There’s plenty of joy in Jesse & Joy’s world this week…
The Mexican pop/rock duo proved to be the ultimate victor at Thursday night’s Latin Grammy Awards show.
The 29-year-old Jesse Huerta and his 26-year-old hermanita Joy Huerta picked up four awards during the show, including best record, song and contemporary pop vocal album.
“Thanks to the best fans in the world,” said Jesse, who with his sister picked up the Best New Artist award at the 2007 Latin Grammys. “It feels incredible. We’ve not been at the Latin Grammys since 2007, so this feels like a great comeback.”
Jesse & Joy, who recently released the music video for the duo’s latest single “¿Con Quién Se Queda El Perro?”, also won the award for best short form music video for their single “Me Voy.”
Meanwhile, Colombian pop-rock singer Juanes, who will launch a tour next May, took home two awards for his MTV Unplugged set, including album of the year and best short form music video. When asked if he gets nervous before an awards show, he said that he definitely thinks about the entire process.
“I don’t suffer,” said Juanes. “You think maybe it’s there, maybe it’s not. These wins are much more than I imaged.”
Cuban jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer Arturo Sandoval won two trophies for best Latin jazz album (“Dear Diz – Every Day I Think of You“) and best tango album (“Tango – Como Yo Te Siento“).
“I’d like to dedicate this award to my father who turned me on to the tango,” said Sandoval as he received his award. “He was a mechanic, but when he spoke about the tango he knew all of the melodies.”
Mexico’s Carla Morrison, one of the year’s most celebrated indie pop acts, took the prize for best alternative song for her emotionally-driven “Déjenme Llorar,” a song about breaking up, which has helped the singer/songwriter become a YouTube sensation. Later she also won for best alternative music album.
“This is also for all the kids who have broken hearts,” Morrison said.
Mexico’s DJ collective 3BallMTY won the best new artist trophy in an acceptance speech that left the teen act in tears.
“We’re very happy and we really wanted this,” said a tearful Albert Presenda, aka DJ Otto. “We especially want to thank our families who have put up with so much of our traveling.”
Other winners included Pepe Aguilar for best ranchero album, Milly Quezada for best contemporary tropical album for “Aqui Estoy Yo,” Fonseca‘s Ilusion+ for best tropical fusion album — beating out Prince Royce — and Tucanes de Tijuana‘s 365 Dias for best norteño album.
Hosted by actress/singer Lucero and actor Cristian de la Fuente, the first round of awards included a prize for Spanish pop singer David Bisbal, who won for best pop traditional vocal album.
Earlier in the day during the Latin Grammy pre-telecast, more than 30 awards were given in a ceremony at the House of Blues at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, including producer of the year to Juan Luis Guerra.
For a complete list of winners, go to latingrammy.com.
