Billboard Latin Music Awards 2011

Last night we watched the 2011 Latin Music Billboard Awards, a star-studded event that kept us on the edge of our seats. Enrique Iglesias not only opened the show but took home several awards. He was nominated in fourteen categories and won 9! Iglesias' wins included Latin Artist of the Year, Latin Album of the Year and Latin Pop Album of the Year. His album "Euphoria" spawned several big hits, including "Cuando Me Enamoro" (featuring Juan Luis Guerra), which won Hot Latin Song of the Year, Vocal Event and Latin Pop Airplay Song of the Year. Enrique also won the award for Hot Latin Songs Artist of the Year Male and Top Latin Albums Artist of the Year, Male, for his sales.

Enrique Iglesias is an incredibly talented artist who has done very well this past year and obviously has a huge following and an amazing fan base. Below is the video where he won Male Artist of the Year.



Another superstar who walked away with six awards was Shakira. We all know how hard she worked this past year and how much her fans love her. Shakira won Latin Pop Airplay Artist of the Year, Solo and Hot Latin Songs Artist of the Year Female,and Top Latin Albums Artist of the Year, Female, for sales of her album "Sale el Sol." "Sale El Sol" also won Latin Digital Album of the year while "Waka Waka," the Shakira track featuring Freshlyground was the Latin Digital Download of the Year. Shakira also won Female Latin Artist of the Year, based on performance on Billboard's Social 50 chart.

Prince Royce won 4 awards, including Latin Artist of the Year, meanwhile Aventura, Camila, Daddy Yankee and Juan Luis Guerra received three awards. One of my favorite stars, the amazing Chayanne, won Latin Touring Artist of the Year. In my opinion I think his talent should have won him all three awards that he was nominated for, but unfortunately he only won one. A special award was given to Gloria Estefan, Spirit of Hope Award, which was created in honor of Selena. This award is given to artists who have tirelessly given their time to civic, community and humanitarian causes. Gloria is known for her music all over the world and takes pride in her Gloria Estefan Foundation which helps abused children and raises money to provide scholarship and help cover costly health related expenses.

Emmanuel received the Billboard Lifetime Achievement Award. He has been singing for the past 35 years and is a very talented singer and songwriter. His continued success has opened many doors for many Latin newcomers through the years. Over the years, Emmanuel has received numerous awards including the Silver trophy (Antorcha de Plata) at Viña del Mar, Chile, and seven gold and two platinum albums. He has also been involved in many projects to benefit the environment and other causes.

I also enjoyed the performances by Maná’s who debuted their new single Lluvia al orazón,” and Juanes with his song “Regalito,” and who can forget the incredible dance collaboration between Pitbull, Jencarlos Canela and rapper T-Pain.

The 2011 Billboard Latin Music Awards was a very entertaining show that delivered the very best in the Latin music world at this moment. Unfortunately many of your favorites and mine didn't win last night but we all know that in our hearts they will always be winners. I think that just getting nominated is a huge honor and there is always next year.

For a complete list of all the winners please visit the official Billboard website at www.billboard.com

Peace and Love ;-)