As we all probably know by now, Latinos were a huge success at the Grammys. Jennifer Lopez started off the evening by shocking everyone with her revealing dress. Christina Aguilera was caught by surprise when she won an award for Best New Artist. Chris Perez, Selena's widower, picked up an award for best Latin rock performance. Tito Puente, the veteran of salsa, won an award for Best Tropical Performance and Ruben Blades took the award for Latin pop. But the biggest winner of them all was definitely Carlos Santana. Santana walked away with 8 Academy Awards including Record of the Year, tying the record of Michael Jackson.
Of course, we're used to seeing Latinos win in the Latin music categories such as salsa or Tejano music, but this year it seemed that more Latinos were also contenders in many so-called "mainstream" categories; for example Marc Anthony and Ricky Martin were both nominated for best male pop vocalist. Jimmy Smits and Christina Aguilera introduced a special segment featuring both of these singers in a tribute to Latin music but the segment proved troublesome to some. According to an LA Times article, some artists thought the segment smacked of segregation, which could only intensify in September when the first Latin Music Grammy Awards will be held.
I guess the main point is just because an artist is Latino doesn't mean they will always sing in Spanish or dance a salsa tune. The prime example of this is Christina Aguilera, who was ironically enough the cover girl for Hispanic Magazine's March 2000 issue with the caption "Latin Pop: Is It a Fad?" underneath her picture. Aguilera, whose album is completely in English and who is virtually indistinguishable in style from Brittany Spears, may be part Latina but that doesn't necessarily follow that she should be placed in the Latin music genre.
The new awards ceremony, which will be held in Los Angeles later this year, promises to expand its traditional categories of Latin music to include categories such as tango and flamenco. With so many awards shows, this one should be just one more opportunity for artists to perform and be recognized for their achievements so it should be interesting to see on what note this plays out...
What do you think? Should there be a separate ceremony for Latin music? Send your feedback to:marcela2000@earthlink.net
Miss the grammys? Check out their website at:42nd Annual Grammy Awards