La Academia USA First Concert

Mexico City, Nov. 15, 2005 – Azteca America “La Academia USA.” announced 18 finalists of the musical reality show. The open casting call began in October in Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, New York and Miami, and attracted more than 5,000 participants. From there they selected 30 semifinalists, who entered the La Academia campus in Mexico for a week of rigorous tests, training and psychological analyses.

The finalists represent a vast geographical area of the U.S. as well as a true mix of Latin American roots. The 18 finalists will continue pursuing their dreams of becoming the next Hispanic entertainment stars through hard work and intensive voice, dance and stage presence training. Their daily efforts are reported weekdays through “Detrás de La Academia USA,” at 2 pm PST and EST / 1 pm CST, as well as through Camino a la Fama, at 8 pm PST and EST / 7 pm CST. The progress of the contestants is presented on Sundays, during a live concert at 7 pm PST and EST / 6 pm CST.

The 18 contestants of La Academia USA are as follows: Bianca Filio from Dallas, Texas,  Diana Galindo from Chula Vista, California,  Fatimat Alhassan from Houston, Texas, Catalina Naranjo from Miami, Florida,  Mariana Vargas from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua (México), Yoshigei  Casarez  from Southgate, California, Nohelia Sosa  from Miami, Florida, Heloisa López  from Seattle, Washington, Jazmín Olivo from West Valley City, Utah, Alejandro Hernández  from Sacramento, California, Adan Castillo  from Joliet, Illinois,  Afid Ferrer from Houston, Texas, Carlos Soto from Santa Ana, California, Franky Alvarado from Iowa Junction, Illinois, Gustavo Amescua from Santa Ana, California, Iván Quiñónez  from El Mirage, Arizona, Michael Muenchow from San Antonio, Texas, and Gabriel Rodríguez  from Miami, Florida.

Azteca America is one of the fastest-growing Hispanic networks in the United States. The network is a wholly-owned subsidiary of TV Azteca S.A. de C.V., one of the largest producers of Spanish language television content in the world. Azteca America currently has presence in 39 Hispanic markets, including: Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston, Chicago, Dallas, San Antonio, San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, Phoenix, Brownsville-McAllen, Albuquerque, San Diego, Fresno-Visalia, Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto, Denver, Orlando, Austin, Tampa, Corpus Christi, Tucson, Las Vegas, Colorado Springs, Monterey-Salinas, Hartford, Salt Lake City, Bakersfield, West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Santa Barbara, Palm Springs, Omaha, Yakima, Naples-Ft. Myers, Wichita, Reno, Boise, Victoria, Oklahoma City, Charleston and Chattanooga. For more information, visit www.terra.com/laacademia/