The 18th Lo Nuestro Award was held on December 23, 2006 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. The nominees were announced on December 12, 2005, during a press conference televised live on the Univision Network morning show ¡Despierta América!. The show was co-hosted by René Strickler and Patricia Manterola.

This is the full list of nominees and winners of the 18th Lo Nuestro Award.

Lo Nuestro (Spanish for "Ours") is an awards show honoring the best of Latin music, presented by television network Univision. The awards began in 1989. Notable recipients include Selena, Gloria Estefan,Enrique Iglesias, Juan Gabriel, Olga Tañón, Marc Anthony, Ricky Martin, Juanes, Laura Pausini, Luis Miguel, Maná, Juan Luis Guerra, Ana Bárbara, RBD, Celia Cruz, Aventura, Shakira, Gloria Trevi, Belinda and Thalía.

The artist with the most Premios Lo Nuestro awards is Puerto Rican singer Olga Tañón.

The awards ceremony features famous Latino actors, musicians and show business personalities. The show is broadcast all over the Americas. In February, 2006, Univision announced that closed captioning in English would be offered for the first time in the history of the broadcast.

In addition to categories for different genres of music, the honors include "Premio Lo Nuestro a la Excelencia", (literally, The "Ours" award for Excellence), a career or lifetime achievement award. The following list are past years recipients.

Lo is a town in Lo-Reninge, a municipality of Belgium. It is notable as the location of Caesarsboom, an ancient European Yew designated a national monument of Belgium.

Ana Gabriel (born on December 10, 1955) is a Mexican singer and composer.

Ana Gabriel was born as María Guadalupe Araujo Yong, in Santiago de Comanito, Sinaloa, Mexico. She first sang on the stage at age six, singing "Regalo A Dios" by José Alfredo Jiménez. She moved to Tijuana, Baja California and studied accounting. At age 21, in 1977, she recorded her first song, titled "Compréndeme". During her long career, she has hits in three different genres of music: rock en español, Latin Pop, and rancheras. In 2006 she received the Lo Nuestro award's "Premio a la Excelencia" (Excellence Award).

In 1988 Gabriel released her first album, Tierra de Nadie, followed by Pecado Original in 1989, which met with some chart success. Her 1990 album Quien Como Tu made her a force within the Mexican music industry. Eight months later, her live album En Vivo showcased her powerful stage act and scored several hits: "Hice Bien Quererte", "Propuesta", and "Solamente una Vez".

Throughout the 1990s Gabriel released an album almost every year. A versatile singer, she showcased her talent as an interpreter of many different musical styles, from lambada to mariachi and romantic ballads to pop music. She also honed her skills as a songwriter and a producer, releasing Mi Mexico, a ranchera-influenced, mariachi-backed pop album, in 1991. This unique blend of styles was also reflected in the songs, all written by Gabriel. Her lyrics described strong, active women involved in their love lives, counter to their passive, traditional depiction in older songs. The album also included a tribute to Mexico's most popular singer-songwriter, Juan Gabriel (no relation).

Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez (born February 3, 1977), known artistically as Daddy Yankee, is a Latin Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican reggaeton recording artist. Ayala was born in Río Piedras, the largest district of San Juan, where he became interested in music at a young age. In his youth he was interested in baseball, and aspired to become a Major League Baseball player. He was unable to continue this sport when he received an injury to one of his legs, leaving him unable to walk correctly. He then became involved in the underground rap movement that was in its early stages in Puerto Rico, later to be called reggaeton. After receiving lessons from several artists within the genre, he developed an independent career, first recording in a production titled Playero 37. After this he began to produce independent albums. His first solo album was No Mercy. He subsequently formed a duo with Nicky Jam, and then continued his solo career with the releases of El Cartel and El Cartel II. This led him be one of many pioneers of the reggaeton genre earning him the nickname "El Cangri".