LOS ANGELES (AP) - Spanish crooner
Alejandro Sanz took four top Latin Grammy awards as the honors were revealed Tuesday in a low-key announcement that replaced the global television show scuttled by the terrorist attacks.
Sanz's song and album "El Alma Al Aire'' earned him record, album and song of the year, as well as best male pop vocal album.
Rocker Juanes, up for seven awards, won best new artist, rock solo vocal album and rock song for his hit "Fijate Bien'' and the album of the same name.
Actor Jimmy Smits and comedian Paul Rodriguez, standing in for Christina Aguilera, who was ill, announced the winners in a second-story dance floor at the Conga Room club. About 100 people attended.
Smits and Aguilera were originally scheduled to host the second annual awards ceremony on Sept. 11, but the event was canceled after that morning's terrorist assaults that crashed four jetliners in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
Sanz, who dedicated his victory to his 3-month-old daughter, Manuela, said he was not disappointed that the cancellation of the show cost him a chance to perform on television with Destiny's Child.
"The problem of the terrorist attacks is so much bigger than the Grammys,'' he said in an interview. "I couldn't think about the Grammys on that day.''
The winners were not told in advance, but were told they should come Tuesday because they would have roles in the announcement.
The Latin Academy, part of the larger Recording Academy, which sponsors the main Grammy awards ceremony, tried to reschedule a prime-time ceremony but could not gather all the nominees back in one place.
The event earlier had shifted from Miami to Los Angeles three weeks before its scheduled broadcast because of concerns about protests from Cuban exiles in Florida who complained about the recognition given to performers from the communist island.
Other winners included Aguilera's "Mi Reflejo'' for best female pop vocal album, Celia Cruz's "Siempre Vivire'' for best traditional tropical album and the late Tito Puente and Eddie Palmieri's "Obra Maestra'' for best salsa album.
The low-key tone was reflected in the mostly simple attire - blue jeans for both top winners - and the single performance, by Juanes, during the event.
"I want to thank my native Colombia for giving me the inspiration for my music,'' said Juanes, whose hit is about his war-torn nation.
Cruz, whose flowing blue gown was the most reminiscent of a normally flamboyant Grammy show, dedicated her award to firefighters and police officers in New York City.
Recording Academy President Michael Greene spoke about the "loss of innocence on Sept. 11'' that caused the telecast to be canceled, but he promised the show will be back next year.
"In 2002 we're going to be there better than ever,'' he said.
Greene said that while it was unfortunate the winners didn't get a chance for exposure before a TV audience in more than 100 countries, Latin performers will have a role in the main Grammy Awards show Feb. 27 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
