Latin Grammys: Bomba Estéreo and Will Smith to perform; Leonel Garcia, Natalia Lafourcade lead nominations
Members of Bomba Estéreo, from left, Simon Mejía, Julián Salazar, Andrés Zea and vocalist Liliana Saumet, pose for a selfie with Will Smith, who appears on a remix for the Colombian band’s song “Fiesta.” The musicians will pair up again for a performance at the Latin Grammys.
Tonight is the night for Latin music as the Latin Grammy Awards get ready for the 16th annual extravaganza at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The slate, as always, is full, with live performances by Ricky Martin (by now a requirement at all Latin music awards shows), as well as gigs by reggaeton superstars J Balvin and Farruko, Afro-Colombian hip-hop group ChocQuibTown, Mexican rockers Maná, Dominican crooner Juan Luis Guerra and Mexican regional legends from Sinaloa, Banda El Recodo de Don Cruz Lizárraga.
But perhaps the most talked-about gig of the evening will be the pairing of Colombian electronica outfit Bomba Estéreo — The Times featured that group in June — who will be joined onstage by Will Smith, who recently made a guest appearance on the band’s single “Fiesta.” It is the actor-singer’s first music act since the release of his album “Lost and Found” in 2005.
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It certainly will be an intriguing awards show in terms of winners. The big nominees this year aren’t massive-selling Latin pop acts. Instead, they are a pair of low-key Mexican singers known more for their intricate lyricism and moody songwriting than for onstage antics and shake-yer-booty bombast.
Leading the nominations is Leonel García, formerly of the pop group Sin Banderas, who raked in six nominations. Three are for his album of indie ballads, “Amor Futuro.” The other three are for production work on fellow singer Natalia Lafourcade’s well-reviewed album “Hasta La Raíz.”
In fact, it is Lafourcade who has the second-most nominations: a total of five, including nominations for Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year. The gamine singer is known for biting lyrics and an experimental sound that fuses rock and pop with everything from bossa nova to jazz. (She is frequently compared to Björk and PJ Harvey. We featured her new album in July.)
Other nominees include perennial pop favorite Alejandro Sanz, from Spain, and Guerra, the lyrical Dominican merengue singer — each of whom received four nominations. Rounding out the nominees are Enrique Iglesias and Nicky Jam, who dominated the airwaves with their reggaeton-spiked single “El Perdón,” and J Balvin, the Colombian reggaeton sensation, who was unavoidable with his groovy paean to bumpy relationships: “Ay Vamos.”
Brazilian singer-songwriter Roberto Carlos, left, is the Latin Recording Academy’s Person of the Year. He was honored at a special event Wednesday by salsa singer Victor Manuelle, right. Carlos will give a special performance at the Latin Grammys.
Moreover, legendary Brazilian singer, songwriter and composer Roberto Carlos, who over half a century has won fans all over the continent for his romantic ballads in both Portuguese and Spanish, will give a special performance as the Academy’s Person of the Year. He was honored Wednesday in a special ceremony at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
The Latin Grammy Awards air on tape delay at 8 p.m. PST on the Univision Network, KMEX Ch. 12 in Los Angeles. To see the awards live at 5 p.m. PST, tune in to Univision’s live broadcast on Ch. 802 on Time Warner Cable. For more information, visit latingrammy.com.
I will be live tweeting the awards this evening starting at 5 p.m. PST. Find me on Twitter @cmonstah.
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