The most important moments of the program, surprises and more

In it Latin Grammy Awards first year in Spain, it was only fitting that Catalan singer Rosalía began the 24th annual ceremony with a flamenco ballad.

With an orchestra of percussionists as support, Rosalía offered a moving performance of Spanish singer Rocío Jurado’s 1985 song, “Se Nos Rompió El Amor.” A flamenco student, Rosalía was able to show her talents in a powerful tribute to the genre with which she began her global career. Theirs was the first of many featured performances Thursday night where Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking artists from across the Latino diaspora gathered to celebrate.

That same night, the night’s top nominee, singer-songwriter and producer Edgar Barrera, had taken home the Latin Grammy for composer of the year. Barrera is also nominated in the same category (non-classical) at the upcoming 2024 Grammys. Later he gave his first televised performance playing the keytar of Camilo’s “Pegao” alongside Colombian singer IZA and Manuel Carrasco.

Several artists shared the stage, including some unlikely pairings like Jaunes and Rauw Alejandro. The “Vida Cotidiana” singer brought electric guitar to Alejandro’s “Baby Hello” in a three-song medley that began with Alejandro covering Person of the Year Laura Pausini’s “Se Fue.” With Rauw singing the song’s emotional lyrics (“She’s gone, the smell of her hair is gone / The murmur of her silence is gone”), speculation surrounding her sudden breakup with her husband ex-fiancee Rosalía was palpable.

Other artists were more interested in celebrating their breakups. Shakira, who took home the award for song of the year alongside Bizarrap with her post-breakup anthem “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53.” She performed the single with the Argentine producer that same night after singing her song of the year nominee “Acróstico.” The song features her two sons, Milan and Sasha, who were sitting in the audience but had pre-recorded videos of her verses to show on the show.

Pausini, the third female artist to be crowned Person of the Year behind Gloria Estefan and Shakira, surprised the crowd with a set of her biggest songs: “Durar,” “La Soledad,” Viveme” and “En Cambio No.” .” After a great ovation, Karol G surprised Pausini with her award and told the Italian singer that “your lyrics have transmitted messages of love, of nostalgia, of life, powerful messages that have left unfathomable marks in the world of music.” ”.

The Latin Grammys also highlighted new talent, such as this year’s best new artist nominees, some of whom sang backup vocals for Juanes’ performance. Argentinian María Becerra’s expansive voice led to one of the evening’s most captivating musical moments when she sang “Amigos” with one of the evening’s top nominees, Pablo Alborán, before launching into her own “ojala.”

Eslabón Armado and Peso Pluma also joined forces to give the first televised presentation of their hit “Ella Baila Sola.” He Mexican music The artists’ relationship was a bit rocky once the song became popular, which helped propel Peso Pluma to become the first Mexican act to perform on late-night television in the United States, without Eslabón. However, the singers seem to have put the past behind them, as it was all smiles on stage.

The show ended on a high note when Karol G won her third and biggest award of the night, album of the year, for her record “Mañana Se Bonito.” The album also won in the category of best urban music and Karol was happy: “How great that a woman wins this award?!”

This time, fighting back tears, this year’s star of Latin music told the audience: “This album changed my life and it’s incredible that it has changed the lives of so many people. Thank you all. Universal who supported me in the process of this album. Thank you all, seriously.”

Thus, the biggest night of Latin music came to an end around 2:00 am in Spain. Back in the United States, the three-hour ceremony will premiere at 8 pm Eastern on Univision, UniMás and Galavisión.