By Jenny Grafiada
The 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, was definitely very Latin: multi-colored, exuberant, emotional, and bursting with love and Latin pride. Except for the multiple two or three minute commercial breaks, which were handy for bathroom trips and stealing a closer, serendipitously empty seat, the Awards show -- for those who were there en persona as well as for those watching it on TV -- was an explosion of color and sound and succeeded in being a sublime celebration of Latin music.
The show effectively portrayed a contemporary and well-rounded view of the Latin music scene by incorporating “non-Latin” elements while still keeping a fiercely hispanophile attitude. As Ricky Martin put it, in Spanish: “We have to speak Spanish. We can’t stop speaking Spanish. We have to learn English, but Spanish is our language and we have to keep speaking it.”
Alongside the mariachi band of Pepe Aguilar, indigenous Colombian dancers, and Martin himself (the quintessential embodiment of Latin pop culture and a favorite of both sexes), were Folies Bergerie Vegas showgirls, tap dancers in tuxes (odd, but true), the Blue Man Group, STOMP, and an appearance from Andrea Bocelli (his talent is not overrated, by the way). In addition to the traditional Latin music genres of romantic ballads, reggaeton, ranchera and norteno music were Western genres such as Indie Rock, pop, and jazz as well as a plethora of genre fusions and musical innovations. A rising generation is replacing the J.Los and Marc Anthonys of the past, with nominees including newcomers such as the 22-year old Alejandra Alberti and the brother-sister duo Jesse and Joy.
My personal favorite performances were Ricky Martin’s show-opener song, dance, and paint-flinging extravaganza with Blue Man Group and Calle 13’s performance with STOMP, which had so much going on and was so entertaining I want to watch it again on YouTube.
The energy, both on the stage and in the audience, could have lit up the Strip. Latin people really do have some serious pasión. Their love for their “kings” of music, Ricky Martin, Daddy Yankee and Juan Luis Guerra, and their “queens,” Ivy Queen, Gloria Estefan and Natalia Jimenez, is pure adoration. They also have a flair for exhibitionism -- the men radiated a masculine beauty in crisply cut cream suits and impeccably styled hair, while the women indulged in flamboyant eye makeup and skin-tight lamé dresses that made JLo’s “scandalous” 1997 Oscar gown look commonplace. Ricky Martin sported an attention-arresting faux-hawk and reggaeton rappers Wisin y Yandel wouldn’t take off their shades for a second. Everyone was tan, dolled up, and spectacular.
The audience gave multiple standing ovations, laughed, cried and screamed, and a feeling of love -- for music, life, eachother, their favorite artists, and all things Latin -- prevailed. Said Residente of Calle 13 in his acceptance speech for Best Urban Music Album: “Todos somos Latinos y somos residentes aquí. Nadie nos va a poner una muralla en el medio” (“We are all Latins and we are all residents here. No one can put up a wall.”).
If you weren’t there but saw the broadcast, you saw things that I didn’t, namely all the winners’ and performers’ facial features. But if you were there, you got to admire the elegant, beautiful, dignified attendees as they entered the Mandalay Bay Event Center and overhear their aurally delicious Spanish-only conversations. And if you were there but don’t speak Spanish, you may have felt a little put off because the entire event was how Ricky Martin would have liked it, todo en espanol. Nevertheless, you surely still sensed the overpowering feeling of love for Latin music and culture that filled the event center ... but even if you were at home watching the broadcast, I would think it was strong enough to reach your living room.