Latin Grammys return to L.A.

The Latin Grammy Awards will return to Los Angeles for the fifth annual show, to be broadcast Sept. 1 on CBS from the Shrine Auditorium.

The move back to L.A., where the music awards premiered in 2000, was primarily a logistical decision that will ease production of the telecast and a weeklong series of related activities, said Marya Meyer, spokeswoman for the Miami-based Latin Recording Academy. Los Angeles is headquarters for the show’s producers, Cossette Productions, and for the Recording Academy, which bestows the awards.

The move will also allow the Latin Grammys to spotlight what Meyer called “the very active bubbling talent pool in L.A.,” especially during pre-telecast activities. Los Angeles has been a growing center for regional Mexican music, which accounts for the bulk of Latin record sales in the U.S. but which gets far less mainstream attention than pop music by such Miami-based stars as Gloria Estefan, Shakira and Ricky Martin.