Operación triunfo

"Operación Triunfo", has been the most popular TV programme in Spain during the last years. At the beginning there were 16 contestants, and the jury had to propose four of them to leave the music academy. The last winner was Rosa López, and the finalists David Bisbal and David Bustamante. Now all the participants are stars in Spain, and their music albums are very, very popular. All the contestants were great, but I have to say that Geno Machado (who sang "Otro amor vendrá", "Átame a tu piel" and "Una noche más") and Nuria Fergó (who sang "Noches de bohemia", "Si tú no estás aquí", "Acuarela"....)were the beeeeeest!! The second part of this programme will start soon and I'm willing to see it.

"Operación Triunfo" is nothing more than the "Fame" movie and series turned into a "Big Brother" style reality show. For months, we see sixteen young amateur singers (some more talented than the others) learn and compete between them to win this show, which has been hailed by critics as the comeback of good television.

But what lies beneath this good mood is just a marketing operation: the songs sung by the cast are the more mainstream you can ever imagine... there's no place for anything innovative or personal here. For months, we've suffered through the tearing of classics like "Nothing compares to you" and even the "Lady Marmalade" version of Moulin Rouge!

Of course it has sold millions of records, the concert tour all around the country was sold out even before it started, and the show got a record of 14 titles into the top 20 billboard album charts...

However, it is not as pointless as "Big Brother", "Survivor" and other similar shows. At least here we see people doing positive things to win, instead of fighting each other.

But, then I remember of how fanatic and hysterical are some fans of the show... and how did the producers almost killed any willing of the singers to do their own music. It is like they created sixteen Britney Spears and Ricky Martin wanna-bes.

cifra2: I think that's what the show's all about- having 16 new Spanish Britneys and Justines. But as much as I agree that it's all a marketing ploy, I have to say that it can't be denied that it is an avenue to discover new talent. The pop songs can be little headaches sometimes (geez, Nika of Batch 2 is the most obvious victim), but some of these kids do have talent. This becomes more obivous as the show ends and the contestants' solo albums come out. The contestants who have talent eventually surface, leaving their inferior classmates behind. From batch 1, we've seen how Bisbal achieved trans-Atlantic success. From batch 2, we've seen how Vega and her talent as a tue musician and composer was made known. of course, during the show, those talents were quite supressed because they had to sing the sappy pop songs. But the moment of truth comes after all the concerts and all the marketing hype. Time could only tell.

Hi! I just have to say that this is one of the best programmes I've ever seen! It shows you how Spanish young people are: they work hard and they have an amazing talent. So, don't be surprised if you hear songs by Naim, Chenoa or Rosa because they are going to be very successful, specially in Latin countries. And of course, I have to say that the most complete artist in Operación Triunfo is David Bisbal: he's talented, he has a great voice, he moves extremely good and he's a nice person. He will be the next Luis Miguel or Ricky Martin!

GOOD, IT IS A TV SHOW OF MUSIC AND WE CAN SEE PEOPLE SINGING AND NEW SINGERS IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY I LOVE IT