Pictured: David Bisbal and Carrie Underwood rehearse a duet at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, FL on ... [+]
The pandemic halted and postponed production of a lot of original programming and events. And Telemundo's Latin American Music Awards was one of the 2020 casualties. But the live show returns to the Spanish-language network on a new date, in a new city and new venue.
The sixth edition of the Latin AMAs will take place on Thursday, April 15 and will be broadcast live from the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida. The previous show took place in October 2019 at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.
"You're going to see a lot of celebrities," states Telemundo's President, Entertainment and Content Strategy, Ronald Day. "Even though we're dealing with COVID protocols, a lot of artists wanted to have a presence on our live show. It's going to be fantastic."
The multitude of celebrities who will perform include well-known and up and coming artists, covering a wide range of musical genres. Among them: Alaina Castillo, Ana Bárbara, Anitta, Banda MS, Carlos Vives, Joss Favela, Juanes, Karol G, Maluma, Manuel Turizo, Nicky Jam, Omar Courtz Piso 21, Ozuna, Pitbull, Ricky Martin, Sofía Reyes, Wisin, Yandel, Yendry and Ziggy Marley, among others.
Alejandro Fernández, who has sold over 35 million records and received countless awards and nominations throughout his career, will receive the Icon Award. He will also perform live during the awards ceremony.
Carlos Vives (far left) in a rehearsal with José Luis Rodríguez "El Puma" (center).
Venezuelan singer José Luis Rodríguez, "El Puma," known for international hits such as "Dueño de ti," "Pavo real" and "Agárrense de las manos," will receive the Legend Award.
One of the most anticipated performances of the evening, says Day, will be when Spanish artist David Bisbal and seven-time Grammy Award-winner Carrie Underwood sing their bilingual duet “Tears of Gold” for the first time on television. Their song is nominated in the Favorite Video category.
"When we found out that David Bisbal was doing a duet with Carrie Underwood, we reached out to their management to invite them to the show... and they said yes," says Day. "Nowadays, American artists want to do crossovers to Spanish to reach more of the Hispanic population...and we wanted to show that we welcome them to our shows.”
Music award shows are good for Telemundo's primetime ratings. They usually give the network a double digit lift. The 2019 Latin American Music Awards show gave Telemundo an 81% boost in the 18-48 adult demo compared to the previous four Thursdays in the 8 to 11 pm time slot. Last year, the Billboard Latin Music Awards, postponed from its usual March date to October, gave Telemundo a 75% hike among the same demo group in the same prime time slot.
Maluma and Ziggy Marley during a rehearsal for the Latin AMAS on April 14, 2021.
Overall, the network's primetime ratings have lost ground to competitor Univision, but Day states they're working on a comeback. And the award shows help. In fact, Day says Telemundo is developing other music award franchises.
Leading up to this year's three-hour music fest, Telemundo will air the red carpet special La Alfombra de Latin AMAS at 7 pm ET and follow the show with a behind-the-scenes look at what transpired during the awards show at 11:35 pm ET.
The 2021 Latin AMAs air live on Thursday, April 15 from 8 to 11 pm. The show will also be broadcast simultaneously on sister cable network Universo and throughout the Americas on Telemundo Internacional.
