Ana Bárbara, Adriel Favela & Horacio Palencia Hope ‘Pase a la Fama’ Gives Mexican Music ‘A Different Level of Visibility’

Pase a la Fama, Telemundo’s new television series, is set to premiere on Sunday, June 8 featuring a star-studded panel of judges — Ana Bárbara, Adriel Favela and Horacio Palencia — and original music produced by Latin Grammy-winning hitmaker Edgar Barrera.

During the show, participants will compete in a bootcamp-like setting where they will “train, perform and face challenges,” according to a press statement, vying for a $100,000 prize, a record deal with HYBE Latin America and crowned the next regional Mexican band, which will comprised of five participants.

“The truth is that it’s a project we put our hearts into,” Ana Bárbara tells Billboard during a conversation over Zoom, just days before competition kick off. “I personally feel moved, excited, thrilled and I think it will be a great project.”

The judges will be meticulous about who they choose as finalists. They must have “discipline and respect for the audience and us as judges, all of those are ingredients that for me are very, very important,” Palencia says. “In fact, I tell the new generation that, for me, discipline is actually even more important than talent, because sometimes it doesn’t matter to have talent if you don’t have discipline.”

So, what were the main qualities the judges looked for?

“It’s a band and, at the end of the day, I believe that there are many components that contribute to what brings success to a career,” Palencia adds. “The [right] attitude, preparation and how they accept more than just criticism, but the constructive advice we give them,” Palencia adds. “I believe that the winning band will genuinely work towards achieving all of those characteristics.”

The show is set to premiere at a time when some música mexicana artists are facing bans in Mexico (if they sing narcocorridos in certain public settings) or visa delays and revocations in the United States. “I had no idea that all of this could happen, which is both delicate and strong, yet sensitive, and definitely very sad,” Ana Bárbara says. “Because it affects all of us in some way, it has an impact. We all admire the music of someone who is having problems for various reasons, beyond whatever the reason may be. This show will provide [Mexican] music with a different level of visibility.”

The judges will also focus on emphasizing “clean song lyrics and about love stories,” Favela says. “It is nice to realize that music is giving us a chance to go beyond the musical aspect. To see our individual values, to see young people singing themes that, nowadays, I dare to say, are being lost, perhaps more and more. And that there is validity in rescuing all of this, which at the end of the day is the pure root of our Mexican essence.”

It was previously announced that Lupillo Rivera, Fuerza Regida’s JOP and Gabito Ballestero’s will join the show as mentors. The first episode of Pase a la Fama will premiere Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on Telemundo.