2006 Latin Grammys headed to Nueva York

Written by Nelson Ortiz, Hispanicsurf.com

Update: Shakira leads all with six Latin Grammy Awards nominations. The Hips Don't Lie singer will fight it out for the Album Of The Year (Fijacion Oral, Vol 1) and Single Of The Year (La Tortura) prizes and the latter hit, a duet with Alejandro Sanz, is also up for Song and Record Of The Year.

April 12, 2006 -- Latin Music's biggest award ceremony is headed to the Big Apple.

The 2006 Latin Grammy Awards will make its New York debut on November 2nd and will broadcast live from the World's Greatest Arena -- Madison Square Garden.

"New York City is the proud home to the most diverse Hispanic population in the world," said bilingual Mayor Michael Bloomberg who has been studying Spanish for several years and made the announcement yesterday in Spanish and English.

“If I keep practicing my Spanish, maybe they’ll ask me to be the host — who knows?”

Last year's show was held in Los Angeles and broadcast for the first time entirely in Spanish by Univision in a bid to attract more viewers. It drew 9 million viewers in the United States, 2 million more than previous shows broadcast in English on CBS.

"The phones are ringing off the hook [from potential sponsors]," added Maureen Reidy of NYC Big Events, which helped recruit the show.

Gabriel Abaroa, Latin Recording Academy president also mentioned the importance of New York hosting the awards ceremony, "New York is the place where many Latin stars call home: Tito Puente, Los Panchos, Celia Cruz, Willie Colón, Rubén Blades, Johnny Pacheco, India, Eddie Palmieri, Hector Lavoe, Thalía, Plácido Domingo y Marc Anthony, to name just a few."

The 7th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards will air live on the Univision Television Network on Thursday, November 2, at 8pm Eastern/7pm Central. Nominations for this year's Latin GRAMMYs will be announced in New York on Tuesday, September 26.

The Latin Recording Academy is an international membership-based organization comprised of Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking recording artists, musicians, songwriters, producers and other creative and technical recording professionals. The organization is dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for Latin music and its makers. For more information about The Academy, visit http://www.grammy.com.