Premios Juventud Awards Celebrate Variety of Hispanic Talent - Reggaeton News

By Cynthia de Saint, Latin American Herald Tribune

July 16, 2010

MIAMI – Colombian superstar Shakira opened Univision’s 7th Annual Premios Juventud youth awards show, celebrated with a spectacle full of music, color and special effects, at which outstanding talent in a wide variety of categories was the keynote.

Floating onstage riding a flying carpet, Shakira opened Thursday night’s gala with a medley of her latest hits: “Gitana” (Gypsy) and “Waka Waka, Esto Es Africa” (Waka Waka, This Time For Africa), the official theme song of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

From that moment, the prizes, which were aired live by Univision from the BankUnited Center at the University of Miami, turned into a parade of top stars from Latin showbiz.

Even more than that, it was a megaconcert packed with energy where the audience not only sang along with their favorite artists but jumped out of their seats to join in the dancing.

Variety was the rule and not the exception.

Juan Luis Guerra and Enrique Iglesias sang the romantic hit “Cuando Me Enamoro” (When I Fall in Love), followed minutes later by the booming hip-hop of Pitbull performing a mix of his fans’ faves.

The Miami artist got screams from the audience when he came on with “I Know You Want Me,” one of his catchiest lyrics.

Mexican regional music got a hearing through the voices of Espinosa Paz, who took home the prize for Red Hot Artist, and Pedro Fernandez, who sang “Armarte a la Antigua” (Loving You the Old-Fashioned Way) dressed as a charro, or Mexican cowboy.

The Premios Juventud awards also marked the return of reggaeton artist Ivy Queen, who performed her new single “La Vida Es Asi” (That’s Life) surrounded by a troupe of dancers.

One of the night’s most popular hosts was the robot Milenio, who “joked” with the artists presenting the prizes, while DJ Mojo, suspended over the audience in a radio announcer’s booth, supervised that unique participant made of green tin.

Among the winners were Wisin and Yandel in the category My Favorite Concert for their La Revolucion tour. The Puerto Rican reggaeton performers also won the award for Favorite Urban Artist.

“Loba” (She-Wolf) by Shakira won Favorite Video; Chayanne was the answer to the question My Idol Is?: Favorite Pop Star, and William Levy was chosen the best looking over Chayanne, Luis Fonsi, and Anthony “Romeo” Santos to take the What a Hottie! prize.

But amid the music and fun, the event took time to award scholarships to several young people who had proved themselves outstanding students, as a way of promoting academic excellence among young Hispanics.

Both Juan Luis Guerra and Shakira received special awards for career achievement. EFE

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