New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Latin Grammys: Camilo is top contender with 10 nominations
Camilo won his first Latin Grammy Award last year and could soon have many more in his hands: The Colombian singersongwriter of hits like “Tutu” and “Favorito” received a leading 10 nominations Tuesday, including song of the year and record of the year, for “Vida de Rico,” and album of the year for “Mis Manos” (My Hands).
Dominican maestro Juan Luis Guerra followed him with six nominations, and Spanish rapper C. Tangana received five. Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, who triumphed last week at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, garnered four nominations Tuesday.
“I am so happy! I am very proud, but I am just the face . ... These nominations are for a lot of people who have been working with me to make all these productions, this album ‘Mis Manos,’ ” Camilo told The Associated Press in a phone interview from London, where he landed moments before from Barcelona to continue his European tour.
The Latin Grammy Awards, in its 22nd year, will return to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas after being held last year in Miami without an audience because of the pandemic. The gala will be aired live on Univision on Nov. 18, shortly after the “Premiere” — a livestreamed event in which most of the trophies will be handed out.
The general categories include 10 or more nominees each from a variety of music genres and nationalities. The presence of female artists, however, is quite limited in the three main ones.
The coveted best new artist award has a slight majority of female contenders, with six out of 11. The candidates are Giulia Be, María Becerra, Bizarrap, Boza, Zoe Gotusso, Humbe, Rita Indiana, Lasso, Paloma Mami, Marcos Mares and Jualiana Velásquez.
Two English speaking superstars made the list this year: The Weeknd, in the best urban fusion/performance category for the remix of Maluma’s “Hawái,” and Selena Gomez for the music video of “De Una Vez,” her Spanish hit released last January that has collected more than 82 million views on YouTube.
This year’s nominees were selected from more than 20,000 online entries in 53 categories and represent artists who posted recordings during the eligibility period, from June 1, 2020, to May 31, 2021.