David Bisbal returns to Operación Triunfo as a judge for the show's U.S. debut on Telemundo

Full circle for the Almerian singer

David Bisbal is returning to Operación Triunfo, this time not as a contestant but as a judge. According to Billboard, the Spanish singer/songwriter will sit on the panel for the show's U.S. debut on Telemundo, arriving this summer. Bisbal is the first judge confirmed for the new version, which will be hosted by Mexican actress Natalia Téllez.

The move carries an obvious symbolic weight. Bisbal launched his career as a runner-up on the first season of Spain's Operación Triunfo in 2001, finishing behind winner Rosa López. More than two decades later, he is on the other side of the table.

"This was where my career began and my life changed forever," Bisbal said in a press statement. "It is an honor for me to be part of this moment, and I am excited for the opportunity to support, motivate, and witness the musical growth of this new generation of talented artists with big dreams."

What to expect from the U.S. version

The format, which first aired in Spain in 2001, places aspiring singers inside an academy where they train professionally and compete in weekly eliminations. Telemundo's chief content officer Javier Pons has described the show as "a true platform for transformation" that "transcends a traditional singing competition."

The U.S. edition keeps the core mechanics intact. Whether it can replicate the cultural grip the show had in Spain, where it produced careers well beyond Bisbal's, is the real question.

Bisbal on the road, too

The Telemundo announcement follows news of Bisbal's Eternos Tour, which opens Dec. 9 at The Wiltern in Los Angeles and closes Dec. 19 at the James L. Knight Center in Miami. It is a busy stretch for an artist who has spent the better part of two decades consolidating a Latin pop career that, by his own account, started in an academy very much like the one he is about to judge. Check the conciertos section for tour updates as they come.