[Author]by the El Reportero’s news services[/Author]
Singing star Olga Tañon has signed on as school director and judge for Telemundo’s new reality music competition, “Yo Soy El Artista” (I’m The Artist), the network said.
The Puerto Rican singer-songwriter told Efe she is “happy and very proud” to be part of the show, which premieres next month.
Contestants will be evaluated on their singing, dancing and “star quality” over the course of 13 weeks.
“To be director of a school is a great responsibility,” Tañon said, adding that she is ready to be tough with the contestants to help them reach their potential.
Besides running the school where the contestants will live together, the multiple Grammy winner will be part of the four-person jury that ultimately selects “el artista.”
Cuba celebrates Shakespeare with first visit of The Globe Theater Group
Havana joined in the celebration of the 450th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s birth with the first visit of the famed London theater group The Globe and its performance of “Hamlet.”
The Globe twice presented Hamlet on Thursday at the downtown Mella Theater as part of the world tour that began last April in London to mark the 450 years since Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born.
Cuba is the first Spanish-speaking country chosen for a performance by the company, which in Thursday’s Hamlet helped the audience understand the actors with subtitles shown on a screen.
Cuban playwright and critic Norge Espinosa noted that The Globe is Shakespeare’s ambassador to the world – it uses actors of all ages and ethnicities and shows how the English continue to “maintain a dialogue” with the author.
Cuban theater’s chief tribute to the English author will be staged at the 24th International Ballet Festival of Havana in October, which will present a dance version of “Romeo and Juliet” produced by one-time ballerina and current director of the company, Alicia Alonso.
Before arriving in Cuba from the Bahamas, the English company had appeared in Norway, Russia, Finland, Ukraine, Croatia and the United States.
From Cuba it will continue on to the Yucatan in Mexico, followed by such Caribbean nations as Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, as well as countries of Central America.
The original Globe Theatre where Shakespeare’s plays were first performed was built in 1599 on the banks of the River Thames.
Producers of “La Voz” say contestants will receive more support
The fourth edition of the reality singing competition “La Voz…Mexico” (The Voice…Mexico) will be all about giving more support to the contestants, the producer of the hit show said.
The contestants who really stand out will be given support from the beginning of the program, rather than waiting until one of them wins a contest before beginning to think about his or her career, Miguel Fox told a press conference here.
“In order to discover big stars, we have to back them from the beginning,” he said, acknowledging that previous winners have failed to achieve the expected success.
Fox presented this Thursday the fourth edition of the Mexican adaptation of the wildly successful Dutch show “The Voice,” introducing the “coaches” for the new season: Ricky Martin, Laura Pausini, Yuri and Julion Alvarez.
In “La Voz”, the coaches sit with their backs to whomever is singing and if they like the voice, they press a button to turn their seat around to choose the contestant for their team.
But as a novelty this year, the auditions will be even more blindfolded, since after pressing the button, the artists won’t see the contestants, since they will be covered by a curtain until they confirm their identities to the coaches in question.
