Costa Rica’s American Idol Candidate Finds Out if She Made the Cut Tonight.

Latin American Idol, modeled after Pop Idol and American Idol, has taken Latin America by storm. Its third and current season has welcomed the talent of twelve sweet-voiced finalists, including María José Castillo, the contest’s first Costa Rican finalist who has held on to the round of four singers.

Latin American Idol is currently co-hosted by Erika de la Vega (Venezuela) and Monchi Balestra (Argentina). The judging panel is made up of Cuban-American singer and songwriter Jon Secada, Puerto Rican manager Gustavo Sánchez, and Mexican-born Irma Angélica Hernández Ochoa, also known as “Mimi.” The series first premiered from Argentina on July 12, 2006, soon gaining a large fan base and high reviews.

Auditions for Season 3 of Latin American Idol began on March 2008 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The singing trail continued to Bogotá, Colombia, Caracas, Venezuela, Mexico City, Mexico, and finally to Panama City, Panama. It was in Panama City that Costa Rica’s favorite idol, María José Castillo, got her break. The 18-year old singer from Barva, Heredia wowed the judges with her high quality voice and friendly personality. She quickly advanced to the following rounds thanks to her well-trained voice, and tonight, September 25, the world will know if María José will make it to Latin American Idol’s coveted final round.

The outlook is good: last night, María José sang Mecano’s “Hijo de la Luna” (Child of the Moon) with all the required emotion. Her voice rang out clear and strong, and when she finished her piece, the audience and judging panel went wild. “As we say in Cuba, a Superstar saint entered you,” Secada declared during his standing ovation. María José’s voice had given him goosebumps.

Perhaps the biggest critic of the tica Idol’s performance, Mimi, happily ate her words as well. Though she had delivered serious words and warnings to the singer just two weeks ago, Mimi declared that, “today the singer inside of me is jealous of you, I wanted to sing with you up there; I’m so jealous, doomed. At the beginning you were like a little bunny, a tiny mouse, and today you were an animal, a beast, like a lion on stage.” At her side, Gustavo, the competitions most critical judge all-around, gave María José a standing ovation for both of last night’s songs.

Only 15 days remain before the competition’s grand finale, when the third Latin American Idol will be chosen. If María José garners enough votes from last night’s performance to make it to the finals tonight, she will Visit Costa Rica on Friday on a short trip before returning again to Argentina on Sunday.

To support Costa Rica’s very own Latin American Idol, send your votes via text message to 43657 with the word Maria (first letter capitalized, no accent over the letter i). In addition, don’t forget to tune in tonight and cheer María José on. The competition is broadcast (sometimes live) from the Sony Entertainment channel (channel 31 with Amnet cable).

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Filed under: Costa Rican Music on September 25th, 2008