I recently came across a story that I found quite interesting about the phenomenon of Las Electro Star, the band that literally exploded in 2009 in Argentina. It turns out it was one of those projects that seemed to have everything: four beautiful models, electropop music, easy-to-remember choreography. But here’s the juicy part: one of the members revealed years later that everything was a total disaster.

Alejandra Maglietti, who was the most visible member of the group, said in an interview that they basically lip-synched on shows like ShowMatch. In other words, they didn’t even sing live. Even worse, none of them was the real voice. There was a girl doing voice dubbing for all four voices. So imagine: they were on Argentina’s most-watched TV shows, doing tours, and half of the show was just smoke and mirrors.

What’s interesting is that Victoria Vannucci, who was one of the main faces of the project, left pretty quickly. She went to do theater in Carlos Paz and had to be replaced. The original group disbanded almost immediately, but since the public kept asking, the creators wanted to reassemble it with a different lineup. Alejandra was the only one who continued.

Now, what caught my attention is how Alejandra reflected on why it failed. She said that if they had done Las Electro Star in 2009 but with today’s technology and mindset, maybe Lollapalooza would have called them. Because in reality, they were ahead of their time. The problem was that Argentine society wasn’t ready for something so innovative yet. Also, there was no way to measure real success. They sold CDs on the street hand-to-hand at La Salada, but without data, they couldn’t prove how many people actually followed them.

And well, the curious thing is where all of them ended up. Victoria Vannucci moved to the United States after her separation, settled in California, and now does cooking-related content as an influencer. Dominique Pestaña became a mom. Ivana Pallotti launched her line of swimsuits and moved to Mexico. Alejandra, who was the most media-savvy, ended up studying journalism and law, and today she’s a columnist for various media outlets. Paula Peralta was the only one who continued singing professionally; now she’s a backup singer for Luis Miguel.

It’s a bit ironic, isn’t it? All those girls who were a hit on TV 16 years ago now have completely different lives. Victoria Vannucci went from being a band star to a cooking influencer in California. Some past failures end up just being that: a memory of when the entertainment industry worked differently. But at least, there’s a record that Las Electro Star was a real phenomenon, even if it was behind a lip-sync.