Popstars

Popstars
Popstars
Created by	Jonathan Dowling; Bill Toepfer;
Original work	Popstars (New Zealand)
Owner	Banijay Entertainment
Years	1999–2015, 2021–present

Popstars is an international reality television franchise aimed to find new singing talent. Serving as a precursor to the Idol franchise, Popstars first began in New Zealand in 1999 when producer Jonathan Dowling formed the girl group TrueBliss. Despite all shows in the Popstars franchise having been off air in recent years, it remains one of the most successful TV show formats of all time with the format being sold to more than 50 countries, and producing groups such as Girls Aloud that had success on the UK charts for the next ten years after winning. The show was the inspiration for Simon Fuller's Idols franchise.

History

The series originated in New Zealand, broadcast on TV2 in 1999, where producer Jonathan Dowling formed the five member all-girl group TrueBliss. Dowling then licensed the concept to production company Screentime in Australia,^[2] who then on sold it to TresorTV in Germany before taking it worldwide.^[3] Despite all versions now being cancelled, Popstars remains very successful, with the format being sold to over 50 countries.

The show was the inspiration for Simon Fuller's Pop Idol franchise which would dominate reality TV, (along with Big Brother and Survivor) for the next few years.

Although Popstars started successfully in most countries during the early 2000s, the shows gradually began to fail and were dropped by many broadcasters due to poor ratings. The last country where Popstars was still popular and successful – besides other casting shows such as The X Factor and Got Talent, as well as Idol – was Germany. This is where ProSieben produced the ninth season in 2010 because of the show's massive success in the ratings, but in 2012, Popstars was finally cancelled due to the short success of the groups formed throughout the episodes. In 2007, the show returned to France on M6 for one season. A new version of Popstars started in 2008 in the Netherlands and ran for three seasons. Germany's version returned for an eleventh season in 2015, but would later get cancelled following poor ratings.^[4] In 2021, a revamped version of the original New Zealand series returned to TVNZ. The new series focuses on individual artists and songwriting development and does not involve putting together a pop group.^[5]

Popstars around the world

Legend: Franchise has ceased production Franchise awaiting debut or renewal

Country	Local title	Network	Seasons, series, winners, and groups formed	Other notable artists
Argentina	Popstars: Tu Show Está Por Empezar [es]	Azul TV (1) Telefe (2)	Season 1, 2001: Bandana Season 2, 2002: Mambrú
Australia	Popstars	Seven Network	Season 1, 2000: Bardot Season 2, 2001: Scandal'us Season 3, 2002: Scott Cain
Australia	Popstars Live	Seven Network	Season 1, 2004: Kayne Taylor	Miranda Murphy
Austria	Popstars: Mission Österreich	Puls 4 Website	Season 1, 2011: Kilmokit [de]	Season 1, 2011: BFF [de]
Belgium	Pop Stars	VT4	Season 1, 2001: Vanda Vanda
Brazil	Popstars	SBT	Season 1 [pt], 2002: Rouge Season 2, 2003: Br'oZ	Season 1: Kênia Boaventura, Janaína Lima [pt], Maíra Charken, Marjorie Estiano and Quelynah [pt] Season 2: Vinícius "D'Black" Cardoso
Canada	Popstars (1) Popstars: Boy Meets Girl (2) Popstars: The One (3)	CTV (1) Global TV (2–3)	Season 1, 2001: Sugar Jones Season 2, 2002: Velvet Empire Season 3, 2003: Christa Borden	Julie Crochetière
Colombia	Popstars	Canal Caracol	Season 1, 2002: Escarcha
Denmark	Popstars (1–3, 5) Popstars Showtime! (4)	TV 2 (1–4) Kanal 5 (5)	Season 1, 2001: EyeQ Season 2, 2002: Jon Nørgaard Season 3, 2003: Fu:el Season 4, 2004: Maria Lucia Season 5, 2014: Linnea	Season 2: Julie Berthelsen and Christine Milton Season 3: Emil Thorup
Ecuador	Popstars	Teleamazonas	Season 1, 2003: Kiruba Season 2, 2004: La Coba
Finland	Popstars [fi]	MTV3	Season 1, 2002: Gimmel, Paula Vesala, Mira Luoti Season 2, 2004: INDX	Season 1: Jenni Vartiainen Season 2: Jane
France	Popstars (1–2, 4–) Popstars – le duel (3)	M6 (1–4) D8 (5) Amazon Prime Video (6-)	Season 1, 2001: L5 Season 2, 2002: Whatfor Season 3, 2003: Linkup Season 4, 2007: Sheryfa Luna Season 5, 2013: The Mess Season 6, 2024: Upcoming Season	Season 1: Louisy Joseph Season 2: Chimène Badi Season 3: Diadems and M. Pokora Season 4: Léa Castel, Slimane Season 5: Sindy Auvity
Germany	Popstars	RTL II (1–2, 11) ProSieben (3–10)	Season 1, 2000–01: No Angels Season 2, 2001: Bro'Sis Season 3, 2003: Overground Season 4, 2004: Nu Pagadi Season 5, 2006: Monrose Season 6, 2007: Room 2012 Season 7, 2008: Queensberry Season 8, 2009: Some & Any Season 9, 2010: LaViVe Season 10, 2012: Melouria [de] Season 11, 2015: Leandah	Season 2: Yasmin K. Season 3: Preluders Season 5: Bisou
Greece	Popstars	Mega TV	Season 1, 2003: Hi-5
Hungary	Popsztárok	TV2	Season 1, 2002: Sugar & Spice
India	Coke [V] Popstars	Channel V	Season 1, 2002: Viva Season 2, 2003: Aasma
Indonesia	Popstars Indonesia	Trans TV	Season 1, 2003: Sparx
Ireland	Irish Popstars	RTÉ One	Season 1, 2002: Six	Nadine Coyle
Italy	Popstar (1) Superstar Tour (2)	Italia 1	Season 1, 2001: Lollipop Season 2, 2003: Lucky Star	Season 1: Valentina Monetta
Kenya	Coca-Cola Popstars		Season 1, 2004: Sema (Kenya)
Malaysia	Popstars	ntv7	Season 1, 2003: By'U
Mexico	Popstars	Televisa	Season 1, 2002: T' de Tila	María León [es] (Playa Limbo) Ana Brenda Contreras
Netherlands	Popstars: The Rivals	RTL 4	Season 1, 2004: Men2B (boys), Raffish (girls)
Netherlands	Popstars	SBS6	Season 1, 2008: RED! Season 2, 2009–10: Wesley Klein Season 3, 2010–11: Dean Saunders
New Zealand	Popstars	TVNZ 2	Season 1, 1999: TrueBliss Season 2, 2021: Christabel Williams Season 3, TBA: Renewal pending
Norway	Popstars	TV3	Season 1, 2001: Cape
Portugal	Popstars	SIC	Season 1, 2001: Nonstop	Gémeas
Romania	Popstars	Pro TV	Season 1, 2003: Cocktail
Russia	Stan zvezdoy [ru]	Rossiya 1	Season 1, 2002: Drugie Pravila (Другие правила; lit. Other rules)
Slovakia	Coca-Cola Popstar [sk]	Markíza	Season 1, 2001: Seven Days to Winter Season 2, 2002: Misha Season 3, 2003: Zuzana Smatanová Season 4, 2004: Vetroplach Season 5, 2005: Bystrík Season 6, 2006: Ivo Bič Season 7, 2007: Peoples Season 8, 2008: Mária Čírová
Slovenia	Popstars	Kanal A	Season 1, 2002: Bepop Season 2, 2003: Unique	Season 2: B.B.T. and Hajdi Korošec
South Africa	Popstars	SABC 1 (1–3) e.tv (4)	Season 1, 2002: 101 and Afro Z Season 2, 2003: Adilah Season 3 2004: Jamali and Ghetto Lingo Season 4, 2010: Nne Vida
Spain	Popstars: Todo por un sueño [es]	Telecinco	Season 1, 2002: Bellepop	Jesús Vázquez
Sweden	Popstars	Kanal 5	Season 1, 2001: Excellence Season 2, 2002: Supernatural Season 3, 2003: Johannes Kotschy	Season 2: Martin Rolinski
Switzerland	Popstars	TV3	Season 1, 2001: Tears
Tanzania	Coca-Cola Popstars		Season 1, 2004: Wakilisha
Turkey	Popstars	Kanal D (1) Show TV (2) Star TV (3)	Season 1, 2003: Adibin Özşahin Season 2, 2004: Selçuk Demirelli Season 3, 2006: Metin Levent
Uganda	Coca-Cola Popstars		Season 1, 2004: Blu3
Ukraine	Суперзірка (Superstar)	1+1	Season 1, 2010: Viktoriya Korzheniuk
United Kingdom	Popstars (1) Popstars: The Rivals (2)	ITV	Season 1, 2001: Hear'Say Season 2, 2002: Girls Aloud	Season 1: Liberty X (finalists), Darius Danesh, Warren Stacey Season 2: One True Voice, Javine Hylton, Clea, Phixx, The Cheeky Girls, Hazel Kaneswaran
United States	Popstars USA	The WB	Season 1, Early 2001: Eden's Crush Season 2, Late 2001: Scene 23	Season 1: Nicole Scherzinger, Nikki McKibbin Season 2: Josh Henderson

Number one singles

The following is a list of singles that reached #1 in the respective nations of the Popstars artists

Artist	Nation	Song title	Date	Album
Bandana	Argentina	"Guapas"	December 2001	Bandana
		"Cómo Puede Ser"	February 2002
		"Maldita Noche"	May 2002
		"Llega la Noche"	August 2002	Noche
		"Sigo Dando Vueltas"	April 2003	Vivir Intentando
Mambrú		"A Veces"	November 2002	Mambrú
Scandal'us	Australia	"Me, Myself & I"	April 2001	Startin' Somethin'
Bardot		"Poison"	April 2000	Bardot
Scott Cain		"I'm Moving On"	May 2002	Controlled Folly
Rouge	Brazil	"Não Dá Pra Resistir"	July 2002	Rouge
		"Ragatanga (The Ketchup Song)"	October 2002	Rouge
		"Brilha La Luna"	April 2003	C'est La Vie
		"Um Anjo Veio Me Falar"	October 2003	C'est La Vie
Br'oZ		"Prometida"	August 2003	Br'oZ
Sugar Jones	Canada	"Days Like That"	June 2001	Sugar Jones
Fu:el	Denmark	"Please Please"	May 2003	Next, Please
Kiruba	Ecuador	"Quisiera"	April 2003	Kiruba
		"Camina"	June 2003
		"Como Extraño Tu Luz"	August 2003
		"Me Pierdo"	November 2003
		"Me Quedo Contigo"	May 2004	Baila La Luna
L5	France	"Toutes les femmes de ta vie"	December 2001	L5
Whatfor		"Plus haut"	November 2002	Whatfor
Linkup		"Mon étoile"	November 2003	Notre étoile
Sheryfa Luna		"Quelque part"	October 2007	Sheryfa Luna
Sheryfa Luna		"Il avait les mots"	January 2008	Sheryfa Luna
No Angels	Germany	"Daylight in Your Eyes"	February 2001	Elle'Ments
		"There Must Be an Angel"	August 2001	Elle'Ments
		"Something About Us"	May 2002	Now... Us!
		"No Angel (It's All in Your Mind)"	April 2003	Pure
Bro'Sis		"I Believe"	December 2001	Never Forget (Where You Come From)
Overground		"Schick mir 'nen Engel"	November 2003	It's Done
Preluders		"Everyday Girl"	November 2003	Girls in the House
Nu Pagadi		"Sweetest Poison"	December 2004	Your Dark Side
Monrose		"Shame"	December 2006	Temptation
Monrose		"Hot Summer"	July 2007	Strictly Physical
Six	Ireland	"There's a Whole Lot of Loving Going On"	February 2002	This Is It
Lollipop	Italy	"Down Down Down"	April 2001	Popstars
Nonstop	Portugal	"Ao Limite Eu Vou"	July 2001	Nonstop
Men2B	Netherlands	"Bigger than That"	December 2004	A Different Way
Raffish	Netherlands	"Plaything"	December 2004	How Raffish Are You?
TrueBliss	New Zealand	"Tonight"	May 1999	Dream
Hear'Say	United Kingdom	"Pure and Simple"	March 2001	Popstars
Hear'Say		"The Way to Your Love"	June 2001	Popstars
Girls Aloud		"Sound of the Underground"	December 2002	Sound of the Underground
		"I'll Stand by You"	November 2004	What Will the Neighbours Say?
		"Walk This Way" (with Sugababes)	March 2007	Stand-alone single for Comic Relief
		"The Promise"	October 2008	Out of Control

References

^ Programmes Popstars
^ Shaps, Simon (16 April 2009). "Ten Years on, the man who reinvented TV talent shows". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
^ Cleave, Louise (15 July 2000). "'Popstars' concept a hit with US giant". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
^ Weis, Manuel (1 September 2015). ""Popstars" bald später" [«Popstars» soon after]. Quotenmeter (in German). Retrieved 15 October 2017.
^ "Popstars". TVNZ. TVNZ. Retrieved 17 April 2021.