Juanes, Guerra poised to shine at Latin Grammys

The Associated Press, Thursday, November 15, 2012, 12:56pm (PST)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Colombian rocker Juanes could become the most decorated Latin Grammy winner when the 13th annual Latin Grammy Awards are presented in Las Vegas. He's up for four awards, and three victories would break the record held by Calle 13.

Dominican musician Juan Luis Guerra comes into Thursday's ceremony as the leading nominee with six bids, followed by Mexican pop duo Jesse & Joy with five.

But Guerra can only win four awards, since he is competing against himself in two categories. He's up for producer and album of the year for Juanes' album "MTV Unplugged," and is also nominated for record and song of the year for "En El Cielo No Hay Hospital."

Besides Juanes, Ricardo Arjona, Edgar Barrera, Carla Morrison, Arturo Sandoval, Ivete Sangalo and the Latin Recording Academy's 2012 Person of the Year honoree Caetano Veloso each have four nods. Chico Buarque, ChocQuibTown, Don Omar, Rafael Dragaud, Gregg Field, Javier Garza, Gilberto Gil, Ulises Hadjis, Roberto Talma and Martin Terefe have three nominations apiece.

Thursday's ceremony is set to feature performances by Guerra, Jesse & Joy and Juanes, who plans to share the stage with Santana.

The Latin Grammy celebration kicked off Wednesday with its Person of the Year gala, where Brazilian composer and activist Veloso was honored with performances by Juanes, Guerra, Nelly Furtado and Natalie Cole. Furtado and Cole were also set to serve as presenters during Thursday's ceremony at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. The event will be broadcast live on Univision.

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AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen contributed to this report from Los Angeles.

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