Camila Cabello opened the Grammy Awards from the inside of a brownstone reimagined as a colorful dollhouse. She shifted through the rooms before taking to the street, where she ran into J Balvin reading a paper with the headline Build Bridges Not Walls.
Young Thug joined to perform a verse as Cabello nimbly danced throughout the street. Soon, the opening act turned into a medley of Latin pop superstars: Ricky Martin joined to belt alongside Cabello as Arturo Sandoval played on his trumpet before J Balvin did a bit of his smash hit Mi Gente.
Cabello is up for two awards: Best Pop Solo Performance (her live version of Havana) and Best Pop Vocal Album (her debut 2018 LP, Camila). The former Fifth Harmony singer released Havana, a single off herCamilaalbum, in 2017, and it quickly became a Number One hit on theBillboardHot 100. In aRolling Stoneinterview from last year, she called the track an ode to my heritage, my culture.
Wow what a hell of a performance by the oh so talented @Camila_Cabello to open the #grammys ! This girl can sing yes Camila kill it! #CamilaCabello #Grammys2019 #GRAMMYsxCAMILA pic.twitter.com/7OtbRLTkXR
Maria Gamerota (@Ria_Gam03) February 11, 2019
Balvin is nominated for Record of the Year for I Like It, his collaborative single with Cardi B and Bad Bunny.While he only received one nod at the 2019 Grammys, he recently earned eight nominations at the 2018 Latin Grammy Awards including Record of the Year (Mi Gente with Willy William; X with Nicky Jam), Album of the Year and Best Urban Music Album (for his fifth LP, Vibras).
Kendrick Lamar leads the 2019 Grammy Awards with eight total nominations, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year (All the Stars with SZA), Album of the Year (the Black Panther soundtrack) and Best Rap Performance (Kings Dead with Jay Rock, Future and James Blake).