La Fiesta

La Fiesta is a major musical festival held annually in Solentoya. Having first aired in 1982 it is currently the longest running musical contest of its type in Solentoya and currently holds numerous broken records in terms of viewership. It is considered a celebration of music and often features some of the biggest names on the music scene at that current time. It is such a highly popular and sought-after show to be part off that it just being part of it is consideredgreat for your music career, regardless of the result.

FORMAT
La Fiesta has gone through numerous formats in its time. In its first few years, La Fiesta originally started as a one-night Gala event with no real voting procedure in place. It was purely a celebration of music with numerous awards given out through the course of the event. A competitive element was first added in 1994 in which a panel of 100 members of the general public chosen (being an accurate representation of the Demographics) with their votes being mixed with a panel of various industry experts to then provide the ultimate award. This continued until 1997 where the 100 member panel was removed with a fully-fledged nationwide televote. As of today, La Fiesta is spread over 5 days with numerous votes taking place and awards given out. The Format is as followed:

SHOW 1 | PRESENTATION SHOW SEMI 1
The first show to take place is where the first half of the big artists sing their song. 10 artists appear, and while no artist is eliminated there is a public vote through the La Fiesta app and telephones that counts towards their final total in the grand final. There is also a presentation award given by industry experts and by then a press award given to the singer(s) who they considered the best of the night. [2 hours long]

SHOW 2 | PRESENTATION SHOW SEMI 2
Following the same format as show 1, the next 10 big artists will present and sing their songs to the public at home. Again, there is a public vote that takes place through the app and telephones that will contribute to their final score. There is another presentation & press award given this night also to the singer(s) who was considered the best that. [2 hours long]

SHOW 3 | NEWCOMERS NIGHT
Every singer taking part in this show are either unsigned or newly signed and are generally unknown to the public, having been scouted out for the show by producers and affiliated record labels that work with the show or via the open song submission. It is a platform the show uses to promote the new and emerging talent in Solentoya. It is thought that by getting onto the show as a newcomer you'll be more likely to receive the boost to the career you need, with some notable La Fiesta winners and big names in Solentoyas music scene having come from the newcomers Night. The 12 newcomers will each sing their song with a combination of televote & press voting advancing the top 4 to the La Fiesta finals to compete alongside the big artists. To date, Cascada is the only newcomer to have ever won La Fiesta. [2 hours long]

SHOW 4 | THE GALA
On Gala night no voting takes place but a press award and international jury award are given to the most impressive acts of the night with emphasis on the quality of music and the lyrics. It is a celebration of previous popular Solentoyan music, the 20 big artists each perform a duet together with each other, with either another non-participating big artists or a foreign artist joining them on stage. More often than not, previous La Fiesta winners will be the ones to join the singers in a duet on stage. It is a relaxed less competitive night to the event that allows singers and viewers to truly appreciate the past, present and future of Solentoyan Music. The Gala is the show which has the most format changes year to year. [2 hours long]

SHOW 5 | THE GRAND FINAL
The biggest show of the event and one that brings in the biggest viewing figures, the 20 big artists and the 4 newcomers advancing from show 3 each perform their songs again to the public. A combination of televoting, industry experts & Press will then advance the top 4 into a super final. Where the same combination of voting will crown the winner of the event. There is no real big prize to winning, other than a trophy – although, every winner has gone on to have a long successful music career. [3 hours long]

VENUE AND PRESENTERS
Traditionally, the presenter of the contest was a more lowkey affair, with 1 single person continously presenting alone. Between 1982 and 2000 there had only ever been 3 individual people hosting. Katie Boyle, who hosted the very first edition, before Jan Leeming took over and then Ulrika Johnson. This changed in 2000, when the addition of a co-host was added when Cat Deeley joined Ulrika to present La Fiesta. Nowadays, there is much pageantry around the selection of the host for La Fiesta as it typically sets the tone for the edition. More Recently, Michelle Keegan has been a consistent Co-Presenter while her partner in hosting has changed almost yearly. Rumours had it bothher and Tyson Beckford had clashes of screen, hence why it was decided only to continue in future with one of them as host. her and Tyson Beckford had clashes of screen, hence why it was decided only to continue in future with one of them as host.



LEFT TO RIGHT: Malaika Arora, 2010. Katie Boyle, 1982. Caroline Flack, 2014. Michelle Keegan, 2019

The venue for La Fiesta always takes place in the capital, San Luciana, as is tradition, however the actual venue has varied on most years, originally the first edition taking place in the Salassa Hall in Luciana - which was typically used for theatre and operatic performances. While the Salassa Hall in it's time was large venue, as the years past on the show grew, it moved to various venues and arena. In the current time, the first 4 shows take place in the Forta Theatre with a capacity of around 4,000 people. The Grand final then takes place in the 20,000 capacity Luciana AQUA2 Arena. Producers of the show has talked about allowing for a bidding process to happen which would allow other cities and venues to host the event, instead of just the capital San Luciana. It is hinted this will first take place in 2021.



Left the Salassa Hall, Right the AQUA2 Arena

PREVIOUS WINNERS & PRESENTERS
To date La Fiesta has had 33 individual winners, however numerous other awards are presented through out the shows. Enrique Iglesias was the first winner to win La Fiesta back to back and more than once, However since then Cascada has gone to have 4 wins, with 2 back to back victories also. Coincidientally, Cascada holds the record for both the lowest victory percentage and the highest.