La India

With a heavy frame and an ever-present wide-eyed expression, international salsa/ Latin pop star La India is not likely to be mistaken for a princess based on looks alone. Yet the Puerto Rico-born, Bronx-raised singer has had little trouble living up to "The Princess of Salsa" tag. As if possessing cut-through-glass vocal chords weren't enough, the two-time Grammy-nominated artist transmits a high-emotive style, essentially acting out almost every lyric she sings. After a rather successful run from the mid-Eighties to early Nineties in the freestyle genre -- first as a backup with TKA and later as a soloist -- she changed things up with "Llego la India Via Eddie Palmieri" ("La India Is Here Via Eddie Palmieri"), her introduction into the salsa world. But she would score even bigger in 1994 when she recorded "Vivir Lo Nuestro" ("Let's Live Our Thing"), a duet with Marc Anthony. On the track, she manages to keep up with Anthony and convey the sort of heartfelt emotion that has become her signature. So despite a tendency to pull a disappearing act -- she hasn't recorded an album in three years -- it's a guarantee that La India will be the heart of the party.