8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards

November 8, 2007, Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, Nevada - In today's American led mainstream media it is easy to lose sight of the fact that outside of the United States there is a much larger world media market. And when that audience is viewing these shows those numbers can be staggering. Case in point is the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards which were televised live from Las Vegas in November 2007. The show is said to have been viewed in over one hundred countries. The show, which is produced by Univision for their own network, is conducted in a classic "off the cuff" last minute type of frenzy, with stars bustling backstage, mobile band carts being changed and built before hitting the stage and high energy everywhere to be seen. The Latin community has a personality that comes through in how they both produce and perform, and being flexible as a vendor is what allows Audiotek to meet the needs of the show and the result is often some timeless performances.

2007 marked the first time the Latin Grammys had ever been in Las Vegas, after being held in Miami, New York and Los Angeles over the previous years. Incorporating the entertainment style of Vegas became an underlying theme for the show which kicked off with a mashed up performance of Ricky Martin with Blue Man Group, loudly thrusting the show's cold opening into high gear. Later in the show the Vegas combos continued with Mexican artists Orishas and Calle 13 being joined by the cast of the Vegas shows "Havana Night Club" and "Stomp Out Loud". Again, the percussive nature of the nominee's music complemented by the hammering rhythm of the Stomp cast created a once in a lifetime melding of two styles with one end result: energy. Special performances of the evening included Andrea Bocelli with Best Female Vocalist winner Laura Pausini and an incredible performance by Juan Luis Guerra and his band featuring guest percussionist Sheila E. that ended the night on more than a high note. Guerra was a five time Grammy winner this year for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and also a special award for the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year.

Due to the size of the live acts and the need for the venue to be as loud as possible without destroying the live broadcast, ATK has to bring to this show the same tools it would for any of the largest shows on television. A JBL VerTec line array PA system comprised of sixty cabinets flown in seven clusters, a cluster of eight flown VerTec subwoofer enclosures as well as ATK proprietary CSW218 subwoofers and JBL front fill speakers on the ground. The high powered racks of QSC amplifiers powering the system were flown high in the air on a rigged platform and remotely controlled and sent signal using a fiber optic system. The front of house PA music mixing was executed using a Yamaha PM1D digital mixing system with full recalling of all parameters individually for all of the 14 live acts. All of the production elements were mixed on a Yamaha PM5D. The two separate monitor systems, one for stage A and one for stage B, were Yamaha PM1D systems as well. Monitors for A and B stage combined utilized over 60 proprietary ATK M2 wedge speakers, 24 ATK M5 wedges speakers, ATK three way C6 sidefills, CSW218 subwoofers and 24 discreet channels of wireless in ear monitors. For the acts that spanned all three performance areas, submixes had to be sent back and forth between monitor positions for the respective A and B stage performers to hear each other. The system was intensely involved and, at times, created as a response to an ever evolving show. Both backstage and on stage the A2's, the industry term for all of its audio specialists responsible for patching, testing and allowing for all of the rapid set up and tear down of each act, relied on the network of microphones, cables and transformer isolated split systems that Audiotek brings to all of its shows. The nature of Latin music is to have many players and instruments, which translates to an enormous list of individual microphones and inputs for an audio crew. For this year's show the feat pulled off by the audio crew was astounding and most would say the show was flawless.

Live productions of this size are always pushing the envelope of realistically being able to be pulled off as they pack in more performances and make last minute changes. The urge to become frustrated is great as a vendor, but the reward for meeting the demand and being part of a solution is greater. Knowing that as a company we can meet the needs of the crew that aces these shows and set a benchmark in doing so is the reward for Audiotek.