NEW YORK (AP) – Ricky Martin begins the U.S. leg of his “One World Tour” on Tuesday, while evoking his days with Menudo as a judge and executive producer of Univision’s new reality show “La Banda.”
“I am happy to be part of this great production. Being an executive producer is very important to me because it opens doors to a world of infinite possibilities,” the Puerto Rican star told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
“We started with Univision with the idea of eventually moving to other English-speaking networks to look for another ‘banda,'” he said in reply to a question about franchising, noting that many “European countries have already bought the project.”
The singing competition, with a judging panel that includes Italian singer Laura Pausini and Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz, was created by Simon Cowell. The goal is to create a Latin boy band that can sing in both English and Spanish.
“Being able to go back to the beginning of my career has been the best part,” said Martin, 43, who started in the ’80s in the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. “I have loved reliving with these boys the uncertainty of one’s career beginnings. … My mission is to be an open book and share with them everything that has worked for me in my career and everything that hasn’t worked for me.”