Miguel: This Year’s Leading Latino Grammy Nominee

Move over Bruno Mars… There’s a new Grammy darling this awards season, and his name is Miguel.

The 27-year-old half-Mexican American R&B singer/songwriter is this year’s most-nominated Latino artist, picking up five Grammy nods during The Grammy Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown to Music’s Biggest Night.

Miguel

Miguel – a previous nominee in 2011 for Best R&B Single – is up for one of the biggest prizes atthe 55th Annual Grammy Awards, Song of the Year for his smash single “Adorn,” which has dominated the Billboard charts. He’s up against Ed Sheeran’s “The A Team,” Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe,” Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” and Fun.’s “We Are Young.”

Miguel’s other nominations include Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance for “Adorn,” Best Urban Contemporary Album for “Kaleidoscope Dream” and Best Rap Song for his collaboration with Wale on “Lotus Flower Bomb.”

Meanwhile, the Latina who beat Justin Bieber for Best New Artist in 2011, Esperanza Spalding, is the other Hispanic artist to receive a whole lotta Grammy love this year.

The 28-year-old part-Hispanic singer is nominated for three awards for her music related to her latest album Radio Music Society: Best Jazz Vocal Album, Best Long Form Video, Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s).

The 55th Annual Grammy Awards will be held Sunday, February 10, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and air live on CBS from 8:00-11:30 pm ET.

Here’s a look at all the categories featuring a Latino/a artist:

Song of the Year

Ed Sheeran, “The A Team”
Carly Rae Jepsen, “Call Me Maybe”
Miguel, “Adorn”
Kelly Clarkson, “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You”)
Fun., “We Are Young

Best R&B Performance

Estelle, “Thank You”
Robert Glasper Experiment Featuring Ledisi, “Gonna Be Alright (F.T.B.)”
Luke James,” I Want You”
Miguel, “Adorn”
Usher, “Climax”

Best R&B Song

Miguel Pimentel, songwriter, “Adorn” (Miguel)
Tamia Hill, Claude Kelly & Salaam Remi, songwriters, “Beautiful Surprise” (Tamia)
Benjamin Levin, Rico Love & Tremaine Neverson, songwriters, “Heart Attack” (Trey Songz)
Antonio Dixon, Kenny Edmonds, Anthony Hamilton & Patrick “jQue” Smith, songwriters, “Pray For Me” (Anthony Hamilton)
Darhyl “DJ” Camper, Elle Varner & Andrew “Pop” Wansel, songwriters, “Refill”  (Elle Varner)

Best Urban Contemporary Album

Chris Brown, Fortune
Miguel, Kaleidoscope Dream
Frank Ocean, Channel Orange

Best Rap Song

Nasir Jones & Ernest Wilson, songwriters (Patrick Adams, Gary DeCarlo, Dale Frashuer & Paul Leka, songwriters), “Daughters” (Nas)
Olubowale Akintimehin, S. Joseph Dew, Jerrin Howard, Walker Johnson & Miguel Jontel Pimentel, songwriters, “Lotus Flower Bomb” (Wale Featuring Miguel)
Sean Anderson, Tauheed Epps, Stephan Taft, James Thomas, Terrence Thornton & Kanye West, songwriters (Denzie Beagle, Winston Riley & Reggie Williams, songwriters), “Mercy” (Kanye West Featuring Big Sean, Pusha T & 2 Chainz)
Dwayne Carter, Aubrey Graham & Tyler Williams, songwriters, “The Motto”  (Drake Featuring Lil’ Wayne)
Shawn Carter, Mike Dean, Chauncey Hollis & Kanye West, songwriters (W.A. Donaldson, songwriter), “N****s In Paris” (Jay-Z & Kanye West)
Calvin Broadus, Chris Brody Brown, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine, Peter Hernandez & Cameron Thomaz, songwriters (T. Bluechel, M. Borrow, T. Griffin, K. Jackson, N. Lee & M. Newman, songwriters), “Young, Wild & Free” (Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa Featuring Bruno Mars)

Best Jazz Vocal Album

Denise Donatelli, Soul Shadows
Kurt Elling, 1619 Broadway: The Brill Building Project
Al Jarreau (And The Metropole Orkest), Live
Luciana Souza, The Book Of Chet
Esperanza Spalding, Radio Music Society

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album

Gil Evans Project, Centennial: Newly Discovered Works Of Gil Evans
Bob Mintzer Big Band, For The Moment
Arturo Sandoval, Dear Diz (Every Day I Think Of You)

Best Latin Jazz Album

Chano Domínguez, Flamenco Sketches
The Clare Fischer Latin Jazz Big Band, ¡Ritmo!
Bobby Sanabria Big Band, Multiverse
Luciana Souza, Duos III
Manuel Valera New Cuban Express, New Cuban Express

Best Latin Pop Album

Ricardo Arjona, Independiente
Fonseca, Ilusión
Kany Garcia, Kany Garcia
Jesse Y Joy, ¿Con Quién Se Queda El Perro?
Juanes, MTV Unplugged Deluxe Edition

Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album

Campo, Campo
Carla Morrison, Déjenme Llorar
Quetzal, Imaginaries
Sistema Bomb, Electro-Jarocho
Ana Tijoux, La Bala

Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano)

Lila Downs, Pecados Y Milagros
Los Cojolites, Sembrando Flores
Los Tucanes De Tijuana, 365 Días
Mariachi Divas De Cindy Shea, Oye
Gerardo Ortiz, El Primer Ministro

Best Tropical Latin Album

Raúl Lara Y Sus Soneros, Cubano Soy
Eddie Montalvo, Desde Nueva York A Puerto Rico
Marlow Rosado Y La Riqueña, Retro
Romeo Santos, Formula Vol. 1

Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)

Thara Memory & Esperanza Spalding, arrangers, “City Of Roses” (Esperanza Spalding)
Gil Evans, arranger, “Look To The Rainbow” (Gil Evans Project and Luciana Souza)
Shelly Berg, arranger, “Out There” (Lorraine Feather)
Vince Mendoza, arranger, “Spain (I Can Recall)” (Al Jarreau And The Metropole Orkest)
Nan Schwartz, arranger, “Wild Is The Wind” (Whitney Claire Kaufman And Andrew Playfoot)

Best Classical Instrumental Solo

András Schiff, Bach: Das Wohltemperierte Clavier
Jory Vinikour, The Complete Harpsichord Works Of Rameau
Claudio Cruz, conductor; Antonio Meneses (Northern Sinfonia), Gál & Elgar: Cello Concertos
Hansjörg Albrecht, Holst: The Planets
Kim Kashkashian, Kurtág & Ligeti: Music For Viola

Best Contemporary Classical Composition

Stephen Hartke, composer, Hartke, Stephen: Meanwhile – Incidental Music To Imaginary Puppet Plays (Eighth Blackbird)
Tania León, composer, León, Tania: Inura For Voices, Strings & Percussion (Tania León, Son Sonora Voices, DanceBrazil Percussion & Son Sonora Ensemble)
Ugis Praulins, composer, Nightingale (Stephen Layton, Michala Petri & Danish National Vocal Ensemble)
Einojuhani Rautavaara, composer, Rautavaara, Einojuhani: Cello Concerto No. 2 ‘Towards The Horizon’ (Truls Mørk, John Storgårds & Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra)
Steven Stucky, composer; Gene Scheer, librettist, Stucky, Steven: August 4, 1964 (Jaap Van Zweden, Dallas Symphony Chorus & Orchestra)

Best Long Form Music Video

Big Easy Express; Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros & Old Crow Medicine Show
Emmett Malloy, video director; Bryan Ling, Mike Luba & Tim Lynch, video producers
Bring Me Home – Live 2011; Sade
Sophie Muller, video director; Roger Davies, Grant Jue & Sophie Muller, video producers
Radio Music Society, Esperanza Spalding
Pilar Sanz, video director; Esperanza Spalding, video producer
Get Along, Tegan & Sara
Salazar, video director; Nick Blasko, Piers Henwood, Sara Quin & Tegan Quin, video producers
From The Sky Down, U2
Davis Guggenheim, video director; Belisa Balaban, Brian Celler, Davis Guggenheim& Ted Skillman, video producers

Aguilera’s “Your Body” Gets the Office Treatment

Musical instruments, who needs them? Certainly not Christina Aguilera!

During a recent visit to NBC‘s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, the 31-year-old half-Ecuadorian American Grammy-winning singer created a musically delicious watercooler moment with only her voice and some offices supplies.

Christina Aguilera

Aguilera, Jimmy Fallon and Fallon’s house band The Roots joined forces for a sweet-sounding performance of The Voice coach’s recent single “Your Body,” using office supplies like a stapler as their musical instruments.

Fallon and The Roots did something similar a few months ago with classroom instruments to Carly Rae Jepsen‘s “Call Me Maybe.”

Your Body” is the first single off of Aguilera’s seventh studio album Lotus, which will be released next week.

 

Val Heading to the Live Shows on “The Voice”

Things are definitely going Diego Val’s way on The Voice

The 25-year-old Peruvian singer battled against his fellow Team Cee Lo member Caitlin Michele in his Knockout Round during Monday’s episode of NBC’s hit singing competition.

Diego Val

Val, who advanced after defeating JR Aquino in the Battle Round, performed a high octane rendition of Lenny Kravitz’s “Are You Gonna Go My Way” while Michele took on Evanescence’s moody “Bring Me to Life.”

Coach Cee Lo Green didn’t seem impressed with Val or Michele, saying neither game their best performance. But he did have positive words for Val.

“I like you a lot,” declared Green, “and I think you’ve got a lot of personality.”

And that’s all it took for Green to keep Val and take his all-male team to the live shows.

“For a second I thought I was out,” said Val. “Cee Lo put a lot a faith in me and the next round I’m just gonna kill it.

But the news wasn’t so positive for another Latino contestant on Team Cee Lo…

Daniel Rosa battled against Mackenzie Bourg in his Knockout Round clash, performing Taylor Swift’s “Back to December.”

But Bourg’s visionary take on Carly Rae Jepsen’s inescapable hit “Call Me Maybe” seemed to impress the coaches more.

“Daniel, you are a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful singer,” said Green of Rosa, who had thoroughly impressed the coaches in the previous round. “You are better than your performance today.”

And with that, Rosa’s The Voice dreams are dashed this season.

Pitbull Receives Two MTV EMA Award Nominations

It’s no wonder he’s the self-proclaimed Mr. Worldwide

Pitbull has picked up two MTV Europe Music Awards nominations—the only Latino artist to earn any nods this year.

Pitbull

The 31-year-old Cuban American rap superstar is nominated in the Best Male category, where he’s competing against Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Jay Z and Flo Rida.

Meanwhile, Pitbull’s dancetastic collaboration with Chris BrownInternational Love” is up for Best Song. The other contenders include Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe,” Rihanna’s “We Found Love” featuring Calvin Harris, Goyte’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” and fun.’s “We Are Young” featuring Janelle Monáe.

The nominations bring Pitbull’s MTV EMA nod count to three. He was previously nominated for Best Hip Hop Artist last year, the same year that saw Selena Gomez serve as the show’s hostess.

MTV has yet to announce this year’s MTV EMA Awards host, performers and presenters.

The MTV EMAs will take place on Sunday, November 11 at the historic Festhalle Frankfurt arena in Germany, and will be broadcast on MTV channels around the world at 9 p.m. central European time.