LATIN NOTAS
Martin wins big in 1st magazine poll
By JOHN LANNERT
Billboard

RICKY, THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE: The first Hispanic Opinion Tracker 2000 by People en Espanol magazine reveals C2/Sony Discos' Ricky Martin is the most popular singing star.

Martin won eight different categories. 550 Music/Sony Discos icon Celine Dion was second with four first-place rankings.

Martin was voted the all-time favorite male singer, while Dion and Fonovisa's Lucero tied for the all-time favorite female singer.

The all-time favorite song in Spanish is Martin's ``Livin' La Vida Loca''; the all-time favorite English song is ``My Way,'' which was made famous by Frank Sinatra.

NuStats International conducted the survey. The firm interviewed 1,449 self-identified Latinos aged 18 and over. Of those interviewed, 484 returned a follow-up written survey.

A breakdown of the survey by age and gender showed Martin to be the all-time favorite male singer among men and women, respondents under 35 and over 35, and respondents on the East Coast and West Coast.

Dion was the all-time favorite female singer among Hispanic women, respondents under 35, and respondents living on the West Coast. Work/Sony Discos' Jennifer Lopez was the choice among Hispanic men. Respondents over 35 picked WEA Latina's Olga Tanon, and respondents living on the East Coast selected Sony Discos' Ana Gabriel.

The selection of Dion is a surprise, as well as the song choices - only two of the top 10 were songs originally recorded in the past two years.

However, the biggest surprise of this survey is the absence of EMI Latin luminary Selena from any of the lists.

Surely there were some respondents from Texas, because country icon - and Texas native - George Strait made the top 10 of the male singer list.

Tanon and Sony Discos labelmates Elvis Crespo and Vicente Fernandez were the only Latino vocalists not from the pop field to appear in the survey.

Following are the results of the Hispanic Opinion Tracker 2000:

Men And Women Over 18:
All-Time Favorite Song In English:
1. "My Way."
2. "Yesterday."
3. "Lady In Red."
4. "My Heart Will Go On."
5. "Unchained Melody."

All-Time Favorite Song In Spanish:
1. "Livin' La Vida Loca."
2. "Sabor A M''.''
3. "Amor Eterno."
4. "La Bamba."
5. "Besame Mucho."

All-Time Favorite Male Singer:
1. Ricky Martin (C2/Sony Discos).
2. Luis Miguel (WEA Latina).
3. Enrique Iglesias (Interscope/Universal Latino).
4. Alejandro Fernandez (Sony Discos).
5. Vicente Fernandez (Sony Discos).
6. Julio Iglesias (Columbia/Sony Discos).
7. Juan Gabriel (Ariola/BMG Latin).
8. Frank Sinatra.
9. George Strait (MCA Nashville).
10. Elvis Crespo (Sony Discos).

All-Time Favorite Female Singer:
1. Celine Dion (550 Music/Sony Discos).
2. Lucero (Fonovisa).
3. Ana Gabriel (Sony Discos).
4. Shakira (Sony Discos).
5. Gloria Estefan (Epic/Sony Discos).
6. Jennifer Lopez (Work/Sony Discos).
7. Whitney Houston (Arista).
8. Olga Tanon (WEA Latina).
9. Thalia (EMI Latin).
10. Madonna (Sire/Warner Bros.).

All-Time Favorite Male Singer:
Hispanic Men
1. Ricky Martin (C2/Sony Discos).
2. Enrique Iglesias (Interscope/Universal Latino).
3. Luis Miguel (WEA Latina).

Hispanic Women
1. Ricky Martin (C2/Sony Discos).
2. Enrique Iglesias (Interscope/Universal Latino).
3. Luis Miguel (WEA Latina).

Under 35
1. Ricky Martin (C2/Sony Discos).
2. Enrique Iglesias (Interscope/Universal Latino).
3. Luis Miguel (WEA Latina).

Over 35
1. Ricky Martin (C2/Sony Discos).
2. Luis Miguel (WEA Latina).
3. Alejandro Fernandez (Sony Discos).

East Coast
1. Ricky Martin (C2/Sony Discos).
2. Enrique Iglesias (Interscope/Universal Latino).
3. Julio Iglesias (Columbia/Sony Discos).

West Coast
1. Ricky Martin (C2/Sony Discos).
2. Luis Miguel (WEA Latina).
3. Alejandro Fernandez (Sony Discos).

All-Time Favorite Female Singer:
Hispanic Men
1. Jennifer Lopez (Work/Sony Discos).
2. Lucero (Interscope/Universal Latino).
3. Celine Dion (550 Music/Sony Discos).

Hispanic Women
1. Celine Dion (550 Music/Sony Discos).
2. Whitney Houston (Arista).
3. Lucero (Fonovisa).

Under 35
1. Celine Dion (550 Music/Sony Discos).
2. Ana Gabriel (Sony Discos).
3. Madonna (Sire/Warner Bros.).

Over 35
1. Olga Tanon (WEA Latina).
2. Lucero (Fonovisa).
3. Celine Dion (550 Music/Sony Discos).

East Coast
1. Ana Gabriel (Sony Discos).
2. Olga Tanon (WEA Latina).
3. Jennifer Lopez (Work/Sony Discos).

West Coast
1. Celine Dion (550 Music/Sony Discos).
2. Lucero (Fonovisa).
3. Gloria Estefan (Epic/Sony Discos).