Billboard And Telemundo To Honor Pepe Aguilar, Los Huracanes del Norte, And La Original Banda El Limon de Salvador Lizarraga At The 2012 Billboard Mexican Music Awards Presented by State Farm™ Live On Telemundo Thursday, October 18 At 7pm/6c

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• Latin America - español

MIAMI, Oct. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Billboard and Telemundo announced the recipients of the special awards for the 2012 Billboard Mexican Music Awards Presented by State Farm™ to air live on Thursday, October 18 at 7pm/6c from The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.  Leading Mariachi singer Pepe Aguilar will be awarded the Billboard "Musical Legacy Award," in recognition of a lengthy and rich musical trajectory that has influenced the genre and its artists; Norteno music institution Los Huracanes del Norte will be bestowed the Billboard "Voice Award," given to an artist or musical group with a distinctive and unique on and off-stage persona; while legendary Banda music group La Original Banda El Limon de Salvador Lizarraga will be presented with the "Excellence Award," awarded by Telemundo to an innovative artist or musical group that has remained at the forefront of music, changing, renewing and transforming themselves in order to remain successful.  Tickets to the awards show, which will be hosted by telenovela stars Marlene Favela, Rafael Amaya and TV personality Daniel Sarcos, are on sale through Ticketmaster.com or by phone at 1-800-745-3000.  For a complete list of finalists and announcements, visit www.Telemundo.com/premiosbillboard, the official website for the 2012 Billboard Mexican Music Awards presented by State Farm™.  Fans can also follow the awards show via Facebook.com/PremiosBillboardTelemundo and, Twitter.com/@LatinBillboardsand #BillboardsMX.

Pepe Aguilar will be awarded the "Musical Legacy Award" in recognition of a lengthy and rich musical trajectory that has influenced the genre and its artists. Pepe Aguilar was recently immortalized on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a star on the most famous boulevard in the world, located next to the one honoring his father Antonio Aguilar.  Originally from Zacatecas, Mexico, Pepe Aguilar debuted as a singer at the age of three in Madison Square Garden in New York in one of his father's shows. With global sales exceeding 12 million copies of his albums, he is considered a Latin music star by critics. Twelve of his songs have reached the top 10 of the Billboard charts, opening doors and resulting in new radio opportunities for other singers of mariachi music. As composer and producer he has worked with important figures, from Mexican traditional music singers like Lupita D'Alessio, Edith Marquez and Guadalupe Pineda to Spanish and English singing rock stars like Julieta Venegas, Ely Guerra and Taboo (of The Black Eyed Peas).   Pepe Aguilar is a social media maverick and has established an online talent contest titled "El Rey del Mariachi" in search of the next representative of the traditional Mexican music, to be promoted on his own record label with the goal of developing traditional Mexican music new talent.

The Norteno music institution Los Huracanes del Norte will be bestowed the "Voice Award", given to an artist or musical group with a distinctive and unique on and off-stage persona. Los Huracanes del Norte is one of the most emblematic Norteno musical acts. They are creators of a unique style that has given them international fame, with a prolific production of 63 albums, and participation in 21 feature films. Gold and Platinum albums,  various trophies, recognitions by government entities, medals, and many awards not only for their music, but also for their great humanitarian work have been bestowed to this legendary musical group. Born in Yahualica, Jalisco and raised in Tangancicuaro, Michoacan, the brothers Heraclio, Jesus and Francisco Garcia Ruvalcaba migrated to the United States with their parents in search of a better life. Part of their childhood and youth were spent in the strenuous work of agriculture. Peasants by day and bohemians by night, in 1969 they formed the group Los Cuatro del Norte, animating the town celebrations, and performing covers of the Nortena music idols of the time. Years and many music hits later, the group returns to California, to celebrate 40 years of a lustrous career.

The legendary Banda music group La Original Banda El Limon de Salvador Lizarraga will receive the "Excellence Award,"  presented by Telemundo to an innovative artist or musical group that has remained at the forefront of music, changing, renewing and transforming themselves in order to remain successful. La Original Banda El Limon de Salvador Lizarraga is one of the oldest groups in contemporary Banda music. Originating in the mid-'60s and led by clarinetist Salvador Lizarraga Sanchez, the 17-member band has featured many classic vocalists during its history, Julio Preciado among them. Winners of multiple awards, the songs by La Original Banda El Limon, have enjoyed steady success. "Al Menos" for example, appeared for 39 consecutive weeks and peaked at No. 2 on Billboard's Hot Latin Tracks Songs chart.

Fans will also be able to cast their votes for their favorite finalist and help select the winner of Telemundo's "Your World Award" by accessing www.Telemundo.com/PremiosBillboard. On-line voting ends on October 18 at 7pm ET. While the recipients of the 2012 Billboard Mexican Music Awards presented by State Farm® are determined by chart performance as listed on Billboard's weekly Regional Mexican music charts, the "Your World Award" winner is decided solely by fans' votes compiled on the website and is announced during the telecast.

Telenovela stars Marlene Favela, Rafael Amaya and TV personality Daniel Sarcos will host the 2012 Billboard Mexican Music Awards presented by State Farm™. Marlene Favela is a Mexican actress of telenovelas with a solid and steady career. Her more notable work includes the original Telemundo productions of "El Zorro" and "Los Herederos Del Monte".  Favela, who has been one of People en Espanol's "50 most beautiful," also hosted the Billboard Latin Music Awards in 2007. Favela recently joined the cast of the Telemundo production "El Rostro de la Venganza." Renowned actor Rafael Amaya is one of telenovela's favorite leading men after his starring roles in Telemundo's highly rated productions "Alguien te Mira" and "La Reina del Sur," where he acted alongside Kate del Castillo personifying the famous "El Guero" Davila. The heartthrob actor also hosted "Premios Tu Mundo" earlier in 2012.  Daniel Sarcos is one of the most successful and beloved hosts in Spanish language TV. He currently co-hosts Telemundo's morning show "Un Nuevo Dia". The awards show is preceded by the red carpet special La Alfombra de los Premios Billboard de la Musica Mexicana presentado por State Farm which will be hosted by TV personalities Azucena Cierco and Monica Noguera with Guadalupe Venegas from mun2 as Backstage Host, and People en Espanol's Fashion and Beauty Director, Kika Rocha, as guest fashion commentator.

The three musical acts, recipients of this year's Billboards special awards: Pepe Aguilar, La Original Banda El Limon de Salvador Lizarraga and Los Huracanes del Norte will also be performing, joining previously announced musical acts Larry Hernandez, Los Tucanes de Tijuana, Conjunto Primavera, 3BallMTY, Yuridia, Julion Alvarez y su Norteno Banda, America Sierra, Smoky, Los Primos de Durango, J-King y Maximan, Pesado,  Duelo, Roberto Junior y Su Bandeno, Horacio Palencia, Mariachi Sol de Mexico de Jose Hernandez and Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles

Billboard Mexican Music Awards finalists and winners are determined by chart performance as chronicled in Billboard Magazine and on Billboard.com during the eligibility period of August 27, 2011 through August 18, 2012. Award categories are based on album and digital track sales data provided by Nielsen SoundScan and radio airplay monitored by Nielsen BDS.

SOURCE Telemundo