Olathe ? A basketball bounces outside the home of producer David Chavez when he gets the call. Eva Longoria grabs a minute between takes as two-timing Gabrielle on “Desperate Housewives” to phone in the news from her trailer:

Jessica Simpson has confirmed!

It’s not in the Hollywood hills but here, inside Chavez’s home office in the suburban Midwest, that the 2006 ALMA Awards have been produced.

On Sunday the awards show will bring together the industry’s hottest entertainers to honor Hispanic artistic achievement in music, film and television – all at a time when the role of Latinos is sparking national debates.

The 90-minute program – a sexy, reggaeton-powered romp with a political edge – will be taped at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, to air on prime-time in early June on ABC.

Chavez and his wife, Sarah, grew up in Topeka, where they said their small Mexican-American community idolized “CHiPs” star Erik Estrada as one of the only television personalities with brown skin. Their home base in a subdivision outside Kansas City is now one of the industry’s best-known Latino event production houses.

ABC will air this year's ALMA Awards, which were created by the National Council of La Raza. Event organizers include, from left, Janet Murguia of La Raza, actress Eva Longoria and executive producer David Chavez. Murguia is a former Kansas University executive vice chancellor for university relations.

Their company, LatinPointe, puts on yearly local benefits such as the Kansas City Hispanic Scholarship Awards, as well as national events like the National Tejano Music Convention in Las Vegas. David Chavez has been producing the ALMAs – Spanish for “spirit” or “soul” – since the awards program began.

“A show like this has gotta have hype; it’s gotta have buzz,” David Chavez said. “So when Eva signed on, that was our hype.”

The show’s re-emergence on the air is the result of collaboration among Longoria, executive producer David Chavez and veteran Hollywood producer Jeff Margolis, who see it as a crucial venue to celebrate the cultural contributions of Latinos.

The country’s largest Hispanic advocacy organization, the National Council of La Raza, created the ALMA Awards in 1995 to honor actors and performers who portray positive Hispanic images.

Characterizing those beliefs during a celebrity-driven awards show requires careful scripting, said La Raza president Janet Murguia. She’s focusing less on what she’ll say in her 40 seconds on stage and more on encouraging the show’s stars to promote social causes. Andy Garcia, for instance, is expected to plug voter registration during the show.