World Photos

Cuban diva Omara Portuondo performs with Juan Formell, director of Cuba's most popular salsa band Van-Van, in the Karl Marx theatre in Havana during the band's 40th anniversary concert December 9, 2009. The band, founded in 1969, is starting a 70-concert tour of the United States and Europe. Omara Portuondo, the 79-year-old diva of the legendary Buena Vista Social Club group, was invited to help host the Latin Grammy awards last month in Las Vegas, a ceremony off-limits for Cuban artists during the hardline relationship that marked the Bush administration years.