Billboard Latin Music Awards 2017: All You Need To Know About The Show

The Billboard Latin Music Awards were celebrated on Thursday night, recognizing the work of what Latin singers and musicians did over the past year. Nicky Jam and Shakira were the biggest nominees of the night, but only one walked out with the most awards; Jennifer Lopez premiered her newest single, Luis Fonsi’s social work got recognized, and so much more.

As the night went at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, things just got better and better. Especially for Nicky Jam, one of the most acclaimed reggaeton artists these days. The star won six out of nine nominations he got this year, including Hot Latin Song of the Year, Latin Digital Song of the Year, Streaming Song of the Year, among others.

This is no surprise since he got his first No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart earlier this years with ‘Fenix’. The album includes his massive single “Hasta el Amanecer”, which earned him four of the six awards he took home. Colombian singer Shakira also got nine nominations – twice in the same category –, but only got to claim the award for Hot Latin Songs Artist of the Year, Female.

Mexican superstar Juan Gabriel, who passed away last year, was the second most awarded of the night, winning in five categories, including Artist of The Year and Latin Album of The Year, with his record ‘Los Dúo 2’, which includes collaborations with over 15 different artists, one for each track. Right behind him is Enrique Iglesias, who won four awards, three of them for his hit collaboration with reggaeton veteran Wisin, “Duele el corazón.”

Jennifer Lopez, Luis Fonsi, and more get honored

When JLo took the stage, we forgot everyone else even existed. Not only for her particularly hot outfit, but also for her the premiere of her new Marc Anthony-produced ballad “Mírate”, along with an incredible orchestra. Anthony seemed pretty proud of his ex and her amazing performance.

The artist, who is working on her upcoming Spanish album, did an amazing performance, moments after artists like Rihanna, Ricky Martin, Lin-Manuel Miranda and more sent special video messages about how important and influential JLo has been throughout her career. The singer was given the prestigious Telemundo Star Award, and also won Social Artist of the Year.

Maravillosas palabras de @JLo recibiendo su premio y @MarcAnthony no podía estar más orgulloso #Billboards2017 ❤️💃👏 pic.twitter.com/yCY3pVEtxr

— Telemundo (@Telemundo) April 28, 2017

Another special winner of the evening was the Guatemalan Ricardo Arjona, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award from legendary TV host Don Francisco. The accolade was given to the artist for his successful career as a singer/songwriter. On the other side, Luis Fonsi won the Spirit of Hope Award for his work and efforts with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee performed ‘Despacito’ onstage

Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee took the stage to perform their chart-topping hit “Despacito.” The single was released in January, and since then I can’t remember a single day I haven’t listened to it – on purpose or not.

And even if the song was already being played everywhere, they added an extra ingredient to the concoction: Chemical X… Meaning a remix with superstar Justin Bieber. Now even Kim Kardashian won’t stop listening to the song. The just-released remix gave Justin Bieber the award for Crossover Artist of The Year. But Fonsi and Yankee performed the original version – and it was still awesome.

Now playing #Despactio on repeat for the 100th time

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) April 25, 2017

Nicky Jam also surprised fans with a performance of his new single “El Amante”, and the he called actor and ‘Fast and Furious’ star Vin Diesel to the stage, to join him on his performance of “El Ganador”.

¿Qué les pareció esta sorpresa? 🔥🔥🔥 @vindiesel junto a @nickyjampr #Billboards2017

A post shared by Telemundo (@telemundo) on Apr 27, 2017 at 6:56pm PDT

Colombian reggaeton star J Balvin also took the stage, after being awarded for Latin Rhythm Album of the Year for ‘Energía’. He opened his performance with his single “Sigo extrañándote”, and then invited Puerto Rican trap star Bad Bunny to perform “Si tu novio te deja sola.”