Latin American Idol

In recent years, America’s beloved reality Television show, American Idol, has spread widely throughout the world as a form of globalized entertainment. With the creation of Latin American Idol, viewers are given a glimpse into an entire region of people, rather than a single nation. Sony Entertainment Television and FreemantleMedia distribute the franchise, which originated in Argentina, in Mexico, Central America, and South America. As a result of an American reality Television show, Latin American Idol proves to be a recent addition to the idea of globalization, due to its roots in Cultural Imperialism, New Television Engines, and Mediascapes.

As an example of Cultural Imperialism, Latin American Idol reproduces an American reality program in a conscious effort to comment on entertainment found in a different region of Western civilization (2). Interestingly, the Latin version proves to be nearly identical to the original in terms of production, judges, contestants, etc. The only real difference, in the end, is obviously the language being spoken. This element of the series provides it with a sense of homogenization, due to the fact that it recycles familiar traits of the original version, yet it represents an entirely foreign region of the world. This can be seen in any clip of the series, simply during the audition process before the real contest even begins. One clip in particular, featuring an audition in Argentina, perfectly mimics the style of the American show, even to the extent of cutting back and forth between performers and the judges, who make their decisions with familiar, nasty looks.

Aside from the idea of Cultural Imperialism, the series also features the element of new television “engines,” which provide viewers and contestants with unique results. The engine that Latin American Idol employs, elimination, is central the show’s purpose. Without elimination the show would obviously go nowhere and viewers would not be given an incentive to tune in every week. Elimination allows for a certain amount of weekly suspense, which can also be tied in to advertising for the show itself. In the article “Television’s New Engines,” Michael Keane and Albert Moran comment on this by stating, “the voting engine captures a range of cross platform publicity, including television news, magazines, radio, and internet” (1). This confirms the importance of marketing and advertising within television’s new engines, especially the element of elimination within Latin American Idol. In relation to the statement by Keane and Moran regarding elimination as a way create media revenue, one may conclude that mediascapes can be the result of television’s new engines. Mediascapes, the spread of technological capabilities as a means of delivering information, relies on shows such as Latin American Idol to generate media attention from location to another.

The homogeneity of Latin American Idol, however, does not rely on each individual nation representing itself. Whether it is Argentina, Mexico, or Peru, each nation represents a part of the greater region, which extends through Central and North America. This creates an even greater sense of hybridity for Spanish-speaking nations due to the fact that they all share a portion of a larger cultural display. To conclude, Latin American Idol proves to globalize the series created by the United States, while also retaining cultural roots in a specific region of the world.


Citations
(1) Michael Keane, Albert Moran, “Television’s New Engines,” Television and New Media. 9.2 (2008): 160
(2) Toby Miller, Nitin Gavil and John McCurrin, “Cultural Imperialism,” Global Hollywood. (2005): 64-84