Desafío de Estrellas is a Mexican musical show produced and distributed by TV Azteca, the second largest network in the country. The format of the Desafío is similar to American Idol with contestants eliminated every week and a grand finale with the top contestants competing to win the first place prize. TV Azteca has, until 2006, produced two versions of the program, one in 2003 and the other in 2006. The 2003 version consisted only of former contestants of La Academia, another TV Azteca-produced show which had already finished two seasons and, in the process, taken away rating share from Televisa, the largest network in the country. The 2006 version, on the other hand, consisted of both former contestants of La Academia (all four seasons), as well as other artists produced by TV Azteca in the middle and late '90s, later in 2009 a third season took place with former contestants of the six seasons of la academia.
All the Desafíos de Estrellas
Season Winner Runner-up 2nd. Runner-Up Other Finalists Other Contestants (In Order of Elimination) Number of ContestantsSeason 1YahirNadiaMyriamErika & EstrellaElisa, Mauricio, Gisela, Karla, Marvin, Fabricio, Alejandro, Wendolee, J.Antonio, VíctorJ; Azeneth, Alejandra, Andrea, Ana Lucía, Adrián, Enrique; Ma.Inés, Víctor, Freddy, Manuel, Rosalía, Marco, Héctor, M. Ángel, Laura, Toñita, Raúl32Season 2ToñitaErasmoRaúlAranza, Carlos & AdriánRosalia, Cecilia, Cesar; Melissa, Sylvia, Paula; Marco, Manuel, J.Antonio; Aline, Leticia, Dulce, Claudia, Tony; J.Luis, Edgar, Yuridia, Luis, Erika, Benjamín, Estrella, Nadia, Jose Joel, Ale Ley, M. Ángel, Cynthia32Season 3FabiolaMyriamSamuelTravieso & NadiaLa Posta, Los Sandoval, Tinieblas, Tachidito, Beraka 5, Los de la mochila Azul, Las Güeras, Shanik/Christian, Vanessa Cato, Rigo Tovar Jr., Colette, Toñita, Edgar/Erasmo, Iván/Héctor/Gerardo/Matías, IQ, G6, Rosalía/Freddy/Marco, Aline, Atala, Las Reinas, Ivonne M; Cynthia/Jorge, Jose Joel/Marysol; M.Ángel, Luis A., Juan Rivera32
Desafío de Estrellas 2003 Participants - 32 Winner - Yahir Runner-Up - Nadia Third Place - Myriam Fourth Place - Erika Fifth Place - Estrella
The 2003 version of the Desafío de Estrellas was announced right after the end of the second generation of La Academia. The 32 contestants which made up both generations would go on head-to-head to see what generation would get the best place. This expected competition was non-existent, as the participants of the 2nd generation were eliminated swiftly. Of the top 10 singers chosen by the public, only 1 had come out of the second generation, Erika, who would go on to become the fourth place of the competition. With a total of 15 concerts and above good ratings, TV Azteca confirmed its strong hold on the Mexican public.
Contestants NameOriginal SeriesEliminatedYahirLa Academia 1Nadia La Academia 1MyriamLa Academia 1ErikaLa Academia 2EstrellaLa Academia 1RaulLa Academia 1ToñitaLa Academia 1Laura CaroLa Academia 1Miguel AngelLa Academia 1HectorLa Academia 1Marco MoreLa Academia 2RosaliaLa Academia 2ManuelLa Academia 2FreddyLa Academia 2Victor GarciaLa Academia 1Maria InesLa Academia 1EnriqueLa Academia 2Adrian CarvajalLa Academia 2Ana LuciaLa Academia 2Alejandra OrdanzaLa Academia 2AndreaLa Academia 2AzenethLa Academia 2Jose AntonioLa Academia 1WendoleeLa Academia 1AlejandroLa Academia 1ElisaLa Academia 2GiselaLa Academia 2MarvinLa Academia 2KarlaLa Academia 2Victor JavierLa Academia 2MauricioLa Academia 2FabricioLa Academia 2
Concerts Concert 1- The first concert saw the elimination of 10 artists, 7 of which were from the second generation (Elisa, Gisela, Karla, Mauricio, Fabricio, Víctor and Marvin), while only 3 were from the first (Wendolee, Alejandro and Jose Antonio). Concert 2- The second concert saw no eliminations, however, this concert was marked by the clear dominance of the first generation singers who received well better critics from the judges than the second generation singers. The best interpretation of the night was "El Me Mintio" by Myriam and Erika (winners of the first and second generations, accordingly) who would go on to become finalists and lead successful solo careers. Concert 3- The third concert was characterized by the elimination of most of what was left of the second generation, as six of the remaining eleven artists were eliminated (Andrea, Ana Lucía, Alejandra, Adrián, Azeneth and Enrique). 11 singers of the first generation still remained. Concert 4- María Inés (1st Generation) who had sung "7 de Septiembre", by Mecano, and received fairly good critics was eliminated. Concert 5- Víctor, winner of the 2nd place in the first generation, and one of the favorites in the competition decided to quit, as medical reasons disabled him to continue in the competition. Concert 6- The elimination of Fredi, finalist in the second generation, left only four second generation singers left in the competition. Concert 7- Manuel, third place in the second generation, was eliminated. Concert 8- The eight concert saw once again the elimination of a second generation finalist, this time it was Rosalía, who had already surpassed expectations after beating Manuel and Fredi, both of which had received a better place in the second generation finale. Concert 9- Once again, a finalist of La academia 2 was eliminated, this time Marco, runner-up in the Academia 2 finale. Concert 10- Concert 10 was full of expectation as most fans believed Erika, the only second generation singer left in the competition, would be eliminated, however it was Héctor, last place in the original Academia, who was eliminated. Concert 11- Shocking results took place in the eleventh concert as Miguel Ángel, third place in the first Academia, was ousted by the other eight singers. Concert 12- Laura, 9th place in the original Academia, and initially one of the public's favorites, lost support and was eliminated. Concert 13- Toñita, who missed out at the last moment in becoming one of the finalists in the first Academia, again, was eliminated at the last moment. Concert 14- Raúl, another first generation singer and one of the favorites to reach the finale was eliminated in a very close competition. This left four Academia 1 singers and 1 Academia 2 singers in the finale.
Finale The finale, which was broadcast live from Monterrey, Nuevo León, was a clear display of the full potential of the network, which garnished better results than the program in the competing network, the Mexican version of Big Brother. The rating was far superior for the Desafío and caused major changes in Televisa. At the end, after singing songs from their albums, as well as new, classic Latin songs, Yahir took the night and beat out Myriam, the public's clear favorite, who was also ousted by Nadia, winner of the second place.
Desafío de Estrellas 2006 Participants - 32 (finale June 25, 2006) Winner - Toñita (La Academia 1) Runner-Up - Erasmo (La Academia 4) Third Place - Raúl (La Academia 1)
Some time after the end of the 4th version of La Academia, and in order to compete with Televisa's highly successful Cantando por un sueño (Singing for A Dream), TV Azteca announced the production of a new version of the Desafío. This time, however, not only would the competition be between former Academia singers, but also with artists released in the late 90s by the network. The 2006 version of the Desafío was less successful than the first, mostly because of the competition and high ratings of Cantando por un Sueño of Televisa. To increase ratings and, therefore, revenues, the network tried implementing new mechanics into the show. For example, in every show the judges were to choose "the best singer of the night", who would win 30,000 pesos (approximately twenty-nine hundred dollars), also, for six concerts the judges were to choose one singer who would be a participant of a grand concert in the Metropolitan, one of the most important auditoriums in the country.
Controversy arose after the judges eliminated Yuridia, the clear favorite to win, because she did not appear in Concert 8. Several sources of the Mexican media and some shows, especially from Televisa, claimed the producers planned the whole thing to improve ratings for the show. Bad rumors about the Desafío also arose when Jolette, controversial former Academia participant, claimed Cynthia, attractive Desafío participant, was being supported by one of the producers, who prevented her elimination from the competition. (Cynthia was eliminated before the final round, she was not one of the final six contestants. Cynthia organized a concert to benefit the families of miners killed in an accident in Coahuila. Many of the top contestants of Desafío de Estrellas participated, and Cynthia was able to donate ten thousand pesos each to every family who lost a loved one in the disaster.)
Contestants NameOriginal SeriesEliminatedAntoniaLa Academia 1ErasmoLa Academia 4RaulLa Academia 1Aranza No academicaAdrian VarelaLa Academia 4Carlos RiveraLa Academia 3CynthiaLa Academia 4Miguel AngelLa Academia 1NadiaLa Academia 1EstrellaLa Academia 1ErikaLa Academia 2YuridiaLa Academia 4EdgarLa Academia 4Jose LuisLa Academia 4DulceLa Academia 3LaticiaLa Academia 3MarcoLa Academia 4ManuelLa Academia 2Jose AntonioLa Academia 1MelissaLa Academia 3SilviaLa Academia 4PaulaLa Academia 4CesarLa Academia 3RosaliaLa Academia 2
Concerts
Throughout 25 concerts, the first one airing on January 8, 2006, 32 contestants (being Yuridia the favorite) competed to become one of the 6 finalists who would compete for a grand prize of three million pesos (300,000 dollars). In these concerts, three participants were chosen three times as the best singer of the night, Adrián, Aranza, and Erasmo Catarino. Also, six participants were chosen for a major concert in The Metropolitan, an important auditorium in Mexico City: Erasmo Catarino, Cynthia, Estrella, Miguel Ángel, Aranza and Raúl. Concert 1- January 8, 2006 Eliminated- None Concert 2- January 15, 2006 Eliminated- Rosalía (2003 Version Participant), Cesar, Cecilia Concert 3- January 22, 2006 Eliminated- Melissa, Sylvia, Paula Concert 4- January 29, 2006 Eliminated- Marco, Manuel (2003 Version Participant), José Antonio (2003 Version Participant) Concert 5- February 5, 2006 Eliminated- Aline, Leticia, Dulce, Claudia Pelayo, Tony Sánchez Concert 6- February 12, 2006 Eliminated- José Luis Concert 7- February 19, 2006 Eliminated- Edgar Concert 8- February 26, 2006 Eliminated- Yuridia Chosen for Concert- Erasmo Catarino Concert 9- March 5, 2006 Eliminated- José Luis Graterol (from Musical group UFF) Singer of the Night- Miguel Ángel (2003 Version Participant) Concert 10- March 12, 2006 Eliminated- Erika (2003 Version 4th place) Singer of the Night- Erika Chosen for Concert- Cynthia Concert 11- March 19, 2006 Eliminated- Benjamín Singer of the Night- Carlos Chosen for Concert- Estrella (2003 Version 5th Place) Concert 12- March 26, 2006 Eliminated- None Singer of the Night- Estrella Chosen for Concert- Miguel Ángel Concert 13- April 2, 2006 Eliminated- Estrella Singer of the Night- Nadia(2003 Version 2nd Place) Chosen for Concert- Raúl (2003 Version Participant) Concert 14- April 9, 2006 Eliminated- Nadia Singer of the Night- Adrián Concert 15- April 16, 2006 Eliminated- None (Jose Joel Chosen Worst Singer of the night) Singer of the Night- Aranza Concert 16- April 23, 2006 Eliminated- Jose Joel Singer of the Night- Cynthia Concert 17- April 30, 2006 Special concert, with no eliminations, because of Children's Day, very special in Mexican culture and in which every artist sung with their "kid double", a child look-alike with high vocal capacity. Eliminated- None Singer of the Night- Aranza Concert 18- May 7, 2006 Eliminated- Alejandra Ley Singer of the Night- Aranza Concert 19- May 14, 2006 Eliminated- None Singer of the Night- Raúl Singer of the Night (Ranchera Song)- Adrián Concert 20- May 21, 2006 Eliminated- Miguel Ángel