There was barely any advance buzz for the BMI Latin Awards, which brought 450 people Thursday night to The Breakers in Palm Beach.

Colombian superstar Juanes and Gloria Estefan Thursday at the BMI awards in Palm Beach.(Wireimage)

Too bad. Some of the biggest Latin music stars, those deemed by the authors’ rights organization to be the business’ best and brightest of 2008, walked the red carpet.

Palm Beach? Did BMI honchos get lost on the way to Miami?

Not at all, said Delia Orjuelo, the L.A.-based company’s head of Latin music.

“We move around every year and we loved the elegance of this place,” Orjuelo said. “There’s diversity in music.”

At least, Colombian rocker Juanes, one of the gala’s most famous guests, knows the area. The Latin Grammy winner 17 times over rehearsed two of his tours on a West Palm Beach sound stage.

“It’s important for music to be played in markets where it’s not heard every day,” Juanes told Page2Live Thursday. Last month, he played the NBA All-Stars Game half-time with John Legend. “Music is about bringing down barriers, including the language barrier.”

As for the question that Juanes is asked on a daily basis, the one he usually responds to by saying Spanish is the only language he wants to sing in: “I think I may add one or two songs in English on my next CD!”

Miami sound pioneer Jon Secada, a successful cross-over, said no one should be surprised to see a Spanish-language award show in Palm Beach.

“Hey, Palm Beach is still a slice of South Florida,” he said. “It’s an extension of Miami.”

The night’s main event, meanwhile, was the lifetime achievement award for Vero Beach songbird Gloria Estefan, who sold more than 70 million albums worldwide.

Others in the crowd: merengue star Elvis Crespo, Cuban rapper Pitbull, American Idol fourth place finisher Anthony Federov; and Motown songwriter/producer Lamont Dozier.

Photos by Michele Sandberg