Juan Luis Guerra, Juanes among favorites at Latin Grammy Awards

Don’t expect many surprises when the Latin Grammy Awards are handed out Thursday afternoon and evening at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The leading nominees, including Dominican pop idol Juan Luis Guerra and Colombian rocker Juanes, are among the platinum-selling royalty of the Spanish- and Portuguese-music world, and they’re both also churning out some of the richest work of their long careers.

Univision will live-broadcast the ceremony starting at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time.

Guerra leads all nominees this year with six nods, including for song of the year for his disc “En El Cielo No Hay Hospital” (“In Heaven There Is No Hospital”). Juanes is a leading contender to win the trophy for album of the year for his acoustic “Juanes MTV Unplugged.” He’ll be facing a formidable field that includes Ricardo Arjona, Jesse & Joy and Brazil’s Caetano Veloso, who was honored by the Latin recording academy as Person of the Year at a concert tribute Wednesday night.

As per usual, the most interesting category to watch will be best new artist. This year’s fresh-faced hopefuls include the ambitious Venezuelan rock group Los Mesoneros and Deboral del Corral, an Argentine ex-model, former TV personality and erstwhile girlfriend of Argentine rock idol and former Soda Stereo frontman Gustavo Cerati, who has been in a coma since collapsing at a concert performance two years ago.

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