Listen to 2008 Latin Grammy Award 'Best Tropical Song' Nominees

Juan Jose Hernandez is a Puerto Rican composer as well as a performer himself. This year he released his own album, San Juan-Habana to good reviews.

Gilberto Santa Rosa's Contraste is a 2-disc set as the salsero tries to move from straight salsa to more of a pop sound. One of the discs is salsa, the other contains songs that are pop/ballads. Some of the same tunes are on each disc, "Conteo Regresivo" being one of them. I don't know which version caught the LARAS judge's attention, but in either case, it's the same song and the same songwriter! I've included both versions.

Watch "Conteo Regresivo"(Salsa Version)
Watch "Conteo Regresivo"(Ballad Version)

From Contraste

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"Llego El Amor" was one of my favorite songs on this album and I'm not really surprised that it was written by Victor Manuelle. The popular sonero is an exceptional composer, an opinion shared by ASCAP since the organization honored Manuelle with the 2008 "Golden Note" award for his songs.

Listen to "Llego El Amor"

From Contraste

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Up until 2 years ago, Colombian vallenato was mostly ignored by the Latin Recording Academy, but in 2006 vallenato and cumbia were given their own category.

Jorge Celedon is a popular Colombian vocalist that focuses on vallenato; he added accordionist Jimmy Zambrano to his group and they've made 7 ablums together. Last year's Son..Para el Mundo won them the Latin Grammy in the newly formed "Cumbia/Vallenato" category. They're back in 2008 with De Lo Nuevo..Lo Mejor.

Watch "Me Vio Llorar"

From De Lo Nuevo..Lo Mejor

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Gloria Estefan's 90 Millas was really an outstanding album, and it's not surprising that "Pintame de Colores" was nominated although the big hit from the album is "No Llores."

Watch "Pintame de Colores"

From 90 Millas

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