Finalists For 2018 Billboard Latin Music Awards Announced

Celebrating the 20th broadcast of the Billboard Latin Music Awards on Telemundo, the network revealed today the complete list of finalists for the longest-running and most prestigious awards show in the Latin music world. The grand event will be produced by Telemundo and Tony Mojena/Ants TV Productions, Inc., and broadcast live on Telemundo Thursday, April 26 at 7pm/6c from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show will also air simultaneously on Spanish-language entertainment cable network, Universo. The complete list of finalists, in addition to exclusive content about this year's three-hour ceremony, can be found at PremiosBillboard.com, the official website of the 2018 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Fans can be part of the action of the star-studded event following @LatinBillboards across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat as TeamTelemundo, and join the conversation using #Billboards2018. In addition, for those who want to attend in person, tickets to the event will go on sale soon.

Top finalists competing in multiple categories include J Balvin (12), Shakira (12), Luis Fonsi (10), Daddy Yankee (10), Maluma (10), Ozuna (10), Justin Bieber (8) and Beyoncé (7).

Colombian urban music superstar J Balvin is a twelve-time finalist this year, competing for Artist of the Year; Social Artist of the Year; Hot Latin Songs Artist of the Year, Male; Top Latin Albums Artist of the Year, Male; and Latin Rhythm Artist of the Year, Solo. Balvin's album "Energia" vies for Top Latin Album of the Year. The chart-topping song "Mi Gente" by J Balvin & Willy William featuring Beyoncé competes for Hot Latin Song of the Year; Hot Latin Song of the Year, Vocal Event; Airplay Song of the Year; Digital Song of the Year; Streaming Song of the Year, and Latin Rhythm Song of the Year.

Also a twelve-time finalist, international music icon Shakira is up for Social Artist of the Year; Hot Latin Songs Artist of the Year, Female; Top Latin Albums Artist of the Year, Female; and Latin Pop Artist of the Year, Solo. Her album "El Dorado" vies for Top Latin Album of the Year and Latin Pop Album of the Year. Shakira's song "Chantaje," featuring Maluma, competes for Hot Latin Song of the Year, Vocal Event; Digital Song of the Year; Streaming Song of the Year and Latin Pop Song of the Year. Her song "Me Enamore" also competes for Latin Pop Song of the Year while the song "Déjà Vu" by Prince Royce and Shakira is up for Tropical Song of the Year.

The global music phenomenon "Despacito" took Latin music to new heights earning both Luis Fonsi andDaddy Yankee ten finalist mentions this year. Both artists compete for Artist of the Year; Songwriter of the Year and Hot Latin Songs Artist of the Year, Male. "Despacito," by Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber, is up for Hot Latin Song of the Year; Hot Latin Song of the Year, Vocal Event; Airplay Song of the Year; Digital Song of the Year; Streaming Song of the Year; and Latin Pop Song of the Year. Additionally, Luis Fonsi vies for Latin Pop Artist of the Year, Solo, while Daddy Yankee is up for Latin Rhythm Artist of the Year, Solo.

Colombian social media maven Maluma is a ten-time finalist competing for Social Artist of the Year. His song "Felices Los 4" is up for Hot Latin Song of the Year; Digital Song of the Year; Streaming Song of the Year; Latin Rhythm Song of the Year and Airplay Song of the Year. This is in addition to the aforementioned four finalists mentions for Shakira's song "Chantaje," featuring Maluma.

Fast-rising music star Ozuna is a ten-time finalist competing for Artist of the Year; Hot Latin Songs Artist of the Year, Male; Top Latin Albums Artist of the Year, Male; and Latin Rhythm Artist of the Year, Solo. Ozuna's top charting album "Odisea" is up for Top Latin Album of the Year and Latin Rhythm Album of the Year. The song "Escapate Conmigo" by Wisin featuring Ozuna vies for Hot Latin Song of the Year; Airplay Song of the Year; Hot Latin Song of the Year, Vocal Event; and Latin Rhythm Song of the Year.

Buoyed by highly successful music collaborations, Justin Bieber and Beyoncé are eight and seven-time finalist this year, respectively. Justin Bieber is up for Songwriter of the Year and Crossover Artist of the Year; in addition to the six finalist categories for the hit "Despacito." Beyoncé also vies for Crossover Artist of the Year, as well as the six categories of the single "Mi Gente."

Willy William is a six-time finalist this year while Calibre 50, Christian Nodal, Nicky Jam, and Romeo Santos are five-time finalists. Competing for four awards are Banda Sinaloense MS de Sergio Lizárraga, CNCO, Wisin and Zion & Lennox. Enrique Iglesias and Prince Royce are three-time finalists.

BLMA Tweet: .@JBALVIN ‏ @shakira ‏@LuisFonsi @daddy_yankee ‏@maluma ‏@ozunapr lead finalists @LatinBillboards live April 26 at 8pm/7c @Telemundo #Billboards2018

The Billboard Latin Music Awards are the only ones to honor the most popular albums, songs and performers in Latin music, as determined by the actual sales, streaming, radio airplay and social data that informs Billboard's weekly charts during a one-year period from the rankings dated February 4, 2017 through this year's January 27 charts. Based on album sales, digital track sales, streaming data and monitored radio airplay provided by Nielsen Music and social media data provided by Next Big Sound, Billboard's rankings are the world's most authoritative music charts. Finalists, and the eventual winners, reflect performance of new recordings on Billboard's albums and songs charts, including Top Latin Albums, Hot Latin Songs, Latin Airplay, Latin Streaming Songs and Latin Digital Songs, among others.

The awards are the culmination of the Billboard Latin Music Conference, which will take place on April 23-26th at The Venetian in Las Vegas, Nevada. Now in its 29th year, the conference is the biggest and longest-running event dedicated to Latin music in the world. The conference is the "must-attend" event for the top power players in the industry including A-list talent and top agents, managers, promoters, marketing, advertising, and radio executives, as well as for those taking their first steps in the business. For information please visit www.BillboardLatinConference.com or email conferences@billboard.com

About Billboard:

Billboard is the world's largest voice in music, built on the most complete and well-respected database of charts across all music genres. The Billboard charts define success in music. From the iconic Billboard magazine to Billboard.com, the ultimate consumer-facing destination for millions of passionate music fans, to the industry's most elite conference series and influencer events including the Power 100 and Women in Music - the Billboard brand has unmatched authority among fans, artists and the industry alike. Billboard has a social media footprint of 16.4 million social followers across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, and creates more than 200M cross-platform video views per month. Billboard magazine has published major news-generating covers recently including Miley Cyrus, Zayn, Ariana Grande, The Chainsmokers, Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Selena Gomez, Camila Cabello, DJ Khaled, Justin Bieber, and an open letter to Congress signed by 180+ of the music industry's biggest stars and executives. In December 2017, the Billboard Women in Music ceremony, which honored Selena Gomez as Woman of the Year, was live-streamed globally on Twitter.

In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group acquired SpinMedia's storied music assets Spin, Vibe, and Stereogum, establishing the world's largest music brand by digital traffic, social reach, and audience share. The combined entity of music and entertainment properties now reaches 47 million unique visitors and one in every three U.S. Millennials.

About Ants TV Production, Inc.

Ants TV Production, Inc. is an international company specialized in management, creative and production services for the entertainment and television industry. For the past 25 years and with Tony Mojena as its principal, Ants TV Production, Inc. has been in charge of some of the most important TV productions, artist management, concert production, event management, corporate clients and creative concept development for TV and Radio networks. Ants TV Production, Inc. is a full production powerhouse with a proven, successful turnkey operation and counts with the most qualified experts and experienced professionals in the industry. Ants TV Production, Inc. specializes in a variety of TV show formats, live televised and non-televised events providing high quality production and creative services with world class technology.

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