30th Oct 2012

By amaranta

It seems like only yesterday that we were basking in the feel-good factor of the fabulous LUKAS 2011 gala ceremony – the only Awards for Britain’s Latin American, Spanish and Portuguese communities. That night, when for the first time ever we came together to celebrate our contribution to British society, left us with such a buzz that we needed no other inspiration to make sure The LUKAS become a permanent feature. The enormous response from voters was proof that these awards were long awaited and much needed.

And so, we are enormously happy and proud to announce the call for nominations for The Air Europa LUKAS 2012. Voting will start on November 15th at noon, when the awards will be officially launched, at www.thelukas.co.uk. For now we would like to invite our own special community at Latinolife  to nominate the most deserving contributors to Entertainment, Community and Business, in the awards listed below.

What is The LUKAS?

For those of you who missed the amazing experience last year. The LUKAS (Latin-UK AwardS) is the world’s first ever awards ceremony to recognise the contribution of Britain’s one million Latin American, Spanish and Portuguese residents. It is a fantastic, colourful celebration and Britain’s rapidly growing passion for all things Latino.

The LUKAS launched for the first time in November 2011, instigating a viral phenomenon that saw the web awash with campaigning and voting for hundreds of candidates. Three months of voting culminated in the gala ceremony with fabulous shows from the dance and music winners.

The Air Europa LUKAS 2012 will be launched on November 15th at noon, details of which will follow in the weeks to come. The Live event is planned to take place early next year in what is proving to be, in ballet dancer Carlos Acosta’s words, “the most anticipated and prestigious event of the year for Latin culture lovers in the UK.”

It is the only place where Latin, Spanish and Portuguese cultures celebrate their diversity and unity under one roof - from Salsa and Bachata to Samba and Tango, via Flamenco and Kizomba.

With the Live Event, the online voting, street marketing and PR campaign we hope to reach one million people this year, and showcase our fabulous achievements to the mainstream British public.

How to nominate and be nominated for an Award

Voting will take place via www.thelukas.co.uk. Until the launch, you can nominate a candidate for any Award using our contact form. Make sure you provide:

• the name of the nominee

• the award being nominated for

• email address, telephone, website address and/or Facebook URL for the nominee

We will then contact the nominees to tell them that they have been nominated

Remember to inform the candidate that he/she/they is/are nominated so that they can campaign for votes

All the nominees will be published on November 15th at noon on www.thelukas.co.uk. But check out our twitter and facebook pages as we will post all the nominees as they come.

Nominees will be able to add a picture next to their nomination, after the 15th of November

If you would like to be nominated, please ask someone to nominate you.

Remember we also have some Lifetime Achievement and Special Awards, which will be decided by judging panels (to be announced), which you are free to nominate for. All nominatiosn will be carefully considered by the panel.

Who is eligible?

Anyone can be nominated, as long as you provide proof of their activity in the form of a website, facebook page or by scanning a flyer and emailing it to us at latinolifeweb@gmail.com

You DO NOT have to be Latin American, Spanish or Portuguese to be eligible. We welcome people of all backgrounds who have embraced these cultures, especially the many non-Latinos who, out of sheer passion, have dedicated years to diffusing or delivering a particular Latin American, Spanish or Portuguese art or service. We believe that being Latino is as much a state of mind and call to the soul as it is about blood, land or nationality. In this globalised world, identity is no longer black and white, there are many shades of grey. It’s the passion and quality that counts.

THE AWARDS

Awards for outstanding contribution to the ENTERTAINMENT industry

Alternative Act of the Year

Arts or Culture Festival of the Year

Brazilian Dance Performers of the Year

Brazilian or Portuguese Act of the Year

Brazilian DJ of the Year

Crossover DJ of the Year

Classical Act of the Year

Concert by Local Artist of the Year

Concert by International Artist of the Year

Folkoric Act of the Year

Kizomba Dance Performance of the Year

Kizomba DJ of the Year

Music or Dance Festival of the Year

Milonga of the Year

Musician of the Year

Nightclub of the Year

Party of the Year

Promotion Company of the year

Salsa Act of the Year

Salsa Performers of the Year

Tango Performers of the Year

Tropical DJ of the Year (salsa and bachata)

Theatrical Production of the Year

Urban Act of the Year

Visual Artist of the Year

Vocalist of the Year

Awards for outstanding contribution to the COMMUNITY

Brazilian Dance School of the Year

Brazilian Dance Teacher of the Year

Community Service of the Year

Community Worker of the Year

Cultural or Educational Resource of the Year

Flamenco School of the Year

Human Rights Campaigner of the Year

Human Rights Organization of the Year

Kizomba Teacher of the Year

Language School of the Year

Personality of the Year

Salsa School of the Year

Salsa Teacher of the Year

Spanish School or Nursery of the Year

Sports Organisation of the Year:

Tango Teacher of the Year

Zumba Teacher of the Year

Awards for outstanding contribution to BUSINESS

Argentine Restaurant of the Year

Brazilian restaurant of the Year

Café or Food Stall of the Year

Colombian Restaurant of the Year

Latin Chain Restaurant of the Year

Latin Fusion Restaurant of the Year

Latin Restaurant Outside London

Mexican Restaurant of the Year

Print Media of the Year

Peruvian Restaurant of the Year

Spanish-Caribbean restaurant of the Year

Spanish Restaurant of the Year

Tour Operator of the Year

Web Service or Blog of the Year

Lifetime Achievement Awards – to be chosen by a panel of judges (to be announced)

We realise that there are outstanding individuals who have worked for years in their field, and whose valuable work some people may not know about, so we will have a special lifetime achievement award for each category. Please nominate a candidate for:

Lifetime achievement award for contribution to Entertainment

Lifetime achievement award for contribution to Business

Lifetime achievement awards for contribution to the Community

Special Community Award – to be chosen by a panel of judges (panel to be announced)

Often the do-gooders, those people who work tirelessly and selflessly to better the lives of others, aren’t the best self-promoters. So we have created a special award for these unsung heroes of our communities, who work in the field of human rights or community work. If you want to know someone you think deserves this award please nominate them, explaining why.

So let's start nominating! We are really interested to see and hear about new nominees. To view last year's winners click here

TERMS & CONDITIONS OF VOTING

• All votes must be posted through the official LUKAS website (www.thelukas.co.uk)

• The LUKAS reserves the right to disqualify votes if it has reasonable grounds to suspect that fraudulent voting has occurred or if it considers there has been any attempt to rig the voting.

• The LUKAS and/or its suppliers, cannot accept any responsibility whatsoever for any technical failure or malfunction or any other problem with any network or line, system, server, provider or otherwise which may result in any vote being lost or not properly registered or recorded.

• The LUKAS reserves the right to discount any votes which it judges to be made outside the rules of the contest and to disqualify a nominee for whom such votes are cast.

• Voters will be deemed to have accepted these rules and to agree to being bound by them by casting a vote.