The annual celebration of the Latin Billboards, set for April 27, will again bring together artists from all kinds of different genres and make people dance in Miami, still the world capital of Latin music.
“We’ll welcome nearly 100 artists and 200 members of the media to this prestigious award ceremony, broadcast live for three hours throughout the Americas and reaching an audience of about 30 million,” said Luis Silberwasser, president of Telemundo Network, Studios and Universo Channel.
The Latin Billboards each year draw more than 50 media organizations to cover the event and watch the performances by musicians and singers from throughout Latin America and Europe, including many from Mexico, Colombia and Puerto Rico. Participants rent an estimated 1,600 hotel rooms during the week of the event.
The 18th presentation of the Latin Billboards will be held at the Watsco Center at the University of Miami, where an estimated 4,500 people will see performers who are dominating the music scene like Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, J Balvin, CNCO and Nicky Jam.
Popular genres like urban music, Mexican regional, pop and tropical will fill the arena as actress Kate del Castillo and singer Carlos Ponce host the three-hour show.
“I’ve already worked on some projects with Kate. She’s a very lively and spontaneous person, and I am sure that we’ll be a good match as hosts,” said Ponce, who participated in previous Billboard shows and knows their importance for Hispanics and the city of Miami.
“It’s very important that we have our own show, and that we do it big because our music is not only Latin music, it’s world music,” he said.
Previous years have seen artists like Jessica Simpson, Ne-Yo, T-Pain, Alicia Keys, Carlos Santana and Celine Dion perform at the Latin Billboards, taking advantage of the platform to reach the huge audiences around the Hispanic world.
No one understands that better than Latin artists like Ricardo Arjona, who is showcasing a new album this year, “Circo Soledad,” that took him two months to record — including periods of 27 straight hours of work and production in five countries.
“There were many events in my personal and social life that undoubtedly influenced the creative process for this album,” said Arjona, who will receive the Billboard Award for Career Achievements for his 30 years in music industry, sales of 40 million records, his social conscience and his song writing.
Arjona said even the top artists take advantage of the platform offered by the Latin Billboards to debut or promote their albums.
“I believe that good songs can stand by themselves, but you have to give them a little push at the start,” he added. “And there are platforms where you go, precisely to give them that first push so that they can move on and stand by themselves. That’s what it’s about.”
The awards will be broadcast by Telemundo starting at 8 p.m. April 27.
