‘Serenata De Las Estrellas’ Posts Record Premiere Weekend For Roku Spanish Original; How The Music Reality Series Came To Croon
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EXCLUSIVE: Roku this past weekend saw the fruits from its big push into Spanish original content as the Greice Santo-created music reality series, Serenata de las Estrellas, notched the streamer’s biggest opening weekend by reach for any Spanish-language Roku Original.
Serenata de las Estrellas, which dropped on October 13 in the final weekend of Hispanic Heritage Month, ranked as the No. 1 on-demand Spanish-language title by reach on the Roku Channel both stateside and in Mexico.
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The series hosted by Julissa Bermudez was conceived during the pandemic and spotlights an array of people in the Los Angeles and Miami Latino communities who are surprised with a once-in-a-lifetime concert in unexpected locations by the biggest names in Latin music including Grammy winners Chiquis, Los Lobos and Ozomatli and rapstress Snow Tha Product.
The concept for Serenata de las Estrellas began as a kind gesture by Santo, a musical artist herself, to her friend Giuliana Feltscher, wife of LA Galaxy soccer star Rolf Feltscher, whose father, Mimmo, died in an Italian hospital after a three-month battle with Covid. Santo tapped Italian singer Tony Renis to perform the ballad “Quando Quando Quando” to Giuliana Feltscher over Zoom; a song which the latter had a deep connection to as her father sang it to her as a child. The recorded serenade went viral around the world in a Daily Mail post, which showed Feltscher breaking down in tears upon hearing Renis’ performance.
David Eilenberg, Roku’s Head of Content, caught the sensation, and first took to the series when he was at ITV. At Roku, Serenata de las Estrellas has become a lynchpin in the streamer’s Spanish programming which also includes shows by Jennifer Lopez, Jaime Camil and Juanpa Zurita.
“What fascinated me about the format, is having spent most of my life in the unscripted part of the business; when you see music in an unscripted format, you typically see it in competition form,” Eilenberg tells Deadline.
“Music means so much more to people, and to have a format where it’s an engine of transformation, has always been really appealing,” the exec continues.
In the first episode, Latin Grammy winner Chiquis, is moved to learn about a young woman’s dedication to her hard-working mother, and surprises them both with the Mariachi Divas for a serenade. Episode two has the Rapstress Snow Tha Product showing up at a quinceañera to a young girl who lost her father; in what is a cathartic gesture for the singer. In episode three, the first Latina CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California, Fatima Djelmane Rodriguez, who has been dedicated to helping families affected by cancer, gets a surprise performance by her favorite band, 3x Grammy winner Ozomatli. The final episode of Serenata de las Estrellas has a dedicated church janitor, Alfredo Arechiga Chávez, at St. Anne’s Church in Santa Monica, CA receiving a surprise performance from 4x Grammy-winning “La Bamba” band Los Lobos.
Serenata de las Estrellas doesn’t simply rely on stunting famous singers. In building, Serenata de las Estrellas what was key for those behind the scenes was building the heart behind the backstory of each episode. Such was a means to hook viewers: Audiences are in it for the heartfelt journey, they know the star serenade is coming, and they want to be part of it.
“When we think of the biggest moments of our lives, there’s often a song we associate with them,” says Eilenberg, “That’s a natural human instinct. This show as a format does a really nice job of that.”
In assembling the series, the UTA-repped Santo, who is also an EP, and Trebina Music tapped MTV VMA producers Den of Thieves (EPs Jesse Ignjatovic, Evan Prager, Jared Morell, and Jordan Barrow) and Gil Lopez as EP and showrunner (EP of Prime Video’s Everybody Loves Natti, EP of LA Ink and Mario Lopez: One on One). Lopez caught the “Quando Quando Quando” viral video and was won over by Santo’s idea for the show.
“The emotional journey of that story is what really sold me. After (seeing that), I said ‘I want to give more people those types of once-in-a-lifetime experiences,” Lopez tells Deadline.
“The show celebrates pillars in the Latino community, a way to give back with once-in-a-lifetime serenades,” Lopez says about his attachment to the show, “That touched me and pulled every string in my heart.”
Lopez worked with Serenata de las Estrellas casting director, Isabel Reyes, to find the types of stories that are known and speak to Latino communities. “Understanding the hustle, the American dream, the willingness to put your own needs aside to help others,” Lopez explains.
In approaching the artists to perform on the show, Lopez had edited down a teaser reel of each recipient’s story. “They would ask me ‘Why me?’ We played the teaser and instantly the conversation became ‘I’m available, I’m in, let’s figure this out.'”
“Music is a beat to the Latino culture in the way we move, celebrate, mourn and motivate,” says Lopez, “All of that comes through music.”
Santo’s credits include the female empowerment pop single “Você Você” with 17x Grammy-winning producer Humberto Gatica as well as the single “Trankila.” Santo’s songs, “DJ Don’t Stop” and “Você Você” are part of Serenata de las Estrellas‘ soundtrack. You can watch them below.
Santo says, “My mission for this project was to help touch and heal this fragile world with a song. My hope is that these turbulent times will be eased when audiences watch this series. Maybe it will help change the world for the better.”
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