La Academia - Format

Format

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 students is eliminated until 4 to 10 students become the finalists and compete for the top prize-3 million Mexican pesos, but the award has changed in each generation since the third. Students are eliminated based on the number of votes each receives. Whom ever receives the fewest votes during at the end of the week (the votes are stopped at the end of the concert) is eliminated. Viewers can vote by telephone, but calls are not free. Each vote costs over 25 Mexican pesos (around US $2.50). From the sixth generation, voting is by text message and each one cost 3 Mexican pesos. Camino a la Fama airs during weekday afternoons. This show tapes what the students' lives within the La academia house. It also demonstrates the singing, dancing, and acting classes.