RELATED: Listen to Martin’s newest single here

The “Living La Vida Loca” singer has been busy in Australia taping “The Voice Australia” but found the time to collaborate with the famed Aussie Production Team, DNA, with whom he produced his new single, “Come With Me.”

The cover art for Martin’s newest single.

The single’s popularity is already spreading quickly across Australian radio stations and is set to be released in the U.S on June 14. ”Come with Me” promises to be a sneak peek of Martin’s new album, which the 41-year-old will begin working on this summer following the conclusion of “The Voice – Australia” next week.

RELATED: Ricky Martin asks fans to petition for pro-gay legislation in Puerto Rico

And it looks like Martin doesn’t intend to take any type of summer vacation once his time on Australia’s #1 rated show is over: he is slated to release a new children’s book soon and is currently developing a new dramedy for NBC Universal, all before kicking off a tour in Australia this October.

A newly-slimmed-down Aguilera – who will be resuming her time in the red coach’s chair next season, taking over from current coach Shakira – will take the stage with Pitbull in a duet performance of “Feel This Moment.”

RELATED: The secret to music reality show success requires a Latino pop star judge

And the powerhouse duo won’t be the only Latinos to take the stage during the finale: Mars will also be featured during “The Voice” finale, singing “Treasure,” the newest single from his album “Unorthodox Jukebox.”

Mars’ performance was recorded in May, weeks before his mother, Bernadette Hernandez passed away from a brain aneurysm.

RELATED: 2 “Voice” coaches get knocked out in semifinals round

Country crooners Florida Georgia Line and rapper Nelly will also take the stage during the season finale, joining forces to sing their single “Cruise.”

And last but not least? Singer Cher, who will perform live –  her first live television performance in more than a decade.

The fourth season of “The Voice” – featuring new coaches Shakira, Usher and returning coaches Blake Shelton and Adam Levine – has been the most successful to date for NBC, beating “American Idol” among audiences for the first time ever in May.

The announcement about Aguilera’s live performance on “The Voice” coincides with the news that Shakira is no longer represented on the show: viewers voted out Team Shakira contestant Sasha Allen and Team Adam’s Amber Carrington on Tuesday night’s semifinals show, leaving Usher and Shelton to compete for a victory.

“I was prepared for the worst (Tuesday),” Shakira told TODAY.com after the results show. “Honestly, I didn’t sleep (Monday) night, thinking about Sasha, the possibility that I maybe screwed up her career by making her sing a dance song.”

Click here to read the rest of the story.

The Puerto Rican singer took to Twitter to mobilize the support of his 8 million followers, asking them to take to social media and ask select members of Puerto Rico’s legislative body to vote in favor of Senate Bill 238.

Mi gente, pido q vayan a las siguientes páginas de Facebook y pidan a estos Representantes de la (cont) tl.gd/n_1rkdp24 @lgbtpr

— Ricky Martin (@ricky_martin) May 22, 2013

The proposed bill would ban discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation in the workplace, whether in the government, public or private sectors.

Martin – who has been a staunch LGBT rights advocate since coming out in 2010 – has been a public supporter of the proposal. Earlier this month, he sent a letter to Governor Alejandro García Padilla and island legislators asking them to pass bill 238 and other legislation which would protect Puerto Rico’s LGBT community.

“The same rights for each and every citizen of Puerto Rico, that’s what we are asking and that’s what we hope to achieve, the country’s justice and peace that we want to achieve,” Martin said in a statement posted on his personal website. “Puerto Rico has to join all the countries in the world that are at the forefront of the issue of human rights and equality.”

Bill 238 will be the subject of debate and vote on the Senate floor on Thursday, May 23.

In addition to his political activism, the “Living La Vida Loca” singer seems to have a full slate of projects on his schedule: he just wrapped up his time as judge on “The Voice Australia,” is developing a new series for NBC and is working on a children’s book.

Consider the math. When “American Idol” first hit television sets in 2002, America quickly fell in love with contestants vying for a chance at music industry success – to the tune of 30 million viewers during its heyday in 2006. By the time Jennifer Lopez was tapped to take a seat at the judges table in 2010, she was charged with re-energizing a franchise that had been steadily losing ratings across younger audiences.  Lopez left the show after two seasons (“I made the decision that I was going to go back on tour and after that focus on film for the next few years,” Lopez told NBC Latino of her decision to leave) and the result as proved nothing less than slightly disastrous for what was once one of the top English-language shows among U.S. Hispanics.

The damage? Last week’s “American Idol” season 12 finale came in at 14.3 million total viewers, making it the first time ever that the show had failed to reach the 20-million mark. With “Idol” earning a mere 3.6 rating among adults 18-49, reports The Hollywood Reporter, the show’s median viewer is 51.2 years old – hardly the younger audience that’s key to bringing in advertisers and the reason why show executives are scrambling to make changes that may include a return to “Idol” for Lopez.

“Latinos are the fastest growing minority group as well as the youngest,” says Gabriel Reyes, a Hispanic marketing expert and president of Reyes Entertainment, a communications and marketing agency. “Using Latino on-air talent on these shows gives them a second life by bringing an audience that is key to the success of these shows. Jennifer Lopez saved the ‘American Idol’ brand and she may do it again – I think we’re seeing a trend that’s here to stay.”

RELATED:  Shakira confirms she’s leaving “The Voice”: ‘My poor baby is so tired of flying’

According to Nielsen, there are 115.6 million homes in the United States where television is being watched, compounding a viewership of 294 million television viewers. An estimated 40 percent of those homes are Hispanic households, making networks anxious to capture Latino television audiences – especially because the U.S. Latinos have an annual buying power of more than $1 trillion.

Television executives have essentially remade the traditional television formula using “black-white imagery” in order to get Latino viewers and their coveted dollars, says Felix Sanchez, chairman of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA).

“The old formula for variety shows always incorporated a black sidekick,” explains Sanchez. “The use of Latino talent in these types of reality shows by television executives is something that has only happened recently and it’s a new formula that helps these shows hit the numbers they need for success.”

Take “The X Factor,” executive produced by “American Idol” alum Simon Cowell. Cowell seemed “almost contemptuous of Latino performers” in the early days of “Idol,” says Sanchez. Now Cowell has signed on returning talent Demi Lovato and Mario Lopez; with the addition of Paulina Rubio, Cowell has positioned himself to gain a strong Latino viewership.

“The Latino demographic, as we saw in the presidential election, is not monolithic – there are nuances with which you can reach different segments of the market,” says Reyes. “Demi Lovato will really resonate with American-born millennials that don’t have a lot of connection to Spanish-language media and someone like Paulina Rubio will resonate with those that are recent immigrants from Latin America, where she is a huge star.”

RELATED: Jennifer Lopez promises TV programming for “modern Latinos”

The phenomenon of using Latin talent in reality singing competitions has even extended internationally, with Ricky Martin’s gig as judge on “The Voice Australia.” There are more Latino contestants on these shows than ever before as well, but Sanchez says network executives have a long way to go to truly incorporate Latinos on broadcast television.

“There’s a subliminal appearance that Latinos are part of mainstream America and that we are front and center,” states Sanchez. “But I don’t think on-camera talent is enough.”

“Unless you build a roster of talented producers and writers who are Latino to position these artists, correctly, meaningfully and authentically, our position in the industry will remain fairly superficial.”

Shakira won’t be back for another season of NBC’s “The Voice,” the Latin singing sensation has confirmed to E! News, making way for Christina Aguilera’s return to the hot (red leather) seat.

The 36-year-old explained why. “It was a hard decision for me to make, because I’m really fond of the coaches, the people in production and everybody around me,” she said. “And I really enjoyed The Voice, but I also have a musical career and I’m also a mother now and my poor baby’s so tired flying such long distances. He already has more miles than any pilot. So I think I have to give him a little break, and we’ll see what happens in the future.”

Click over to E! Online to read the rest of the story.

The newly-slim Aguilera – who hosted the first three seasons of “The Voice” and left the show last year to concentrate on the release of her seventh studio album, Lotus – will be once again taking a seat in the red coach’s chair with a paycheck that could be as large as 17 million, The Wrap reports.

Aguilera made a reported 17 million during her time on Season 3 of the show and show insiders told The LA Times that “she could earn a figure as high as that again.” Other sources report that Aguilera would take home a paycheck closer to 12 million.

RELATED: Why 2013 is Christina Aguilera’s best year ever

To make room for the Grammy-Award-winning singer, Shakira – a current judge on season five of the NBC show – will most likely leave the show, reports The Wrap.

And Aguilera won’t be the only familiar face on “The Voice” next season, as former judge Cee Lo Green is rumored to be in negotiations to rejoin the show as well.

“I’ll be back,” Green told TODAY Show anchor Matt Lauer last October. The hit singer and producer had promised his absence was temporary, which show executive producer Mark Burnett had made a point to mention during Aguilera and Green’s departure last year.

“These are current touring artists, so it’s a matter of balancing schedules,” Burnett told The Hollywood Reporter last year of the original “Voice” foursome of Aguilera, Green Adam Levine and Blake Shelton. “They’re all in demand and we’re just balancing it all.”

RELATED: Eva Longoria’s “Ready for Love” canceled and remaining episodes will go online

NBC announced Monday at its prime time upfronts that “The Voice” will remain at its current Monday time slot, although its Tuesday one-hour shows have been moved to 9 p.m. ET.

“The Voice” will return for the 2013-14 season with an entirely new crop of NBC prime time shows, including “Welcome to the Family” which features the story of Latino teen Junior Hernandez (Joseph Haro of “Akward” and “Glee”), whose plans to attend the prestigious Stanford University get slightly derailed when his white high school girlfriend Molly (Ella Rae Peck) reveals that she’s pregnant.

The show – co-starring “Desperate Housewives” alum Ricardo Chavira – promises to be a “crash course in culture blending as Molly and Junior decide they want to get married and, in doing so, bring together two very different families,” announces an NBC press release.

Watch the trailer for “Welcome to the Family” below.

“La Voz Kids” will feature talented kids across Latin America in their battle to emerge as the reality show’s reining star with the grand prize of a recording contract and scholarship. And just like in the English version of the show, there will be chart-topping judges who will compete for the chance to add talent to their respective teams. There’s bachata star Prince Royce, Mexican pop princess Paulina Rubio and corrido singer Roberto Tapia, who together form a trio of all-star musicians as judges during the singing competition, which kicks off on Telemundo May 5 at 7 p.m. ET.

But “La Voz Kids” is a big return to the Latin market for Fuentes, who first made a splash among Spanish-speaking audiences as the host of an hour-long show on MTV Internacional. She later crossed over to the English market as a host on “House of Style” and since diving into business with a rapidly-growing empire of a Kohl’s lifestyle collection and wig line, has become one of the most recognized – and successful –Latinas in Hollywood.

Check out a clip of Fuentes return to Hispanic television in “La Voz Kids.”

NBC Latino and Telemundo are sister companies under NBC Universal.