Rickymania!

Latino pop star packs 'em in

TORONTO -- Leanna Bottaro sure knows how to stand by her man.

Not only did she drive from Kirkland Lake just to greet singer Ricky Martin, but by the time she welcomes him today at Sunrise Records, she will have waited on hard cement for 37 hours.

"There's no one like Ricky," gushed Bottaro, 26. "He's gorgeous and he's got a killer smile."

Bottaro and her mother boasted front-of-the-line spots outside the Yonge and Dundas Sts. store yesterday, having begun the campout at 5 a.m.

They were joined by about 200 other enthusiasts of the Latino pop star, waiting to secure a wristband which would guarantee them tickets to today's 6 p.m. autograph session.

Four hundred lucky fans will receive wristbands to see their heart-throb in person.

But Toronto Police are expecting about 10,000 fans to show up, which will force them to shut down a section of the roadway outside 336 Yonge St. until at least 8 p.m.

"We may not get this chance ever again," said Bottaro. "It's more of an intimate setting, it's one and one."

Campers came well prepared for a long wait, snacking on everything from chips to strawberries and relaxing with sleeping bags and pillows.

Martin, 27, is in town promoting his hot-selling Livin' La Vida Loca English-language album. It's sold 500,000 copies in Canada and 6.8 million worldwide in the last seven weeks.

While security guards told fans they could leave after the wristbands were handed out, most were adamant about toughing it out until the end.

"Whatever they say to us, we're not leaving until we see Ricky Martin," said Ileana Williams, 24, visiting from Jamaica.

Martin visits Canada AM this morning, and a smaller crowd is expected in the afternoon when he shows up at MuchMusic at 4 p.m. to chat for a half-hour with veejay Bill Welychka.

Since his show-stopping Grammy Awards performance in February with the World Cup '98 song, La Copa de la Vida (The Cup Of Life), Martin's career has exploded.

He recorded a last-minute duet with a smitten Madonna, Be Careful (Cuidado Con Mi Corazon) for his English-language album, sang with Pavarotti and appeared on the cover of Time, one of numerous publications to feature his cover-friendly face.

Next up is a fall tour, with a Toronto date expected.

-- with files from Jane Stevenson