''Pop's Ultimate Star'' was TV2's

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

show which pits former reality contestants againest each other, most of whom are former ''

NZ Idol ''New Zealand Idol'', also known as ''NZ Idol'', was the New Zealand version of the Idol series originated as the hit British TV series ''Pop Idol''. New Zealand first saw the ''Idol'' format when TV2 aired '' American Idol 2'', which garnered i ...

'' contestants. The show was produced by Eyeworks Touchdown, with first prize $50,000 and a

Kia Kia Corporation, commonly known as Kia (, ; formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry and Kia Motors Corporation), is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second lar ...

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

' car. It is hosted by

Dominic Bowden Dominic Joseph Bowden (born 15 December 1977) is a New Zealand television personality, host and voice actor. He is best known as the host of New Zealand reality series including ''New Zealand Idol, Dancing with the Stars New Zealand and The X ...

and was originally scheduled to be held in the St. James Theatre in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. After damage to the St. James theatre the show was shifted to the Bruce Mason theatre before finally relocating to

TVNZ , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the So ...

's Avalon studio in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. Originally, public voting occurred from the performance show on Sunday, where the eventual two contestants who have the lowest public votes will then be in a "sing off" on Wednesday, where the judges eliminated one contestant. After week five,

changed the format and a contestant was eliminated in the Sunday night show by the judges after the two with the lowest number of public votes were chosen. The judges are music industry veterans Peter Urlich from

Th' Dudes Th' Dudes are a New Zealand rock band that was formed in the late 1970s in Auckland, New Zealand. Hits include "Walking in Light", "Right First Time", " Be Mine Tonight" and "Bliss". History 1975–1980 The band was formed by Morris, Urlich, ...

, Jordan Luck from

The Exponents The Exponents, formerly The Dance Exponents, was a New Zealand rock group led by vocalist and songwriter Jordan Luck. Their major hits were "Victoria" " Why Does Love Do This To Me" and "Who Loves Who The Most". History 1980s: Dance Expone ...

, Harry Lyon from Hello Sailor and Kim Willoughby from When The Cat's Away. Lyon is the show's

musical director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the ...

and Willoughby the performance coach and stylist. The show debuted on 29 May 2007, receiving mainly negative reviews, ranging from judges, song choice, lighting, singing and the most common one was the sound issue. Another controversial issue was the introduction of

immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity desc ...

challenges, during episodes two through four. {, class="wikitable" , - ! Contestant ! Placing ! Status ! Bottom 2 , - ,

Joe Cotton Joanne Monique "Joe" Cotton, is a Canadian-born New Zealand pop singer who gained recognition as a member of the girl group TrueBliss, formed in 1999 on ''Popstars''. Cotton has since joined a cover band, The Mermaids Danceband. She has also ...

, Former singer –

TrueBliss TrueBliss were a New Zealand pop girl group formed in April 1999. The band were formed on the popular television show ''Popstars'', which aired on TVNZ's TV2 channel for nine weeks in the search for a new girl group. TrueBliss were the firs ...

Winner , - , Nik Carlson , Runner-up, ''NZ Idol'' Season two Runner-Up , - ,

Matthew Saunoa Matthew Saunoa (born 1986) is a New Zealand pop music, pop singer who rose to musical fame as the winner of the third season of ''New Zealand Idol'' in 2006. After winning the New Zealand Idol (season 3), third season, his winner's single, "Hold O ...

, Winner, ''NZ Idol'' Season three Eliminated , - ,

Emily Williams Emily Williams (born 8 October 1984) is a New Zealand singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame in 2005 on the third season of ''Australian Idol'' and became the runner-up of the competition. After ''Idol'', Williams signed with Sony B ...

, Runner-up, ''

Australian Idol ''Australian Idol'' is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the ''Idol'' franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program ''Pop Idol' ...

'' and singer –

Young Divas Young Divas was an Australian pop girl group formed in 2006 by Sony BMG Australia, initially for a one-off single and national tour to promote all members as solo artists. The original line-up consisted of former ''Australian Idol'' contestan ...

Eliminated , Nik Carlson , - ,

David Wikaira-Paul David Wikaira-Paul (born 30 January 1985) played Tama Hudson on New Zealand television series Shortland Street. Biography David joined the cast of Shortland Street in 2001 to play fresh-faced 14-year-old Tama Hudson, a high school student. D ...

, Former actor – ''

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital, first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992. It is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously ...

'' Eliminated , Nik Carlson , - ,

Ben Lummis Ben Lummis (born Isileli Junior Brown on (1 June 1978) is a New Zealand R&B/Pop/Gospel recording artist who rose to musical fame as the winner of the First season of ''New Zealand Idol'' in 2004. He is of Māori ( Ngati Porou) and Pākehā (E ...

, Winner, ''NZ Idol'' Season one Eliminated , Emily Williams , - ,

Camillia Temple The first season of ''New Zealand Idol'' was produced by Fremantle Media subsidiary Grundy Television in association with UK company 19TV, and was broadcast on TVNZ in the early half of 2004. The judges were Paul Ellis, Fiona McDonald and Frank ...

, 3rd place, ''NZ Idol'' Season one Eliminated , Nik Carlson , - , Steve Broad , 3rd place, ''NZ Idol'' Season two Eliminated , Camillia Temple , - ,

Rosita Vai Rosita Vai (born 4 June 1981) is a New Zealand singer who rose to musical fame as the winner of the second season of ''New Zealand Idol'' in 2005. Now married, she is also known as Rosita Gibbons. Prior to her win, Rosita managed to stay out of ...

, Winner, ''NZ Idol'' Season two Eliminated , Nik Carlson , - , Keri Harper , Former singer –

Eliminated , Emily Williams

External links

Official Homepage
New Zealand popular music 2007 New Zealand television series debuts New Zealand reality television series New Zealand music television series TVNZ 2 original programming