino contributions to film, television and music.

This year we're very proud to once again present the 2012 ALMA Awards with two of our key partners, the NBC Universal Comcast family and our presenting sponsor, PepsiCo. These two partners recognize the value of the ALMAs and the Latino community and we're pleased that with their support we're going to be able to share this incredible program again with a national and very diverse audience.

This year's show will air on Friday, September 21 on both NBC and Mundos with our pre-show streamed on Telemundo.com. I'd also like to give a very special thanks to my fellow executive producer and champion and advocate for the Latino community, Eva Longoria, a true friend and a long time supporter for both NCLR and the ALMA Awards.

And I also want to provide my deepest appreciation to one of the funniest men not only in Hollywood but on the planet, George Lopez, also a dear friend of NCLR for being both our co host, once again, and for being on this call.

I also want to announce that we have a new partner and executive producer in the legendary Dick Clark Productions represented by Barry Adelman. And we look forward to having the kind of quality programming that Dick Clark has been famous for over the last several decades.

The ALMA Awards are coming around at a very important time for the Latino community. As you saw in recent weeks that both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, our community was front and center. This makes sense; we are the fastest growing group of voters in the country and are poised to make a real difference in this year's election.

I know that the entertainment industry is always looking for the next big thing. Well, Latinos are not only the next big thing when it comes to voters; we are also the next big thing when it comes to media consumers and audience share. This is the time to make our country aware of the talent and economic power of our community and to showcase our diversity and our reach.

You all have seen the facts; we've got the demographics that show that we're 50 million plus strong. Latinos are one of every six Americans but one of every five Americans ages 18-49 and that's the key demo that many in the entertainment industry use. Half of Latinos are between the ages of 18-49.

And every year for the foreseeable future half a million more Latinos will turn 18 so we are the fastest growing consumer market with more than $1 trillion of annual buying power.

We watch more TV and go to the movies more often than most Americans. And that's what the ALMAs are all about. The ALMAs are known for high energy and high entertainment value. And this year is no exception.

We're very excited to bring a terrific show that will be honoring Christina Aguilera among many others who are - for special achievement award for music and her philanthropic work. Many of you know of her work in front of the microphone, behind the microphone but not behind the scenes. And we're going to highlight a lot of the wonderful efforts that she's undertaken on the philanthropic side of her work.

And we'll also be honoring Cheech Marin and paying tributes to legends in our community and in memory of them, Lupe Ontiveros. We have presenters like America Ferrera, Michael Pena, Robert Rodriguez and we have a special moment honoring our American Latino Olympians that I think will be a memorable moment.

So I'm pleased to announce our new ALMA theme music was written and performed by rap-superstar Pitbull. We have a special song that he designed for the ALMAs. And we're going to have a musical collaboration by another music superstar, Flo Rida, featuring the beautiful and talented Roselyn Sanchez.

This is just a sample of what you'll see on the show. And it's going to be a great show. And I hope everyone will tune in. So we're delighted at the National Council of La Raza, NCLR, to help present this show with the incredible partners that we have on this call.

QUESTION: I wanted to ask the producer from Dick Clark Productions, ALMA has always had great music and I wanted to get a better handle on what the music was going to be this time besides Pitbull and Flo Rida. I guess Christina Aguilera won't be performing, is that right? But other people will be performing in a tribute to her? Do you know what other musicians you're going to have on the show?

BARRY ADELMAN: We are saving some of that for the rollout, you know, right close to the show. We're actually - even though we're taping next week the actual show is not - for two weeks as Janet pointed out.

So those things are going to be released. We have some very exciting things in the works. And you'll be seeing about them in the coming days. There will be music like in all ALMA shows. There'll be some very exciting things for you to see.

QUESTION: Hi, Eva. This is your fifth year producing the show. How did you come to be involved with the ALMAs and NCLR in the first place? And are you a hand's on producer?

EVA LONGORIA: Yes. I've been involved with NCLR for a long time; I think since Young and the Restless - attending NCLR (performances) and really working with them as the largest advocacy group for Latinos in America. They do a lot outside of the ALMAs. And so that's when I started with NCLR was through advocacy and activism.

So when they - the ALMAs came back - we had an opportunity to bring them back when they were away for a while and NCLR came to me and so we kind of formed this great partnership that's been pretty successful. And, yeah, I'm a pretty active producer. You can ask Barry or Janet about that.

BARRY ADELMAN: Very active I would say. In a good way. In a good way.

QUESTION: How do you juggle that with your schedule with filming and everything?

EVA LONGORIA: Oh I was - well it's been crazy because I've been campaigning a lot for the President. And it's been great, you know, usually - it's usually harder whenever I was on Desperate Housewives, that was a little harder. But, yeah, you make it work. It's a very important show.

QUESTION: I feel like the Latin community, through your efforts they certainly get a lot more exposure. How do you feel about the way that they are presented in terms of their profile? Do you feel like there still needs to be more emphasis on elevating the roles that they have to get rid of a stereotype or how do you feel that needs to be addressed?

JANET MURGUIA: Well, I'm not sure exactly what you're getting at. But if what you're saying is that do we have more work to do to make sure that more diversity and inclusion are seen as part of the many media platforms out there today the answer is yes.

QUESTION: Yeah, that they're not still just stereotyped and put into certain roles that the work that you feel that still needs to be done to, you know, to elevate them.

JANET MURGUIA: Yeah, I think for us we just want quality stories told. I think for us, you know, depending on the role that, you know, the Hispanic figure or personality is featured it just depends on the story and if it's an authentic story. And we want more of those stories to be at the forefront.

And for us it's really important to see more opportunities for Hispanics in all of these mediums. And we hope that the ALMAs showcase us on the contributions that have been made in the past, what's happening today but we want to keep advocating for more opportunities for diversity and inclusion in the future.

QUESTION: And I was wondering how Eva found feels about it and if she feels the same way?

EVA LONGORIA: Are you talking about representation?

QUESTION: Yes.

EVA LONGORIA: Media?

QUESTION: Yes.

EVA LONGORIA: Yeah, no, you know, it's definitely improving. We have a lot to do. I think as a community we have to get behind the camera and we have to start creating our own stories and our images. You know, a great example of this is Devious Maids which I'm an exec producer on. And being able to put four lead Latinas on a show, telling the remarkable stories of these four complex women it's, you know, and example of what we need to continue to do as writers, as producers, as directors we need to create our story.

GEORGE LOPEZ: But also in the media you have to change your thinking in order - even your question, you know, to put stereotype in a question that is about the progress of Latinos is a bit stereotypical as well. So, you know, we all need to do better as people not just as Latinos.

And obviously, you know, when you look at some other award shows they tend to be a little bit hard to watch and hard to take. The ALMAs, on the other hand, is very colorful and it moves and it's funny and it's vibrant.

You know, I think a lot of the other award shows suffer because they have a lack of vibrancy. And this one, you know, it's on Mundos and Telemundo and NBC and it's performers who cross over to other cultures when if you look at the American Music Awards a lot of the time it's just a one-sided appeal.

BARRY ADELMAN: Although may I say on behalf of Dick Clark Productions we try our best to make the American Music Awards be as universal and appealing as we possibly can but...

GEORGE LOPEZ: It wasn't personal. It wasn't personal.

QUESTION: Eva, of course I'm sure you're happy with how great it's going and how many people watch it. And from what I've read the ratings keep going up every year. Why do you think these types of awards are important for the Latino community? And then also, George, your answer after Eva.

GEORGE LOPEZ: Yes.

EVA LONGORIA: Yeah, I mean, I think it's important to - the media tends to define a lot of things whether it's politics, political candidates, ethnicities, communities. And so, you know, at a time when some of those communities are under attack it's responsible for the NCLR and our community to showcase positive portrayals of Latinos in music, in television, in film and to make sure we're showing them our best - you know, we're putting our best foot forward and saying this is really what we look like; these are our contributions.

And that's really what the ALMAs represent is, you know, all of the great contributions that so many people in front of and behind cameras, microphones, the movie sets, you know, what they're doing and applauding it. And that's what the ALMAs do.

QUESTION: Personally, from your own thoughts, is Hollywood getting better at it? Do you think they're getting better toward Latinos and giving us the type of exposure we really need as opposed to the stereotypes we're always seeing sometimes?

EVA LONGORIA: I'll let George answer that because he did it great.

GEORGE LOPEZ: Well, you know, I will say that, you know, with the ALMAs and you look at who're being honored we're not secondary celebrities anymore.

I don't think we ever have been. So we're - our celebrity is on the level of everyone else. If you look at Eva, Eva is a celebrity of the highest magnitude all over the world not only in the Southwest of the United States of America. So if you look at Christina Aguilera, tremendous success on a show that's incredibly successful. And if you look at Pitbull as the musical director, composer of the song and performer on the highest level, on a global level.

So these celebrities now are global and not just regional. That's an important thing to also realize is that Latinos and the people that we honor now are wildly successful, globally successful and we're honoring them with our pride and we want everybody to see that.

JANET MURGUIA: I would just add too that one thing that we have been proud of too is that the ALMAs have been a platform to feature young and upcoming talent and stars.

And that combination of featuring, you know, those folks who have been the most successful with that next wave or the next generation of young and talented stars they can point to Jennifer Lopez and Christina Aguilera and even, yes, a young Eva Longoria - can point to the fact that they were on the ALMAs or featured on the ALMAs before they saw the success and the trajectory that they took on.

And we hope that ALMAs will continue to be a platform and a pivot point upward for so many of our younger talent as well. So I hope it's a nice complement of both our strong and successful individuals in our community who are making incredible contributions but also people are seeing it as an opportunity for us to feature the next generation of talent.

GEORGE LOPEZ: ...even with the Olympians who are American athletes who are Latino as well that's, you know, our contributions to this country in the sports format in the Olympics. They're important.

QUESTION: This question is for Eva and for George. You guys have been the hosts of this show for I think it's (three) years. What is the new thing or is there going to be like a new theme that you guys are going to be focusing on to make it more different, maybe more positive?

EVA LONGORIA: Well every year George and I mix it up because usually George's comedy is pretty relevant to current events. And so this is a really big year obviously with the elections coming up. And we've had a lot - a lot of fun things have happened this year. And so we're usually current-event-related. So every year is a little different and exciting and fun.

And, you know, one year we did a skit with Cheech and Chong and next year we'll do something else. And so this year, you know, we're actually formulating all of our stuff right now. But George can speak more to that.

GEORGE LOPEZ: Yes, that's a good point. You know, Eva is a - and Janet and everybody involved, Barry and everybody, has always been a free place to be a little bit political but also not to cross the line because we're not trying to beat people over the head with a flag that says recognize us. Our work speaks for itself.

But also you want to have fun in a room where it's our industry and things that are relative to us and things that we can all laugh about. I love, personally, this year watching the RNC and the DNC politicians add a little Spanish to their English. And I would like to say that I've been doing that myself for 20 years to my success.

So, you know, in the pot - in the melting pot that is this world and this country we are now - have a little bit of, you know, a little bit of meat in the stew.

JANET MURGUIA: And I would just add that Eva and George both pointed to the importance of an election year. When we ask our folks to vote for the award winners who are the ALMA Award winners - and I think you'll see a theme of we're going to encourage them to vote all the way through November. And I think the election will be one theme just happened to be in an election year. And that's an important part and aspect of our community's empowerment.

GEORGE LOPEZ: So in other words we got it all covered.

QUESTION: This is a question for Eva and George. At every award show you really have to up the ante to get viewers to tune in in an increasingly crowded space. Can you tell us will there be any segments that will be different from last year? And can you explain the introduction of a more mass-market crossover appeal with a black rapper with a Latina such as Roselyn Sanchez who will be featured in the show?

EVA LONGORIA: You know, every year we've actually always done collaborations. I mean, we - from the beginning of the ALMAs we've always done different collaborations, country with rap and rap with, you know, a pop and pop with different collaborations regarding music.

So that's one thing we love to promote with the ALMAs is inclusion. This is an inclusive show. We celebrate diversity. And that means, you know, having a mix of presenters and a mix of musical performances. And so we always pride ourselves on those collaborations.

You know, and every year is different because we honor the past year. One year will be heavy in Latinos in television, another year will be heavy with Latinos in music and another year will be like oh my God every Latina was in a movie and so every year is different because of that because we are held to honor the most recent successes and people that are relevant in the past year.

QUESTION: And so this year is being - the Olympics I think was mentioned, is that correct?

EVA LONGORIA: The Olympics, we're honoring all the Olympians...

BARRY ADELMAN: Yes.

EVA LONGORIA: ...medalists, yeah, which is really great. Also with Christina, you know, she's classic and so we always do these, you know, obviously some recognition to people who have just contributed for a long amount time to the Latino community. But she's so relevant now because her show is really big and everything that she's been doing philanthropically. And so we thought, you know, it's time we honor her.

And we're just excited about it. Every year it's exciting because every year the show is kind of a blank slate; we have to start anew every time.

QUESTION: Great. Big challenge.

GEORGE LOPEZ: But also I think that even in the past seen Lupe Ontiveros who was a tremendous pioneer in television and movies who we all loved, you know, the ALMA Awards are special because we get a chance to take a moment to honor her and to show her work and to show her and her family and all of her fans how much we love Lupe and how much we miss Lupe as well.

QUESTION: Well first off I want to say congratulations. Both of you are nominated so that must be awesome to be hosts and nominated.

GEORGE LOPEZ: It really is. I'm happy that I've - I've won multiple times and it really is a - I mean, I have them where I can see them everyday. Really it is - when you work hard to be honored by your peers but also on a large scale like the ALMAs which means something to every Latino performer young and old that it is quite an accomplishment to be chosen to win an award.

EVA LONGORIA: Yeah, I always - and everybody knows this - I always pull myself out of the categories as a producer. And they talked me into keeping myself in the movie category because that movie was just so great and Andy Garcia is amazing in it. And everybody - a lot of people were nominated from For Greater Glory. And I was very proud of it. But usually I always pull myself out. And so I was trying to pull myself out again.

QUESTION: No, you deserve it, though; you weren't even recognizable in that movie...And then you guys nominated Naya Rivera who had such an important storyline on Glee and being openly lesbian and then dealing with her religious mother. Hats off to the nominations because I think she was nominated twice and she deserves it...

GEORGE LOPEZ: Yes, I agree. You know, that's a good storyline for all people, any actor, and, yeah, I think that's - it's contemporary and it's nice that we get to play those parts as well.

QUESTION: I was curious if you expand a little bit on the information since it's not in the press release about which Olympians will be there. And were they voted on for an honor or can you talk about how you're going to honor them?

BARRY ADELMAN: I'll take that. I think, again, much like a previous question, we are rolling out this information to, you know, promote the show closer to the airing. But we have, you know, we have gathered from a round the country many of the American Latino Olympic-medal winners that, you know, from various sports and we'll be announcing their names very shortly.

You'll recognize them. If you watched the Olympics you'll recognize the names.

GEORGE LOPEZ: Michael Phelps is one.

BARRY ADELMAN: Yes.

GEORGE LOPEZ: Miguel.

QUESTION: From the past shows what is everybody's most memorable moment so far?

EVA LONGORIA: Oh my gosh.

JANET MURGUIA: Well I can tell you I thought our tribute to Linda Ronstadt was really wonderful. We did a tribute to Linda Ronstadt, Winona Ryder was part of it, Lou Settle was part of it. There was - to me that was a really terrific moment where we saw that, you know, someone who was talented in our community and had basically a long legacy behind her and others were eager to come and honor her. And so for me that was a great moment.

EVA LONGORIA: God, one of mine Andy Garcia. I don't know why that one just sticks with me when we honored Andy Garcia. And another one was Marc Anthony, when we honored Marc Anthony; those were really great tributes that I remember were just great and the musical - the component of all of those were amazing.

And then another one is when Christina Aguilera first came on the scene and she - it was her first, I believe, I don't know, Janet, you can correct me - her first televised appearance was on the ALMA and I think it was Jeanie in a Bottle. And so just kind of looking back and going wow, you know, she was on our stage when she was beginning her career.

JANET MURGUIA: Yeah and you remember Jennifer Lopez received her award for Selena when a lot of people didn't really know who she was at the time. And that really helped to launch her career as well. I mean, there's a lot of great moments with wonderful folks and folks who have been so supportive of the show, I mean, we just had real champions like Edward James Olmos who was around at the first show when not a lot of other people were there for us. And - but last year I thought Antonio Banderas had a special...

BARRY ADELMAN: Yes, that was wonderful.

JANET MURGUIA: ...and he gave great - there's just full of - we're just full of a lot of great moments in the show.

EVA LONGORIA: Yeah.

GEORGE LOPEZ: I liked when Prince - I liked when Prince came by.

JANET MURGUIA: Oh.

...Honoring Sheila E. a member of...

GEORGE LOPEZ: Yes.

JANET MURGUIA: ...his family - his musical family. And he came to perform on an homage to her really. And so that was a really wonderful moment.

QUESTION: Eva and George...on the Internet you two are very influential on the Internet both on Twitter and Facebook. Are there any plans to be live tweeting during the actual ALMA Awards re-broadcast?

EVA LONGORIA: I'm sure George will be making some nonsense.

GEORGE LOPEZ: I plan on tweeting - yes, live tweets - tweet with us during the show. Listen Eva gets me to do things - I just was looking at my schedule; I got this and then there's one in Las Vegas. But this is one that I never - I never miss. It is an honor. You know, I snuck in years ago to the ALMA Awards and to think of myself as a multiple host but also to stand side by side with somebody who I love and admire deeply is an honor.

EVA LONGORIA: Oh. And I love you too, George.

...I make George do everything.

GEORGE LOPEZ: And you really do. You really do. When I saw that you had a dog I said I'll be taking care of that dog in no time.