The Real Thing Is Likely to Lose to the Big Thing

It’s hard to feel much excitement or anticipation over the six Latin Grammy contests because so many noteworthy albums were left out of the competition and the actual nominations fell so far short of offering a fair representation of Latin music last year.

This lukewarm state of affairs is best illustrated in the Latin pop album category, where live collections by Shakira and Luis Miguel compete against middle-of-the-road packages by Christina Aguilera, Oscar De La Hoya and Alejandro Sanz. Although Shakira is clearly the most interesting of those artists, voters will probably reward Aguilera’s feeble but commercially successful attempt at connecting with her Ecuadorian roots.

The Latin rock Grammy should go to the refreshing rumba-funk concoctions of Venezuela’s Los Amigos Invisibles, but the band might be too obscure for most voters. The academy members are likely to indulge their mainstream tendencies by picking La Ley, a Chilean trio with a bad case of ‘80s fixation.

There’s no doubt about who deserves to win in the traditional tropical slot. Omara Portuondo’s smoldering bolero collection has Grammy written all over it. But will the voters reward Gloria Estefan’s big-band revival instead? If they do, it would be typical of the academy’s kneeling at the altar of commercialism.