The Stars Came Out To Shine At The 2009 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Presented By State Farm, On Telemundo

Flex took top honors with eight awards. Enrique Iglesias was recognized with six awards. Aventura and Mana received four awards each.

Last night, the 2009 Billboard Latin Music Awards, presented by State Farm, celebrated the best in Latin music in a star-studded event produced and broadcast, for the first time in High Definition on Telemundo, from the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables, Florida. Latin music fans from coast to coast and around the world enjoyed an event filled with unforgettable moments and spectacular music, which began with an outstanding joint performance by Aventura, Wisin & Yandel, and Akon, which was immediately followed by Jenny Rivera. Top honors at the most important and prestigious Latin music event went to Flex who received eight Billboard Latin Music Awards, and performed his mega hit "Te Quiero;" while Enrique Iglesias was honored with six Awards, and surprised audiences with a live broadcast from Minsk, Belaruse. Aventura and Mana, received four awards each.

Billboard's special recognitions went to multi-platinum selling artist, Carlos Santana, who received the Billboard Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding music career and Reggaeton star Daddy Yankee, was honored with the Billboard Spirit of Hope Award for his commitment and humanitarian work through his foundation "Corazon Guerrero" (Heart of Warrior). Santana surprised the audience, when he joined Mana in a memorable performance. Daddy Yankee also performed an energetic number joined by the all-male dance troupe Jabbawockeez.

Artists who received two Billboard Latin Music Awards included, Ivy Queen, Jenni Rivera and Vicente Fernandez. Those honored with one award were, Armando Avila, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Gloria Trevi, Isidro Chavez, K-Paz de la Sierra, Los Dareyes de la Sierra, Los Temerarios, Marco Antonio Solis, Pitbull, RBD and Wisin & Yandel. A complete list of winners is available at www.telemundomv.com.

The event marked the long-awaited return of Salsa legend, Ruben Blades who joined the stage with his group Los Seis del Solar to celebrate the band's 25th musical anniversary. The magnificent production also featured exclusive performances by pop star, Paulina Rubio, and urban icon, Don Omar, who featured the global television premiere of their respective new productions; an acoustic presentation by Reik; Banda El Recodo, which celebrated its 70th anniversary; Cristian Castro who was accompanied by pianist Arthur Hanlon; La Quinta Estacion, with a performance featuring special effects; a pop medley by Gloria Trevi, and a special number by popular regional group Patrulla 81.

Telemundo novela actress Aylin Mujica and host of Telemundo's morning show "Levantate," Alan Tacher, hosted the star-studded ceremony. The event, which culminated the 20th annual Billboard Latin Music Conference, presented by State Farm in association with Verizon, was preceded by the ultra stylish and highly anticipated red carpet arrivals pre-show, which featured the best in fashion and interviews with the stars as they paraded down the carpet just moments before the big show. "La Alfombra Roja de los Premios Billboard, presented by State Farm" was hosted by Monica Noguera and Rashel Diaz, along with Mary Gamarra and Jorge Bernal from key positions on the carpet.

The Billboard Latin Music Awards honor the most popular albums, songs, and performers in Latin music, as determined by the actual sales and radio airplay data that informs Billboard's weekly charts during a one-year period covering the issue dated February 9, 2008 through this year's January 31 issue. Finalists, and the eventual winners, reflect performance of new recordings on Billboard's sales charts, including Top Latin Albums, and radio charts, including Hot Latin Songs, with album categories confined to titles that did not chart before Billboard's Nov. 10, 2007 issue and excluding finalists from the prior-year's Billboard Latin Music Awards. Based on sales data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, radio information monitored by Nielsen BDS and master ringtone sales compiled by Nielsen RingScan, Billboard's charts are the world's most authoritative music rankings.

Now in its 115th year, Billboard is the world's premier weekly music publication and a diverse digital, events, brand, content and data licensing platform. Billboard publishes the most trusted charts and offers unrivaled reporting about the latest music, video, gaming, media, digital and mobile entertainment issues and trends. The billboard brand consists of Billboard magazine, Billboard.biz, Billboard en Español, Billboard Chart Alert, Billboard Information Network (BIN), Billboard Directories, Billboard Books, Billboard Licensing & Events and Billboard.com - the online destination of choice for over four million music fans every month. Billboard's many strategic partners include Microsoft, Reuters, Ticketmaster, Sirius Satellite Radio, Telemundo, ABC Radio Networks, AT&T, Sandisk and Billboard sister companies Nielsen SoundScan and Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems. These partnerships leverage Billboard's proprietary data, charts and information resources to develop broadcast entertainment, digital and mobile platforms and contextual commerce applications that expand Billboard's franchise and consumer reach. Billboard is published by the Entertainment Group at Nielsen Business Media, a part of The Nielsen Company, a global information and media company.