New York – Shakira, Colombia’s belly-dancing superstar, consolidated her success as the bicultural queen of crossover with a sweep of three top categories Thursday in the seventh Latin Grammy Awards during a ceremony that celebrated the growing presence of Latinos in the U.S.
The singer-songwriter’s “Fijación Oral Vol. 1” was named album of the year, and her smash dance hit, the reggaeton-tinged “La Tortura,” won for best record and song, which she performed with Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz at the opening of the three-hour telecast from Madison Square Garden. This year’s most nominated artist, Shakira took home all but one of the five awards for which she competed, including female pop vocal album.
Her only loss came in the category for best video, which went instead to Calle 13, the provocative and irreverent reggaeton/hip-hop duo from Puerto Rico that also was named best new artist. The duo, who use the nicknames Visitante and Residente as an immigration spoof, emerged as the evening’s dark-horse victors by also upsetting big-name rivals Daddy Yankee and Don Omar in the best urban album category with their debut album.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg committed a gaffe when he came on stage to greet the sold-out audience with the Arnold Schwarz e negger line, “Hasta la vista,” which means “See you later.” He made up for it with a merengue twirl with Dominican singer Milly Quezada.
