People En Espanol and Yahoo! En Espanol Announce the Winner of the '51st Most Beautiful' Contest

MIAMI, April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Yahoo! En Espanol and People en Espanol announced the winner of this year's "51st Most Beautiful" contest.  Victor Alfredo de la Torre, an aspiring musician from Los Angeles of Mexican descent, was named the winner.

For the third year-in-a-row, People en Espanol and Yahoo! En Espanol teamed up to launch a nationwide search for the "51st Most Beautiful" Hispanic person to be featured in People en Espanol's "50 Most Beautiful" issue. The magazine's special annual issue highlights the 50 most popular Hispanic celebrities in TV, film and music, and the "51st Most Beautiful" person is a unique non-celebrity, like Victor, who will be featured alongside beautiful celebrities. People en Espanol's issue will be available in newsstands on April 30, 2010.  

With 58 percent of the most popular vote, de la Torre becomes the newest "Bello", receiving a makeover and taking part in the special edition cover shoot for People en Espanol's "50 Most Beautiful" issue. de la Torre's whirlwind experience will culminate at the People en Espanol's "50 Most Beautiful" party in May where he will walk the star-studded red carpet and rub shoulders with the country's elite and most beautiful Hispanics.

"It feels almost surreal to have been selected as Yahoo! and People en Espanol's "51st Most Beautiful" person of 2010," de la Torre said. "This is truly a one in a million opportunity for me and could open an entirely new way to promote myself as an artist – something that I've dreamt of since I was young."

"For the past three years, the Bello 51 search has provided our users with a fun and exciting way to not only be part of this popular contest, but also influence its outcome," said Armando Rodriguez, general manager, Yahoo! Hispanic Americas.  "Through Yahoo! En Espanol's partnership with People En Espanol, the company has also been able to augment its entertainment content and take it to the next level with new social media features that deepen user engagement."

"Our readers are very passionate about their celebrities," said Lucia Ballas-Traynor, publisher of People en Espanol.  "We are thrilled to be able to enhance the consumer experience with our franchise, 'The 50 Most Beautiful,' by engaging users and allowing them to be an integral part and feel even more connected to this brand."

As with previous years, user participation and overall engagement with the "51st Most Beautiful" contest was high due in part to a complete print and online campaign, as well as social media integration to support the search for the Most Beautiful contestants. The search ran from January 8 through February 26.

Yahoo! En Espanol users submitted their photos and profiles at the specially created site www.51bello.com to compete for the title of People en Espanol's "51st Most Beautiful. Twenty five finalists were selected and users then swayed the outcome by viewing contestant photos and profiles, commenting and voting for their favorites. The winner was selected by People en Espanol, based on user votes and other editorial components.  

For further information on People en Espanol's "51st Most Beautiful" visit www.51bello.com.

About People en Espanol:

PEOPLE en Espanol was launched in 1996 as a special issue, and today has become the top-selling Hispanic magazine in the United States.  Published 11 times a year, PEOPLE en Espanol's guaranteed circulation is 540,000 and reaches over six million readers every month with its editorial mix of Hispanic and popular entertainment, fashion and beauty trends, and compelling human-interest stories.  PEOPLE en Espanol delivers original editorial content that captures the values, contributions and impact of today's Hispanics in the U.S.  For daily news, photos, exclusive behind-the-scenes video and celebrity scoops, visit www.PeopleEnEspanol.com.   

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global consumer brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo! is where millions of people go every day to see what is happening with the people and things that matter to them most. Yahoo! helps marketers reach that audience with its unique and compelling advertiser proposition. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit http://pressroom.yahoo.com or the company's blog, Yodel Anecdotal (http://yodel.yahoo.com).

SOURCE Yahoo! en Espanol