Geraldo Ortiz nominated for 10 Billboard awards

Miami: Singer Gerardo Ortiz, who calls his style "progressive" norteno, is a contender in 10 categories of the first annual Billboard Mexican Music Awards.

The nominations were announced Thursday on Telemundo television during a special edition of the network`s morning show, "Levantate". The award categories are derived from radio airplay and figures on sales of both discs and digital downloads, while the nominations reflect artists` performance on the Billboard charts between Aug 28, 2010, and Aug 11 of this year. Ortiz and Larry Hernandez, nominated in nine categories, both sing "narco-corridos", ballads about the lives - and usually violent - deaths of drug traffickers. Espinoza Paz, who also picked up nine nominations, favours romantic banda songs. IANS