Operación David Bisbal

The TV reality shows that dominate the musical landscape of many countries are by definition local phenomena. The artists they spawn rarely step beyond their locally honed fan bases.

Then there's David Bisbal.

The 24-year-old, a finalist in Spain's first edition of TV reality show "Operación Triunfo," has released a sophomore album whose early success in multiple countries points to a bona fide international career.

"Bulería" (Vale Music/Universal), released worldwide Feb. 10, debuted at No. 1 on Spain's sales charts. What's more, it came in at No. 5 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart (where it is No. 9 this issue) and No. 1 in Argentina. And Bisbal's debut album, "Corazón Latino," which has already sold more than 1 million copies in Spain, soared to No. 4 on that country's sales chart, nearly two years after its release.

TV reality shows have resulted in extraordinarily successful artists in such countries as Argentina (Bandana and Mambrú), Brazil (Rouge), Mexico (Yahir and Nadia, among others) and Spain (Bisbal, Bustamante, Chenoa).

In Spain alone, "Operación Triunfo" acts have dominated the charts for the past two years.

But among all of these, the only one who has been successfully exported to multiple countries is Bisbal.

Part of the overseas success has to do with the fact that his solo career, unlike that of most TV-born acts, was conceived from the beginning as an international venture.

"Vale always wanted to have an artist that could compete with the likes of Cristian, Ricky Martin or other Latin idols, but we hadn't found the right artist," Vale Music co-founder Gabriel Blanco told Billboard in 2002.

In Bisbal, Vale saw the possibility. Unlike other TV contestants, he was not completely green. Prior to the show, he had spent years touring as a singer with a cover band. He had pop-star good looks as well as a dazzling voice.

But if Bisbal wanted to be a Latin idol, he needed more of a Latin—as opposed to a Spanish—sound.

So, instead of recording Bisbal's album in the obvious place, Spain, the label sent him to Miami to work with producer Kike Santander, who has produced successful pop albums for the likes of Cristian, Alejandro Fernandez and Gloria Estefan.

In addition, so as to leave no doubt of where this project was headed, Bisbal's debut album was titled "Corazón Latino" (Latin Heart). Despite the title and the predictability of the music (think a younger Chayanne or Ricky Martin), it was a smash in Spain, selling 600,000 copies in its first week, a record for a debut act there.

But in the United States and Latin America, it was much slower going.

The album debuted on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart March 3, 2003, a full six months after its release in the United States. It peaked only this past January, at No. 19.

SLOW BUT STEADY

But that very slow rise is indicative of a steady and very concerted campaign in the United States and Latin America by Universal, which licenses Vale's product for distribution, marketing and exploitation in the region.

"We made a clear division between his work in Spain and the rest of Latin America," says Jesús Lopez, chairman of Universal Music Latin America/Iberian Peninsula. "First, he worked hard in Spain, and it seemed like a mistake, because we had imports in Venezuela and Puerto Rico that cut into our sales. But in the end, that set the ground, and later, he was physically available to us. That made the difference."

People initially saw Bisbal only as a TV act, López says.

In addition, he also sang predictable pop material, the kind that TV-produced acts usually perform.

But what was undisputable was his onstage delivery, and Universal made every effort to display that in a big way, culminating with a Latin American tour at the end of 2003.

Bisbal enjoyed his first big U.S. break last May.

"He exploded with the Billboard [Latin Music] Awards" in 2003, says Walter Kolm, senior VP of A&R and marketing at Universal Music Latino. "That was his first big exposure, and it gave him prestige and credibility. From that point on, he started to rise [on the charts], and we began to see him in the Northeast and West Coast."

Bisbal also performed at the Latin Grammy Awards in September and won the award for best new artist.

"David has everything a good artist needs to have, [like] a good voice," says Ricardo Campoy, head of Vale Music, which releases all "Operación Triunfo" albums in Spain. "But he has something exceptional: his great professionalism and his desire to work."

A PAN-REGIONAL PUSH

Bisbal isn't the only Vale artist that has recorded in the United States or that has been launched abroad. He is, however, the only one that has received this kind of pan-regional promotional push.

The model, López says, was Juanes. The Colombian singer was pushed at a pan-regional level starting with his first album on Universal. Sales of that album never reflected the promotion behind it. But sales of his follow-up did.

"We asked ourselves, 'Is it worth it to work this artist?' " López recalls of Bisbal.

"Many people were coming into my office requesting [this kind of promotion]. For me, it's becoming more common. It's the only way of showing artists and managers that they're with a multinational," López says.

However, that kind of promotion is possible only if the artist is available. Bisbal, following his initial push in Spain, made the time, even though he could have easily stayed in Spain making money through touring.

"The secret was to insist," Kolm says of Bisbal's U.S. rise. "And his availability. We were able to treat him like a local artist."

That was the case not just for the United States but other countries as well.

Sales for "Corazón Latino" started to pick up after the second single. All told, the album sold close to 400,000 copies in the United States and Latin America, according to Universal; not a landslide, but very respectable.

"Bulería," however, is off to a much stronger start, although in Mexico it has failed to crack the top 10.

Musically, Bisbal describes it as an evolution.

"It's a different sound," he says. "The Latin style, of course, but it has a lot of variety. I've put in styles like [Spanish] rumba. There's more metals, more production. And musically, there's many things that I didn't feel before and now I can say."

Despite the Spanish/Latin fusion found on "Bulería," it remains a safe, standard pop album.

And that may ultimately be Bisbal's ticket to success.

"I'm intrigued by how the audience has received this cross between classic songs and a cutie," says John Echevarría, president of Universal Music Latino. "Surprisingly, they've embraced it."