() is a reality television talent show which first aired on (TVE) in 2001 in Spain. A music talent contest with viewer voting and reality show elements that originated Endemol's Star Academy franchise, the show aims to find the country's next solo singing sensation.
(also known as OT) first aired in 2001. On its first run between 2001 and 2004, three series were aired on TVE, which also served as the national final to select the for the Eurovision Song Contest. The first series of OT was particularly successful in ratings, becoming one of the most popular shows in the history of Spanish television and featuring singers that went on to enjoy long-term recognition from the public: notably Rosa López, David Bisbal, David Bustamante, and Chenoa. After the third series, TVE decided not to renew the show and its rights were acquired by Telecinco, which aired series 5–8 of the series. Series 8 in 2011 was cancelled due to poor ratings and its finale was rushed as a result.
On 26 April 2017, RTVE approved a new series of the talent show produced by Gestmusic Endemol, returning to TVE after 13 years. The total cost of the series was €10.2million. Due to its ratings success, it was renewed for a further series. This was the second most successful edition of the program to date, artists like Aitana, Ana Guerra, Amaia, Alfred García, Luis Cepeda, Agoney, Miriam Rodríguez, or Lola Índigo have emerged from this edition.
In 2023, Amazon Prime Video acquired the rights to air the twelfth series. Shortly after the conclusion of this series, it was announced that Amazon had picked up the show for a thirteenth season. It premiered in September 2025 and concluded in December of the same year. In June 2026, Amazon confirmed a fourteenth season, at the time slated to start in October 2027, with auditions taking place in June 2027.
Format A selection of hopefuls is boarded in "The Academy", managed by a headmaster, where they are coached by various professionals in several artistic disciplines and are filmed with cameras (an idea borrowed from another of Endemol's major reality shows Big Brother). Once a week, the contestants have to face a prime time show, where they sing a cover version of a popular song they have prepared during the week before, as well as recapping their trials and tribulations at The Academy from the past week. The live show will often feature special guest stars, with whom some of the contestants have the opportunity to sing. Based on the judges' verdicts and viewer voting, the weakest contestant is dropped. The eventual winner is awarded a record deal and/or some amount of money.
Series overview + Series Year Winner Runner-up Third place Fourth place Fifth place Sixth place Host Headmaster Network 1 2001–02 Rosa López David Bisbal David Bustamante Chenoa Manu Tenorio Verónica Romero Carlos Lozano Nina 2 2002–03 Ainhoa Cantalapiedra Manuel Carrasco Beth Rodergas Miguel Nández Hugo Salazar Joan Tena 3 2003–04 Vicente Seguí Ramón del Castillo Miguel Cadenas Davinia Cuevas Mario Martínez Leticia Pérez 4 2005 Sergio Rivero Soraya Arnelas Víctor Estévez Idaira Fran Dieli Edurne Jesús Vázquez Kike Santander Telecinco 5 2006–07 Lorena Gómez Daniel Zueras Leo Segarra Saray Ramírez Moritz Weisskopf José Galisteo 6 2008 Virginia Maestro Pablo López Chipper Cooke Manu Castellano Sandra Criado Mimi Segura Àngel Llàcer 7 2009 Mario Álvarez Brenda Mau Jon Allende Ángel Capel Patricia Navarro Sylvia Parejo 8 2011 Nahuel Sachak Álex Forriols Mario Jefferson Alexandra Masangkay Niccó Josh Prada Pilar Rubio Nina 9 2017–18 Amaia Romero Aitana Ocaña Miriam Rodríguez Alfred García Ana Guerra Agoney Hernández Roberto Leal Noemí Galera La 1 10 2018 Famous Oberogo Alba Reche Natalia Lacunza Sabela Ramil Julia Medina Miki Núñez 11 2020 Nia Correia Flavio Fernández Eva Barreiro Anaju Calavia Hugo Cobo Maialen Gurbindo 12 2023–24 Naiara Moreno Paul Thin Ruslana Panchyshyna Juanjo Bona Lucas Curotto Martin UrrutiaChenoaAmazon Prime Video 13 2025 Cristina Lora Olivia Bay Tinho Vaamonde Guille Toledano Claudia Arenas Guillo Rist 14 2027Upcoming season TBA All contestants appearing above (1st to 6th) were born in Spain, except for Chenoa who is Argentinian-born (from series 1), Moritz Weisskopf who is German (series 5), Chipper Cooke who is from the United States (series 6), Brenda Mau who is from Peru (series 7), Alexandra Masangkay who is from the Philippines (series 8), winner of series 8 Nahuel Sachak who is from Paraguay, winner of series 10 Famous Oberogo who is Dutch-born, Lucas Curotto who is from Uruguay (series 12) and Ruslana Panchyshyna who is from Ukraine (series 12).
Series 1 (2001–02)
All three finalists of the inaugural series released debut albums, but while Rosa (accompanied by some fellow contenders as backing singers) scored seventh place in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song "Europe's Living a Celebration", and had notable success with her albums, it was Bisbal who went on to international success, even winning a Latin Grammy Award for Best Newcomer for his album Corazón Latino.
Other participants of this first edition (Chenoa, Nuria Fergó and Manu Tenorio) also launched successful solo careers. In addition, Gisela was hired by Disney Spain and started a career in musical theater; and represented Andorra in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. Contestant Age Residence Episode of elimination Place finished Rosa 20 Armilla Gala Final Winner Bisbal 22 Almería Runner-up Bustamante 19 San Vicente de la Barquera 3rd Chenoa 26 Palma 4th Manu 26 Seville 5th Verónica 23 Elche 6th Nuria 22 Nerja Gala 13 7th Gisela 22 El Bruc Gala 12 8th Naím 21 Premià de Mar Gala 11 9th Àlex 20 Vilassar de Mar Gala 5 / Gala 10 10th Alejandro 23 Valencia Gala 8 11th Juan 28 Laredo Gala 7 12th Natalia 18 Sanlúcar de Barrameda Gala 6 13th Javián 27 Dos Hermanas Gala 4 14th Mireia 19 Vila-seca Gala 3 15th Geno 19 Gran Canaria Gala 2 16th
Series 2 (2002–03)
The second series of became an anomaly in the category of popular reality TV music shows. First of all, the winner had very little success after the show. Second of all, many contestants who did not do well had massive success across Europe and Latin America, not just in Spain:
Beth was chosen to represent Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003. She scored 8th place with the song "Dime".
The first person out of the show, Mai Meneses, rose to prominence in 2006 when herself and a childhood friend formed the band Nena Daconte. They released an album, He Perdido Los Zapatos, which was highly praised by critics. The album sold over 200,000 copies in Spain alone, an amazing feat as an average album to get to number 1 in Spain needs around 20,000 sales.
Vega, who came 9th, managed to release the best selling single of 2003 in Spain with her own composition, "iGrita!", with over one million copies sold. Contestant Age Residence Episode of elimination Place finished Ainhoa 22 Galdakao Gala Final Winner Manuel 21 Isla Cristina Runner-up Beth 20 Súria 3rd Nández 24 Cádiz 4th Hugo 24 Seville 5th Joan 25 Barcelona 6th Tony 21 Tenerife Gala 13 7th Nika 22 Torrejón de Ardoz Gala 12 8th Vega 23 Córdoba Gala 11 9th Danni 20 Jaén Gala 10 10th Elena 19 Barcelona Gala 9 11th Tessa 20 Valencia Gala 8 12th Marey 18 Cádiz Gala 7 13th Cristie 24 Fuengirola Gala 6 14th Enrique 27 Navarra Gala 5 15th Miguel 25 Ibiza Gala 4 16th Mai 24 Madrid Gala 3 17th Saray 18 Alicante Gala 0 Not selected Marcos 26 Barcelona Jano 25 Palma
Series 3 (2003–04)
Series three runner-up Ramón was chosen to represent Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004. He scored 10th place with the song "Para llenarme de ti".
This was the last series aired by TVE until 2017, and the one with the lowest ratings until 2011. Contestant Age Residence Episode of elimination Place finished Vicente 24 Vilamarxant Gala Final Winner Ramón 19 Gran Canaria Runner-up Miguel 22 Huelva 3rd Davinia 18 Cádiz 4th Mario 19 Zaragoza 5th Leticia 26 Seville 6th Noelia 18 Lugo Gala 11 7th Beatriz 18 Pontevedra Gala 10 8th (Quit) Nur 20 Barcelona 9th Borja 19 Madrid Gala 9 10th Israel 23 Murcia Gala 8 11th Jorge 25 Zaragoza Gala 7 12th Sonia 29 Barcelona Gala 6 13th Miriam 22 Pontevedra Gala 5 14th José 25 Castellón de la Plana Gala 4 15th Sonny 23 Madrid Gala 3 16th Isabel 20 Cádiz Gala 2 17th
Series 4 (2005)
TVE refused a fourth series, choosing to select its Eurovision Song Contest entry using a multi-artist national final. The show was then offered to Telecinco, who bought its rights. This fourth series started airing in June 2005 and got better ratings than the third one, but it never reached the results that the first series achieved. Runner-up Soraya Arnelas would represent Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 and sixth-placed Edurne would represent Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. Contestant Age Residence Episode of elimination Place finished Sergio 19 Gran Canaria Gala Final Winner Soraya 23 Valencia Runner-up Víctor 22 Barcelona 3rd Idaira 20 San Cristóbal de La Laguna Gala 14 4th Fran 24 Granada Gala 13 5th Edurne 20 Madrid Gala 12 6th Lidia 20 Córdoba Gala 11 7th Sandra 17 Valencia Gala 10 8th Guille B. 26 Cádiz Gala 9 9th Guille M. 28 Valencia Gala 8 10th Mónica 21 Gijón Gala 7 11th Dani 28 Seville Gala 6 12th Héctor 16 Alicante Gala 5 13th Jesús 24 Puertollano Gala 4 14th Trizia 22 Seville Gala 3 15th Janina 20 Gran Canaria Gala 2 16th Migue 23 Cuenca Gala 0 Not selected
Series 5 (2006–07)
Telecinco announced in May 2006 that the fifth series of the program was to be released in October 2006.
In July, 25 Telecinco aired a special show titled . In this show some former OT artists (among them, Rosa, Soraya Arnelas, Sergio Rivero, Natalia, Beth) performed and the new selection of contestants was introduced.
The fifth series started on Sunday 8 October 2006 with 18 finalists, but two finalists had to leave and they didn't enter the academy. It created some controversy as one of the first two people out that night was the first black person, Claritzel, ever to be on the show (she had to pull out of the previous year's show). She had to leave the show because of a heart intervention.
Contestant Age Residence Episode of elimination Place finished Lorena 20 Lleida Gala Final Winner Daniel 26 Zaragoza Runner-up Leo 25 Valencia Gala 15 3rd Saray 25 Tuineje Gala 14 4th Mortiz 29 Málaga Gala 13 5th José 28 Viladecans Gala 12 6th Ismael 18 Mataró Gala 11 7th Jorge 18 Villarejo de Salvanés Gala 10 8th Eva 26 Vigo Gala 9 9th Vanessa 28 Bigues i Riells Gala 8 10th Mayte 22 Murcia Gala 7 11th Mercedes 24 Chiclana Gala 6 12th Cristina 16 Cuenca Gala 5 13th José Antonio 22 Mérida Gala 4 14th Xavier 20 Vinaròs Gala 3 15th Encarna 22 Almería Gala 2 16th Claritzell 24 Tenerife Gala 0 Not selected Melissa 18 San Miguel de Salinas
Series 6 (2008)
Castings started in Barcelona for the new series on 18 February 2008. The sixth series began on 8 April 2008, with 18 candidates to enter the academy (two of them didn't). This series has been the most controversial because many critics pointed that the series centered more on the reality show aspect than on the contestants' performing talent. Runner-up Pablo López went on to launch a successful recording career in 2014. Contestant Age Residence Episode of elimination Place finished Virginia 25 Jaén Gala Final Winner Pablo 24 Málaga Runner-up Chipper 34 New York City 3rd Manu 17 Córdoba Gala 14 4th Sandra 24 Córdoba Gala 13 5th Mimi 26 Melilla Gala 12 6th Iván 24 Madrid Gala 11 7th Noelia 23 Valencia Gala 10 8th Anabel 22 Córdoba Gala 9 9th Tania S. 18 Seville Gala 8 10th Reke 22 Murcia Gala 7 11th Esther 20 Málaga Gala 6 12th Tania G. 25 Barcelona Gala 5 13th Rubén 21 Barcelona Gala 4 14th Paula 23 Seville Gala 3 15th Ros 16 Barcelona Gala 2 16th Patty 24 Santander Gala 1 17th (Quit) Jorge 23 Valencia Gala 0 Not selected Juanjo 28 Murcia
Series 7 (2009)