Just like its American counterpart, Latin American Idol is a definite hit in the area it covers. This is quite obvious after the winner of the show's fourth season, Martha Heredia, received a hero's welcome in her native Dominican Republic when she returned after the competition.
Hundreds of fans and fellow countrymen received here at the Las Americas Airport last Monday afternoon. The hero's welcome was complete with flags, trumpets, and posters of her successful campaign at the Latin American Idol.
Latin American Idol is a reality television series based on the hit reality show Pop Idol. What differentiates this edition from the rest, however, is that it is regional in nature. It aims to look for the best young singer in the entire Latin America, except Brazil, which has its own version of the reality show. Something to also note about this edition is that it's the world's first Idol show to be completely shown in Spanish.
In truth, Dominican Republic's following of the show is just relatively young. The third edition of the show is considered to be the most successful thus far due to the highest rating levels in Central America, which was never that interested until 5 finalists came in from the region during that particular season. Indeed people will only start watching when they see someone of their kind getting attention.
Martha is the the only contestant this season who has not gone down to the bottom two or bottom three, showing her sheer talent and competence when it comes to singing. I hope she goes far in her chosen career. A lot of these reality show winners typically fade away some time after the show's conclusion, but I am hoping that Dominicans will continue to support her along the way as she has a lot of potential to show.
Latin American Idol will just be a stepping stone towards her success in singing.