The race to the podium just got a little spicier.
The nominations for the 2008 ALMA Awards, honoring Latinos' contribution to entertainment, were announced today, and while Eva Longoria Parker will once again be pulling double duty as ceremony host and executive producer, she was surprisingly absent from the list of contenders, failing to score a nomination for her performance on Desperate Housewives.
The snub is unlikely to put a damper on the celebration, however, as plenty of other big-name contenders did get an early morning name check, including the cast of Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy's Sara Ramirez, Lost's Jorge Garcia, Scrubs' Judy Reyes, The Office's Oscar Nuñez , Battlestar Galactica's Edward James Olmos and Longoria's Housewives costar Ricardo Chavira.
Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony also made the cut, albeit not individually, as their costarring biopic, El Cantante, is up for Outstanding Performance of a Lead Latino/a Cast in a Motion Picture.
Ugly Betty, meanwhile, is set to take home the Special Achievement Award for a Latino/a-led TV ensemble.
But like Longoria, America Ferrera was also absent from the individual contenders this year, though she is set to make an appearance on the show, as are Jessica Alba, the Black Eyed Peas, Sofia Vergara and Cristián de la Fuente, who helped Longoria announce the nominees this morning.
In the Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series category, Olmos faces off with Without a Trace's Enrique Marciano, Cold Case's Danny Pino and CSI: Miami's Adam Rodriguez.
Garcia, Chavira and Prison Break's Amaury Nolasco are among the contenders for the Supporting Actor race.
On the comedy side, Carlos Mencia battles against Nuñez and Two and a Half Men juggernaut Charlie Sheen in the Outstanding Male Performance category, while Reyes goes up against My Name is Earl's Nadine Velasquez and pint-sized contender Selena Gomez, star of Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place, for Outstanding Female Performance honors.
Special honors will be doled out to Linda Ronstadt, Shakira and designer Narciso Rodriguez this year, for the impact and influence their work has had on American culture.
The show will tape Aug. 17 and air on ABC Sept. 12. Here's the complete list of nominees:
MOTION PICTURE CATEGORIES
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE OF A LEAD LATINO/A CAST IN A MOTION PICTURE
Bella
El Cantante
Illegal Tender
Love in the Time of Cholera
Tortilla Heaven
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT—OUTSTANDING SPANISH LANGUAGE MOTION PICTURE
La Misma Luna (Under the Same Moon)
TELEVISION CATEGORIES
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT—OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE OF A LATINO/A-LED ENSEMBLE IN A TELEVISION SERIES
Ugly Betty
OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A DRAMA TELEVISION SERIES
Enrique Murciano, Without A Trace
Edward James Olmos, Battlestar Galactica
Danny Pino, Cold Case
James Roday, Psych
Adam Rodriguez, CSI: Miami
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA TELEVISION SERIES
Ricardo Chavira, Desperate Housewives
Jorge Garcia, Lost
Benito Martinez, The Shield
Amaury Nolasco, Prison Break
Miguel Sandoval, Medium
OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA TELEVISION SERIES
Valerie Cruz, The Dresden Files
Cote de Pablo, NCIS
Lana Parrilla, Swingtown
Sara Ramirez , Grey's Anatomy
Roselyn Sanchez, Without A Trace
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA TELEVISION SERIES
Alana De La Garza, Law & Order
Marisol Nichols, 24
Paula Garces, The Shield
Julie Gonzalo, Eli Stone
Dania Ramirez, Heroes
Lauren Velez, Dexter
OUTSTANDING MALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY TELEVISION SERIES
Jake T. Austin, Wizards of Waverly Place
Joshua Gomez, Chuck
Carlos Mencia, Mind of Mencia
Oscar Nuñez, The Office
Johnny A. Sanchez, MADtv
Charlie Sheen, Two and A Half Men
OUTSTANDING FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY TELEVISION SERIES
Maria Canals-Barrera, Wizards of Waverly Place
Selena Gomez, Wizards of Waverly Place
Anjelah Johnson, MADtv
Judy Reyes, Scrubs
Nadine Velasquez, My Name Is Earl
Persia White, Girlfriends
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SPECIAL
Carlos Mencia: Performance Enhanced
George Lopez: America's Mexican
Hick-Spanic
The Original Latin Divas of Comedy
The Payaso Comedy Slam
OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR OF A TELEVISION SERIES
Norberto Barba, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, "Depths"
Rodrigo Garcia, In Treatment, "Paul and Gina, Week One"
Linda Mendoza, Ugly Betty, "Betty's Baby Bump"
Miguel Sandoval, Medium, "Aftertaste"
Jay Torres, Desperate Housewives, "Distant Past"
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENTOUTSTANDING DIRECTOR OF A MADE FOR TV MOVIE
Kenny Ortega, High School Musical 2
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A TELEVISION SERIES
Mick Betancourt, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, "Fight"
Silvio Horta, Ugly Betty, "Jump"
Gloria Calderon Kellet, How I Met Your Mother, "How I Met Everyone Else"
Jose Molina, Without A Trace, "Without You"
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE IN A DAYTIME DRAMA SERIES
Maurice Bernard, General Hospital
Kamar de los Reyes, One Life to Live
David Fumero, One Life to Live
Galen Gering, Passions
Jessica Leccia, Guiding Light
Eva Tamargo, Passions
Image:© 2008, , ABC, SCI FI
