VH1 to Debut New Reality Series in Search of Next Telenovela Star

NEW YORK, December 10: VH1 will premiere !Viva Hollywood!, a new reality competition series that chronicles
the search for America’s next Latin telenovela star.

Hosted by actress and singer Maria Conchita Alonso and actor
singer/song-writer Carlos Ponce, the new series is scheduled to roll out in
spring 2008. !Viva Hollywood! will see
one of 12 bilingual contestants win the title of America's "Numero Uno
Telenovela Star," and a prize package that includes a contract with
Telemundo and a breakout role in one of their upcoming telenovelas,
representation from artist management company Latin World Entertainment and a
grand prize of $100,000 cash.

The !Viva Hollywood!
cast of aspiring Latino and Latina telenovela stars will move into the
"Casa De Locos" where they must master the "7 Deadly Sins of
Telenovelas": passion, lust, charisma, drama, fire, seduction and scandal.
The "sins" are disciplines each cast member must learn in order to
capture the over-the-top style and flair of a true telenovela star and impress
the celebrity judges. International celebrity astrologer and Latino legend,
Walter Mercado, will appear in each episode to give the contestants guidance on
their journey and alert the cast of their upcoming challenges. Daisy Fuentes,
Angelica Vale, Charo, Christian De La Fuentes, Lorena Rojas, Maria Celeste
Arraras and Perez Hilton have signed on as celebrity guest judges that will
assist in determining who gets to stay and who will need to go. Each week
contestants up for elimination discover their fate by watching their own
over-the-top telenovela death scenes.

!Viva Hollywood! is
executive produced by Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato, Tom Campbell and Danny
Salles for World of Wonder Productions. Also serving as executive producers are
Luis Balaguer for Latin World Entertainment and Jeff Olde, Jill Holmes, Jenn
Levy, Alex Demyanenko and Michael Hirschorn for VH1.

—By Irene Lew