“You have to leave,” says the city councilor from stage number 3 of the Terrassa Audiovisual Park to the more than 300 people who inhabit the two pits of the new Operación Triunfo. It is a verb that they have used in several editions in the program to prevent the audience of the title from leaving large blank spaces that could spoil the recording. “The pit is the engine of OT. Attitude!” he encourages them, just a few minutes before live life for the on-demand TV industry begins on Monday evening.
María José Rodríguez, head of original content at Prime Video Spain and Portugal, the company that relaunched the competition, warns that no platform in the world has offered live coverage like that of this project. It is not a broadcast of just a few hours, like a sporting event or a concert, but a continuous broadcast schedule that will last three months until February 19th. Weekly galas take place every Monday, a post-gala immediately after, and a live night show Tuesday through Saturday. Without the broadcasts on Twitch, a live video platform owned by Amazon, and the 24-hour monitoring of the academy on YouTube. This time, in addition to Spain, the show will also be available in thirty countries, including all of Latin America.
“A lot of shit, Chenoa!” they shout to the show’s new host shortly before the broadcast begins. The encouragement comes from one of those two pits on the set that have the feel of a concert hall. Inside there are spectators of almost all ages. Some are so young that they were not yet born when Operación Triunfo debuted on La 1 in 2001, with Carlos Lozano as host and Chenoa herself as a contestant. The same goes for many of the 18 candidates in this edition, many of the dancers and even some of the academy’s teachers.
“I love rock ‘n’ roll,” sings Ruslana at the gala “Operación Triunfo” by Prime Video 0.Jose Irun
Chenoa presents soulfully, confidently and without lyrics written on the teleprompter, although he uses an earpiece. He warned about this a few days ago at the official presentation of the program. These kids, all under 27, are very different from the early successes: They were born with a camera on their faces. The program has always been purely a survey of Spanish youth. Cris, one of the first participants to appear on screen, has roots between Tenerife, Equatorial Guinea and Zamora. Omar has been working part-time for years to make ends meet, and Álvaro Mayo is a passionate astrologer. He says it’s a good way to start a conversation for the WhatsApp generation who text because they’re afraid of talking on the phone.
The 2023 candidates are also the TikTok generation. During this Gala 0, their artistic debut, at least eight targets of all sizes and shapes will watch them perform. But they are comfortable on a stage with more than 400 square meters of screens and dozens of spotlights. That they are the Spotify generation (or Amazon Music, to quote the boss) is also clear due to the great diversity of their setlist. Ruslana is the first to act. She’s 18 years old and sings “I love Rock ‘n’ Roll” as if she composed it herself, even though The Arrows released it in 1975. About three Ruslanas ago. Violeta chooses Willie Nelson’s Crazy, popularized in 1961 by country singer Patsy Cline. And Salma chooses the Bolero Historia de un amor, also from a few Ruslanas from before.
Same content, new consumption
It is obvious that when experts talk about a possible overhaul of on-demand television over linear television, they are not talking about the content, but rather the mode of consumption. It is clear that two formats such as Sálvame (now on Netflix) and Operación Triunfo are the big Spanish bets on international platforms for this season.
Tinet Rubira, head of the production company Gestmusic and creator of the program, laughingly resorts to exaggeration to define the ambitions of this challenge. “The two phrases we repeat most often these days are that we are making history and that the audiovisual world is watching us,” he tells this newspaper. “We know that if this works, we are opening a door that cannot be closed again,” he continues.
Denna surrounded by the corps de ballet of “Operación Triunfo” while singing “A ella”. Jose Irun
It is not about attracting millions of viewers, as was the case with the first editions on Spanish television and Telecinco, but rather about opening new business opportunities. The legendary program had to adapt to the circumstances, making Amazon, the world’s largest bazaar, its new home. “Alexa” was one of the first words Chenoa said last week when he introduced this edition of the music format to the media. He then announced that this time the Television Academy would become a huge showcase. The little thing that followers won’t be able to buy from what they see in it will be the cameras. The connection between the artists born there and the sound platform Amazon Music is also more successful than planned.
For Prime Video and Gestmusic, a production company specialized in music formats, from Rain of Stars to Your Face Me Sounds, it manages the entire legal and commercial framework for the joint exploitation rights, and this time for more than 30 countries, of the songs The fact that Playing them competitively required more than a year of work. “The music industry understands that this is also an experiment and that it opens up new opportunities for their product on streaming platforms,” warns Rubira.
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