La Academia

Lore & Background

Over the first seasons, the show was a reliable dominator of its time-slot, which was shown by its triumph over Televisa's Operación Triunfo Mexico, in several countries including Chile, Peru and Venezuela. The rival show was only produced for one season, and was in fact the official Endemol entry in Mexico. The last seasons of La Academia had declining ratings, being aired against the Mexican version of The Voice, produced by Televisa, and it eventually ceased production in 2012.

However, in 2018, Azteca rebooted the franchise and it aired a new generation of La Academia which received positive reviews from critics and saw an impressive increase in total viewership. The show has been franchised to other countries: Azerbaijan (Akademiya), Malaysia (Akademi Fantasia), Indonesia (Akademi Fantasi Indosiar), United States (La Academia USA), Paraguay (La Academia Paraguay), Singapore (Sunsilk Academy Fantasia), Thailand (True Academy Fantasia), Central America (La Academia Centroamérica) and Greece (House of Fame).

Reader's Guide

Each year, 14–49 people are selected to live together in a house isolated from the rest of the world, spending their days taking classes in singing, dancing, acting, and related fields, each preparing one or two songs for a 3-hour concert which they give each Sunday evening for TV viewers and a live studio audience. Each week, one of the contestants is eliminated based on the number of votes each one receives, until 4 to 10 students become the finalists and compete for the top prize. Viewers can vote by telephone, text or online. Camino a la Fama aired during weekday afternoons, but it was cancelled after The Ninth Generation. This show taped what the students' lives within the La Academia house. It also demonstrated the singing, dancing, and acting classes.

Did You Know?

• The longest serving judge has been Arturo López Gavito with ten seasons on the panel.
• Lolita Cortés served five seasons as judge plus two as the academy's director.
• Judge and host Yahir, and two-time host Cynthia Rodríguez are two of the academy's students who have been part of the panel.
• During the eighth series, several guest judges served as temporary replacement for Olga Tañón, including Marta Sánchez, Mónica Naranjo, and Elvis Crespo.
• Myriam Montemayor Cruz was declared the winner of the First Generation in 2002.