Latin Grammy night belongs to Shakira

Shakira, Colombia’s belly-dancing superstar, consolidated her success as the bicultural queen of crossover with a sweep of three top categories Thursday in the seventh Latin Grammy Awards during a ceremony that celebrated the growing presence of Latinos here.

“Fijacion Oral Vol. 1,” the singer-songwriter’s first Spanish-language work in years, was named album of the year and her smash dance hit, the reggaeton-tinged “La Tortura,” won for best record and song, which she performed with Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz at the open of the three-hour telecast from Madison Square Garden. This year’s most nominated artist, Shakira took home all but one of the five awards for which she competed, including female pop vocal album.

In a brief appearance backstage, the singer held her Grammys and said she was overwhelmed by the multiple wins.

“It has been a magical night,” she said. “I am happy, so happy for the people of my country, the Colombians who have merited the recognition for so many years and finally have it.”

Her only loss came in the category for best video, which went instead to Calle 13, the provocative and irreverent reggaeton/hip-hop duo from Puerto Rico that also was named best new artist. The duo, who use the nicknames Visitante and Residente as an immigration spoof, emerged as the evening’s dark horse victors by also upsetting big-name rivals Daddy Yankee and Don Omar in the best urban album category with their debut album.

The upset was in keeping with the subversive spirit of the group’s winning song, the devilishly seductive “¡Atrevete Te, Te!” (Da-Da-Dare), a sexual hand grenade that blasts middle-class, suburban mores.

The triumph of Calle 13 provided the evening’s only big surprise in a competition that otherwise produced fairly predictable winners. The duo’s success maintained the Latin Grammy tradition of highlighting new and emerging artists, starting with Colombian singer-songwriter Juanes, who went on to become a major international star after being named best new artist in 2001.

This is the first time the awards were held in New York, and the first time the program was open to the public. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg committed a linguistic gaffe when he came out on stage to greet the sold-out audience with the Arnold Schwarzenegger line, “Hasta la vista,” which means “see you later.” The mayor made up for his premature goodbye, though, with a good-natured merengue twirl with Dominican singer Milly Quezada, who then led a lively video tour through Latino neighborhoods such as in the Bronx and Spanish Harlem.

Thousands of fans surrounded Madison Square Garden on Thursday night, undeterred by the chilly autumn night air as they packed the sidewalks waiting to spot artists heading to the awards ceremony. People screamed as stretch limos rolled down 7th Avenue carrying unseen stars to the green carpet around the corner.

The New York setting provided a grittier urban backdrop than usual for the ceremony as fans lined up outside dingy souvenir shops and seedy video rental stores to get a peek at the arrivals.

The array of winners -- many of them well-respected in their fields -- debunked the common wisdom that this year has represented a slump for Latin music.

They included Brazilian chanteuse Marisa Monte (samba album), Mexican composer Joan Sebastian (banda and grupero album) and Argentine folk singer Mercedes Sosa (folk album).

During the show, performers and presenters repeatedly celebrated the host city and cheered its Latino immigrants. Shakira, dressed in an elegant but modest black gown, used one of her acceptance speeches to express support for immigrants who, she said, “came to this country with a dream, as I did one day.” In a soft voice, she added that she hoped they would “soon be acknowledged by the government with the visa for their dreams, which they deserve.”

One of the members of Calle 13, sporting a bald tattooed head and a shirt with an image of Silvester Stallone’s “Rocky” character, said, in an apparent reference to the new border wall recently authorized by Congress, “There are no walls. We go under walls!”

On a mostly apolitical night, musician Fer of the Mexican group Mana also spoke out against the wall in strong terms backstage.

“We think the most potent cosmic force in the universe is love,” he said. “We’re so upset about the wall that’s being built north of our country. It’s so sad that this is happening to the Latinos who put the bread and the fish and the water on the tables of all the Americans.

“Terrorism is not going to stop that way,” he added. “Terrorism is only going to stop when the U.S. has cleaner external politics.”

In accepting his honor as the Latin Recording Academy’s Person of the Year, Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin made an impassioned statement on behalf of the world’s exploited children, his personal cause.

Holding up his stiletto-tipped trophy, the singer of “Livin’ La Vida Loca” issued a warning to any who engage in human trafficking: “We are at war with you.”

agustin.gurza@latimes .com; matea.gold@latimes.com

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Agustin Gurza reported from Los Angeles, Matea Gold from New York.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

List of the Latin Grammy Award winners

For recordings released during the eligibility year April 1, 2005, through June 30, 2006

General

Record of the year

“La Tortura,” Shakira (Gustavo Celis and Rob Jacobs, engineers/mixers)

Album of the year

“Fijacion Oral Vol. 1,” Shakira (Gustavo Cerati, Lester Mendez, Luis F. Ochoa, Rick Rubin and Shakira, producers; Gustavo Celis, Serban Ghanea, Mauricio Guerrero, Rob Jacobs, Kevin Killen and Dave Way, engineers/mixers; Vlado Meller, mastering engineer)

Song of the year

“La Tortura,” Luis F. Ochoa,

Alejandro Sanz and Shakira (Shakira, artist)

Best new artist

Calle 13

Pop

Female pop vocal album

“Fijacion Oral Vol. 1,” Shakira

Male pop vocal album

“Adentro,” Ricardo Arjona

Pop album by a duo or group with vocal

“Guapa,” La Oreja de Van Gogh

Urban

Urban music album

“Calle 13,” Calle 13

Rock

Rock solo vocal album

“Ahi Vamos,” Gustavo Cerati

Rock album by a duo or group with vocal

“Casa,” Natalia y La Forquetina

Alternative music album

“Sal y Limon,” Julieta Venegas

Rock song

“Crimen,” Gustavo Cerati

(Cerati, artist)

Tropical

Salsa album

“Directo Al Corazon,” Gilberto Santa Rosa

Merengue album

“MQ,” Milly Quezada

Cumbia/vallenato album

“Cien Dias de Bohemia,”

Los Hermanos Zuleta

Contemporary tropical album

“Una Nueva Mujer,” Olga Tanon

Traditional tropical album

“AM/PM Lineas Paralelas,”

Andy Montanez and Pablo

Milanes

Tropical song

“Te Mando Flores,” Juan

Fernando Fonseca (Fonseca, artist)

Singer-Songwriter

Singer-songwriter album

“Como Un Campo de Maiz,”

Pablo Milanes

Regional --Mexican

Ranchero album

“Historias de Mi Tierra,” Pepe Aguilar

Banda album

“Mas Alla Del Sol,” Joan

Sebastian

Grupero album

“En El Auditorio Nacional,”

Joan Sebastian

Tejano album

“Nuevamente,” La Mafia

Norteno album

“Historias Que Contar,” Los

Tigres Del Norte

Tropical regional Mexican album

“Kumbia Kings Live,” A.B.

Quintanilla III y Los Kumbia Kings

Regional Mexican song

“Aun Sigues Siendo Mia,”

Osvaldo Villarreal (Conjunto Primavera, artist)

Instrumental

Instrumental album

“Bebo,” Bebo Valdes

Traditional

Folk album

“Corazon Libre,” Mercedes Sosa

Tango album

“Cafe de los Maestros,” Cafe de los Maestros

Flamenco album

“Picasso en Mis Ojos,”

Diego el Cigala

Jazz

Latin jazz album

“Solo,” Gonzalo Rubalcaba

Christian

Christian album (Spanish

language)

“Dios es Bueno,” Marcos Witt

Christian album (Portuguese language)

“Aline Barros and Cia,” Aline Barros

Brazilian

Brazilian contemporary

pop album

“Timeless,” Sergio Mendes

Brazilian rock album

“Hoje,” Os Paralamas do

Sucesso

Samba/pagode album

“Universo Ao Meu Redor,” Marisa Monte

MPB (musica popular

brasileira) album

“Segundo,” Maria Rita

Romantic music album

“Roberto Carlos,” Roberto

Carlos

Brazilian roots/regional album

“Vida Marvada,” Chitaozinho and Xororo

Brazilian song (Portuguese language)

“Caminho das Aguas,” Rodrigo Maranhao (Maria Rita, artist)

Children’s

Latin children’s album

“Adriana Partimpim -- O Show,” Adriana Partimpim

Classical

Classical album

“Rhapsody in Blue,” Michel Camilo and Ernest Martinez Izquierdo (Elaine Martone,

producer)

Recording package

“Cafe de los Maestros,”

Laura Varsky, art director

Production

Best engineered album

“Fijacion Oral Vol. 1,” Gustavo Celis, Serban Ghanea, Mauricio Guerrero, Rob Jacobs, Killen Kevin, Dave Way (Shakira,

artist)

Producer of the year

Cachorro Lopez

Music Video

Short-form music video

“Atrevete Te, Te!,” Calle 13; Fish, director; Gabriel Coss, producer;

Long-form music video

(tie) “Bianco y Negro en Vivo,” Bebo and Cigala; Fernando Trueba, director and producer; “Un Viaje,” Cafe Tacuba, Tito Lara, director; Gerardo Gutierrez, producer.