2022 Latin Grammy Awards: 5 things to watch for

At Thursday’s Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas, all eyes will be on one artist who won’t be attending the ceremony: Bad Bunny.

The Puerto Rican superstar, who is set to perform in Medellín that night as part of his global stadium tour, leads this year’s field with 10 nominations, including album of the year for his record-breaking LP Un Verano Sin Ti. 13 weeks at the top of the Billboard 200. Other top nominees include Édgar Barrera, Rosalía, Rauw Alejandro, Christina Aguilera and Camilo.

The 23rd Latin Grammys, broadcast live on Univision, will be hosted by Luis Fonsi, Laura Pausini, Thalía and Anitta, with performances by nominees such as Aguilera, Alejandro, Gente de Zona, Karol G, Aymée Nuviola, Rosalía and Romeo Santos, Carlos Vives and Sebastián Yatra – as well as the newcomers Silvana Estrada and Carin León.

Both the old guard of Latin music and its burgeoning avant-garde are honored; The ages of the first-time nominees range from 15 (regional Mexican artist Yahritza Martinez) to 94 (Cuban singer Angela Álvarez).

Here are five things to watch out for on Thursday:

1. Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Bunny?
The global pop dynamo has previously won four Latin Grammys in the reggaetón and urban categories, but never before in a category known as the general category: Album, Song and Record of the Year and Best New Artist. This year he’s nominated for both Album of the Year and Record of the Year for “Ojitos Lindos,” his collaborative pop lullaby with Colombian duo Bomba Estéreo.

Quiet_, He faces an impressive group of institutional favorites who have multiple wins in these categories: Jorge Drexler, Alejandro Sanz, Juan Luis Guerra, Carlos Vives and Shakira. He also goes up against his colleague Rosalía, who caused massive uproar when her LP El Mal Querer won Album of the Year in 2019. Now her acclaimed 2022 LP “Motomami” is also nominated.

2. The “Person of the Year” in the sold-out SoFi Stadium. Twice.
After a nearly 25-year hiatus, the Los Bukis reunion in 2021 made for one of the hottest tickets of the summer in Los Angeles – the Grupera band sold out faster than the Rolling Stones on their last outing at SoFi. As the 2022 Person of the Year award winner, Los Bukis frontman Marco Antonio Solís will perform a medley of the band’s classics dating back to 1975, as well as his own hits as a solo act, on Thursday night’s show. “Our band has been through many marriages and divorces,” Solís told The Times in 2021. “It moves me to know that the music survived everything.”

3. Team USA at the Latin Grammys?
Aside from the astronomical number of talented honorees from Puerto Rico, a US territory with its own national identity, this year’s artists and producers from across the continental United States will be making waves. While English-language stars John Legend and Elvis Costello are slated to perform during the live broadcast, others are being nominated for the first time.

Chic bassist Nile Rogers faces what could be his first Latin Grammy for his song “Agua” alongside Puerto Rican reggaetón idols Daddy Yankee and Rauw Alejandro. Producers Pharrell Williams and Noah Goldstein, who helped create Rosalía’s “Motomami,” are credited with their work on her 2021 single “La Fama,” which features some Spanish-language vocals courtesy of Canadian hitmaker the, for the record of the year weekend. Nominated for their collaborative single “Pa’ Mis Muchachas” or “For My Girls,” Ecuadorian-American pop icon Christina Aguilera and LA-born pop star Becky G will also be battling it out for record of the year, a category unmatched US The born artist – again outside of Puerto Rico – has won before.

4. TikTok is flexing its muscles.
In the five years since its international launch, viral video app TikTok has transformed the music industry, going from a tech novelty for teenagers to a necessity in every artist’s marketing plan. One notable TikTok success story is that of Washington-area Mexican trio Yahritza Y Su Esencia, who were nominated in the Best New Artist category and launched their career on the platform with their 2022 hit “Soy El Unico.” Meanwhile, Rosalía’s live performance of “Motomami” on TikTok is the first TikTok and first vertical video to be nominated for a Latin Grammy in the Long Form Music Video category.

5. Latin icons gone but not forgotten.
It would be downright shocking if Thursday night’s show failed to honor the legacy of Vicente Fernández, the Mexican king of Ranchera and beloved staple of many Latin Grammys ceremonies. Fernandez passed away on December 12, less than a month after the 2021 awards show. Others we hope will be remembered during the broadcast include founding singer of Los Lobos Francisco González and Brazilian soul singer and luminary of the Tropicália Movement of the 1960s, Gal Costa.