The 24th annual Latin Grammy Awards took place on Thursday night in Seville (Andalusia) – the first time the ceremony has been held outside of the USA. It boasted a star-studded show with performances from nominees Rosalía, Shakira and Laura Pausini.
The top award went to Karol G’s Mañana será bonito, which was crowned best album of the year and best urban music album.
Song of the year and best pop song were awarded to Argentine producer Bizarrap for his tune Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53, a collaboration with the famous Colombian singer Shakira, that made headlines as a frank diss track to her ex Gerard Piqué. ALSO READ: Shakira takes a dig at ex Gerard Piqué and new girlfriend in leaked song.
Shakira, who attended the ceremony accompanied by her two children, Milan and Sasha, said that she wanted to dedicate the award to them ‘because I have promised them that I am going to be happy’.
Natalia Lafourcade, who holds the title for most Latin Grammys in history, added more awards to her list with record of the year. Her song De Todas las Flores won best singer-songwriter song as well, pushing Lafourcade’s Latin Grammy award total to 17 – the most for any female artist.
Relocating the awards ceremony to Seville for the first time meant that flamenco was present throughout the entire night.
It was on display from the opening, with Rosalía, who returned to her origins to offer her version of Se nos muerte el amor, by Rocío Jurado, to the musical number by Andrea Bocelli who performed Granada, and the performance of Corazón partío by Alejandro Sanz, who was accompanied by 30 flamenco dancers.
But the Seville setting hasn’t been without controversy. The move to outside the USA is due to a three-year sponsorship deal with the Andalusian government. For many South American artists, though, the move represents a continuation of a preference for Spanish-language music over Latin music.
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