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Spanish artist Alejandro Sanz earned the second-most nominations, five in total, including record of the year, album of the year, song of the year, for "El Alma Al Aire," and best male pop vocal album.

Two of the most popular Mexican female acts also were nominated. Thalia and Paulina Rubio, who both performed with the group Timbiriche during their teens, each received nominations for best female pop vocal album.

Among the young stars who has successfully crossed over to the Spanish market is pop sensation Christina Aguilera. She received two nominations: best record of the year and best female pop vocal album for Pero Me Acuerdo De Ti (But I Remember You).

A group of famous Latin American singers and musicians, including Thalia, Jon Secada and Emilio Esfetan, took the stage at the American Airlines Arena in Miami to read the list of nominees for the second annual Latin Grammy Awards. The awards will be held at the arena on Tuesday, Sept. 11.

All the artists present at the nomination announcement carried a sense of pride to be able to carry their music across the world.

"There is a lot of diversity in the music, different angles and different flavors," said producer Emilio Estefan, who is married of singer Gloria Estefan. " It's a dream for me to showcase the music here. That is always something that I dreamt about when I was younger, and to have that finally happen is a dream come true."

"Its almost like a dream to be a part of the music," singer Paulina Rubio said. "The Grammys are one of the most important awards in music and I am glad to be a part of it. I owe it all to my fans."

Latin artists are beginning to confirm that their music is cross-cultural, Colombian singer Shalim said.

"Music is the universal language, and the fact that we are Latin and are to take our music across is very satisfying," Shalim said.

This year's nominations "truly reflect both international scope of Latin music and the diversity of the artists who make it," said Michael Greene, president and CEO of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and the Latin Recording Academy.

"We are celebrating span the globe and the multi-faceted genres of what we now know as Latin music," he added.

"Miami is a direct connection with the Latin music industry," said Alex Penelas, Miami-Dade Mayor, during a pre-recorded televised speech. "We have some of own very own Latin American artists here, such as Jon Secada, Gloria Estefan, and Celia Cruz...I love Celia Cruz."

Penelas was unable to attend the event because he is currently in South Africa promoting cultural events for the city of Miami.

" We have to celebrate Miami and Miami has to celebrate its music," he said

The aim of the Latin Grammy Awards is to recognize excellence and create a greater public awareness of the cultural diversity and contributions of recording artists.

But it hasn't been easy for Miami to be the host of the Latin Grammy Awards.

Last year, Miami-Dade's civic leaders rejected that the show was hosted in the stage, citing an ordinance that bars the country from those doing business with Cuba. The show was held in Los Angeles. The ordinance was later dropped, allowing Penelas and City of Miami Mayor Joe Carollo to pursue hosting the awards.

Jorge Mas Santos, president of the Cuban American National Foundation said how important it was to bring the show to Miami.

"Make no mistake about it: This is a community that is a center of ideas of freedom of expression and cultural exchange," Mas Santos said. "I am proud to be a part of this endeavor."

Greene took the opportunity to talk about the 2001 Person of the Year Award, which will be given to Julio Iglesias on Sept. 10.

"Julio [Iglesias] has always opened the doors to his house and offered help when we built the South Florida Chapter of the Latin Recording Academy," Greene said.

These awards show will also a silent auction with proceeds benefiting the Latin Academy's outreach and education programs.

The academy is expanding its chapters to Latin American countries across the world, such as Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Republica Dominicana to help raise music education in schools.

"We're probably concentrating this year a little more on discovery of talent," Greene said. "We'll still have the big artists ... but we're committed to finding new artists that can be successful."

A complete list of the 39 nominations can be seen on the Grammy Web site, http://www.grammy.com

The second Latin Grammy Awards will be broadcast live from Miami by CBS on Tuesday, Sept 11, from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. EDT.