It was all about Babel and Betty at the 2007 ALMA Awards.
Alejandro González Iñárritu's culture-clash drama was named Outstanding Motion Picture at the annual kudosfest honoring Latino achievements in film and television (which taped Friday and aired Tuesday on ABC), while ABC comedy Ugly Betty was deemed Outstanding TV Series, Miniseries or TV Movie.
But while the array of nominees was diverse, the eventual winners list was not, with Babel and Ugly Betty each scoring a leading four trophies apiece.
"I started this journey seven years ago with Amores Perros, and this is the most beautiful way that I could ever conceive to end this huge, long journey," González Iñárritu said.
Babel nearly swept the entire film portion of the ALMAs, with Oscar nominee Adriana Barraza earning a win in the Outstanding Actress category and former longtime collaborators González Iñárritu and Guillermo Arriaga pocketing honors for directing and screenwriting, respectively. (The duo had a falling-out just days after this year's Academy Awards, during which their movie lost out to The Departed for the top prize.)
"I want to thank Alejandro González Iñárritu for helping me find Amelia and bring her all the way from the desert and into your hearts. Thank you, muchas gracias," said Barraza, who played a nanny who runs into major trouble while transporting her bosses' children across the Mexico-U.S. border. "I especially share this award with all the Mexican and Latina nannies. To these amazing women, thank you."
Jesse Garcia, star of the Los Angeles-set indie darling Quinceañera, won for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture.
"I have to commend and congratulate two white guys who had the courage to tell this story—[directors] Rich Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland," Garcia said. "And everyone here, I share this with you."
America Ferrera added to her trophy case, winning one for Outstanding Actress in a TV Series to go along with her Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award. (She might want to make room for that Emmy come September, as well.) Ferrera, in Greece filming the sequel to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, gave her thank yous via satellite.
Adding to Ugly Betty's good fortune were Outstanding Supporting Actress winner Ana Ortiz, who plays Betty's fiery sister Hilda, and scribe Silvio Horta, who picked up another Outstanding Writing statue (to go with his NAACP Image and Writers Guild of America Awards).
The Shield's Benito Martinez was given the ALMA for Outstanding Supporting Actor.
Edward James Olmos, a winner for Outstanding Actor in a TV Series for his role as the stoic Captain Adama on Battlestar Galactica, was a halved double threat Friday, tying High School Musical helmer Kenny Ortega for Outstanding Director for his work on the HBO movie Walkout.
Which he did a pretty great job on, considering Walkout star Michael Peña also tied Olmos for his acting award.
The small-screen film is a true story about a walkout that occurred at five East Los Angeles high schools in 1968, organized by a Mexican-American student who was fed up with the crummy educational conditions and the anti-Mexican bias he and his peers faced on a daily basis.
"This award is so timely and so needed to be understood," Olmos said upon accepting his award for Walkout. "This is dedicated to all of the students who took it upon themselves to make a difference in their lives."
"I would just like to thank Michael Peña for not being here," he added during his second trip onstage.
"I was just happy to be here tonight because Edward James Olmos was going to be in the audience," said Ortega, whose High School Musical won Emmys last year for outstanding children's program and choreography and was one of the most successful Disney Channel original productions ever. Its soundtrack was also the best-selling album of 2006.
George Lopez, who let it be known that he was none too happy when ABC canceled his eponymous sitcom at the end of its sixth season, was honored with the 2007 ALMA Award for Special Achievement in Television. At least he knows all of his pioneering efforts weren't for naught, despite the fact that he feels he was thrown over for the GEICO cavemen. ("TV just became really, really white again," he said last month.)
"I'd like to dedicate this award partially to all the busboys and all the migrant farmworkers in the United States, and all the people who clean all the rooms in the hotels," Lopez began, lacing his thank yous with his signature funnies.
"I want to thank my wife Ana for allowing me to continue my life healthy [by giving him one of her kidneys in 2005]. And I told you that if it was a different situation and if you needed a kidney, I would do the same for you. Ha ha ha," he laughed maliciously.
The actor then had the honor of providing the cowbell for War on their hit "Low Rider," or, as Lopez referred to it, "the Chicano national anthem."
Eva Mendez, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Terrence Howard, Balthazar Getty, Andy Garcia, Oscar De La Hoya, Carlos Mencia, 300's Rodrigo Santoro, Lost's Jorge Garcia, Without a Trace's Roselyn Sanchez, Cheech Marin, Scrubs' Judy Reyes, Daisy Fuentes and Hector Elizondo were among the celebs in attendance at the ceremony, which was hosted by Eva Longoria at the Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California.
Prince, dressed in all white, except for his dark sunglasses, and accompanied by a brass band, a salsa-dancing backup troop and a many-piece rhythm section, was the first performer of the night, doing an encore-worthy medley of "Get on the Boat" and "The Glamorous Life" (for which he was joined by Sheila E.).
An "Irreplaceable"-singing Beyoncé, Los Lonely Boys, Los Lobos (recipients of the Pioneer in Music Award) with ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons joining in on guitar, Calle 13 and Dashboard Confessional were also on hand to get audience members out of their seats (or at least bopping around in their seats).
Some of the pros from Dancing with the Stars opened the show with a hip-shaking Latin dance medley, soon joined by Longoria—who would go on to change gowns 11 times throughout the evening—and her designated partner, last season's Dancing runner-up Mario Lopez.
The National Council of La Raza, a Latino civil rights and advocacy organization, created the ALMAs in 1995, "alma" being Spanish for "spirit" or "soul."
Here's a complete rundown of the winners at the 2007 ALMA Awards:
FILM
- Motion Picture: Babel
- Actor: Jesse Garcia, Quinceañera
- Actress: Adriana Barraza, Babel
- Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Babel
- Screenplay: Guillermo Arriaga, Babel
TELEVISION
- Series, Miniseries or TV Movie: Ugly Betty
- Actor: (tie) Edward James Olmos, Battlestar Galactica and Michael Peña, Walkout
- Actress: America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
- Supporting Actor: Benito Martinez, The Shield
- Supporting Actress: Ana Ortiz, Ugly Betty
- Director: (tie) Edward James Olmos, Walkout and Kenny Ortega, High School Musical
- Writing: Silvio Horta, Ugly Betty
- Made-for-TV Documentary: From Mambo to Hip-Hop: A South Bronx Tale (PBS)