By Rufus Ashmount
Superfan Jorge Sanchez beams into Miami by hologram to join Ricky Marin and the La Banda judges for semi-final episode on Univision’s hit show
In a first of its kind event: Univision‘s hit show La Banda will beam in a fan to help judge the finale of the singing show dedicated to finding the next great Latin boy band. In a partnership involving Univision, Verizon and Greek billionaire Alki David‘s Hologram USA, the fan who was chosen via the show’s innovative Conecta app. Jorge Sanchez, a 22 year-old resident of Los Angeles, will be beamed onto the stage to share his feedback with contestants during the Univision Network’s hit music reality show’s semifinal episode airing LIVE coast-to-coast on Sunday, December 6 at 8 p.m. EST/7 p.m. CT/5 p.m. PT with a re-airing at 8 p.m. PT.
Appearing as the “4th Judge” via hologram along side Ricky Martin, Laura Pausini and Alejandro Sanz is the grand prize of a contest run on the Univision Conecta app, which allows users to accumulate points by interacting and consuming content while watching La Banda . The experience was created by Univision, Verizon (the official voting partner and presenting sponsor of Univision Conecta), and Hologram USA to reward meaningful app engagement.
“Hologram USA has brought legendary artists back to life for new audiences and we’ve beamed politicians and TV stars around the world,” said Hologram USA CEO Alki David. “But it’s a distinct pleasure to work with La Banda and Univision on this historic moment in television: the first use of this revolutionary technology on a music-based reality show and its first use as a once-in-a-lifetime fan reward. We will truly bring holograms to the people.”
Sanchez will be beamed in from the Hologram USA and FilmOn TV Networks studios in Beverly Hills.
Hologram USA is the world leader in hologram technology, and holds the North American patent to the only technology capable of presenting life-like, HD hologram shows. The same technology that created the famous Tupac Shakur hologram at Coachella, Hologram USA has used it to beam Jimmy Kimmel to the CMA Awards in Nashville (and The Band Perry back to Hollywood), to beam Julian Assange to Nantucket and to help Prime Minister Narendra Modi win the election in India. It will debut its Billie Holiday hologram show at Harlem’s Apollo Theater soon, and also has announced a world tour of hologram Whitney Houston. Other holograms planned include Buddy Holly, Patsy Cline, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, Big Pun, Andy Kaufman and Redd Foxx. All hologram shows will be digitally distributed by FilmOn TV Networks.
“We wanted to bring a unique experience to our Hispanic consumers who are mobile first,” said Javier Farfan, Vice President of Segment Marketing for Verizon. “The hologram experience is stuff you see in the futuristic movies, and Verizon is bringing you the future now.”
Viewers have been accumulating points by participating along with the show on the Univision Conecta app. On November 23rd, Jorge Sanchez, the fan with the most points, was awarded with this fan-focused hologram experience that will allow him to share his opinions live with contestants on stage.
Ricky Martin recently made news world wide when he endorsed Hilary Clinton for president.
“Today’s viewer expects more from reality shows. They are mobile, very active on social media and want to be part of the action,” said Cisco Suarez, senior vice president and executive producer, Special Events, UCI. “By engaging La Banda fans through the Univision Conecta app, with a chance to become a judge on their favorite show and exclusive content, we hope to break new ground by bringing stars and fans together with technology.”
Developed by UCI, in partnership with Simon Cowell’s SYCO Entertainment and Haim Saban’s Saban Brands, and co-produced with FremantleMedia Latin America, La Banda is searching for the ultimate Latino boyband. FilmOn TV Networks is the leading online television site with over 600 free streaming channels and 65 million monthly users world wide. It carries 70 Spanish language channels from all over the world.
Source: TV Mix
