Ricky Martin, Preacherman

By Stephen M. Silverman

06/30/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

Ricky Martin is about to take to the pulpit. The Latin sex symbol, 28, plans to preach about the perils of AIDS in an upcoming MTV documentary focusing on the plight of victims around the world. Hosted by Martin, "Staying Alive," as the show will be called, will air on Dec. 1, which is World AIDS Day. "People that I know have been victims of this stupid disease and virus. I think I have the need to talk pretty raw about this issue," the star told Reuters television at the MTV Europe Awards in Stockholm. He is no stranger to helping fight the disease, either. "For many years I was what you call the godfather for a pediatric AIDS home in Puerto Rico. The kids they taught me how to live. They were in bed but they were still smiling." Yet would such frankness contrast sharply with Martin's hip-swiveling "La Vida Loca" image? "It's yin and yang, positive and negative. Life is full of ups and down, good ups and good downs as well." Finally, "Sexuality is something on stage that I don't force."