“Operación Triunfo as always but like never before.” These were Chenoa’s first words to present to the media the new stage of OT on the small screen that goes beyond a change of channel as already happened years ago, going from La 1 to Telecinco and returning to La 1. The iconic contest will premiere its twelfth season this Monday the 20th on an on-demand audiovisual platform, Prime Video. The spirit will remain the same, but the ecosystem has changed. And it can also be seen in more than 30 Latin American countries.
Among the new features, of course, stands out the one chosen to be the presenter of the contest, Chenoa, who confessed that, 22 years after her time on the program, she was “very excited” to be part of it again. She promised “not to posturing too much” and she stated that she does not see herself as a typical presenter because she, as a former contestant, will have empathy with what the participants feel and experience.
The head of original content for Prime Video in Spain, María José Rodríguez, highlighted that OT will be “the first live entertainment program on our platform in Spain and the first with a 24-hour channel on platforms around the world”, which which is quite a challenge. The return of this format after the last edition of 2020 “was born from a clamor from the people”, he continued later to remember that when Gestmusic proposed the format, “we did not think twice” and “now we have a responsibility and we want to give it “give the fans what they want.”
And in that line of making an OT “as always, like never”, Rodríguez highlighted the connection with Amazon Music, where content, ‘playlist’ of the galas and the contestants themselves will be available, who will show their musical tastes, as well as a store where you can buy the participants’ clothing and the academy’s furniture, among other things.
For his part, the head of original entertainment content at Prime Video Spain, Óscar Prol, announced that a portal has been created within the platform’s website with all the information about the program and noted that the OT 2023 app will be “the “only method to vote” that the public will have, both Spanish and Latin American.
Tinet Rubira, director of Gestmusic, offered information about this new edition such as that the gala set will have a capacity for 900 people and that the desire is for it to “be as similar as possible to a live concert.”
Operación Triunfo returns tomorrow, Monday at 10 p.m. with weekly live galas lasting 90 minutes, which will facilitate family consumption. For those who want more, a 45-minute program will then be broadcast on the set hosted by the singer and actress Masi Rodríguez in which what happened in the program will be analyzed and the weekly expelled person will be interviewed.
In addition, the singer Xuso Jones will present OT al día from Tuesday to Friday, live and starting at 10 p.m., in which everything that happens within the academy will be monitored. “We are going to tell everything that happens at the Academy during the week,” Jones said.
This edition begins with a lot of expectation as shown by the fact that the record of candidates who have appeared at castings throughout Spain has been broken: 13,000. Of them, only 18 will participate in the zero gala, of which two will be eliminated and 16 will enter the OT Academy, which is still located in the Parc Audiovisual de Terrassa and with Noemí Galera as director. The identity and origin of the contestants was revealed on Thursday when two special programs about the castings were released: nine boys and nine girls between the ages of 18 and 26.
Galera stressed in the presentation that the Academy has gained in sustainability and luminosity and that it is more spacious than other editions, with 215 square meters more. He also highlighted the “great team of teachers” that this edition will have, which includes Gerard Ibáñez in the choral singing class, Abril Zamora in the interpretation class and Verónica Blume in the yoga class and in which Manu Guix remains. in composition.
As for the jury, it will be made up of three permanent members: the radio host Cristina Regatero, the singer Concha Buika and the producer and winner of two Latin Grammys Pablo Rouss. They will be joined by a fourth guest judge who will change at each gala.
