Playing to a Familiar Audience

In shifting to an all-Spanish-language ceremony for the first time, the Latin Grammy Awards took a decidedly conservative turn in its sixth year, saluting tried-and-true artists during Thursday’s three-hour telecast at the expense of boundary-pushing musical upstarts.

Colombian rocker Juanes was the big winner of the night, nabbing three awards for rock song, music video and rock solo vocal album, bringing his lifetime Grammy total to a dozen. Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz’s “Tu no Tienes Alma” won song and record of the year awards, while Brazilian Ivan Lins took the best album trophy for “Cantando Historias.”

Meanwhile, Spanish alternative singer-songwriter Bebe – who led the nominations going into the ceremony with five – took home one Grammy, for new artist.

Having been bumped from CBS after ratings dwindled, the Latin Grammys – which instead aired nationally on Univision, the country’s top Spanish-language network – shed the sometimes awkward pairings in years past of Latin stars with non-Latin celebrities.

Instead, the entire three-hour broadcast was devoted to showcasing the wide range of Latin music – from salsa and banda to reggaeton and norteno.

“The Latin Grammys have come home,” said Mexican actor Eduardo Santamarina, who joined Mexican TV personality Rebecca de Alba as co-host of the program at the Shrine Auditorium.

Still, the Univision telecast was noticeably more formal and conservative than its CBS predecessor and other U.S. entertainment awards shows. The banter between presenters was restrained and appeared tightly scripted, and most winners offered pat acceptance speeches thanking their families.

One exception was Bebe. After being named best new artist, the 27-year-old singer apologized for chewing gum and then let loose with a salty expletive – drawing laughter from the audience – before a final, rapid-fire sprint of Spanish that left even many native speakers hard pressed to understand. Viewers didn’t have a chance to, as the network bleeped much what she said.

Bebe, the daughter of Spanish folk singers, has sold more than 300,000 copies of her debut album in Spain, with its mix of styles, from flamenco to electronica, and personal reflections mixed with social messages.

She was the only artist nominated in the top four categories – record, album, song and new artist – but despite her lead going into the night, voters ultimately backed more traditional artists. Italian vocalist Laura Pausini beat Bebe out for female pop vocal album with her album “Escucha,” an upset that surprised even the winner.

“I haven’t prepared anything,” Pausini told the audience, “because I thought Bebe was going to win.”

Another big upset came in the much-watched rock categories, where L.A. group Ozomatli trumped acclaimed international stars from Mexico (Ely Guerra) and Venezuela (Los Amigos Invisibles), among others, in taking the prize for alternative-music album.

Lins gave one of the few politically tinged acceptance speeches, offering a condemnation of war in Portuguese-accented Spanish and adding, “I hope that music can contribute to the unity of people and nations.”

In winning for song of the year, Sanz beat both Bebe and Uruguayan Jorge Drexler, who was considered a strong challenger with his Oscar-winning song “Al Otro Lado del Rio,” from the movie “The Motorcycle Diaries.”

In another upset, Obie Bermudez, the 28-year-old Puerto Rican from New Jersey, beat heavyweights Marc Anthony, Alejandro Fernandez and Marco Antonio Solis in the male pop vocal album category.

The evening marked a comeback of sorts for Dominican merengue star Juan Luis Guerra, who had dropped from sight in recent years while pursuing a spiritual path.

The acclaimed singer-songwriter, who performed a medley of his hits during the show, won two awards: for tropical song (“Las Avispas”), and Spanish-language Christian album (“Para Ti”). In his acceptance speech, Guerra thanked God “for the privilege of allowing me to sing for him.”

Among of the night’s 14 musical performances was a reggaeton segment featuring Los 12 Discipulos, a conglomeration including reggaeton stars Vico C and Tego Calderon, who traded vocals as they borrowed an old salsa theme, “Quitate Tu” (Step Aside), a Fania All-Stars anthem often used in the 1970s to highlighted great salsa singers of that period.

Noticeably absent from the show was reggaeton’s biggest star, Daddy Yankee, who won the urban album award for his acclaimed “Barrio Fino” album.

One of the strongest ovations of the night went to two Cuban veterans – bassist Cachao, who won the traditional tropical album category, and pianist Bebo Valdes, the Latin jazz album winner – as they led an all-star salsa band that included Arturo Sandoval, Orestes Vilato, Danilo Lozano, Generoso Jimenez and Johnny Pacheco in a performance of “¡Ahora Si!”

During Bebe’s rendition of her nominated song “Malo,” an indictment of abusive men, she used language rarely heard on Spanish television. Her lyric “Every time you call me ‘whore,’ your brain gets smaller,” was censored on TV, another sign of the conservative slant of the show.

In a particularly emotional moment, Mexico’s Jose Jose, one of Latin music’s greatest romantic singers, accepted his award as the Latin Grammys “person of the year” in a voice that sounded ailing and broken. The 57-year-old musician received a standing ovation.

Veteran Spanish singer and actress Rocio Durcal was given the Latin Recording Academy’s lifetime achievement award. In the pre-telecast, Mexican singer Luis Miguel won for ranchero album, Anthony for salsa album and Carlos Vives for contemporary tropical album.

Gabriel Abaroa, president of the Latin Academy, called the show’s debut on Univision “magnificent.”

“Simply put, we speak the same language,” he said backstage. “When we talk about artists, we don’t have to explain who they are and what genre of music they are.”

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BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX

The winners

GENERAL FIELD

Record of the year

“Tu no Tienes Alma,” Alejandro Sanz (Lulo Perez & Alejandro Sanz, producers; Carlos Alvarez, Rafa Sardina & Oscar Vinader, engineers-mixers)

Album of the year

“Cantando Historias,” Ivan Lins (Moogie Canazio, producer; Moogie Canazio, engineer-mixer; Moogie Canazio & Luiz Tornaghi, mastering engineers)

Song of the year

“Tu no Tienes Alma,” Alejandro Sanz, songwriter (Alejandro Sanz)

Best new artist

 Bebe

 POP

Best female pop vocal album

“Escucha,” Laura Pausini

Best male pop vocal album

“Todo el Ano,” Obie Bermudez

Best pop album by a duo or group with vocal

“Sinverguenza,” Bacilos

 URBAN

Best urban music album

“Barrio Fino,” Daddy Yankee

 ROCK

Best rock solo vocal album

“Mi Sangre,” Juanes

Best rock album by a duo

or group with vocal

“Con Todo Respeto,” Molotov

Best alternative music album

“Street Signs,” Ozomatli

Best rock song

“Nada Valgo sin tu Amor,” Juanes, songwriter (Juanes)

Best salsa album

“Valio la Pena,” Marc Anthony

Best merengue album

“Saborealo,” Elvis Crespo

Best contemporary tropical album

“El Rock de mi Pueblo,” Carlos Vives

Best traditional tropical album

“¡Ahora Si!,” Cachao

Best tropical song

“Las Avispas,” Juan Luis Guerra, songwriter (Juan Luis Guerra 4 40)

 SINGER-SONGWRITER

Best singer-songwriter album

“Resucitar,” Gian Marco

REGIONAL MEXICAN

Best ranchero album

“Mexico en la Piel,” Luis Miguel

Best banda album

“En Vivo,” Banda El Recodo

Best grupero album

“Loca de Amar,” Ana Barbara

Best Tejano album

“Polkas, Gritos y Acordeones,” David Lee Garza, Joel Guzman & Sunny Sauceda

Best norteno album

“Diez,” Intocable

Best regional Mexican song

“Aire,” Josue Contreras & Johnny Lee Rosas, songwriters (Intocable)

Best instrumental album

“Coral,” David Sanchez

 TRADITIONAL

Best folk album

“One Blood Una Sangre,” Lila Downs

Best tango album

“Bajo Cero,” Pablo Ziegler, Quique Sinesi & Walter Castro

Best flamenco album

“Aguadulce,” Tomatito

 JAZZ

Best Latin jazz album

“Bebo de Cuba,” Bebo Valdes

 CHRISTIAN

Best Christian album

(Spanish language)

“Para Ti,” Juan Luis Guerra 4 40

Best Christian album

(Portuguese language)

“Deixa o Teu Rio Me Levar – ao Vivo,” Soraya Moraes

 BRAZILIAN

Best Brazilian contemporary pop album

“Incite,” Lenine

Best Brazilian rock album

“Tamo Ai Na Atividade,” Charlie Brown Jr.

Best samba / pagode album

“Brasilatinidade,” Martinho da Vila

Best MPB (musica popular Brasileira) album

“Cantando Historias,” Ivan Lins

Best romantic music album

“Pra Sempre ao Vivo no Pacaembu,” Roberto Carlos

Best Brazilian roots / regional album

“MTV ao Vivo,” Ivete Sangalo

Best Brazilian song

(Portuguese language)

“Ninguem Faz Ideia,” Lenine & Ivan Santos, songwriters (Lenine)

 CHILDREN’S

Best Latin children’s album

“Lina Luna,” Lina Luna

 CLASSICAL

Best classical album

“Riberas,” Cuarteto de Cuerdas Buenos Aires & Paquito D’Rivera; Andrea Merenzon, producer

 PRODUCTION

Best engineered album

“MTV Unplugged,” Gustavo Borner, engineer (Diego Torres)

Producer of the year

Gustavo Santaolalla

MUSIC VIDEO

Best music video (one song only)

“Volverte a Ver,” Juanes (Gustavo Garzon, video director; Cecilia Sagredo, video producer)

Source: Latin Grammy Awards