Nazario Among This Year’s Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame Finalists

Ednita Nazario may soon earn a special spot in Latin music history…

The 59-year-old Puerto Rican singer-songwriter has been named a finalist for the third annual La Musa Awards 2015. The eventual winners will be inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame in a ceremony on October 15 at the Jackie Gleason Theater in Miami Beach.

Ednita Nazario

Nazario, a Latin Grammy nominee, received the Latin Heritage Award from ASCAP in 2004, as well as the Recording Academy Honors from NARAS in 2005.

A total of 12 nominees were announced in both the performers (or singer/songwriters) and non-performers categories. Other names included Joan Sebastian, Diego Torres, Juan Gabriel Myriam Hernandez, Roberto Carlos and Ruben Blades in the performers category and Lalo Schifrin, Gustavo Santaolalla, Leo Brouwer and Ramon Arcusa in the composers category.

Voting, which is open to LSHOF members at latinsonghall.com, began January 28, immediately following the finalist announcement during a press conference at the YoungArts Jewel Box in Miami, and will close March 15 at midnight. The artists and composers chosen for induction in the Hall of Fame will be announced during the 2015 Billboard Latin Music Conference in April.

Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization founded by renowned songwriter/producers Desmond Child and Rudy Pérez in 2012 to honor and celebrate Latin music creators. Created under the auspices of the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, its nominating committee is comprised by songwriters, performers, musicians, producers, engineers, music critics, and industry executives.

Many of these were present during the press conference announcing the nominees. Those in attendance included Latin Grammy winner for best new artist Mariana Vega, Colombian singer/songwriter Cabas, singer/songwriter Yunel Cruz, composer/producer Julio Reyes and both Child and Perez.

LSHOF 2015 Full List of Nominees

PERFORMERS  

Diego Torres               (Argentina)
Roberto Carlos             (Brazil)
Caetano Veloso            (Brazil)
Myriam Hernandez      (Chile)
Pablo Milanes               (Cuba)
Álvaro Torres                (El Salvador)
Juan Gabriel                  (México)
Joan Sebastian              (México)
Rubén Blades                (Panamá)
Ednita Nazario              (Puerto Rico)
Camilo Sesto                 (Spain)
Franco de Vita              (Venezuela)

NON-PERFORMERS

Chico Navarro                                   (Argentina)
Gustavo Santaolalla                            (Argentina)
Lalo Schifrin                                       (Argentina)
Erasmo Carlos                                     (Brazil)
Alberto Plaza                                       (Chile)
Héctor Ochoa Cárdenas                        (Colombia)
Leo Brouwer                                       (Cuba)
Rubén Fuentes                                    (México)
Ramón Arcusa                                     (Spain)
Luis Gomez Escolar                             (Spain)
Jose Maria “Chema” Puron                   (Spain)
Jose Enrique “Chelique” Sarabia            (Venezuela)

Iglesias’ Hit “Bailando” Nabs Three Awards at the Latin Grammys

Enrique Iglesias is bailando with good reason…

The 39-year-old Spanish singer-songwriter picked up three awards at this year’s Latin Grammys for his platinum hit “Bailando.”

Enrique Iglesias

Iglesias and his collaborators on the inescapable track, Descemer Bueno and Gente De Zona, took home the trophies for Song of the Year, Urban Performance and Urban Song during Thursday night’s live broadcast from Las Vegas.

Iglesias accepted his awards from Paris, where he was touring, and a taped performance of his hit song closed the show.

Meanwhile, Calle 13 – comprised of stepbrothers Rene Perez and Eduardo Cabra – picked the awards for Urban Music Album (for Multi_Viral) and Alternative Song (for “El Aguante”).

With the two wins, Calle 13 set the record for the most Latin Grammys with an astonishing 21 career wins.

“We are happy. We have 21 (Latin) Grammys and it is a dream. We never thought we would have this in our lives,” said Perez backstage to reporters after the show.

Other winners included Paco de Lucia – the iconic Mexican guitarist who died earlier this year – who won album of the year and best Flamenco album for Canción Andaluza. Colombian singer Juanes won best pop/rock album for Loco De Amor, Marc Anthony won best salsa album for 3.0, and Carlos Vives won for best contemporary tropical song and album.

Venezuelan singer-songwriter Mariana Vega won best new artist and legendary singer Joan Manuel Serrat, who performed, was named person of the year.

Here’s a complete look at this year’s Latin Grammy winners:

Record of the year: “Universos Paralelos” — Jorge Drexler, featuring Ana Tijoux
Album of the year: “Canción Andaluza” — Paco de Lucía
Song of the year: “Bailando” — Descemer Bueno, Gente De Zona and Enrique Iglesias
New artist: Mariana Vega
Contemporary pop vocal album:
“Elypse” — Camila
Traditional pop vocal album: “Fonseca Sinfónico” — Fonseca Urban performance: “Bailando” — Enrique Iglesias, featuring Descemer Bueno and Gente De Zona
Urban music album: “MultiViral” — Calle 13
Urban song: “Bailando” — Descemer Bueno, Gente De Zona and Enrique Iglesias
Rock album: “Agua Maldita” — Molotov
Pop/Rock album:
“Loco De Amor” — Juanes
Rock song: “Cuando No Estás” — Andrés Calamaro
Alternative music album: “Romantisísmico” — Babasónicos
Alternative song: “El Aguante” — Calle 13
Salsa album: “3.0” — Marc Anthony
Cumbia/Vallenato album: “Celedón Sin Fronteras 1” — Jorge Celedón and various artists
Contemporary tropical album: “Más + Corazón Profundo” — Carlos Vives
Traditional tropical album:
“Grandes Exitos De Las Sonoras, Con La Más Grande, La Sonora Santanera” — La Sonora
Tropical song: “Cuando Nos Volvamos A Encontrar” — Andrés Castro and Carlos Vives
Singer-songwriter album: “Bailar En La cueva” — Jorge Drexler
Ranchero album: “Lástima Que Sean Ajenas” — Pepe Aguilar
Banda album: “Haciendo Historia” — Banda El Recodo De Don Cruz Lizarrag
Tejano album: “Forever Mazz” — Jimmy González and Grupo Mazz
Norteño album: “Amor Amor” — Conjunto Primavera
Regional song: “De Mil Amores” — Marco Antonio Solís, songwriter (Marco Antonio Solís)
Instrumental album: “Final Night At Birdland” — Arturo O’Farrill and The Chico O’Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra
Folk album: “Raíz” — Lila Downs, Niña Pastori y Soledad
Tango album: “Tangos” — Rubén Blades
Flamenco album: “Canción Andaluza” — Paco de Lucía
Latin jazz album: Tie: “The Vigil” — Chick Corea, “Song For Maura” — Paquito D’Rivera & Trio Corrente
Christian album (Spanish language): “La Carta Perfecta – En Vivo” — Danilo Montero
Christian album (Portuguese language): “Graça” — Aline Barros
Brazilian contemporary pop album: “Multishow Ao Vivo – Ivete Sangalo 20 Anos” — Ivete Sangalo
Brazilian rock album: “Gigante Gentil” — Erasmo Carlos
Samba/pagode album: “Coração A Batucar” — Maria Rita
MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira) Album: “Verdade, Uma Ilusão” — Marisa Monte
Sertaneja music album: “Questão De Tempo” — Sérgio Reis
Brazilian roots album: “Amigo Da Arte” — Alceu Valença
Brazilian song: “A Bossa Nova É Foda” — Caetano Veloso, songwriter (Caetano Veloso)
Latin children’s album: “Coloreando: Traditional Songs For Children In Spanish” — Marta Gómez & Friends
Classical album: “Verdi” — Plácido Domingo; Christopher Alder, album producer
Classical contemporary composition: “Concierto Para Violín y Orquesta De Cuerdas” — Claudia Montero, composer (Claudia Montero)
Recording package: “Wed 21” — Alejandro Ros, art director (Juana Molina)
Engineered album: “De Repente” — Juber Anbín, Johnnatan García, Rodner Padilla, Eduardo Pulgar, Vladimir Quintero Mora, Jean Sánchez & Alexander Vanlawren, engineers; Germán Landaeta & Darío Peñaloza, mixers; Germán Landaeta, mastering engineer (C4 Trío y Rafael “”Pollo”” Brito)
Producer of the year: Sergio George
Short form music video: “Flamingo” — La Vida Bohème | Leonardo Gonzalez, Pablo Iranzo & Carl Zitelman, video directors; Debbie Crosscup & César Elster, video producers
Long form music video: “El Objeto Antes Llamado Disco – La Película” — Café Tacvba | Gregory Allen, video director; Café Tacvba, video producers

Pitbull to Perform at the Latin Grammys with Carlos Santana

Pitbull is set to join forces with a music legend at this year’s Latin Grammys

The 33-year-old Cuban American singer and Carlos Santana will perform live onstage at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas during the annual awards broadcast.

Pitbull

No word yet on what song(s) Pitbull and the 67-year-old Mexican musician, considered one of the greatest guitarists of all time, will perform.

In addition to his performance with Santana, Mr. Worldwide will also take the stage with Wisin and Chris Brown.

Other pairings for this year’s Latin Grammys include Magic! with Marc Anthony, and Regional Mexican star Pepe Aguilar and Spanish pop icon Miguel Bose.

Also set to perform together are: Pablo Alborán with Jesse & Joy, Marc Anthony in anther performance, this time with Carlos Vives; Rubén Blades with Carlos Franzetti, Camila with Ricky Martin, La Arrolladora Banda El Limón De René Camacho with Espinoza Paz, La Original Banda El Limón De Salvador Lizárraga with Río Roma, Carlos Vives with ChocQuibTown, and Yandel with General Gadiel and Farruko. A Best New Artist nominees medley will feature Aneeka, Pablo López and Mariana Vega.

The show will also feature performances by leading nominees Calle 13, Juanes, J Balvin, Person of the Year Joan Manuel Serrat and other stars.

Meanwhile, Enrique Iglesias, Descemer Bueno and Gente De Zona will perform their massive hit song “Bailando” live from Europe, where they are currently on tour.

A total of twenty performances are scheduled for the fifteenth Latin Grammy Awards, which will be broadcast live on Univision on November 20 at 8:00 pm ET.

Confirmed to present awards are current nominees Jorge Drexler and Prince Royce; as well as actor Daniel Arenas, actress Eiza Gonzalez, Latin Grammy winner Natalia Jiménez, singer/songwriter Joaquin Sabina, and actress Roselyn Sanchez.

Visitante Leads the Pack of Latin Grammy Nominees with 10

It’s a perfect ten for Eduardo Cabra

The Puerto Rican reggaetón singer has picked up 10 Latin Grammy nominations to lead the pack of honorees this year.

Eduardo Cabra

Cabra, commonly known “Visitante,” earned nine nominations with his stepbrother and fellow Calle 13 member René Pérez, known as “Residente.” He earned his tenth nod of the year for Producer of the Year his work as a producer on Jorge Drexler’s album Todo Cae.

Calle 13’s nominations include Record of the Year, for their single “Respira El Momento;” Album of the Year for MultiViral; and Song of the Year for their track “Ojos Color Sol” with Silvio Rodríguez.

Since 2006, when they took home the Best New Artist award, Calle 13 has won 19 Latin Grammys.

Meanwhile, Andres Castro earned eight. Tom Coyne received seven, Julio Reyes Copello and Carlos Vives each received six nominations, and Descemer Bueno and Enrique Iglesias were next with five nods each.

In the running for best new artist are Aneeka, Linda Briceno, Caloncho, Julio Cesar, Pablo Lopez, Miranda, Periko & Jessi Leen, Daniela Spalla, Juan Pablo Vega and Mariana Vega.

This year’s Latin Grammy Awards will broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The ceremony will air on the Univision from 8:00 – 11:00 pm ET.

Click here to see the complete list of nominees.