Thanks to the work of the Screening Committees, more than 6,000 entries, distributed across 46 categories, were submitted for the voting membership’s consideration in this year's 12th Annual Latin GRAMMY® Awards process.

More than ever, voting members anticipated receiving their first-round ballots and, thanks to the immediacy of communications these days, we were able to respond quickly to their requests. Deloitte, our auditing firm, reported that returned ballots significantly exceeded previous years' numbers. That’s a great step forward.

Thanks to all of you who submitted your votes in time.

Deloitte compiled the votes and determined the top five vote-getters in each category.

In addition to the four General categories (Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Album Of The Year and Best New Artist), technical categories such as Recording Package, Production, Music Video, and several others were reviewed by a Nominating Committee to ensure the integrity of the process.

The result of all this work produced the final list of nominations for the 12th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards, some of which were announced at a press conference at the Avalon, in Hollywood, Calif., on Wed., Sept. 14, 2011.

The event was streamed live on www.latingrammy.com and is now available as video on demand. The press conference and nominations also were discussed on the Latin GRAMMYs' Twitter and Facebook pages (www.twitter.com/latingrammys or @LatinGRAMMYs; www.facebook.com/latingrammys).

The road to the 12th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards…

In the coming weeks and months, we will celebrate several international events.

In partnership with the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico, we are presenting a photo exhibit highlighting 11 years of memorable Latin GRAMMY moments . The inauguration of the show will coincide with a concert celebration titled “The Gala of the Nominees” at Club Ragga in Mexico City.

Also, we will participate in the EXPO Show Business 2011 in São Paulo, Brazil. 

We will keep you informed as details are confirmed.

A few lines about Latin Jazz …

This is a subject that has been amply covered in the media and special forums. As you may know, our sister organization The Recording Academy®, which presents the GRAMMY® Awards, restructured its awards process earlier this year. As a result, more than 30 categories were consolidated across all genres, among them Best Latin Jazz Album which was consolidated within the Jazz Field under the categories Best Jazz Instrumental Album and Best Jazz Vocal Album.

The Latin Recording Academy maintains its own awards process and structure, and  Best Latin Jazz Album continues to be one of the categories that will be presented at the 12th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards on Nov. 10, 2011.

We hope the members of The Recording Academy who support Latin Jazz will continue to submit Latin Jazz recordings to establish evidence of the viability of this genre, and that the continuing dialogue will be carried out in the spirit of mutual respect.

And remember …

Soon we will begin sending invitations to the Special Awards, the 2011 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year, the 12th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards, and the Latin GRAMMY After-Party.

Also, our Twitter account has surpassed 400,000 followers and we continue toward our goal of half a million followers, which it looks like we will achieve shortly given the high level of engagement between Twitter users and The Latin Academy.

Gabriel Abaroa

President/CEO

The Latin Recording Academy