Juan Luis Guerra sweeps Latin Grammys with 5 awards.

The Latin Grammys were handed out in Las Vegas with Dominican Juan Luis Guerra picking up five awards and being chosen "person of the year" by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

SHOWS:

1. VARIOUS OF PRESENTERS ANNOUNCING GRAMMYS WON BY JUAN LUIS GUERRA

2. SINGER JUAN LUIS GUERRA WINNING GRAMMY AND WALKING TO STAGE

3. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) JUAN LUIS GUERRA, SINGER AND GRAMMY WINNER, SAYING:

"We are a strong and valiant people and, above all, a land full of peace, glory and love. God bless the Dominican Republic."

4. AUDIENCE APPLAUDING

5. CALLE 13 PERFORMING

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CALLE 13, SAYING:

"We're very happy, nervous; this has been pressure. We want to thank the Arawak Indians who came from Colombia, and the Gaiteros de San Jacinto, to all of Mexico, all of Colombia, from our hearts, to all the latinos who work here-- mixing cement to construct buildings, they're waiters, teachers, doctors, all the Latinos representing, no one is getting us out of here."

7. RICKY MARTIN VIDEO PERFORMING MTV UNPLUGGED

8. OVERVIEW OF STAGE WITH PRESENTERS

9. PRESENTERS ANNOUNCING GRAMMY WON BY RICKY MARTIN

10. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) RICKY MARTIN, PERFORMER AND GRAMMY WINNER, SAYING:

"I want to thank the public. I want to thank God. I want to thank Puerto Rico. I want to thank my family, my siblings. Mom, Dad, I love you. To the unity of the peoples, the unity of the peoples not the division of peoples, gentlemen. We need to speak Spanish. Let us not stop speaking Spanish. (AUDIENCE CLAPPING) We need to learn English but Spanish is our language and we need to keep speaking it. I love you very much. May God bless you. Until next time, ciao!"

11. RICKY MARTIN WALKING OFF STAGE WITH PRESENTERS

STORY: The tropical romance of Dominican singer Juan Luis Guerra and the edgy urban sounds of Puerto Rico's Calle 13 garnered some of the top Latin Grammys in the annual awards ceremony on Thursday (November 8).

Guerra picked up five Latin Grammys, including album of the year, record of the year and song of the year for "La Llave De Mi Corazon."

Guerra, who took the music of the Dominican Republic to the world stage 20 years ago with "Ojala Que LLueva Cafe," was also chosen this year as "person of the year" by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

He dedicated one Grammy to his home country, who he urged to be strong in light of the recent devastation caused by Tropical Storm Noel.

"We are a strong and valiant people and, above all, a land full of peace, glory and love," he said. "God bless the Dominican Republic."

The provocative Calle 13 won best urban music album for "Residente O Visitante," which mixes the duo's reggaeton roots with adventurous excursions into other Latin genres like cumbia and bossa nova. Along with Panasuyo, it won Best Urban Song songwriter's award for "Pal Norte" from the "Residente O Visitante" album.

"We're very happy, nervous; this has been pressure," said the excited performer. "To all of Mexico, all of Colombia, from our hearts, to all the latinos who work here-- mixing cement to construct buildings, they're waiters, teachers, doctors, all the latinos representing, no one is getting us out of here."

The most famous of Puerto Rico's music exports, Ricky Martin, won two Grammys, one for best long-form music video and the other for Best Male Pop Vocal Album for his "MTV Unplugged."

His speech-- in which he urged the audience to maintain the Spanish language-- drew applause from the audience.

"To the unity of the peoples, the unity of the peoples not the division of peoples, gentlemen," he said. "We need to speak Spanish. Let us not stop speaking Spanish."

Other awards include La Quinta Estacion, a Mexican group that originated in Spain and is also popular in the United States, which won best pop group album with "El Mundo Se Equivoca." And Brazilian veteran singer and composer Caetano Veloso took the prize for top singer-songwriter album with "Ce" and best Brazilian song for "Nao Me Arrependo."

The Latin Grammy awards have been held since their inception in the United States, where Hispanics account for 15 percent of the population and are the fastest-growing demographic group.

Hispanics of all ages gathered in the Las Vegas venue to catch glimpses of some of the biggest stars from their native countries. Las Vegas is about one-fourth Hispanic.