Spiking the hopes of both Miami and Los Angeles, the 7th Annual Latin Grammy Awards have been slated to be broadcast live Thursday, November 2, 2006 from New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Both New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Latin Recording Academy President Gabriel Abaroa were in attendance at the April 11th news conference.
Citing the catch phrase “Welcome to New York, Mi Casa es su casa,” Abaroa snubbed past venues of Los Angeles and Miami, with Mayor Bloomberg at his side, eagerly enthusiastic about the estimated $30 million windfall the Grammys would bring to the city in tourist dollars.
The press conference at New York’s City Hall was choked with giddy supporters, such as Congressman José Serrano, Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez, assembly member Adriano Espaillat and assembly speaker Sheldon Silver, as well as Hank Ratner, the Vice Chairman of Madison Square Garden. Most see the move as a big score for NYC Big Events project, which lobbied hard for the move.
The live broadcast of the Grammys will have a slightly different feel to the low rated telecast on CBS, as the ceremony will be broadcast entirely in Spanish on Univisión. With nominations to be announced on September 26th, New York has plenty of opportunity to pump up enthusiasm for the festivities.
Praising New York City’s rich heritage, Abaroa said, “New York constitutes a worldwide mecca of arts and the same time represents the center of musical movements such as salsa, mambo, tango, mariachi, merengue and Latin jazz.” Abaroa pointed out that New York was the home of such greats as Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Rubén Blades, Eddie Palmieri and many other Latin music greats.
Alina Falcon, Univision’s Executive Vice President and Operating Manager, cast an eye toward the upcoming event, saying, “After its record-breaking debut on our network, we are confident that this year’s Latin GRAMMYs will result in even higher ratings. And we are particularly excited to broadcast one of the foremost Latin music events live from New York, a city with one of this country’s most vibrant Hispanic populations that includes home to some of our most loyal viewers.”
The incentives or concessions New York agreed to in order to play host to the star-studded extravaganza were not disclosed.
Author: TJ Nelson
TJ Nelson is a regular CD reviewer and editor at World Music Central. She is also a fiction writer. Check out her latest book, Chasing Athena’s Shadow.
Set in Pineboro, North Carolina, Chasing Athena’s Shadow follows the adventures of Grace, an adult literacy teacher, as she seeks to solve a long forgotten family mystery. Her charmingly dysfunctional family is of little help in her quest. Along with her best friends, an attractive Mexican teacher and an amiable gay chef, Grace must find the one fading memory that holds the key to why Grace’s great-grandmother, Athena, shot her husband on the courthouse steps in 1931.
Traversing the line between the Old South and New South, Grace will have to dig into the past to uncover Athena’s true crime.
