Last night (July 21), the 19th edition of Premios Juventud was streamed from José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in Puerto Rico for the very first time. The hosts of the show were Danna Paola, Grupo Firme’s Eduin Caz, Prince Royce, and El Gordo y La Flaca’s Clarissa Molina. It was a night jam-packed with performances and emotional acceptance speeches. The ceremony had big winners, with Karol G taking home the most awards of the night and Grupo Firme not far behind her.
The Colombian singer-songwriter snagged nine out of her 11 nominations this year, including Favorite Streaming Artist, Best Girl Power Collab for “MAMIII” featuring Becky G, and Album of the Year for KG0516.
The runner-up for the biggest winner of the night was the Regional Mexican band Grupo Firme who had seven nominations. The group not only gave multiple performances throughout the night, but they also took home four premios, including Best Regional Mexican Collaboration for “En Tu Perra Vida” with Lenin Ramírez, Best Regional Mexican Fusion for “Cada Quien” featuring Maluma, and Favorite Group of the Year.
CNCO won for Best Fandom and surprised fans by announcing the separation of the boy band after nearly seven years. Formed in 2015 during Univision’s La Banda, the group’s member Zabdiel de Jesús said in an acceptance speech that they would disband following their tour and upcoming album.
Premios Juventud not only awarded artists for their music, but also young changemakers. The Agent of Change awards went to J Balvin, the late Jenni Rivera and her Love Foundation, Kany García, Wisin & Yandel, and Juanpa Zurita.
“In a way, it feels really weird to receive an award for helping; it’s something that should happen naturally, but after so long doing this, you start to realize that to help has its complexity,” Zurita said in his acceptance speech. “Helping is trying something new…but always with a good heart. No one tells you that doing it right is probably the most difficult. Incredibly, there will be resistance on the journey because there are people who don’t believe in good intentions.”
Other winners include Farruko with “Pepas” for Viral Track of the Year, El Alfa for Male Artist – On the Rise, Ángela Aguilar for Female Artist – On the Rise, and Bad Bunny for Artist of the Youth – Male.
