LOS ANGELES -
Christina Aguilera and Ricky
Martin won Latin Grammys on Tuesday at a press conference announcing the winners of the second annual awards, which had been scheduled to take place on
September 11. Mi Reflejo, Aguilera's Spanish language album, was named Best Female Pop Vocal Album, while Martin's "
She Bangs" was named Best
Music Video.
Aguilera was scheduled to co-host the press conference with actor Jimmy Smits, but she was kept at home by the flu, organizers said. Smits accepted her trophy and read a statement from the singer that thanked the Latin Recording Academy for its support.
Wayne Isham, director of the "She Bangs" video, accepted the Best Music Video award. "Ricky really kicks ass when he's up there," Isham said. "And he taught me that it's all about music. And music will keep us all together." Tuesday's press conference marked the end of a long road for the Latin Grammys. The ceremony was first scheduled to be held in Miami, but just three weeks before show time the Latin Recording Academy moved the ceremony to Los Angeles because of concerns that anti-Castro protesters would disrupt the show (see "").
The ceremony was then canceled on the day of the show because of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.
At Tuesday's press conference, held at the Conga Room club, the Latin Recording Academy showed a five-minute video chronicling preparations for the ceremony that never happened, including rehearsal footage of scheduled performers Destiny's Child and Marc Anthony.
Alejandro Sanz, who was to perform with Destiny's Child, was the big winner, taking home awards for Album of the Year and Best Pop Male Vocal Album for El Alma Al Aire, and Record of the Year and Song of the Year for the album's title song.
The Spanish singer's next album, recorded earlier this year at an "Unplugged" concert for MTV Latin, is due November 20, according to his spokesperson. El Alma Al Aire, his fifth record, sold more than a million copies in its first week of release in Spain.
Sanz recently collaborated with Michael Jackson and others on the Spanish version of his new benefit single, "What More Can I Give". KC Porter, who produced the song, won the Latin Grammy for Producer of the Year. Tuesday's other big winner was Colombian rocker Juanes, who won two awards, including Best New Artist. Juanes was the only artist to perform at the press conference, singing a scaled down version of his "Amor Eterno," which earned a Best Rock Song trophy for songwriter Fijate Bien.
Many of the winners addressed the September 11 attacks and talked about using music as a tool for healing. Comedian Paul Rodriguez, who stepped in for Aguilera as co-host, told the audience of mostly reporters and performers that you can be arrested in Afghanistan for playing music. "That's the kind of people [the Taliban] are," he said. "We should bomb them with old Hanson records."
A complete list of winners is available at www.top40-charts.com
