BILLBOARD.COM: Jesse & Joy Are Big Winners at Latin Grammy Awards

Mexican pop/rock duo Jesse & Joy ran away with the night as four-time winners of the Latin Grammy Awards, taking home trophies for best record, song and contemporary pop vocal album.

"Thanks to the best fans in the world," said Jessie, who with his sister also won for best short form music video for "Me Voy." "It feels incredible. We've not been at the Latin Grammys since 2007 so this feels like a great comeback."

The 13th installment of Latin Grammys, once a struggling franchise that turned into gold once it relocated to Univision, featured some of today's biggest names including global sensation Pitbull who opened and closed the show, initially rapping his way through his club-friendly radio hit "Don't Stop The Party" as dozens of bikini-clad dancers circled him and ending with Sensato and Sa Noel on "Crazy People."

Colombian pop-rock singer Juanes took home two awards for his MTV Unplugged set, including album of the year and best short form music video. When asked if he gets nervous before an awards show, he said that he definitely thinks about the entire process.

"I don't suffer," Juanes said. "You think maybe it's there, maybe it's not. These wins are much more than I imaged."

Hosted by actress/singer Lucero and actor Cristian De La Fuente, the first round of awards included a prize for Spanish pop singer David Bisbal, who won for best pop traditional vocal album.

DJ collective 3BallMTY won the best new artist trophy in an acceptance speech that left the teen act in tears.

"We're very happy and we really wanted this," said a tearful Albert Presenda, aka DJ Otto. "We especially want to thank our families who have put up with so much of our traveling."

Backstage, 3BallMTY's Erick Rincon said that the group was going to celebrate the honor, but not in a major way until they got back home.

"We're going to celebrate in a healthy way because we're under age," Rincon assured. "But when we get to Mexico -- whoof! -- we're going to party."

Some of the night's musical highlights included Alejandro Sanz, who is currently on a major campaign to support his album "La Musica No Se Toca." He performed "No Me Compares" and Brazilian star Michel Telo performed "Ai Si Eu Te Pego." Jesse & Joy also performed their winning pop ballad "Corre!"

Singer/songwriter Lila Downs performed "Zapata Se Queda" featuring Toto La Mompsina and Celso Pina. She sang her song as a procession of men and women danced into the arena with Day of the Dead-inspired painted faces, many of them in the form of skeletons.

Other winners of the night included Pepe Aguilar who won for best ranchero album. The Mexican singer, who once was critical of the Latin Grammy process because there wasn't enough regional Mexican representation, now sees things differently.

"I'm very proud to be part of this family of Latin music," Aguilar said. "I'm seeing different genres... and it's about the love for music. This goes to the fans and especially for my colleagues who make music possible. Viva Mexico."

Other notable winners included Milly Quezada who won best contemporary tropical album for "Aqui Estoy Yo," Fonseca's Ilusion+ for best tropical fusion album -- beating out Prince Royce -- and Tucanes de Tijuana's 365 Dias which won for best norteño album.

Earlier in the day during the Latin Grammy pre-telecast, more than 30 awards were given in a ceremony at the House of Blues at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino.

"This is dedicated to my family, children and everyone else," a teary Gian Marco Zignago said after winning best singer/songwriter album of the year for "20 Años." "This album is for all the university students from my country to let them know that there are no limits."

Another big winner was Cubanjazz trumpeter, pianist and composer Arturo Sandoval who took home two trophies for best Latin jazz album ("Dear Diz - Every Day I Think of You") and best tango album ("Tango - Como Yo Te Siento").

"I'd like to dedicate this award to my father who turned me on to the tango," said Sandoval as he received his award. "He was a mechanic, but when he spoke about the tango he knew all of the melodies."

Mexico's Carla Morrison, one of the year's most celebrated indie pop acts, took the prize for best alternative song for her emotionally-driven "Déjenme Llorar (Let Me Cry)," a song about breaking up, which has helped the singer/songwriter become a YouTube sensation. Later she also won for best alternative music album.

"This is also for all the kids who have broken hearts," Morrison said.

Other winners during the pre-telecast included Dominican singer Juan Luis Guerra who won for producer of the year and who the previous night performed during the person of the year tribute to Brazilian singer/songwriter Caetano Veloso.

The best regional Mexican song award went to "El Mejor Perfume" written by Carlos Monroy and Adrian Pieragostino. Best banda album went to the popular La Arrolladora Banda el Limon de Rene Camacho for the album "Irreversible… 2012" and best salsa album went to Luis Enrique for "Soy y Sere."

Best Pop/Rock album went to El Cuarteto De Nos' Porfiado, best rock album went to Mexico's Molotov for "Desde Rusia Con Amor" and best urban album went to Don Omar's "MTO2 New Generation."

Best Christian album went to Marcos Witt's "25 Concierto Conmemorativo", while best flamenco album went to Paco De Lucia's En Vivo Conciertos España 2010.

The best Brazilian contemporary pop album went to Seu Jorge for Músicas Para Churrasco Vol. 1 and best Brazilian rock album went to Beto Lee's Celebração & Sacrifício

BILLBOARD.COM: BIGBANG in America: Behind the Scenes With the K-Pop Boy Wonders

When asked about his group's performance at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, a bleach blonde G-Dragon of K-pop group BIGBANG says under his breath, "I wish it was better."

A refreshingly candid answer in the very formal, professional world of K-pop where the stars are more cute than sexy, scandals are minimal, and its stars spend years training. But this is BIGBANG -- an act that rewrites most of the conventions in K-pop by composing most of their own music, go shirtless in music videos, and have found themselves in the midst of several controversies just this year alone.

Backstage, the five members are in their opening number outfits -- heavy-duty, sparkling white suits looking like edgy Prince Charmings -- but G-Dragon walks around without his jacket on and huge sunglasses before sitting down for some pre-show interviews. Each member personifies himself in their demeanor. The elusive T.O.P., known for his low-bass timbre rapping, wears dark sunglasses and shows little emotion. Handsome Seungri sits straight up juxtaposing G-Dragon's casual answers and laid back appearance. Taeyang, in long braids, acts in a calm manner answering many questions with an impressive grasp of English similar to G-Dragon. While Daesung, the group's charismatic powerhouse vocalist, spends most of his off-camera moments warming up his voice with lip trills. Each has his own bottle of Fiji water (with a bottle of Welch's white grape juice for T.O.P.) with G-Dragon's attitude seemingly not improving just minutes before show time.

The show is scheduled to begin only ten minutes behind schedule (a big difference to the 90-minute plus delay label-mates 2NE1 fell into in August) with little commotion backstage. One back-up dancer scurries out of the female dancer's changing room, being sure to slow down and give a little bow upon passing Taeyang, but all in all, it feels calm before the final American stop of BIGBANG's Alive Tour.

Who knows what happened in the final ten minutes before wrapping interviews to the show's kick-off (perhaps it was the ear-shattering screams filling the sold out arena show), but when BIGBANG took the stage Friday night, G-Dragon and co. appeared in high spirits throughout the entire performance. Kicking off with "TONIGHT," the band's frenzied electronic track, G-Dragon ran down the stage's runway looking as if he would almost fall off the stage into the vivacious pit of fans if he hadn't slowed himself down sooner (he repeated this same gesture several times throughout the show). The show started off with banging tracks moving quickly to "Hands Up" and "Fantastic Baby" (which peaked at No. 2 on the K-Pop Hot 100). As the show moves on, G-Dragon receives a loud response whenever his parts begin, but Daesung and T.O.P. get equally impressive screams. (Particularly when teasing that fans may be hearing his new solo material soon.)

Throughout the show BIGBANG took a stage approach similar to the likes of One Direction -- using little choreography, relying more on jumping around stage and interacting with the crowd. Stage props were used minimally, but effectively. "How Gee" saw T.O.P. and G-Dragon riding around in bedazzled, upholstered segues and Daesung attaching humongous angel wings during appropriate solo track "Wings" to attach himself on a cable and essentially soar over the crowd.

BIGBANG's musical styling ranges from hip-hop to electronic pop (see No. 1 K-Pop Hot 100 singes like "Blue" and "Monster"), but in-between tracks concertgoers saw a deeper connection to the hip-hop world with members beat-boxing for each other while the group spit raps or harmonized together (including a highlight where G-Dragon offered English verses of "Crayon," [his solo track that peaked at No. 4 on the K-Pop Hot 100] indicating a proper English debut may not be too far away for he or BIGBANG). Concertgoers were treated to breakdancing and Taeyang's gymnastics for a few on-stage flips.

While speaking to the crowd, the group had a tendency to sing the Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' New York anthem, "Empire State Of Mind," making their East Coast admiration clear. "It was really tough to get here, three flight changes," Taeyang told the crowd of the problems his band found in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Focusing on the positive he wrapped with, "Let's make it unforgettable."

Today's male pop or hip-hop stars wouldn't be caught dead in the flamboyant fashion the group brought for their Alive Tour (with outfits including brightly colored suit jackets and the tightest jeans imaginable). Yet the look completely works for BIGBANG with nothing sacrificed from an artistic standpoint. One got a sense of the dedication the fans (affectionately known as VIPs) when BIGBANG dropped out singing to let concertgoers take the chorus to their hit song "Haru Haru." The fact that such a large East Coast venue could be filled with the lyrics of a song called "Haru Haru" by the concertgoers is truly remarkable in and of itself.

G-Dragon seemingly recognized his group's amazing accomplishment with his energy never fading throughout the showcase. "You guys are amazing… I love you," he told the audience to fans' delights. "I promise you we will come back soon." He spoke a similar phrase in Korean, but to lesser cheers.

But with tubs of Brooklyn Lager and bottles of Hennessy backstage provided by the venue, it was clear that regardless of whatever language they were singing (or speaking) in, the final American stop of BIGBANG's Alive Tour was a success for all.

X2O MUSIC TOP 50 17NOVEMBER2012