By Mario Anzuoni

Cinqo de Mayo, Spanish for the fifth of May, commemorates the Mexican army’s 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla.

Living in Los Angeles, there are many ways this date is celebrated. One of them in particular attracted my attention this year. It was the Lucha VaVoom, a show of Lucha Libre Mexican wrestling and Burlesque performances at the Mayan theatre in Los Angeles.

GALLERY: WRESTLING FOR CINCO DE MAYO

I was very intrigued by the story. Although I didn’t know what to expect, I was excited to take a peek into the world of the “Luchadores” for one evening. The Luchadores are almost like super heroes of the ring; they wear costumes, they have alter ego names, and most importantly they wear masks to conceal their identity. I knew that besides capturing the fights I wanted to portray how they prepare mentally and get into the zone before their performances.

I had to be a fly on the wall, and most importantly be tactful to conceal their identity, just like you would with a super hero. My first stop was of course backstage. As I navigated through I noticed dancers, performers, and, in the most remote area, the locker room where the Luchadores were getting ready. The atmosphere was exciting, just what you would expect before a wrestling fight. They exercised, they stretched, they fixed their costumes, of course they were wearing their masks. Discretely I walked around and made some photos, and immediately and not surprisingly, I realized that despite the costumes and the masks, this was serious business to them. It should be when you leap 15 feet into the air to land on your adversary.

Before I knew it, it was showtime. The theater was sold out, the crowd was effervescent, the excitement was palpable in the joyous and festive audience, and it only got wilder when the announcer started screaming the names of the first Luchadores. As the crowd got louder and I positioned myself ringside, I could barely hear a security person warning me to watch out for the Luchadores flying out of the ring; the visuals and the athleticism exceeded my expectations, these guys, and gals, were leaping, flipping, flying in midair, and just as I was warned, they brought their fights off the ring, into the audience and back to the ring, providing me with the best photo of the night of one of the Luchadores fearlessly leaping into the crowd.

The show finished after three fights and a few Burlesque intermissions. I left with a renewed admiration for the Luchadores.

Juanes, one of the most well known Latin American stars
worldwide, won the coveted album of the year with his “MTV
Unplugged,” which also won best long-form video. Dominican
singer and songwriter Juan Luis Guerra won producer of the year
for Juanes’ album.

“Here’s to the maestro Juan Luis Guerra for making this
possible,” said Juanes, 40, who now has won 19 Latin Grammys,
tying him with reggaeton group Calle 13 for the most awards.

Guerra, who made the romantic Bachata music famous and is
known to sweep the awards from the Latin Academy of Recording
Arts and Sciences, led the nominations with six nods this year.
But he lost out on the big awards for record and song of the
year with his “En El Cielo No Hay Hospital” (In Heaven There Is
No Hospital).

Those two awards went to “Corre!” (Run!) by Jesse & Joy, the
duo from Mexico City who won best new artists in the same Las
Vegas venue in 2007. Their third studio album Con Quien Se Queda
El Perro? (Who Is The Dog Staying With?) lost out on album of
the year, but won best contemporary pop vocal album.

“Viva Mexico!,” said Jesse upon accepting record of the
year, a phrase repeated several times by winners at the 13th
edition of the Latin Grammys Thursday night.

Like Jesse & Joy five years earlier, Mexican pop group
3BallMTY won best new artists with their musical style known as
“tribal guarachero,” a mix of Mexican cumbia and electronic
dance music.

The trio, barely beyond their teenage years, found success
on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border with their debut album
“Intentalo” (Try It). They dedicated their Latin Grammy to
Mexican DJs.

Mexico’s Carla Morrison won best alternative music album
with “Dejenme Llorar” (Let Me Cry). Wearing a red dress and
sporting multiple tattoos on her arms, she let loose an
expletive on the live broadcast after crying out “Viva Mexico!”

Among the top performances of the night were Juanes playing
with veteran guitarrist Carlos Santana. The show opened with
Miami-born rapper Pitbull, who sings in both English and
Spanish.

Brazilian singer and songwriter Caetano Veloso was honored
as the Latin Recording Academy’s person of the year in a
ceremony on Wednesday. A founder of the 1960s musical movement
known as Tropicalia, Veloso continues to to be one of Brazil’s
most popular and innovative artists at 70 years of age.

(Writing by Mary Milliken; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

I was invited to Sony studios to shoot a portrait of actor David Spade during a lunch break from the taping of his television series “Rules of Engagement”.

I anticipated this would be quite a quick opportunity, after being told to be ready promptly at 2 pm to catch David before his lunch. Once there I was told I would be able to set up in their green room, an office type of room (not the most exciting setting for a portrait). As my allotted time approached I kept thinking that it would have been ideal if I would have been able to photograph him on the actual set, placing him into the context of the tv series. As I watched from the sidelines, right before the break, I was introduced to the stage manager.

I couldn’t waste any time in emphasizing how much more relevant it would be to portray him on set rather than in a simple room. It was doable! But we still had to seek approval of the Union crew to keep the lights on for a couple of extra minutes. Thankfully everyone agreed and I was able to photograph David in the two iconic settings — his office and the diner — stealing only about 2 minutes and 30 seconds from his lunch break. Needless to say he was very pleased and said “finally someone who’s quick!”
Lights out.

Comic-Con is an annual 4-day comic book and popular arts convention which attracts more than 100,000 visitors.

GALLERY: COMIC-CON 2012

This was not my first time at Comic-Con, so I was prepared for the 100,000 plus crowd of loyal fans of the comic world to descend on San Diego. The “con” as they call it is especially and mostly about them. They travel from far, sleep in their cars, stand in line for hours, and most importantly they dress up for it.

Naturally, they are the real color of the convention and I certainly wanted to capture that. At first it’s always a little surreal, like walking into a fable world, where you see Star Wars characters, super heroes, Disney princesses, monsters, and video game characters all strolling together.

It’s almost distracting, but colorful, joyous and fun; every day about 7000 die-hard fans stand in line overnight to fill up the main hall H where they are rewarded with exclusive sneak peak previews of upcoming movies and they get to ask questions directly to their idols. It’s clear that actors and filmmakers enjoy facing thousands of their thrilled fans. They enjoy this type of interaction. They feel more at ease in an informal setting where a fan gets to walk up to a microphone and ask a question.

In one case a fan forgot the question due to being overwhelmed with too much excitement. The excitement is so genuine it is contagious even for the actors.

I tried to travel light, since there is a lot of walking through streams of people, and since I know that often a good photo is not necessarily where the most excitement is. For instance on the first day I stumbled on a zombie walk in the GasLamp Quarter.

Or on the second day I ran into a couple getting into their costumes in a parking lot. This made my favorite image of the convention.

I was assigned to cover this year’s MTV Movie Awards. These awards are voted by audiences online and besides some of the traditional awards, they also give out unique ones, such as: the “best on-screen dirtbag,” the “best kiss” and “best fight” award.

The challenging part of the assignment was that my position was in a regular audience seat on the main floor, in a show that has much audience participation and standing up. It translated in me free handling the 400mm lens to get a clear shot, past the standing crowd.

Witty, British humor was provided by actor and comedian Russell Brand who hosted the show. Jennifer Aniston was the first to be recognized as the “best on-screen dirtbag.”

Emma Watson accepted an award on behalf of the cast of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ for “best cast,” while Kristen Stewart accepted “best picture” on behalf of the cast of “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1.”

The awards lineup was punctuated by cameo appearances by Charlie Sheen, the cast of “The Dark Knight Rises,” and Charlize Theron.

The high note of the show was when rock legend Steven Tyler of Aerosmith presented the Generation Award to actor Johnny Depp, who before accepting it, displayed once again, his talent and versatility as a guitarist, while performing two songs with rockers The Black Keys.

The free handling of the 400mm, as challenging as it might sound, paid off for me. So keep those pushups coming!

The show features the last two finalists and generally an array of high profile music performances. Our shooting position was next to the teleprompter, so my setup was a Canon Mark IV with 400mm, 5D Mark II with a 70-200 and another Mark IV with either a 300mm or a 16-35.

Seasoned show host Ryan Seacrest got the finale off the ground, accompanied by a joyful and supportive crowd that quickly filled up the theater and cheered for an opening duet by the two finalists. The show definitely kicked into a higher gear with a laser-enhanced performance by Rihanna and an energetic performance by American Idol judge Jennifer Lopez.

The evening passed through performances by music icons like John Fogerty, Neil Diamond and Chaka Khan while the top male finalists honored the memory of Bee Gees founder Robin Gibb, who had just passed away.

The two-hour show quickly motored towards the end, but before the crowning, the audience was graced with another great performance by American Idol judge Steven Tyler and his band Aerosmith.

As per tradition, the moment had come for Ryan Seacrest to announce this season’s winner, while a very attentive and quiet crowd started cheering for Phillip Phillips.

Under a blanket of confetti and in tears, Phillips performed the closing song of the show. Another idol had been made.

I was assigned to cover the unveiling ceremony of a star on the Walk of Fame for actress Scarlett Johansson. The Walk of Fame, which stretches for more than a mile, has become one of the backbones for Hollywood tourism. Hundreds of brass stars are embedded on the Hollywood Blvd sidewalks to celebrate people who distinguished themselves in the world of entertainment.

The unveiling generally offers a good photo opportunity, in this case, besides a high caliber name like Johansson, the location was in the epicenter of Hollywood, a few steps from the Chinese theater and right in front of Madame Tussauds wax museum. With that in mind I decided to step up my traditional front and center coverage and set up a remote camera from the side since I wanted to immortalize Scarlett in the full Hollywood atmosphere.

I arrived early to scout the area, fans and tourists were already gathering, which helped me frame the photo I had in mind. Scarlett arrived and by then hundreds of onlookers had gathered. She was very gracious in greeting the guests and signing autographs for fans, and after a short but heartfelt speech she unveiled her star. Her expression and excitement was almost child-like, and she proudly was the first one to step on her own star.

I met Kelly Edwards on a street corner. He was not the average person you see at traffic lights; he was nicely dressed, freshly shaven with a professional demeanor, holding a sign that stated he was looking for work. I handed him my business card and kindly asked him to get in touch with me.

Given the job situation and the U.S. economy struggling to create new jobs, I was interested in knowing more. Two days later Kelly called. We spent an hour on the phone where he started to tell me his story. At that point I asked if I could spend a day with him to show an average day of job seeking; he agreed. About a week later, I arrived at Kelly’s home in West Covina where he greeted me with freshly brewed coffee.

Kelly Edwards is 54 years old, and has been unemployed since 2008. He put three kids through college and now lives with his wife Lynne and their 13-year-old son Kal-El. He has been a full time and part time employee, but never without a job. With two decades of experience in the food and beverage industry Kelly thought it would be a good idea to move from Portland to Los Angeles four years ago, but he is still without a full time position with the exception of a few handyman jobs.

With coffee mugs in our hand we headed into his office, where every morning, before heading out to his corner, he checks online for job postings. While I was there he sent out a few resumes; it was clear he has done this process many times. Then he led me to his shed as he needed to make an additional sign. Kelly is crafty so the sign was sturdy and ready to go in minutes. We arrived on his street corner, which he explained took three days to find. He also told me that street people are territorial about their corners and threatened him away from a few. The day was overcast but fortunately it didn’t rain. Kelly spent about three hours on his street corner receiving business cards, sometimes a little cash, giving out resumes and a little hope.

The Golden Gods awards is a celebration of the most influential heavy metal and hard rock bands, sponsored by the industry magazine Revolver. This year, for the first time in the award’s four year history, the 2-hour show, featuring multiple headbanging performances in an extremely loud concert-like atmosphere, would be televised live on the xbox network. And if that wasn’t enough to make the night interesting, I was informed before the show that a very special guest was going to be a part of the finale this year.

The show kicked off with a performance by Motley Crue co-founder Nikki Sixx, followed by Gene Simmons of KISS receiving a special Golden God award for his career achievements. The show just got louder from there, with performances by the Hollywood-based band Black Veil Brides and Dee Snider, then Slash performing with Alice Cooper. Then came Evanescence followed by Tenacious D duo Jack Black and Kyle Gass presenting Rush drummer Neil Peart with a Lifetime Achievement award.

The crowd was pleased, but after almost two hours, the audience was both impatient and excited to see Marilyn Manson’s finale performance.

After Manson’s first song, the special guest, guitarist and actor Johnny Depp came on stage. But I soon realized that most of the audience was so focused on Manson that they didn’t realize it was Depp himself rocking out like a heavy metal pro next to the seasoned Marilyn Manson.

They went on to play two songs together, the Hollywood star and the macabre goth rocker, leaving a captive audience satisfied, and myself with ringing in my ears for a few hours.

This year, as in the past, I was assigned to shoot the show portion of the annual Kids Choice awards. The show caters to an audience of children and teenagers and most importantly all the awards are voted on by the kids. The main star of the show is always the green slime – which the kids and some of the celebrities get plenty of.

A few days ahead of the show there was an announcement that the First Lady of the U.S. was going to attend the show with daughters Sasha and Malia to present The Big Help Award to singer Taylor Swift.

Naturally this year security was stepped up due to the attendance of the First Lady, so I had to be at the venue a few hours in advance to clear Secret Service. We were informed that Michelle Obama would arrive about 15 minutes before the show and we would have a few minutes to photograph her in her seat. Despite being a hectic and quick photo opportunity surrounded by thousands of screaming kids, I managed to get a few spontaneous frames of the First Lady interacting with some kids in the audience.

Show host Will Smith opened with a performance where he was hanging from the ceiling. As the show went on, celebrities such as Heidi Klum, Chris Colfer and Halle Berry were slimed, along with the “lucky” kids in the mosh pit.

The highlight of the evening was of course when First Lady Michelle Obama took the stage to present a thrilled Taylor Swift with the Big Help Award for her charitable work.

The show ended with Will Smith and Justin Bieber taking their share of green slime and the kids loved it.