The Latin Grammys show had to go on, sans Sanz

ONCE AGAIN, SPANISH heartthrob singer Alejandro Sanz dominated this year’s Latin Grammys – only this time, Sanz didn’t show up to collect his trophies.

The absent crooner, who was on tour, won a leading four awards Wednesday: for male pop vocal album and album of the year for “No Es Lo Mismo,” and song of the year and record of the year for the title track.

Sanz, who received three Latin Grammys in 2002 and four in 2001, also has one regular Grammy.

Brazilian jazz songstress Maria Rita collected two awards Wednesday, for best new artist and best musica popular brasileira album for “Maria Rita,” also nominated for album of the year.

The fifth annual Latin Grammys show featured several cross-cultural performances including Spanish flamenco singer David Bisbal with pop princess Jessica Simpson; hard rockers Incubus with Mexican rock/hip-hop group Cafe Tacuba; and Carlos Santana, who was named Latin Grammy person of the year, teaming with Tex-Mex brothers Los Lonely Boys for a stirring rendition of “La Bamba.”

That’s what you call a Khan-do attitude

If you thought Chaka Khan sounded a bit off-key during her performance with rapper Kanye West at Sunday night’s MTV Video Music Awards, you were right.

Khan had to cancel a performance Friday night because her voice was strained and she was under doctors’ orders not to perform Sunday.

However, her publicist said, she “received a cortisone shot just hours prior to her VMA performance to honor her commitment to Kanye West.”

Um, about that ‘close friends’ part …

Beleaguered pop icon Michael Jackson got a break from his child-molestation case Monday, celebrating his 46th birthday with a party that reunited the Jackson family at the Omni Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

According to People mag, the small do brought together Jackson; his parents, Joe and Katherine; and siblings Tito, Jermaine, Jackie and Janet, as well as Michael’s three children: Prince Michael, Paris Michael Katherine and Prince Michael II.

“It was very quiet and not a party,” Jackson attorney Brian Oxman said. “These people are united. They care for each other, and you can’t get that anywhere except with family and close friends.”

Houston, quit causing problems

R&B singer Bobby Brown reportedly is in negotiations with Bravo for a reality series about his troubled life.

Sources say the deal is not final because of haggling over how much of a presence Brown’s wife, pop star Whitney Houston, would have in the program. “We are in negotiations, and it has not yet been decided as to what, if any, Ms. Houston’s participation will be,” her rep said.

Since hitting the pop charts as a member of the group New Edition and a solo performer in the 1980s and early ‘90s, Brown has racked up multiple probation violations and jail sentences for charges including drunken driving, marijuana possession and failing to pay child support.

Courtney’s digging out of a deep hole

Rocker Courtney Love says her well-publicized legal troubles, ranging from drug to assault charges, reflect a life she led months ago – not where she is now.

“The court cases are like a lagging indicator in economics,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “They show where I was, not where I am. … I’m doing OK. I’m doing well, as a matter of fact.”

Added Love: “It’s not worth it to be on any pills. As long as I take nothing, nothing bad can happen to me.”

The birthday bunch

Country singer Hank Thompson is 79. Actress Eileen Brennan is 69. Singer-guitarist Al Jardine (Beach Boys) is 62. Actress Valerie Perrine is 61. Guitarist Steve Jones (Sex Pistols) is 49. Actor Charlie Sheen is 39. Actor Nick Wechsler (“Roswell”) is 26.