NYT: Operacion Triumfo
Wow, I was just checking out my newsreader (which, actually, I almost can't avoid since it's in the same window as my email) and there's an article in the New York Times about a Spanish television show called Operac�on Triumfo. You have NO idea how big this show is here. All the "contestants" on the show have gone on to appear on countless other programs, launch a number of CDs and in general blanket the Spanish Earth with the faces, making the most of their :15...
I don't know whether the show will have as much success outside Spain as inside because there's A LOT that's not right about the whole process. It's very contrived from start to finish and the shows go on and on and on, week after week. And it's not luck that almost everyone on the show goes on to sell lots of records. I talked about the Spanish music/radio industry before. There's a cabal somewhere of white-grey-haired-overweight-chain-smoking-men who decide what's going to be "popular" for the summer and on TV, and the producers of Operac�on Triumfo without doubt laid down the cash to get their stars on that list.
It's too bad the NYT didn't get into THAT and instead just wrote a fluff piece. I guess if I wanted to put on my psycho hat, I could talk about the grand Media Conspiracy, but it's probably just a fluff-piece to fill up space. ;-)
-Russ