No ‘X Factor’ Or ‘La Voz Kids,’ Is Paulina Rubio’s Career Done?

By 2013 it seemed that Paulina Rubio’s career had no limits as became an American household name overnight. In 2012, Rubio released the single “Boys Will Be Boys,” from her EP “Bravisima,” which peaked at No. 16 on Billboard’s Latin Pop Songs, among others charts. That same year, she also starred in the second season for “La Voz … México” (Sept. 9 until Dec. 16 of 2012).

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The English-language hit and her role on The Mexican music series (in which she appeared alongside the famed late singer Jenni Rivera) helped her win a judging spot on Telemundo’s  “La Voz Kids,” a children’s Spanish-language spin-off of “The Voice” (May 25 – July 28 of 2013). After the series became a hit and Paulina became a bigger name for Latinos in the U.S., she was tapped to join the third season of “The X Factor” (Sep. 11 – Dec. 19 of 2013).

From here, the singer’s career should have continued to escalate, but even before the New Year came that illusion slowly began to shatter.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, early January the Mexican singer filed a lawsuit against Telemundo claiming it went back on a $1,325 million deal for the second season of “La Voz Kids.”

“Telemundo apparently changed its mind after making a deal when presented with the opportunity to hire a far less expensive talent to replace Paulina,” says the lawsuit.

Although the publication does not detail when the singer found out, on Dec. 23 of 2013, People En Español published an article stating that Natalia Jimenez, Spanish singer, would take over Rubio’s judging seat.

But it gets worst. The news of her replacement on the Spanish show came after Cowell admitted on a conference call with reporters on Dec. 16, that if there was a fourth season he probably wouldn’t keep the same judging panel, according to THR. Finally, on On Friday Feb. 7 The publication confirmed that Fox made the decision to pull the plug on the entire series due in part to the significant decline in ratings.

So what will be of Pau now? The singer who one minute had it all and the next nothing.To me, her career seems very unstable in the U.S. simply because she didn’t take full advantage of her time on both shows.

Back in September of last year, before the start of “The X Factor,” I had a chance to speak with the singer who told me that she was working on a new album.

“I’ve been composing and writing upbeat techno, dance, pop music so it will sound a little like Paulina “Boys Will Be Boys” meeting Paulina 2014!”

The singer should have released the project during the time on “The X Factor” because that would have helped her reach a wider American audience. Now that the show has ended in bad terms and word of her replacement on “La Voz Kids” is out, her chances for a crossover success have significantly dropped.

Fortunately, she has a 30 year run in the music business and plenty of fans in Latin America — especially in her native Mexico — backing her up . In fact, last month she was named Mexican Queen of Twitter. According to Terra.com the singer if the most followed Mexican personality with over 8 million fans on the site. 

In the end, her music career will be back to what it was before, which is still a great place for the singer. I don’t think her bilingual album will become a hit in the English-speaking market, but it  has a great chance to do well in both the U.S Latin and Latin American markets. Only time can tell.

Do you think Paulina Rubio still has the chance of becoming a crossover star? Share your thoughts in the comments below.