Nuestra Belleza Latina 2011 is the fifth season of Nuestra Belleza Latina. The season premiered on Univision on Sunday March 6, 2011 and concluded on May 22, 2011.
Auditions for the show were held in January and February 2011 in the cities of Chicago, San Antonio, New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. During the audition process, 73 women were given passes to the semi-finals in Miami. Two contestants were chosen from online auditions, with the help of public votes.
The winner of the competition was Nastassja BolÃÂvar from Nicaragua. She received a contract with Univision, $250,000 in cash and prizes, a correspondent position on El Gordo y la Flaca and the opportunity to reign as Nuestra Belleza Latina for a year.
Open casting calls for the show were held in the cities listed below:
Separate online auditions were held from January 6 to February 19 on the show's website. The public were allowed to select two contestants from the online auditions to advance to the semi-finals.
(Ages stated are at time of contest)
Original air date: 6 March 2011
The episode was a compilation from all of the auditions that had been held during the two months prior, and featured several guest appearances at panel from various celebrities. In order to receive a pass for boot camp in Miami, each aspiring contestant had to score a minimum of at least five points during her interview.
Original air date: 13 March 2011
The first group of contestants selected during the auditions were flown to Miami, where they received training and classes in diction, choreography, fitness, and runway. Several contestants performed badly, and were eliminated by the judges. The remaining semi-finalists at the end of the first week had a runway presentation in swimwear during the first live gala, and had to explain why they should be chosen as the winner of the competition. Two of the semi-finalists (Altagracia Garcia and Natasha Rodriguez) had to leave the competition due to health concerns. At the end of the week, only 12 semi-finalists remained.
Semi-finalists from group 1:
Original air date: 20 March 2011
The second group of contestants was flown to Miami for their lessons and training. At the end of the week only 24 semi-finalists remained. After a series of challenges during the second live gala, the judges chose the final 12 contestants from group two, who would advance into the top 24 to compete for a place in the beauty mansion.
Semi-finalists from group 2:
Original air date: 27 March 2011
The remaining 24 semi-finalists from both groups received makeovers and had a photo shoot session in bikinis. They also took part in their first challenge, which was won by Gredmarie Colon. The three semi-finalists with the most votes, Maribel, Darla, and Gredmarie, received passes into the top 12. One of the semi-finalists, Audris Rijo from the Dominican Republic, decided to drop out of the competition due to a family emergency. Throughout the rest of the night, the judges chose the remaining 9 contestants who would move into the beauty mansion as finalists.
Top 24 semi-finalists:
Original air date: 3 April 2011
The 12 chosen contestants moved into the beauty mansion, and took part in their first challenge, which was won as a group by Maribel, Gredmarie, Diana, Josell, Miriam, and Paulette. The contestants also began a strict regimen of lessons, rehearsals, and exercise in preparation for the live galas every week. For the live portion of the show, the contestants took part in a scored challenge in front of the judges, which was won by Nastassja. The three contestants with the fewest votes from the public (Nicole, Patricia, and Yahaira) were automatically nominated for elimination. Of the three, Patricia received the fewest votes overall and had to face the judges for their final decision. The contestants who were safe then had to nominate one of the other two contestants (Nicole or Yahaira) for elimination. They chose Yahaira, who joined Patricia in the bottom two. The judges decided to retain Patricia, and Yahaira was eliminated from the competition.
Original air date: 10 April 2011
The contestants participated in two challenges; the first took place at a construction site, and the second was a pole dancing challenge. For the first challenge, the contestants had to perform naturally in an interview while standing in the midst of construction activity. The winner of this challenge was Nicole Suarez. The pole-dancing challenge was won by Patricia Corcino. After these challenges, the contestant with the lowest votes from the public was Paulette Acosta, and the worst rated contestants were Jocell Villa and Diana Cano. The judges chose to eliminate Acosta.
Original air date: 17 April 2011
Julitete Cabrera is eliminated from the show at the start of the episode after it is revealed that she had taken part in a sexually suggestive photoshoot. The production replaces her with a previously eliminated contestant, Jenny Arzola. The main challenge of the week involved a visit to the Miami Zoo to test the courage of the contestants when encountering snakes and other animals. After the challenges, Jocell Villa was eliminated from the competition. The most successful contestants, Patricia Corcino and Nastassja Bolivar, were rewarded with a dinner with Alejandro Chaban and Giselle Blondet, and were taken to a concert in Miami.
Original air date: 24 April 2011
For the mini-challenge, the contestants competed in a boxing competition, and the winner was Gredmarie Colon. For the main challenge, the contestants took turns to portray a character on stage with an actor. All the contestants were dressed the same and directed to act the same scene, and the judges ranked the performances. The winner of this challenge was Nicole Suarez. Dala Delgado was eliminated from the competition.
Original air date: 1 May 2011
The first challenge for this episode was sponsored by Subway, and the contestants were directed to host a cooking show that also featured an exercise segment. The winner of this was Nasstajsa Bolivar, who received $10,000 as a prize. In the second challenge, entitled "Dancing with the Stars", the contestants were paired with a dancer and competed in a dance competition. Following the challenges, Maribel de Santiago was eliminated.
Dancing with the Stars (Individual judges scores in the chart below (given in parentheses) are listed in this order from left to right:Julian Gil, Lupita Jones and Osmel Sousa)
Special Guest at Mansion:
Original air date: 8 May 2011
In this episode, the contestants were given a photo of a celebrity that they had to imitate by using makeup, wigs and costumes in a photoshoot. In another challenge, they had to do a catwalk with their mothers in honor of Mother's Day. In the final challenge, the contestants had to present television segments. After these challenges, Diana Cano was eliminated by the judges.
Nuestra Belleza Anchor
Original air date: 15 May 2011
The contestants are taken to a Miami beach. While there, the contestants are approached by a group of actors who verbally abuse them. The contestants are then immediately told to do a catwalk challenge on the beach, where they must perform while overcoming negative feelings from being criticized. In the next challenge, the contestants competed in a trivia challenge. After the challenges, the judges eliminated Miriam Hernandez.
The Final Question
Original air date: 22 May 2011
The final four contestants competed in a dance challenge, which was won by Gredmarie Colon. The judges then assessed the contestants for their performance across the whole season, and chose Nastassja Bolivar as the overall winner of the competition.