Argentine TeenAngels take flight with world tour

BUENOS AIRES (Billboard) - Since the 2007 debut of popular TV series "Casi Angeles," the show's fictional pop band, TeenAngels, has become a real-life hit in Argentina.

Now the group is poised for wider success thanks to an agreement to air the series in Mexico in early 2009 on the Televisa network and a worldwide tour slated to kick off around the same time.

The show's cast members, who were chosen through an open audition, portray teenagers raised at an orphanage who now have a band. Music, of course, plays a central role in the series.

"These five boys and girls make a band, find their identities and overcome their painful conflicts and personal experiences," says show creator Cris Morena. "The music heals and saves them."

In a sign of the show's strong appeal, Televisa didn't license the concept to produce its own version, as it usually does with other international programs, but instead will air the original Argentine production.

The TeenAngels' tour will make stops in Mexico and Israel, where "Casi Angeles" airs on TV and cable network Nickelodeon. And in Latin America, the series will debut on the Disney Channel this year. The group has also debuted a musical at the 3,200-seat Gran Rex theater in Buenos Aires and sells assorted merchandise at the city's "Casi Angeles" store.

In Argentina, "Casi Angeles" airs Monday through Friday on national network Telefe. Since the start of its second season April 1, it dominates its 6-7 p.m. TV time slot, averaging about 1.4 million viewers every night, or 42 percent of the country's viewership.

"We had to be patient, because it was not an immediate success," says Gustavo Yankelevich, chairman/CEO of RGB Entertainment, which produces "Casi Angeles" with the Cris Morena Group. "We did not dominate the ratings last year, but the success of the stage show and 20,000 DVDs sold in 2007 did indicate that the audience was there, waiting to explode, as it finally did this year."

Producer/songwriter Morena has created other successful tween-focused shows like "Chiquititas," "Floricienta" and "Rebelde Way," which have each produced albums that have enjoyed multiplatinum sales.

The TeenAngels' self-titled 2007 debut album has sold 65,000 units and was certified platinum (40,000 copies in Argentina), according to Sony BMG marketing director Damian Amato. To date, it is the 12th-best-selling album of the year in Argentina, according to shipment data from CAPIF, the Argentine trade group representing the music and video industries.

A second album, "TeenAngels II," arrived in January and was certified platinum during its first month of release, Amato says.

Reuters/Billboard