Billboard Music Awards 2016: Will Latinas Finally Get Nominated in 2016?
Will Latin American women make a comeback in this year's Billboard Music Awards?
There is currently no information on who will perform or who is nominated for the 2016 awards, but there are due to be some Latinos in the mix. However, it remains unclear whether or not Latinas will be included.
A year ago, only men were nominated in the 15 slots available for Latinos.
In the top Latin Artist category, Romeo Santos topped J Balvin, Juan Gabriel, Enrique Iglesias and Prince Royce. But Iglesias would still have a big night, winning for top Latin Song as his "Bailando" beat out the music of such artists as J Balvin and Romeo Santos. Santos actually landed three nominations for such songs as "Eres Mia," "Odio" and "Propuesta Indecente."
Iglesias also won the Top Latin Album Award for his record "Sex and Love." Other contestants in this category included Juan Gabriel, Romeo Santos, Santana and Marc Anthony.
The lack of Latin female stars in the Latin categories was balanced out by Selena Gomez's nomination in the Top Social Artist category.
Pitbull was among the performers at last year's event.
A year earlier Jenni Rivera was the only female Latin artist in the Top Latin artist category, but she lost to Marc Anthony. Once again the Top Latin Song category was dominated by men (Romeo Santos had two nominations). Rivera was nominated for Top Album as well, but was also the only Latin female represented in the category.
For those doing the math, only one woman has nabbed two of 30 Latino specific slots in the last two years at these awards.
Latino performers from 2014 included Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira; Lopez performed in concert with Pitbull and then on her own near the end of the show.
Nominations for female Latinas in the Latin American categories were far more common between 2011-2013 when the show was restarted after a four-year hiatus. Shakira and Jenni Rivera were winners in a few categories during that run, with the latter landing a plethora of nominations in the best Latin Song category in 2013.
It should be interesting if there is more diversity in this year's pool of Latinos, given the backlash that other awards organizations (mainly the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) are receiving for their lack of diversity.
The 2016 Billboard Music Awards will be showcased on Sunday, May 22 at 8 pm ET. The show will air from Las Vegas on ABC.