Is talent competition a false American Idol?

La Prensa de San Antonio.- Chicago-based talent search event scheduled to come to SA, suddenly cancels amid allegations of foul play.

Amid controversy and allegations of foul play Riverwalk Plaza Hotel cancelled sponsorship of Hispanic talent competition Festicanto.
According to an advertisement placed in La Prensa Newspaper--which was also pulled after the paper received complaints--the event was scheduled for February 27 at the downtown hotel.
The director of corporate sales at Riverwalk Plaza, Johnny Carrasco, canceled the event after receiving complaints about the Chicago-based organizers of the event.
“As soon as we heard anything negative we cancelled,” said Carrasco. “We did not feel comfortable.”
Nevertheless, the show will go on, according to Festicanto CEO Victor Soberanis, although he would not disclose the new location of the event, citing fear that the venue would again cancel due to complaints of ex-employee Hector Hildalgo.
The majority of the active disgruntled calls received by Festicanto sponsors have indeed originated from Hildalgo, who describes himself as a former consultant to Festicanto. Hildalgo said he worked with the company for a total of one month and 12 days.
“During that time I saw many deceitful practices of the company,” said Hildalgo, who claimed the organization misled participants and behaved unprofessionally.
Starting in Chicago, Festicanto has traveled to several cities, including Chicago, San Diego and San Francisco, inviting resident singers to audition in front of judges American Idol-style. In each city five to 10 performers are chosen as winners. These winners will then compete for $100,000 in cash and prizes during a nationally televised event, according to Soberanis, who was also unwilling to disclose more information, such as place and exact time, regarding the final competition.
In every city Festicanto has changed the way and amount they charge participants and audience members. The inconsistency is due to an ever-evolving business model, claims Soberanis.
“Everybody makes changes,” said Soberanis. “We’re trying to improve.”
In San Antonio participants will be charged $95 to create a required “demo” DVD, a recording of their audition that will be placed on the Festicanto Web site and be made available to the singers. Participants will not be allowed to bring in their own recordings.
While organizers claim participants will be able to use the recording as a professional demo, production professionals were dubious.
“You won’t be able to use that for future jobs,” said Sandy Trevizo, former production manager at San Antonio-based Bauhaus Media Group, who maintained that to make a truly professional demo the recording would need to be done in a confined space in order to capture sound quality. “For what they’re doing it’s not going to be worth $95.”
Soberanis claims that the $95 will only cover a portion of the cost associated with creating the videos and that he is committed to giving participants a chance to achieve stardom.
“We’re just giving the opportunity to people,” said Soberanis. “Unfortunately everything cost a lot of money.”
Other past participants, such as Houston resident Arturo Ovalle “El Gran Varon,” complained that the competition was amateurish, citing the lack of a monitor with which the singers could hear themselves and irregularities in the judging process.
Soberanis dismissed these claims, saying that there will always be complaints about how the audition is set up and about voting. In fact, Soberanis blamed the majority of the negative publicity on Hildalgo, whom he said he fired for making fun of the performers.
The battle between Soberanis and Hildalgo appears to be destined for the courts as the two have handed matters over to their attorneys. Soberanis’ lawyer sent Hildalgo a cease and desist notice demanding he stop speaking out against Festicanto. Meanwhile, Hildalgo’s lawyers are currently attempting to subpoena Soberanis in an effort to seek alleged back pay.
In the meantime, the location of the February 27 event is being disclosed only to verified participants, making the star search difficult to find.