Latin beauty JENNIFER LOPEZ is desperate to star in a feature film version of dance documentary MAD HOT BALLROOM.

The singer-turned-actress has decided she would be perfect for the part of YOMAIRA, the dance instructor who teaches kids to strut their stuff.

The dance-crazy pop queen is waiting for the call from film-makers MARILYN AGRELO and AMY SEWELL, who chronicled the children's ballroom competition for the heartwarming docu-film.

Source: Contact Music

Mad Hot Ballroom was recently released on DVD for those of you who haven't seen it. It's great! Click the image for more info.

The Los Angeles club which counts JENNIFER LOPEZ and JIMMY SMITS among its list of investors is set to temporarily close its doors.

The Conga Room, which has served as a Latin music haven on the city's Wilshire Boulevard since 1998, will shut down next summer (06) and then reopen in January 2007, at a new site in downtown Los Angeles.

The new venue will be called the Conga Room Downtown and will be part of a new entertainment development.

Source: Contact Music

UPN has confirmed the freshman drama "South Beach" will premiere in January, where it will fill the Wednesday, 8:00/7:00c hour during the break between the fifth and sixth editions of "America's Next Top Model." No firm premiere date however was specified. In addition, the network has confirmed it will only produce eight installments of the series, down from its initial order of 13 episodes. The project revolves around "Matt (Marcus Coloma) and Vince (Chris Johnson), best friends filled with aspirations of a better future, as they abandon their world as they know it and head to the alluring paradise of sandy beaches, beautiful people and hot spots in glamorous South Beach."

Source: thefutoncritic

CORRECTION: JLO.net reader Nellard reminded me that the episode order was cut back because costs have been rising due to the recent hurricanes in Florida. Sorry for the misleading original post.

FILM NEWS!
Nuyorican, Jennifer's production company, recently completed filming its first feature film, BORDERTOWN, co-starring Jennifer and Antonio Banderas.

Jennifer will soon begin filming EL CANTANTE, a feature she is producing about the life of Hector Lavoe, in which she will also star.

Stay tuned for more film news as it becomes available.

Jennifer Lopez arrived in Chicago on September 29, 2005, in support of the new JLO shop-in-shop and fashion show at Marshall Field's. Fans and shoppers alike poured in by the thousands to spend the evening with Jennifer Lopez, see the new JLO shop and preview the JLO/Sweetface runway fashion show. The new JLO shop carries sportswear, jewelry, watches, hats, handbags, fragrances, lingerie, and much, much more. Every floor was packed with onlookers trying to get a glimpse of Jennifer Lopez as she was introduced by the Vice President of Marshall Field's, Ralph Hughes, who said, "never before had Marshall Fields had an event of such magnitude."

You can see the photos from the Pirelli Calendar at the link below. Warning: Lots of female nudity. Don't get too excited; Jennifer isn't nude. :p

http://www.pirellical.com/thecal/calendar.html

If you sign up for free premium membership on the site, you can also see some behind-the-scenes photos (2 of Jen) and a behind-the-scenes video. It's a rather long video and Jen's segment is the very last one if you want to fast forward.

Could Jennifer Lopez be getting back to her dancing roots?

Sources said that her production company, Nuyorican Prods., is in discussions with MTV to produce an untitled music reality series. The project would chronicle the lives of several dancers in Los Angeles who are following in Lopez's footsteps, trying to make it in the business.

Lopez, a former Fly Girl dancer on Fox's early-'90s comedy series "In Living Color," is said to be executive producing with Simon Fields, a partner in Lopez's company.

From Yahoo! News

Is Jennifer Lopez having money problems? Certainly not, but she did have some trouble taking home the dresses she bought last week in New York City at the 7th on Sale Aids fundraiser. The Bronx-born bombshell arrived for the shopping extravaganza on the arms of designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. She picked out four dresses. A fellow shopper reports that when a Dolce and Gabbana handler swiped her credit card, it was rejected not once, but twice because apparently it was maxed out. I'm happy to report that Lopez did not go home empty-handed because the tab was eventually settled. Whew.

By The Insider's Marc S. Malkin

Star-Studded Gala Kicks off Industry-Wide Sample Sale -- Available Online, Via eBay, for the First Time
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 11, 2005--Jennifer Lopez, Scarlett Johansson, Chloe Sevigny, Ellen Pompeo, Amanda Hearst, and LeAnn Rimes were among the stars to wine, dine and shop to fight HIV/AIDS at last night's gala to launch 7TH ON SALE ONLINE -- a historic fashion industry fundraiser sponsored by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), Dolce & Gabbana, eBay, Kenneth Cole, Polo Ralph Lauren, and VOGUE magazine. Fashion designers including Ralph Lauren, Kenneth Cole, Domenico Dolce, Stefano Gabbana, Donna Karan, Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs also were included in the celebrity-studded crowd.The evening marked the return of 7TH ON SALE after a 10-year hiatus, joining once again fashion's biggest names in an effort to raise money for HIV/AIDS charities. This year, the sale continues for a month after the gala with more than 6,000 designer items for men, women, children and the home, available on eBay (www.ebay.com/7thonsale).

Jennifer Lopez will donate the Dolce & Gabbana dress she wore at the event to the eBay charity auction. "You can bid on it, get it and buy it on eBay," Ms. Lopez said. "And it's all for a very important cause."

Amanda Hearst will also donate the Randolph Duke dress she wore; the ivory charmeuse dress was designed using pearls bought on eBay.

Other charity auction highlights include a Ralph Lauren Collection Beaded Dress worn by Lindsay Lohan, limited edition Kenneth Cole Hudson bags, a Donna Karan berry tulle dress worn by Susan Sarandon, and Kate Spade Cannes Bellini evening bags. The starting bid for each item will be 10 percent of its retail price.

Also up for bid are nine Fashion Adventures -- highly coveted, once-in-a-lifetime auction packages created by VOGUE specifically for this charity auction. Listings will last from November 10 to December 7, with a new assortment of items added each Thursday.

"It's cool to shop online and hopefully it will help raise more money," said Ms. Johansson.

The proceeds from 7TH ON SALE ONLINE will be distributed through the CFDA-VOGUE INITIATIVE / New York City AIDS Fund. Launched originally in 1990 as the CFDA-Vogue Initiative for the New York City AIDS Fund, the first "7th on Sale" raised an astounding $4.2 million and mobilized the entire fashion industry in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Two years later, "7th on Sale / San Francisco" set another precedent in California, galvanizing the Bay Area design and retail communities, raising an additional $2.6 million. In 1995, "7th on Sale / The Return to New York" enlisted the help of thousands of volunteers and vendors, as well as top fashion models, photographers and celebrities who made "7th on Sale" an overwhelming success, bringing in another $4.2 million for HIV/AIDS organizations.

Jennifer Lopez has one ambition left for her successful music career - to have the time to tour her music.

As Lopez combines her recording career with a successful second life as a movie star - as well as side projects involving fashion and cosmetics - Lopez never has the time to go on the road and take her music to the masses.
She says: "Because of my movie career I haven't toured much. I haven't really had the pleasure of really performing for my fans and touring and stuff like that."

UNITED NATIONS - Actress-singer Jennifer Lopez, former first daughter Chelsea Clinton and broadcaster Walter Cronkite joined forces Tuesday night to honor nine "unsung heroes of poverty eradication."

The celebrities were part of a star-studded ceremony at the United Nations honoring the winners of The Global Microentrepreneurship Awards. The nine poor and low-income winners — from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Liberia, South Africa, India, China, Malawi, Sierra Leone and Peru — used small loans to establish successful businesses.

Cronkite read a message from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is traveling in the Mideast, praising the winners and the International Year of Microcredit 2005. With access to small loans, people can move "beyond day-to-day survival," earn and save more, "and protect themselves better against life's unexpected setbacks," he said.

But Annan reminded the VIP audience that "these victories are too rare still in this complicated world of ours."

Perhaps the loudest applause was given to Mama Fatu, a 70-year-old widow from Sierra Leone who took out a $25 microcredit loan in 1998 to start grinding tobacco to produce snuff. She diversified into vegetable production, rice farming and brewing local gin.

"I am illiterate," the elderly woman in a traditional African blue dress said, clutching her glass-engraved award. "I don't know how to go through immigration procedures, but today I am in New York."

As a result of the war in Sierra Leone, she said she was poor and almost homeless "but life came back because of microcredit," which enabled her to earn money to send her son to college and build a house.

Actor-director Tim Robbins, the master of ceremonies, didn't seem to mind being upstaged. Neither did awards presenters Lopez, British entrepreneur Richard Branson, Clinton, and Rory Kennedy, daughter of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.

Latin star MARC ANTHONY has axed the manager who launched his wife JENNIFER LOPEZ' career - in favour of his brother.

TOMMY MOTTOLA, the former head of Sony music and ex-husband of MARIAH CAREY, masterminded Lopez' rise to fame and hoped his close links with Anthony would lead to him working with her again.

But Anthony has rehired his brother BIGRAM ZAYAS as manager, renewing the partnership they enjoyed before Mottola.

A source tells gossip website PageSix.com, "Marc missed (his brother) so much and he doesn't trust anyone else."

Shay (in Gold)

Shay (in Black)

Shay (in White)

JENNIFER LOPEZ has taken to showing off her dancing skills in between takes on new movie BORDERTOWN by teaching castmates and crew how to Flamenco.

From Contact Music

Jennifer Lopez's upcoming drama South Beach has been hounded with problems, thanks to this year's extremely active hurricane season.

The Miami, Florida-based series, which stars Vanessa L Williams, has shut down production three times since launching in August, because of threats posed by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
Lopez serves as executive producer on the upcoming project, which revolves around a group of young Florida professionals.