Fans who have committed each frame of "Livin' La Vida Loca" to memory will be ecstatic to learn that Ricky Martin's new single and video are almost ready to roll.
The clip for Ricky's ballad "She's All I Ever Had" is somewhat inspired by the 1998 Robin Williams movie "What Dreams May Come" and will feature the lush, saturated colors that were that film's hallmark. The video was directed by Nigel Dick, who helmed all three of Britney Spears' videos as well as clips for the Backstreet Boys and Oasis. It should premiere on MTV's "Total Request Live" in early August.
At one point, Martin's duet with Madonna, "Be Careful" ("Cuidado Con Mi Corazon"), was thought to be the second single, but scheduling conflicts prevented the duo from teaming up for a video. When MTV News' John Norris caught up with Ricky in Miami last week, however, the singer insisted that the shoot will definitely happen... albeit six months from now.
"I'm definitely recording, shooting that video with 'the Goddess,' with Madonna," Martin told MTV News. "We're now working with which schedule.... She's doing a movie at the moment. She'll be doing theatre later on, so hopefully by first week... second week of December, we'll be shooting this video in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Looking forward. I said it. I'm not supposed to say this, but I said it."
As we reported last week, Martin announced his plans for a U.S. tour which will be kicking off in the fall. Martin is currently on a promotional tour of Europe, and he played the Prince's Trust concert on July 4 in London's Hyde Park.
Many expected tickets for Ricky Martin's upcoming U.S. tour to be hot items, but the prices that some are asking for seats at sold out shows have both fans and the artist himself crying foul.
Tickets for Martin's two October shows at New York's Madison Square Garden sold out in less than 30 minutes Monday morning, leaving many who had camped out for tickets or worked their dialing fingers to breaking point high and dry. The story was similar when tickets for shows in Los Angeles, Dallas, and Miami went on sale, but the situation in New York escalated as tickets with a face value between $35 and $95 turned up online with inflated prices ranging from $300 for nosebleed views to $1000 for center row seats.
While fans expressed their displeasure in the press, Martin's camp sounded off as well, telling MTV News, "While Ricky was thrilled to learn that tickets for his 'Livin' La Vida Loca' tour sold out so quickly, he was extremely upset to hear that scalpers are attempting to take advantage of the public by reselling some of these tickets for such outrageous amounts of money. This situation seems to be occurring in New York and Los Angeles and Ricky wants the public to know that there will soon be further opportunities to purchase tickets for shows. He'll be playing in those areas in the early part of next year."
A spokeswoman for Ticketmaster told MTV News that despite precautions against scalping, they can't stop "the average customer from reselling their tickets."
Disappointed fans might be comforted by the August 5 issue of "Rolling Stone" magazine featuring the singer and some naked women afloat, Esther Williams-style, on the cover.
Answering the prayers of ladies everywhere, Latin pop sensation Ricky Martin is hitting the road in October for a U.S. tour that kicks off in Miami.
The folks at Pepsi will be sponsoring the outing, which begins in Miami on October 21 and runs through late November. The first batch of tickets for the tour goes on sale on July 10, with additional tickets hitting the market on July 17.
The tour marks Martin's first in the States since achieving crossover success with his self-titled album. "Ricky Martin" debuted at number one on the "Billboard" album chart seven weeks ago and has gone on to sell some 2.5 million copies in the U.S.
If you can't make it to the tour, you'll be glad to learn that Martin headed to Los Angeles last week to shoot a new video with director Nigel Dick. The director, who's worked with the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears, shot the video for Martin's next single, the romantic ballad "She's All I Ever Had."
You knew it was going to be big... the only question was how big.
According to sales figures released by SoundScan on Wednesday, Latin pop sensation Ricky Martin will grab the top spot on next week's album chart with a mighty firm grip. Martin's self-titled English language debut sold more than 660,000 copies in its first week in stores to nab the number one spot on next week's "Billboard" album chart.
The man with "La Vida Loca" was miles ahead of the rest of the pack as Snoop Dogg scored a distant second. The rapper's latest effort, "Top Dogg," sold more than 187,000 copies in its first week out to land at number two.
Last week's number one, country star Tim McGraw's "Place in the Sun," drops down to number four, as TLC slips into the third slot on next week's chart. The somewhat familiar faces of Shania Twain, Britney Spears, Ruff Ryders, Dixie Chicks, and Nas round out the top ten, along with John Williams and his "Phantom Menace" soundtrack.
The week also sees new arrivals from country star and one-time Coolio collaborator Kenny Rogers debuts at 60 with "She Rides Wild Horses" and the soundtrack to TV's "Felicity" debuts at 97.
In other notable chart moves, British superstar Robbie Williams is building on the modest start he got off to last week. After debuting at 85 with 18,000 copies of his "The Ego Has Landed" sold, Williams jumps to 68 with additional sales of nearly 20,000 copies in his second week on the chart.
Like the Beatles in the '60s and the Backstreet Boys today, it's getting tougher for crossover Latin pop star Ricky Martin to walk down a U.S. street unnoticed.
On Saturday at a Tower Records in-store signing in Hollywood, the singer was greeted by hundreds of excited (and mostly female) fans who screamed as the former Menudo member drove up to the store in a black Mustang convertible.
He added, "[Madonna] wrote it. I translated a couple of lyrics, 'cause it's in Spanglish.... She's doing amazing with her Spanish!"
"Livin' La Vida Loca," the first single off "Ricky Martin," is climbing the charts, and it's already a favorite on MTV's "Total Request Live."
Other guest writers and collaborators on the disc include Emilio Estefan (Gloria Estefan's husband) and Jon Secada.
You can meet Martin and his enthusiastic fans at an in-store signing at Specs in Miami's South Beach on Friday.
Ricky Martin Site Map/Shooting Stars/
