Latin Music’s Brightest Stars Honored @ 2004 Billboard Latin Music Awards.

The place to be was the Miami Arena in downtown Miami where the stars arrived in style to this year’s 2004 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Taking top honors, with three Latin Billboard Awards each, were Puerto Rican superstar, Ricky Martin and the late Cuban queen of salsa Celia Cruz. Martin received the Hot Latin Track of the Year and Latin Pop Airplay Track of the Year, Male awards for “Tal Vez” as well as the Latin Pop Album of the Year, Male award for “Almas del Silencio”. Cruz was honored with awards for Top Latin Album Artist of the Year and Tropical Album of the Year, Female for “Regalo del Alma”, and Latin Greatest Hits Album of the Year for “Hits Mix”.

The star-studded event was hosted by Mexican soap opera superstar, Mauricio Islas, and renowned Spanish television personality Candela Ferro. Alicia Villarreal, Rey Ruiz, Alejandra Guzman, A.B. Quintanilla III, Gisselle, Oscar D’Leon, Julio Iglesias Jr., and Alicia Machado among many others were on hand to announce and present Billboard awards to Latin music’s top recording artists, including: Juanes & Nelly Furtado for Latin Pop Airplay Track of the Year, duo or group and Hot Latin Track of the Year, Vocal Duet with “Fotografia”; India for Tropical Airplay Track of the Year, Female and Latin Dance Club Play Track of the Year with “Seduceme”; Gloria Estefan for Latin Pop Airplay Track of the Year, Female with “Hoy”; Ana Gabriel for Regional Mexican Album of the Year, Female Group or Female Solo Artist with “Dulce y Salado”, Marco Antonio Solis for Regional Mexican Album of the Year, Male Solo Artist with “Tu Amor o Tu Desprecio”; Ednita Nazario for Latin Pop Album of the Year; Female with “Por Ti”; David Bisbal for Latin Pop Album of the Year, New Artist with “Corazon Latino” and Luis Miguel for Latin Tour of the Year.

Also honored this evening was Banda El Recodo with Billboards’ “Hall of Fame Award” for their extraordinary 65 year-long career and successful bid to take Mexico’s Banda music to virtually every corner of the world. The “Spirit of Hope” award went to Soraya for her tireless humanitarian work raising awareness on the prevention and cure of breast cancer within the Hispanic community. Telemundo’s “Viewer’s Choice” award went to David Bisbal, and the “Star Award” was presented to Alejandro Fernandez. Finally, a special musical tribute was paid to the late singing legend Celia Cruz by three talented teens from the Harbor Conservatory for the Performing Arts, a division of Boys & Girls Harbor. Pianist Luis Gomez, age 15, kettledrummer Jessica Rodriguez, age 17, and percussionist Camillo Molina Gatean, age 14, are also members of the Harbor’s Latin Youth Ensemble and recipients of Celia Cruz Foundation Scholarships.

The Billboard Latin Music Awards 2004 grand gala was produced and broadcast live on Telemundo featuring top Latin artist performances by Gloria Estefan, Don Omar, David Bisbal, Luis Fonsi, Alejandro Fernandez, Paulina Rubio, Pilar Montenegro, La Ley, Banda El Recodo, and a special duet by Alicia Keys and Arturo Sandoval.

Those who missed the spectacular show can tune in to Telemundo this Friday night at 10PM ET/PT for a special program “El Reventon Billboard-VIP” which will highlight the week-long celebration surrounding the coveted event, from the moment the stars stepped off the planes to the parties, cocktails and rehearsals that followed, to the latest looks at the red carpet, show highlights and VIP tickets to the after party.

The Billboard Latin Music Awards honor the most popular albums, songs, and performers in Latin music, as determined by the actual sales and radio airplay data that informs Billboard’s weekly charts during a one-year period from the issue dated February 15, 2003 through this year’s February 7 issue.

A complete list of winners, downloadable pictures from the show will be available on Friday, April 30 at http://www.telemundomv.com.