OVERNIGHT SENSATION GRAMMYS LIFT JUANES' CAREER.

Juan Esteban Aristizabal - who goes by the name Juanes - was a little- known Colombian singer-songwriter with a mediocre-selling debut album until a life-altering day in mid July.

Nominations for the second Latin Grammys had been announced at a star-studded gathering in Miami. After all was said and done, Juanes - who had received nominations in seven categories, more than any other artist - was, himself, a star.

The media frenzy that has since unfurled around Juanes as he recently traveled to cities across North America on the Watcha Tour now comes to the Great Western Forum for the Latin Grammy Awards, where tonight Juanes stands poised to become the big winner.

He is nominated for album of the year, best new artist and best rock solo album for ``Fijate Bien.'' The album's title song - meaning to ``Pay Close Attention'' - has earned nominations in the record of the year, song of the year and best rock song categories while the video is in the running for best music video. He will also be performing ``Fijate Bien'' during the telecast on CBS.

Getting his due

In spite of what happens tonight on stage at the Latin Grammys, Juanes says that he is already a winner.

His debut album, which at the time of his seven nominations hadn't sold 100,000 copies worldwide since its October release and despite critical acclaim, has gained a new-found momentum. Trans World Entertainment reports sales have quadrupled, according to Billboard magazine. Likewise, its single has garnered heavy rotation on Spanish-language radio nationwide.

The music has also been embraced by the dissenters of Latin pop in the rock en espanol scene. On Friday, Juanes was practically mobbed by party-goers backstage at the Universal Amphitheatre, where he was on the Watcha Tour lineup. The area was teeming with camera crews, all of whom had waited eagerly on the sidelines for their chance to go one-on-one with the star attraction.

As one photographer observed, Juanes looked more like a British rock star than a poster boy for the Latin Grammys. He was dressed in a '70s-inspired denim jacket and jeans ensemble. His hair was longer and a few shades lighter than his picture on the posters scattered generously backstage. A single silver hoop was looped around his heavy eyebrow.

All in all, he had the look of a rock star but was without the airs. Juanes was courteous and friendly, greeting strangers with a handshake and a smile - sometimes a peck on the cheek. But he was a bit on the shy side, staying close to his manager and his publicist.

He was swigging from a bottle of Crystal Geyser in preparation of his Watcha performance. On stage, Juanes merged with the music and the beat: jerking, bobbing and banging away on his Fender Telecaster in a muscle shirt like a young Bruce Springsteen. In contrast to this disheveled ecstasy, his playing was clean and precise, his despairing voice given passion by the urgency of his lyrics about violent eruptions back home in Colombia, mortality and the line between love and hate.

Juanes' lyrical social commentary was accentuated by what The New York Times described as ``terse, straightforward melodies ... he put the heft of guitars behind the accordion line and clip-clop beat of a Colombian cumbia or had conga drums drive a rock mambo.''

``You have artists out there that are either doing pop or rock or dance or folk,'' says Gustavo Santaolalla, the Grammy-winning producer who worked on Juanes' debut album and in the process earned three Latin Grammy nominations for it. ``But I think one of the beautiful things about Juanes is his ability to fuse all of those elements.''

How it all began

Juanes has been mixing genres most of his life, and long before the fanfare. At 14, he and his friends formed the rock band Ekhymosis, named after the first stage of a bruise.

The band recorded five albums on an independent Colombian label over the course of 11 years. All but the first, a hard-core metal album, incorporated Latin folk genres into groove-laden rock - all the different types of music Juanes had learned on guitar since he was 7 years old in his native Medellin.

Some of his first loves were the tango, ranchera, bolero and vallenato. Later he obsessed on the now-classic rock 'n' roll sounds of Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd.

Ekhymosis fused the two by introducing Spanish instruments like the conga, accordion and traditional acoustic guitars into the mix. But the band had never transcended its homeland.

In 1998 after Ekhymosis disbanded, Juanes set off in search of his own musical destiny. He sold his computer, scooter and stereo and bought a ticket to Los Angeles, where he settled into a rundown motel.

When his music changed

He made a few bucks here and there helping out short-handed bands at the Whisky and other Sunset Boulevard clubs while he waited for inspiration to strike. It eventually came to him in the form of a phone conversation he had had with his mother about land mines in the Colombian countryside. The news triggered a rush of creativity through Juanes. A few hours later he had recorded the song ``Fijate Bien'' on a four-track recorder.

``I'm not just talking about Colombia in the song; I'm talking in general about life,'' says Juanes. ``The world is crazy now. Men are crazy.''

About this time, Santaolalla had got wind that Juanes was in town working on a solo project. The Argentine rocker responsible for producing some of the most influential Latin rock to date - such as Cafe Tacuba, Julieta Venegas and Puya - was familiar with Ekhymosis' frontman. In fact, Santaolalla had often thought about working with Juanes.

``I immediately wanted to hear what he was doing,'' he says.

Juanes' demo found its way to Santaolalla's L.A.-based record label, Surco. After listening to it, the famed producer arranged to meet the singer in person at a coffee house.

``When he told me he liked my music, I almost cried,'' says Juanes, who was barely making enough money to get by.

Santaolalla signed Juanes to Surco, and together they began a six-month off-and-on journey in the making of the album ``Fijate Bien.''

Juanes was then put in the care of Fernan Martinez, who up until last year was the manager of Enrique Iglesias. Martinez launched Juanes with a slow, steady promotional campaign that involved small showcases at clubs and universities, album-listening parties and the opportunity for journalists to meet the singer in person.

``It's the best way to sell a real artist,'' says Martinez. ``Juanes has all the right tools to be a strong, consistent artist. I think people can see after meeting him that he's not the flavor of the week.''

On the day the Latin Grammy nominations were announced, Juanes found himself reluctantly walking through the American Airlines Arena in Miami confronted by the bewildered stares of famous attendees. They eyed the T-shirt and jean-clad stranger top to bottom as he passed by. Some asked: ``Hey, who are you?'' or ``Where are you from?'' Juanes felt sorely out of place, insecure even.

His management had encouraged him to attend the announcements. Now he was starting to regret ever having let himself get talked into it.

``Let's face it,'' he says. ``I didn't think I stood a chance.''

``THE SECOND ANNUAL LATIN GRAMMY AWARDS''

What: The Latin Recording Academy hands out Grammys to Spanish- and Portuguese-language artists during a ceremony at the Great Western Forum.

The stars: Performances by Marc Anthony, Luis Miguel, Thalia, Alejandro Sanz, Vicente Fernandez and Juanes.

Where: CBS.

When: 9 tonight.

Protests at Grammys?

There likely will be protests, after all, at tonight's second Latin Grammy Awards.

Last month, organizers moved the show from Miami to Inglewood's Great Western Forum, fearing protests by an estimated 60 anti-Castro groups could jeopardize the safety of the Grammys' Cuban national nominees.

The cross-country move is now expected to be met by 400 people demonstrating on behalf of the Junta Patriotica Cubana, an anti-Castro group based in Southern California. Also on hand will be about 100 supporters of the Los Angeles Coalition in Solidarity with Cuba, whose spokesman Jon Hillson told the Associated Press: ``No artist should be excluded from attending or performing at the Latin Grammys for political reasons.''

Despite the protests, Latin Grammy officials said they ``are confident about the safety of our guests.''

The show, airing 9 tonight on CBS and broadcasting to 120 countries worldwide, brings to the Forum some of the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking worlds' top talents for a night of performances and awards.

Christina Aguilera and Jimmy Smits co-host the telecast, whose all-star lineup includes performances by Marc Anthony, Luis Miguel, Alejandro Sanz with Destiny's Child, Santana, Thalia, and Vicente and Alejandro Fernandez.

International pop star Ricky Martin, who is nominated for best music video, will make a special appearance.

There will also be a performance by Juanes, the one-time unknown Colombian folk-rocker. He topped the list for the most nominations back in July when it was announced he would be in the running for seven categories.

Sanz, the Spanish pop singer, is nominated for five.

Awards in 38 key categories will be presented by notables such as rapper LL Cool J, Andrea Echeverri of the Colombian rock band Aterciopelados, Argentine rocker Fito Paez, actor Cuba Gooding Jr., regional Mexican group Los Tigres Del Norte and Cuban jazz legend Chucho Valdes.

The Latin Grammys will be broadcast on radio by Westwood One and the Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. worldwide to more than 120 countries.

- Sandra Barrera

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Latin Grammys find their own rhythm

Change of venue, possible protests can't extinguish fire of anticipation for top nominee, Juanes, with 7 nods

(2) Juanes, relaxing backstage at the Universal Amphitheatre in August, didn't know the Latin Grammy nominations would change his career.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer

Box: Protests at Grammys? (see text)