Popstars
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 Idol 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, who then on sold it to TresorTV in Germany before taking it worldwide. 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, 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. 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.
''Popstars'' around the world
Legend:
Franchise has ceased production
Franchise awaiting debut or renewal
| Country | Local title | Network | Host | Judges | Seasons, series, winners, and groups formed | Other notable artists |
| Argentina | ' | Azul TV Telefe | 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 | Season 1, 2011: | Season 1, 2011: | ||
| Belgium | Pop Stars | VT4 | Season 1, 2001: Vanda Vanda | |||
| Brazil | Popstars | SBT | , 2002: Rouge Season 2, 2003: Br'oZ | Season 1: Kênia Boaventura,, Maíra Charken, Marjorie Estiano and Season 2: Vinícius "D'Black" Cardoso | ||
| Canada | Popstars Popstars: Boy Meets Girl Popstars: The One | CTV Global TV | 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 Popstars Showtime! | TV 2 Kanal 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 | ' | MTV3 | Season 1, 2002: Gimmel, Paula Vesala, Mira Luoti Season 2, 2004: INDX | Season 1: Jenni Vartiainen Season 2: Jane | ||
| France | Popstars Popstars – le duel | M6 D8 Amazon Prime Video | 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: SOR4 | 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 ProSieben | 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: 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 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 Superstar Tour | Italia 1 | Season 1, 2001: Lollipop Season 2, 2003: Lucky Star | Season 1: Valentina Monetta | ||
| Kenya | Coca-Cola Popstars | Season 1, 2004: Sema | ||||
| Malaysia | Popstars | ntv7 | Season 1, 2003: By'U | |||
| Mexico | Popstars | Televisa | Season 1, 2002: T' de Tila | Ana Brenda Contreras | ||
| Netherlands | Popstars: The Rivals | RTL 4 | Season 1, 2004: Men2B, Raffish | |||
| 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 România ' | Pro TV | Season 1, 2003: Cocktail | Bliss | ||
| Russia | ' | Rossiya 1 | Season 1, 2002: Drugie Pravila | |||
| Slovakia | ' | 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 3 SABC 1 e.tv | Season 1, 2002: 101 Season 2, 2003: Adilah Season 3 2004: Jamali and Ghetto Lingo Season 4, 2010: Nne Vida | Season 1: Afro Z | ||
| Spain | ' | 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 Show TV Star TV | 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 | 1+1 | Season 1, 2010: Viktoriya Korzheniuk | |||
| United Kingdom | Popstars Popstars: The Rivals | ITV | Season 1, 2001: Hear'Say Season 2, 2002: Girls Aloud | Season 1: Liberty X, 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 |