The Next producer Dave Broome worked with Gloria’s husband, Emilio, on a Spanish version on The Biggest Loser, and Estefan says that she and producer Queen Latifah had also long talked about working together. When Broome came to her with The Next, she found that she liked the idea. “They’ve invited me to do a gazillion of these shows, [but] that meant moving to L.A.; that wasn’t really my cup of tea. But my daughter is now out and about, she went away for a five week program, and I was like ‘I’d better get busy, because I’m gonna be very sad at home.’ I love the premise of the show, and working with Latifah was a big draw, and Dave, who I love. I love how he works, I’ve seen how he does things, his quality of work… and when you know somebody like that, it’s a no-brainer for me to do. And it sounded like a lot of fun,” she explains.
Reality television and televised competitions have produced many of the recent top musical artists, and Ms. Estefan is well aware of the changes since she and the Miami Sound Machine rose into prominence. “We now live in a visual medium, and even though we made videos before… even video channels are no longer running videos, because they’ve gone another way. I think the audience, the public is saying what they want to see, and unfortunately for us in the music industry, we’ve taken a big hit with downloading and all that kind of thing. So really, the place to move into is television, because it is a visual medium. People love reality. It’s worked. It’s kind of an evolution of television, even though we haven’t lost the original shows that are scripted and whatnot, but there really is no other avenue… radio’s fragmented, people have so many choices that in order to get to the biggest number of people, a hit show is pretty much the only way to do it,” Estefan explains. “When I first came out with Conga, when you were on Carson, you were guaranteed a top ten hit the next day, because he was a king maker. He was a taste maker. So many people saw you on that show, that there was just no way… but now, there’s no show, really, other than the Idols and whatnot, that has that kind of eyes on them. Everything’s split up, pretty much,” she says.
Part of what makes The Next unique is that the mentors aren’t judging; they are truly giving advice to guide their charges through to give the best performances. However, they don’t always listen. “We can give them all the advice we want, but when they’re up there, they’re in the drivers’ seat,” Gloria explains. “I can remember one of my guys, where I tried to talk to him, but it’s part of his personality – he did great, but the issues we were working on are hard for him to let go of. On the other hand, there are people that really took it to heart and blew everybody away. There’s a lot of talent. You’ve got to realize, the people that are on this show already have some degree of success. They have a following online… there’s something there, and somehow they just haven’t made that big leap. Maybe it’s exposure, maybe it’s timing, sometimes they can’t get out of their own way, so it’s interesting to see who’s going to rise above. Undoubtedly, everybody was very talented. Everybody had something on the show,” she says.
Another unique aspect of The Next is that the mentors end up living life alongside their artist partners. In the series premiere, that gives Gloria Estefan the chance to operate a riding lawnmower. “That actually was a dream of mine, I’ve got to tell you, because I used to cut the grass with my Grandpa when I was 12, and I always would tell him ‘I want a riding mower,’ so it was always in the back of my mind. I’ll do anything. I’m very silly. I love silliness; I think that people love that it’s fun. A lot of things tongue-in-cheek, although there is some serious mentoring on this show, and we try to do our job seriously, but we have a lot of fun. I also waited some tables. I was really decked out in the waiter uniform, and they actually gave me orders. They didn’t give me any tips, though, by that time. I wanted to go back and get ’em,” she laughs. Future episodes include Ms. Estefan ambushing someone on a boat. ”Whatever they put me up to, I’ll do it. I don’t care. I have a great time. It was fun,” she says.
Obviously, going to the workplaces of the artists would undoubtedly mean that the celebrity mentors will be recognized. Did people freak out when they’d see Gloria Estefan or the other mentors hanging around? “Oh, yeah. For sure,” she says. “And you use it. You work with it, and you have fun with it… it’s also an opportunity for them to see how you handle things. Everything has a little bit of a lesson, and even for us… it puts us in situations that you wouldn’t normally be in, like Nelly selling sunglasses… but it’s fun all the way. You can’t lose the fun of it and take it all that seriously. We try to keep that element of amusement and off-the-cuff things that happen. It’s reality. I really want it to be reality. And they do. We have free reign. Nothing is scripted. Nobody tells you what to do,” she enthuses.
“I am so enamored of that style,” she continues. “I grew up listening to Johnny Mathis, and all of my mom’s old records. I’m very drawn to that. I think my voice is very comfortable in that genre. My fans aren’t going to be surprised, I think because they know I love that. People that don’t know more about me might be very surprised, but I love it. I feel very comfortable in that zone.”
You can see Gloria Estefan alongside fellow mentors Nelly, Joe Jonas, and John Rich on The Next: Fame Is At Your Doorstep, premiering TONIGHT at 9PM (ET) on The CW!
