GLORIA ESTEFAN - ESTEFAN'S HUSBAND LAUNCHING SPANISH-LANGUAGE TALENT SHOW

GLORIA ESTEFAN's husband EMILIO is set to unveil a new singing talent contest for America's Spanish speakers.

NUEVAS VOCES DE AMERICA, which translates as New Voices of America, will run in a format similar to that of popular TV competition AMERICAN IDOL, airing on Spanish-language network TELEMUNDO.

Auditions for the show, which will be produced by Estefan and his ESTEFAN TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS, began in New York City on Saturday (13NOV04) and will continue in Los Angeles, Miami and Puerto Rico later this month (NOV04).

The 20 finalists, who will be announced next month (DEC04), will live in Miami Beach for several months for coaching and "image transformations" as they prepare for the show, which is expected to debut in February (04).

The winner will walk away with a recording contract with a major label.