By: Maeve McDermott
The Latin Grammy awards return Thursday to the Las Vegas Strip for the city’s 11th year in a row hosting the event, which broadcasts live on Univision Thursday.
The annual awards show recognizes the achievements of musicians around the world in 49 categories dedicated to Spanish- or Portuguese-language recordings, as voted on by Latin Recording Academy members from over 40 countries worldwide.
This year, to better reflect the awards’ international scope, the Latin Grammys increased the number of nominees in the night’s top categories — song of the year, record of the year, album of the year and best new artist — from five names to 10, resulting in one of the most groups of potential winners in the telecast’s history.
Read on for everything you need to know about the 2018 awards, including how to watch the show, the night’s top nominees and the eclectic list of performers.
How to watch
The Latin Grammys will air live at 8:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, Nov. 15, via the Univision Network.
Who is nominated
Colombian star J Balvin leads the pack of Latin Grammy nominees with eight nods, including his hits “Mi Gente” feat. Willy William — which Beyoncé famously jumped on a remix of as a charity single — and “X” feat. Nicky Jam for record of the year, with his 2018 album “Vibras” up for album of the year. Balvin’s “Mi Gente” remix with Beyoncé is nominated separately in the best urban fusion/performance category.
Rosalía, a Spanish singer bringing her modern take on flamenco to listeners, is the night’s second most-recognized name with five nominations for her song “Malamente,” including in the song and record of the year categories.
Performers with four nominations include singer-songwriters El David Aguilar, Jorge Drexler, Kany García and Natalia Lafourcade, and producers Mauricio Rengifo and Andres Torres. Pablo Alborán, Monsieur Periné and Nicky Jam, among others, got three each.
Who is performing
The night’s top nominee, J Balvin, is among the artists who will perform during the awards, with Will Smith, Marc Anthony and Bad Bunny bringing their song “Esta Rico” to the stage as the night’s opening act.
Other names including Halsey and the Latin Recording Academy’s person of the year, the band Maná, will perform, along with Ángela Aguilar, Pablo Alborán, El David Aguilar, Jorge Drexler, Kany García, Karol G, Maná, Mon Laferte, Natalia Lafourcade, Victor Manuelle, Banda Los Recoditos, Carlos Vives, and Sebastián Yatra.
Related: Here are the powerhouse openers for the 2018 Latin Grammys
Source: USA Today
