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The Premios Juventud are an awards show that celebrate the best of Latin culture, from music to television, all geared towards the Latinx youth. The awards, presented by the television network Univision, have been going on for 18 years, with winners selected via online voting.
This year’s awards will air tonight but before you tune in, we wanted to highlight some of the most iconic performances that have been presented on the Premios Juventud stage. Check them out:
10. Paulina Rubio, 2004
Paulina Rubio has been a staple of Latin music for the past three decades. The singer, who started off in the band Timbiriche with Thalia, kicked off her solo career in the 90’s. Since, she’s sold over 15 million records. “Dame Otro Tequila” is a song from her seventh studio album, “Pau-latina.” It reached number 1 on US Billboard Hot Latin Songs.
9. RBD, 2005
It’s hard to talk about how influential RBD was for people who’ve never heard of them; you simply had to be there. The band, who also starred in Rebelde, a telenovela that ran for three seasons, broke records all over the world. It spawned a TV series, a magazine, albums recorded in English, Spanish and Portuguese and over 15 million records sold, making them one of the best selling Latin artists of all time. Netflix is currently shooting a remake of Rebelde that will air in 2022.
8. Belanova, 2008
Belanova was a Mexican band that separated in 2018. Through the course of their career, the band won Latin Grammy’s and provided some much needed synth sounds to the Latin pop music of the 2000’s. Their 2008 performance at the Premios Juventud was made up of a mash up of two of their songs, “Cada Que” and “Baila Mi Corazon.”
7. Tito el Bambino, 2009
For a while, “El Amor,” Tito el Bambino’s greatest hit, was the it Latin song, played in all Latin radios and parties. It reached number one in the Billboard Hot Latin songs and the Billboard Tropical songs. It charted in Mexico and Venezuela.
6. Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull, 2013
Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull, who’ve had a long string of collaborations, attended the Premios Juventud in 2013 and performed a medley of their biggest hits of the moment. The performance somehow includes dozens of dancers, a variety of elaborate sets including a pool, and several of JLo’s impressive dance breaks.
5. Los Ilegales, Proyecto Uno, DLG, 2016
In 2016, the awards show honored some of the biggest merengue songs of the 90’s. The show united the Dominican bands Ilegales and Proyecto Uno with singer Huey Dunbar, the lead the band DLG. These performers were pivotal for the embrace of Latin music in the U.S.
4. Leslie Grace and Maluma, 2016
In 2016, before her In The Heights fame and her leading role in DC’s Batgirl, Leslie Grace was performing with Maluma. Throughout her singing career, Grace has been nominated three times to the Latin Grammy Awards.
3. Ozuna, 2017
In 2017, just as Ozuna was earning a spot among the biggest international reggaeton stars, he performed “Dile Que Tu Me Quieres,” at the Premios Juventud. The song was one of the biggest hits of the year.
2. Becky G, Natti Natasha, 2018
“Sin Pijama” was a controversial song when it was first released, particularly because it featured two women at a time where the reggaeton world thought it wouldn’t sell. Becky G and Natti Natasha proved them wrong when their song became a huge hit, receiving a 38-times Latin platinum certification in the US and racking up over 100 million views on YouTube only three weeks after its release.
1. Ozuna, 2020
The Premios Juventud 2020 were an atypical show made up of many remote performances and awards handed out over Zoom. Ozuna’s performance of “Caramelo” and “Mamacita” was fun and vibrant and made great use of its green screen.