Lo Nuestro Excellence Award ( ) is an award honoring honoring an artist 's contribution to Latin music . It was first awarded at the 2nd Annual Lo Nuestro Awards in 1990 and has since been presented annually . The Lo Nuestro Awards were established by American television network Univision in 1989 to recognize the most talented performers of Latin music . Before the inception of the Latin Grammy Awards in 2000 , the Lo Nuestro Awards were considered to be the Latin music equivalent of the Grammy Awards . Unlike the other award categories , where the nominees and winners are decided by the public through an online survey , the recipients of the Excellence Award are selected by Univision and '' Billboard '' magazine . The trophy awarded is shaped in the form of a treble clef . During the presentation , a tribute is held to the winner which features highlights of their career and several artists performing live covers of the recipient 's notable songs
2nd Annual Lo Nuestro Awards
Premio Lo Nuestro 1990
Lo Nuestro Excellence Award