Fabrika Zvyozd


Fabrika Zvyozd, sometimes known internationally as Star Factory, is a popular Russian television talent show that aired on Channel One from 2002 until 2007. It was the Russian version of the Endemol format Operación Triunfo. In 2011, the show announced that it would be returning with an eighth, All-Star season and in 2012 for the ninth season with the format Star Factory: Russia vs. Ukraine. The programme then went on a hiatus for five years before relaunching the tenth season in 2017 broadcast on Muz-TV. Nine out of ten seasons were hosted by Yana Churikova and one by Ksenia Sobchak.
Fabrika Zvyozd, meaning Star Factory, stayed true to its name in Russia; many of the contestants, nicknamed as "fabrikanty", have established successful careers in the Russian-language music world. The show's alumni include Polina Gagarina, Fabrika, Zara, Irina Dubtsova, Timati, Yulia Savicheva, Natalia Podolskaya, Dmitry Koldun, Anastasia Prikhodko, and Elena Temnikova. The show also had a tight connection with the Eurovision Song Contest. In total, seven of the past fabrikanty sang at the contest at some stage between 2004 and 2019.
Throughout its run, Fabrika Zvyozd had a high television rating. In 2006, the show was so popular that producers decided to prolong the season by one whole month mid-season. This decision was regarded controversial, because contestants had to stay inside the house against their wishes for an extra month. The 2017 series was less successful in its ratings and finished its final with a market share of 1.3%.
Fabrika Zvyozd gained a cult status in Russia. It was the first real Russian reality music competition and the first reality show on Channel One Russia. Although it was axed in 2007 in favour of Interzvezda, which was later cancelled in its production phase, the show and its contestants stayed popular long after its axing. In 2017, Channel One Russia featured a special two-week special of Segodnya vecherom about Fabrika Zvyozd, celebrating the show's fifteenth anniversary. The episodes mostly focused on the contestants’ fate after the show.
In 2020, the show became popular on the internet due to the lockdown in Russia as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2020, Channel One Russia made a four-hour long special broadcast on Fabrika Zvyozd on the television programme Segodnya vecherom, hosted by Maksim Galkin and Yana Churikova. In this programme, a large share of the successful contestants were re-invited to look back on their memories of the time they were on the show. Next to that, Channel One rebroadcast a selection of some of the best performances in the show's history in primetime slots. The broadcasts solely focused on the first seven series, neglecting the revival version that was produced by Muz-TV.
On 9 January 2022, the producer of the tenth season of the show, Yulia Sumacheva, confirmed that the show is set to return in 2022.

Format

Similarly to Operación Triunfo, in Fabrika Zvyozd a selection of young potential musical stars is boarded in a house together. In this house, they are constantly monitored by cameras, an idea borrowed from another of Endemol's major reality shows Big Brother. In the house, they are "produced" or "manufactured" by an important Russian producer to become household names in the Russian music world once the show is over. In daily summary programmes, viewers are informed about the daily activities of the contestants.
After an “opening ceremony” in the first week, every single week, the contestants come together during a so-called “reporting concert” on Saturday to show their progress. Each show, one of the contestants gets dropped until a handful remain for the final.
The Monday before each concert, three contestants are nominated to be eliminated. These three nominees sing solo numbers on the Friday or Saturday show, while the safe contestants usually sing duets with famous artists. The nominations are based on the verdicts of the producers and can be either a good or a bad sign. At times, nominations are awarded because producers want to see a well-performing contestant sing a solo number, while other times, the weaker contestants are nominated. In rare cases, contestants are nominated for displaying poor behaviour.
From Monday to Saturday, viewers can vote for their favourite among the nominations. The winner of the televoting gets an automatic pass to stay in the house. The safe contestants determine themselves who gets the final pass to stay and who gets eliminated. Once per season, the producer is allowed to save a contestant from elimination as a veto right, although not all producers have exercised this privilege. Additionally, the audience chooses their favourite overall performer, who receives a prize.
In the original run of the show, the final concert was held in the Olympic Stadium in Moscow. In this concert, all of the contestants of the season would return to perform the best songs of the season once again. In 2007, the last series of the original run, the producers opted to hold the final in the usual television studio at the Ostankino Technical Center instead, as all other episodes were taped there. The 2017 revival's final was also held in a television studio rather than in the Olympic Stadium.

Series overview

First season (2002)

The very first series of Fabrika Zvyozd was commissioned by Channel One with the interest of Igor Matvienko, who wanted to create a new platform for young musical talent after Morning Star had ended a year earlier. Although auditions were held across Russia, most of the contestants of the first series of Fabrika Zvyozd had been recruited elsewhere. Yulia Buzhilova had already been working with Igor Matvienko prior to the season's debut. During the first episode, all contestants and star duet partners sang live, unlike later seasons of the show.
The first season of the show knew two incidents. During the second concert, singer Yuriy Antonov and contestant Nikolay Burlak were supposed to open the concert, but Antonov had felt insulted by the young Burlak asking him: “Are you the one that sings with me tonight?” to which Antonov answered that he did not want to perform with Burlak anymore. Eventually, the producers persuaded Antonov to perform with Burlak, but they rescheduled the duet to a later moment in the show. During the third concert, the first black contestant of the show, Sherif Musa, was voted away after facing the contestants’ vote. In later interviews, he noted that several contestants had made racist comments towards the colour of his skin.
The final of the show took place in May 2002 in the Olympic Stadium in Moscow. Prior to the final, Matvienko decided that Artemiev, Astashenok, Berdnikov and Kabanov were to form a boyband, while Kazanova, Toneva, Savelyeva and Alalykina were to form a girl group. Unlike other seasons, the final result was not determined on the basis of televoting, but rather by the producers. For finishing third, Mikhail Grebenshikov received an apartment in Moscow. Fabrika received a minibus for finishing second. Winners Korni received a recording deal, a tour through Russia, a microphone and the opportunity to represent Russia at Eurobest in Paris.
After the show, Korni and Fabrika became breakout successes. While Fabrika stayed popular in the Russian-speaking world, the popularity of Korni gradually declined, especially after Artemiev and Astashenok left the group. Sati Kazanova left Fabrika in 2010, establishing a solo career. Most of the participants of the first season of Fabrika Zvyozd went into oblivion.
Producer: Igor Matvienko

Second season (Early 2003)

The second series of the show was commissioned after the first series received overall great ratings and the producers wanted to continue to support new opportunities for young talented Russian singers. The second series was led by producer Maxim Fadeev, starting on 6 March 2003. Similar to the first series, Fadeev recruited several artists by himself and invited them on a personal basis. Oxana Fedorova was given an offer to host but she declined.
The final of the show took place in the Olympic Stadium in Moscow on 11 June 2003. For finishing third, Elena Temnikova received the microphone she used during the length of the series. Yelena Terleyeva was promised an album and several music videos. Polina Gagarina was allowed to represent Russia at the international festival Worldbest in Paris. However, Gagarina refused to sign a contract with Fadeev and instead, Yulia Savicheva was sent to the festival.
ContestantAgeOriginEpisode of eliminationPlace finished
Polina Gagarina15MoscowFinalWinner
Yelena Terleyeva17SurgutFinalRunner-up
Elena Temnikova17KurganFinal3rd
Yulia Savicheva16KurganSemi-final4th
Maria Rzhevskaya15MoscowSemi-final5th
Kristian Leinich21UkhtaGala 126th
Irakliy Pirzhalava25MoscowGala 117th
Pierre Narcisse26CameroonGala 108th
Aleksei Semyonov27Nizhniy NovgorodGala 99th
Marianna Belezkaya20MoscowGala 810th
Dmitriy Praskov'in18TolyattiGala 711th
Evgeniya Rasskazova23NovosibirskGala 612th
Gennadiy Lagutin22UdmurtiaGala 513th
Mikhail Reshetnikov20MoscowGala 414th
Yuliya Volkova20OstrogozhskGala 315th
Dmitriy Astashenok17OrenburgGala 216th

Producer: Maxim Fadeev