by Antonio Mejías-Rentas
CAfé Tacvba
TOP NOMINEES: Mexican alternative rock group Café Tacvba leads the fi eld of Latin Grammy contenders thanks to a critically acclaimed album from 2007.
Sino and its singles Volver a comenzar and Esta vez earned the Mexico City nominations in six categories, including Album, Record and Song of the Year.
Colombian singer-song writer Juanes’ fi ve nominations, earned for the album La vida es… un ratico and the single Me enamora, tie him with Argentinean musician Gustavo San- taolalla, a top Latin music producer. In fact, four of Santaolalla’s nominations are for his work on both the Café Tacvba and Juanes albums. The two-time Oscar winner also competes as a member of the group Bajofondo, nominated in a video category.
Nominations for the ninth annual Latin Grammy awards were announced last week in Los Angeles. Singer-songwriters did particularly well among nominees this year and three of themÑ Argentina’s Andrés Calamaro, Mexico’s Julieta Venegas and Puerto Rico’s Kany GarcíaÑtook four nominations each.
All contenders for Song of the Year, a songwriter’s award, include artists who perform their own work.
Juanes
Besides Café Tacvba por Esta vez and Juanes for Me enamora; the category includes García for Hoy ya me voy, Venegas for El presente and Peruvian singersongwriter Gian Marco for Todavía (co-written with Aureo Baqueiro).
Album of the year contenders are Café Tacvba, Juanes, García (Cualquier día), Buika (Niña de fuego) and Vicente Fernandez (Para siempre). It’s the fi rst time the top category includes an album from a Mexican Regional genre.
Nominations were announced in 49 categories by the Latin Recording Academy for music recorded in Spanish or Portuguese.
No recordings in the latter language appear among top nominees. Winners are to be announced Nov. 13 at a ceremony in Houston to be broadcast live by Univision.
INTERNATIONAL ‘PERSONS’: Top U.S. and Mexican television producers are joining forces in a new drama series to be shot in English south of the border.
Fox T’V Studios and Televisa are producing Persons Unknown, a drama about seven strangers who wake up in a deserted town with no recollection of how they got there, and realize they are observed by cameras. The fi rst 13 episodes begin shooting Oct. 27. The drama is expected to be sold for broadcast to a U.S. network. Televisa will air a dubbed Spanishlanguage version in Mexico and producers are reportedly negotiating with an Italian broadcaster.
Persons Unknown is the second project from Fox TV Studios produced with a foreign partner. Mental, a medical drama starring Chris Vance and Annabella Sciorra, is filming in Bogota, Colombia. Hispanic Link.
