''Voces en Función'' (Voices in Performance) was a Puerto Rican

singing Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

series and

Variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

hosted by Puerto Rican singer

Lou Briel Lou Briel (born October 19 Santurce, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican singer, composer, comedian, record producer, pianist, and host, among other things. Musical career Early years with Anexo 3 Lou Briel started his career at a very young age as ...

, televised from 1995 to 2001 on

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member station

WIPR-TV WIPR-TV (channel 6) is a non-commercial educational public television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico, owned by the '' Corporación de Puerto Rico para la Difusión Pública'' (English: Puerto Rico Public Broadcasting Corporation). Most of t ...

& WIPM-TV.

Format

The potential contestants had to try out to be on the show, then the ones selected would be presented on the show with two other contestants as well, for a total of three per program and 39 for the

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...

. A jury, composed of

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are cons ...

s, selected by

cognition Cognition is the "mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...

, would secretly vote for their favorites during 10 weeks, and choose the 20 semi-finalists. The latter would then compete again in the

Semi Finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

, separated in two groups of 10, for two weeks, and only 10 contestants would make it to the end. The

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

gala Gala may refer to: Music * ''Gala'' (album), a 1990 album by the English alternative rock band Lush * Gala (singer), Italian singer and songwriter *'' Gala – The Collection'', a 2016 album by Sarah Brightman * GALA Choruses, an association of ...

called, ''Festi-Voces'' (Festi-Voices), would be the last one of the season, composed of 13 weeks each, and it would be broadcast in a two-hour special. The winner, would receive a trophy, a cash prize, and his or her inclusion as a regular in the following thirteen-week season, as well as performing as guest stars in several television shows produced by the station. There were 5 final galas throughout the run of the show. Voces en Función, was one of the first Puerto Rican television shows that was broadcast via the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

, and it also was the first television series taped ''on-location'', at the Yagüez Theater, in

Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Mayagüez (, ) is the ninth-largest Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in Puerto Rico. It was founded as Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Mayagüez (Township of Virgin of Candelaria, Our Lady of Candelaria), and is also ...

, on a weekly basis, and furthermore the first singing contest show in Latin America, Europe, and USA, before ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'', ''

Operación Triunfo ''Star Academy'' is a Dutch-developed reality television talent show format that first aired in the Netherlands as ''Star Maker''. Format There are many versions of the show, each country having its own slight variations, but the basic conce ...

'' and ''

Objetivo Fama ''Objetivo Fama'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''OF'', Spanish for ''Target: Fame'') is a Puerto Rican singing talent contest that aired for over six years on WLII-DT, WLII, the Univision outlet in Puerto Rico; and on UniMás, Telefutura in the main ...

''. The difference of ''Voces en Funcion'' from other singing contests, is that it was simultaneously a weekly

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

composed of various musical segments. Well known singers from the entertainment business were featured as guests stars in every show such as:

Lucecita Benítez Luz Esther Benítez Rosado (born July 22, 1942), also known as Lucecita, is a Puerto Rican singer, part of the country's new wave popular music. Born in Bayamon, a large city in Puerto Rico, she participated in amateur radio shows. Benítez's m ...

Nydia Caro Nydia Caro (born June 7, 1948) is a Puerto Rican-American singer and actress. Early years Caro was born in New York City to parents from Rincón, Puerto Rico, and initiated her career in the arts at a very young age while living in New York. She ...

Carmita Jiménez Carmita Jiménez (August 3, 1939 – August 10, 2003) was a Puerto Rican singer who was considered a diva in Puerto Rico. She was born in San Lorenzo. Carmita Jiménez started her singing career at the young age of six, on the radio show nam ...

Santos Colon Santos may refer to: People *Santos (surname) * Santos Balmori Picazo (1899–1992), Spanish-Mexican painter *Santos Benavides (1823–1891), Confederate general in the American Civil War Places *Santos, São Paulo, a municipality in São Paulo, ...

, Marian Pabón,

Danny Rivera Danny Rivera (born 27 February 1945) is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter born in San Juan whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is well known in Puerto Rico for his political activism. In 2008, Rivera acquired Dominican Republic citizenship. ...

Son by Four Son by Four is a Latin music group from Puerto Rico, well known for their English U.S. pop hit " The Purest of Pain (A Puro Dolor)". The group is now independent, and they founded their label SB4 Music Group in 2003. Son by Four was created by ...

Lunna Lunna (born June 30, 1955; born María Socorro García de la NocedaGarcia de la Noceda is her paternal surname) is a Puerto Rican singer of popular music and jazz who was the director of the television show '' Objetivo Fama'', the Latin versio ...

, Johnathan Dwayne,

Huey Dunbar Huey Dunbar is a singer and the former singer of Dark Latin Groove. His hits with the band included " La quiero a morir", "Juliana", " No Morirá", "Volveré", "Todo mi corazón", and a remake of Ricardo Montaner's original classic "Me va a extra� ...

with DLG,

Rey Ruiz Rey Ruiz (Reinerio Ruiz born June 21, 1966 in La Lisa, Havana, Cuba) is a salsa singer from Cuba. Ruiz reached international fame across Latin America, Europe and among Hispanic music fans in the United States. Biography Rey Ruiz demonstrated a ...

Millie Corretjer Milagros Ninette Corretjer Maldonado, known as Millie Corretjer (born April 18, 1974), is a Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican singer and actress. She was married to former professional boxer Oscar De La Hoya. She is the granddaughter of influential poe ...

Chucho Avellanet Armando Hipólito Avellanet González, nicknamed "Chucho", is a Puerto Rican singer and comedic actor of Spanish-Catalan descent. Avellanet was involved with the Nueva ola movement in the 1960s. See also * List of Puerto Ricans This is a ...

, Jyve V,

Lucy Fabery Luz Ercilia Fabery Zenón (January 25, 1931 – May 13, 2015), known as Lucy Fabery, was a Puerto Rican singer who specialized in the style of bolero known as filin. She recorded four albums and numerous singles in a career that spanned over 50 ...

, Dagmar,

José Nogueras José Nogueras (born 1951, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico) is a composer, music producer, singer, guitarist, and performer of modern-day Puerto Rican music. Early years At the age of eight, he came to reside in the city of Río Piedras, during his s ...

and Charytín, among others.

performed in a segment titled ''Bohemia en Función'' (Bohemia in Performance), accompanied by a blind guitarist from Añasco,

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, called ''Roberto Rivera''. The show also featured a

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, directed by the Puerto Rican choreographer Marcelino Alcalá, called ''Ballet Voces'', (Voices Ballet). Alcalá, also choreographed for the contestants, the opening numbers for the galas, as well as various musical productions for the host, and several guest stars. Various notable singers that made their formal debut on Puerto Rican television through this show include

Yaire Yaire (born Yaidelice Monrouzeau; 29 July 1977) is a singer-songwriter from Puerto Rico, who’s emblematic hits "Tu mayor tentación", "Contéstame", “Dime” and "Te amo tanto" have helped her garner critical praise as well as mainstream mus ...

Noelia Noelia Lorenzo (née Monge; born August 31, 1979) mostly known as Noelia, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and entrepreneur who rose to fame in 1999. Her self-titled debut album was certified as a RIAA gold album in the United States. ...

, and the local rock group

Fiel a la Vega Fiel a La Vega is a Rock en español band from Puerto Rico formed in 1994. The band consisted of members Tito Auger and Ricky Laureano (vocals and guitars), who come from the northern city of Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, along with brothers Pedro an ...

, among others. {{DEFAULTSORT:Voces En Funcion Singing talent shows 1990s American variety television series 2000s American variety television series 1990s Puerto Rican television series 2000s Puerto Rican television series 1995 Puerto Rican television series debuts 2001 Puerto Rican television series endings