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Fourth Street Live will be transformed into an awards show venue Latin Music Awards Kentucky Friday night.
The awards ceremony is free and open to the public, with a ticket at the Sports and Social Club on Fourth Street.
There are 15 award categories, including Best Latin Artist, Best Latin Song, Best Mariachi Band and Best Tropical Artist.
The first Latin Music Awards Kentucky was held in 2019, but organizers conceived the event a year earlier.
Latin Music Awards Kentucky president Israel Cuenca said the goal was to “create an event, a program that recognizes Latin artists in the region, in Kentucky, in the community.”
In addition to announcing the winners, the show will feature performances by artists A-Corde Band, El Dominant and Ashley Toro, who have won awards in the past.
Despite COVID-19 resulting in a virtual event in 2020, the event has continued to grow since its inception.
“We started with nine categories, and then 11, and then 15 and now 15,” Cuenca said.
As the categories expanded, he said the number of artists the organization was able to nominate grew to about 70 different performers.
As a result, the larger program now more accurately reflects the diversity of the Latin American community.
“We try to be as inclusive as possible,” Cuenca said. “So we expand each time with more categories, identifying which categories we don’t have and next year we might have this category or that category that shows those minorities within the Latin American community.”
Highlighting diversity is an important aspect of the program.
This is why Cuenca and co-organizers chose to hold this event Hispanic/Latinox Heritage Month. The month, which runs from September 15 to October 15, celebrates the history, culture and contributions of the people and countries of Latin America.
This year’s nominees, all Kentucky residents, represent countries from across Latin America
The organization nominates a few artists for consideration. Additionally, artists can nominate themselves, but they must be approved to participate.
Winners are decided by a combination of public votes and the opinions of local music experts.
Cuenca says they consider the number of releases, acts and influences an artist has had, in addition to the overall quality of the music.
“It’s a very holistic approach. It’s not fair, he has more votes so he wins,” Cuenca said.
This approach and input from those involved in the Latin American music community help when competing artists are close to voting.
The Latin Music Awards Kentucky organization, in addition to awarding artists, also offers partial scholarships to students attending Kentucky colleges and universities.
This year, 12 students — attending Bellarmine University, Jefferson County Technical and Community College and the University of Louisville — will receive the funds.
“We give them because it’s a way to give back to our community,” Cuenca said. “It’s a partial scholarship, but we’re glad to do it.”
The institute works with diversity managers at those institutions to identify students who would be good recipients.
Disclosure: Louisville Public Media Media sponsor of the Latin Music Awards.
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