La Opinion is the largest Spanish language daily newspaper in the U.S. Founded in 1926 it covers local, regional and national news for the Latino community in Los Angeles and southern California. In their review of the ALMA Awards they singled out 2 surprises of the evening:

La sorpresa de la noche fue el mensaje en video de la primera dama Michelle Obama a la comunidad latina, felicitándola por el Mes de la Herencia Hispana y agradeciendo a este segmento de la población por sus aportaciones al país. También sorprendió la actuación en español en vivo de David Archuleta, ex concursante de American Idol y ganador por Artista nuevo del año; él interpretó Contigo en la distancia.

The surprise of the evening was the video message from First Lady Michelle Obama to the Latino community, congratulations on the Hispanic Heritage Month and thanking this segment of the population for their contributions to the country. Also surprised by the Spanish live performance of David Archuleta, former American Idol contestant and winner for New Artist of the year, he perfomed Contigo en La Distancia.

Judith comments:

It is easy to forget that not everyone watches American Idol. So there were still many in the Latin community that may not have heard David Archuleta sing. Well…they heard him now and they were spellbound. They couldn’t even wait till the end of his song to spontaneously clap and voice their approval. It is thrilling that David has been able to reach out to a whole new group. Viva David!

To tell you how big this was…my mom skipped her nightly novela to watch David!! If you have anyone in your familia who watches novelas you know that is huge!

THANKS JUDITH! YES THIS IS VERY HUGE NOTHING GETS BETWEEN A LATINA AND HER NOVELAS, NOTHING – WELL UNTIL NOW! AND BRAVO DAVID, BRAVISSIMO!