Auditions set for Latin supergroup Menudo

By Ayala Ben-Yehuda

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Casting calls for the new Menudo kick off March 31 near Los Angeles, with the cameras rolling for reality shows on MTV and its bilingual sibling MTV Tr3s.

A recording contract with Epic Records is already in place for the reincarnated Latin supergroup once it forms after a nationwide talent search.

MTV Tr3s will document the "Road to Menudo" in a four-part special beginning May 12. MTV will broadcast a 10-episode show around the final five finalists this fall, with a debut album from Epic scheduled to drop in December.

Veteran boy-band manager Johnny Wright (Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync) and a panel of celebrity judges will supervise auditions for boys who are at least 15 years old and "appear to be less than 19."

Contestants will be asked to sing an English or Spanish song from a list on www.mtvtr3s.com. Auditions take place March 31 at Plaza Mexico in Lynwood, CA; on April 14 at Miami's Bayside Marketplace; April 21 at Dallas' Valley View Mall; and on April 28 at the Queens Center Mall in Queens, NY.

Reuters/Billboard