AMERICAN IDOLS WITH CARIBBEAN SOUL: CUBANIDAD AND THE LATIN GRAMMYS

The televised broadcasts of the Latin Grammy ceremonies attempt to create an inter-Latino space through scripted dialogue that identifies the country of origin of featured artists. Such markers of identification highlight diversity, while the absence of more nuanced discussions of the political and ideological differences that exist between and among these countries ensures a market-friendly construction of a presumably non-politicized Latino panethnic group of musicians and fans. This paper focuses on the participation of Cuban-American artists in the 2000, 2002, and 2003 Latin Grammy ceremonies. While other artists are introduced through scripted dialogue that situates them in relation to a specific country of origin, Celia Cruz and Gloria Estefan are identified as "American'' and "Caribbean,'' respectively. These creative titles of identification mark the women as anything-but-Cuban. In doing so, the scripted dialogue inadvertently draws attention to the limitations of the Latin Grammy's project of promoting a non-politicized image of their award nominees and Latino music fan base. Most of the dialogue on the award show upholds the popular culture industry definitions of Latinidad that presume a natural affinity for one's home country. However, a closer examination reveals that the home country preference is coded differently for Cuban-Americans than for other Latino artists.