Guerra has big night with five wins

Dominican singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra swept the Latin Grammy Awards on Thursday, taking home five musical honors including album of the year, record of the year and song of the year.

Guerra's album, "La Llave De Mi Corazon," and its playful, upbeat title track also won the singer and his band, 440, trophies for best merengue album and tropical song.

Praise for "La Llave," also extended to its production, as the album garnered the award for best engineered album.

Guerra, credited with popularizing the bachata dance rhythms outside the Dominican Republic, bested Miguel Bose, reggaeton duo Calle 13, Ricky Martin and Alejandro Sanz for the album of the year prize.

Among the artists he beat out in his record of the year win were Martin and other superstars: Beyonce and Shakira, and Miguel Bose and Paulina Rubio.

Martin and Calle 13 each picked up two trophies.

The awards show made its Las Vegas debut at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, and the flavor of Sin City was evident from the get-go, when Martin opened the show with a rousing performance along with the blue-headed musical trio Blue Man Group.

The superstar performed a medley of "Lola" and "La Bomba," while Blue Man Group added their signature frenetic dance visuals.

Later, reggaeton star Daddy Yankee performed "Ella Me Levanto," flanked by the scantily clad showgirls of "Folies Bergere," each wearing colorful feather headpieces.

Martin took home the award for long form music video for "MTV Unplugged" and for male pop vocal album.

Fellow Puerto Rican group Calle 13, which also started the evening with four nominations, picked up the trophy for urban music album for their politically charged "Residente o Visitante," beating out Daddy Yankee, Orishas and Ivy Queen.

One track, "Pal Norte," on which the group highlights hardships faced by immigrants trying to enter the U.S. illegally, nabbed the urban music song trophy, which recognized songwriting in the genre.

Jesse & Joy, siblings from Mexico who scored a hit this year with "Espacio Sideral" off their debut album, garnered the new artist trophy. The pair beat out several newcomers, including pop singer Alejandra Alberti, and Cuban drummer Dafnis Prieto.

Among the other winners, Italian singer Laura Pausini won the trophy in the female pop vocal album category for "Yo Canto," while Michael Salgado won the Norteno album trophy for "En Vivo."

Los Horoscopos De Durango picked up the banda album award, while La Quinta Estacion took home the award for pop album by a duo or group with vocal.

"We hope this will be the first of many," said singer Natalia Jimenez, who also thanked Mexico, where the Spanish band lives. "Que viva Mexico!"

Before the televised portion of the show was broadcast, when many of the Latin Recording Academy's 48 trophies were awarded, Venezuelan vocal group Voz Veis landed two Latin Grammys -- becoming the first group from their nation to be honored.