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And the big winner of the Latin Grammy Awards is — the new arrival carpet!


As the musical royalty of the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking worlds, among them Romeo Santos and Paula Fernandes, pulled up in limos and SUVs at the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas for the 12th annual ceremony, the Univision announcers couldn't stop talking about the new arrival carpet.

Rather than the usual shade of fire-engine red, the carpet is a shade of blue-green that looks swell as the backdrop for several gigantic logos of Heineken beer, which happens to be one of the evening's sponsors. The carpet has been getting so much attention from Univision that it almost upstaged the backless, nearly abdomen-less dress that actress-singer Adrienne Bailon was wearing. Bailon is presenting the award for best rock album.

The other word on everyone's lips is orgullo, pride. After decades of being swallowed up in the regular Grammy Awards, the 12-year-old Latin Grammys have established an identity of their own, and the pride that Latino and Latin American artists feel about having a show of their own is genuine.

When Rene Pérez of the group Calle 13 rapped the opening number at the Latin Grammys, he had a semi-surprise guest from L.A. with him.

Right next to Pérez, on stage at the Mandalay Bay Hotel theater in Las Vegas, was none other than Gustavo Dudamel, music director and principal conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and budding multimedia celebrity, conducting the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, the orchestra that Dudamel apprenticed with as a youth. It's Dudamel's biggest television audience since he guested on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno earlier this year.

Resplendent in a yellow, blue and red sash -- the colors of the Venezuelan flag -- Dudamel led his orchestra in backing Calle 13's hit song "Latinoamerica," an anthemic celebration of Latin culture and identity stetching from the Rio Grande to Tierra del Fuego. Like Pérez and his stepbrother Eduardo Cabra, Calle 13's other half, Dudamel has made a point in his career of promoting music from all corners of Latin America -- including the music of the growing Latino presence in the United States.

He and wife, Eloisa, are pretty good salsa dancers too.