The Billboard Latin Music Conference & Awards, now in its 18th year, took place April 23-26 in Miami. The conference had a reported attendance of over 1000 sponsors, press and powerful music industry executives, and features showcase performances by over 20 artists, panel discussions on important industry issues.

Parties, educational sessions, cocktail receptions, networking events and the 5th annual Billboard Bash, which features awards presentations and performances all make up what they are now called Latin Music Week. The move to make this a week long event allow for more sponsorship opportunities which I’m sure is welcome. This is very similar to the strategy employed by the Latin Grammies with their street parties.

The Billboard Latin Conference ended in style with the Billboard Bash, the official pre-awards show party was on April 25, followed by the prestigious Billboard Latin Music Awards on April 26, which aired live at 8pm EST on Telemundo.

The live telecast of “Premios Billboard de La Música Latina 2007″ gave Telemundo its highest ratings of the week, averaging a 7.8 rating/12 share in U.S. Hispanic households. The awards telecast averaged a very strong 1.0/2 for the network in all U.S. households.

No shocker, the show’s best performance was among Hispanics 18-34, with slightly more females tuning in.

The pre-awards program “Alfombra Billboard” - literally the red-carpet preview to the awards - also performed well for Telemundo. But Saturday’s telecast of “Reventón Billboard VIP” failed to deliver for the network against stiff competition from Fútbol Liga Mexicana matches on TeleFutura and Azteca América and Univision’s Saturday stalwart, “Sábado Gigante.”

All in all, this event fails every year to pull the numbers that its rivals Premio Lo Nuestro and the Latin Grammies fetch. This is really one of the few credible music properties that keep Telemundo on the map with awards shows. In a landscape dominated by Univision and their talent, it will be interesting to see the future of this show.Footage from the Juanes Q&A below.

- Written by Miamiadguy