Colombian singer Karol G won the coveted Album of the Year award for her LP "Manana sera bonito" at Thursday's Latin Grammy Awards, the first ever held outside the United States.

"To have the Album of the Year is too (great)," she said as she was presented with the gramophone trophy on stage in the Spanish city of Seville.

"This album changed my life."

Also competing in the category were past Latin Grammy winners Ricky Martin and Andres Cepeda, as well as Pablo Alboran, Paula Arenas, Camilo, Juanes, Natalia Lafourcade, Fito Paez and Carlos Vives.

The 32-year-old singer won two other awards at the gala, including Best Urban Music Album for "Mañana será bonito" and Best Urban Performance for "Tqg", on which she collaborated with fellow Colombian star Shakira.

Shakira also won three awards, two for her collaboration with Argentine DJ Bizarrap on "Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53", which was crowned Song of the Year and Best Pop Song.

The track has been played almost 1.5 billion times on Spotify and YouTube, with Shakira describing it as a "great outlet" following her break-up with former footballer Gerard Pique.

The Spanish and Portuguese-language music awards have been presented by the Latin Recording Academy since 2000.

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