Many Find Their Political Voices at Latin Grammys Leila Cobo - Billboard
go to original November 23, 2014

Residente of Calle 13 performs during the 15th annual Latin GRAMMY Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on November 20, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Kevin Winter/WireImage)

It was admittedly a bizarre sight. Thousands of elegantly attired people, including some of Latin music’s biggest stars, sitting at an arena in Las Vegas on Nov. 20 for what was supposed to be the 15th annual Latin Grammy awards.

Instead, they were watching President Barack Obama’s speech detailing his new immigration policy.

By the time he was done some 15 minutes later, the tenor of the Latin Grammys had changed from merely entertaining and competitive to thought-provoking and intriguing. As in, who’s going to say what next?

Enrique Iglesias got right down to it in the very first acceptance speech, remotely broadcast from Paris.

"Tonight is not only an historic night for all Latino artists, but for all Latinos who live in the United States," Iglesias said.

Immediately after, Calle 13 opened the show with their subversive “El Aguante” (“We put up with capitalism, communism, socialism, feudalism we even put up with stupidism. We put up with the guilty when he pretends to be innocent, we put up every year with our f--- president,” rapped Rene Perez.

Midway through the song, he took off his jacket to reveal a black T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Ayotzinapa, 43 missing,” an allusion to the 43 students from Ayotzinapa, Mexico, who have disappeared and are presumed killed.

“We are all Ayotzinapa, we can’t allow this to go on today,” Perez said after his performance.

Read the rest at Billboard

Now, the winners (E! Entertainment)

• 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

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