New Menudo Tryouts Completed

The last round of tryouts for the NEW MENUDO where held this weekend in Queens, NY. The finalist have a lot to be excited about! A record contract with Epic Records is already guaranteed for the Latin super group once the final boys have chosen.

MTV3 will be airing the "Road to Menudo", a "Making the Band" type of documentary in a four-part series starting May 12. In the fall, MTV will air a complete 10-episode show around the final five finalists of the new Menudo, preceding the debut album from Epic scheduled for sales this December.

A panel of celebrity judges supervised auditions for boys who where at least 15 years old and "appear to be less than 19." The songs the boys had to chose from where:

Los Lonely Boys "Heaven"
Obie Bermudez "Sigo Con Ella"
The Temptations "My Girl"
Aaliyah "At Your Best You Are Love"
City High "What Would You Do?"

Auditions for the new Menudo took place on March 31 at Plaza Mexico in Lynwood, CA; on April 14 at Miami's Bayside Marketplace; April 21 at Dallas' Valley View Mall; and finally on April 28 at the Queens Center Mall in Queens, NY.

Johnny Wright will be co-managing the new Menudo. Does the name ring a bell? He has been on "Making of the Band" and "Fame", and is the executive who managed NSYNC, The Back Street Boys, New Kids on the Block, Britney Spears, and currently, Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson amongst others.

Johnny met with Menudo entertainment in Orlando, Fla. and he offered that he was excited by this new challenge and that he has long wanted to work with a group which has such powerful Latin roots.

Joey Paul Jensen, the teen casting director whose credits include the new movies "Bratz" and "Whiskers" and television shows like "That's So Raven", "Cory in the House", and "Beyond the Break", has joined the Menudo team. She will help find talented boys to attend the auditions in Los Angeles, Dallas, Miami and New York.

Joey Jensen says that she is very excited to be a part of the search to find the new Menudo and Menudo Entertainment says that they are thrilled to have someone with Joey's energy and commitment driving the casting for the new group.

The ORIGINAL Menudo formed in 1977, and was wildly popular in the 1980's. Menudo was the first Latin pop band to achieve massive success. The boys in the band were replaced when they reached the age of 16, to ensure the longevity of the 'boy band'. There have been over 30 members of the band Menudo over the years.

Pop Trivia: Who was the most famous member of Menudo?

Ricky Martin.