Shakira, Calle 13 shine in Latin Grammy Awards
From Daniel Trotta

NEW YORK—Colombian bombshell Shakira and reggaeton newcomers Calle 13 of Puerto Rico dominated the seventh annual Latin Grammy Awards on Thursday in a show celebrating music from throughout the Americas and Spain.
Shakira won five of the six Latin Grammys for which she was nominated and held centre stage throughout the ceremony at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Her album “Fijacion Oral Vol. 1” captured album of the year and best female pop vocal album, and the single “La Tortura” won record of the year and song of the year.
“Fijacion Oral Vol. 1” also won best engineered album, with credit going to several engineers.
“All the Latinos here, just as I did back when, they have a dream. All they need, as Juan Luis Guerra says, is a visa for a dream,” Shakira said upon receiving one of her trophies, citing the Dominican singer’s single, “A Visa for a Dream.”
Calle 13 symbolized the spectacular rise of reggaeton, a Latin form of hip-hop that has become enormously popular with young listeners.
The duo of half brothers Rene Perez, better known as “Residente,” and Eduardo Cabra, or “Visitante,” captured awards for best urban music album for the debut record “Calle 13,” best new artist, and best short form music video for “Atrevete Te, Te!”
Residente said he was surprised backstage upon winning the first award, when Calle 13 beat Shakira in the category of best short form music video.
“I was looking for a beer,” he said.
The show started with a medley performed by a gyrating Shakira accompanied by Spain’s Alejandro Sanz, who played guitar and sang along with her on a version of “La Tortura” more tame than that of the sizzling video.
But there was plenty of spice in the show. At one point, a female dancer licked the face of Mexican superstar Thalia during a performance of Thalia’s “Seduccion.”
The crowd came alive when Mexican group Mana shared the stage with Guerra, who later said he might tour with Mana.
Puerto Rican star Ricky Martin, who was honoured as the Latin Grammy’s person of the year for his campaign against trafficking in prostituted children, punctuated a rousing performance by warning, “To those traffickers, we are at war.”
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg made a grand entrance, following a bevy of dancers in red dresses. He even tried out his beginner Spanish on the crowd, saying “I, too, love New York and Latin music.”
The awards honoured recordings released from April 2005 through June 2006 and featured 47 prizes this year, honouring numerous music forms including Tejano, flamenco, merengue, rock, classical and distinct Mexican and Brazilian styles.
Artists stood up for their genres, fueling a debate about whether new music like reggaeton or old favourites like salsa were underrepresented.
“Salsa has enough merit and stature to have its own awards,” said Gilberto Santa Rosa, who won best salsa album for “Directo al Corazon.”
“There are very good engineers and producers who are unknown and deserve to be recognized,” he told reporters. Calle 13 was the only reggaeton act to win.
“Reggaeton suffered a lot of prejudice at the start, just like hip-hop, and now it is among the best music,” said Tego Calderon, a Puerto Rican singer of reggaeton who presented one of the awards.