''Popstar to Operastar'' is a British television programme in which

pop stars ''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 gro ...

were trained to sing

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

. The show began airing on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

on 15 January 2010 at 9pm. The show was repeated on

TV3 Ireland Virgin Media One, also called Virgin One, is an Irish free-to-air television channel owned by Virgin Media Ireland (part of Liberty Global), operated through its subsidiary Virgin Media Television. The channel was known until 30 August 20 ...

on Saturday evening. The programme was produced by Renegade Pictures. As a singing competition, it featured appropriate judges: Mexican tenor

Rolando Villazón Rolando Villazón Mauleón (born 22 February 1972) is a Mexican operatic tenor, stage director, author, radio and television personality and artistic director. He now lives in France, and in 2007 became a French citizen. Villazón has published ...

, (Welsh mezzo-soprano) Katherine Jenkins and rock singer

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...

, as well as TV home-interiors expert

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen Laurence Roderick Llewelyn-Bowen (; born 11 March 1965) is an English interior designer and television personality best known for appearing on the BBC programme ''Changing Rooms''. Name He is sometimes credited as "Laurence Llewelyn", and th ...

. Villazón and Jenkins also mentored contestants, giving them the songs to sing during the live shows. Loaf and Llewelyn-Bowen were critic-judges who talked about entrants' performances. However, after the first series it was announced Loaf and Llewelyn-Bowen would not be returning as judges. Their replacements were confirmed to be actor and opera-director

Simon Callow Simon Phillip Hugh Callow (born 15 June 1949) is an English film, television and voice actor, director, narrator and writer. He was twice nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his roles in ''A Room with a View (1985 ...

and classical singer/violinist

Vanessa-Mae Vanessa-Mae (陈美 Chén Měi; born 27 October 1978) also called Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson, is a Singaporean-born British violinist with album sales reaching several million, having made her the wealthiest entertainer under 30 in the Uni ...

. Presenters were confirmed as Alan Titchmarsh and

Myleene Klass Myleene Angela Klass (born 6 April 1978) is a British musician, singer, presenter, model and businesswoman. She was a member of the pop group Hear'Say, and later released two solo classical crossover albums in 2003 and 2007. More recently, Klass ...

, with the non-operatic ''Dies Irae'' from

Verdi's Requiem The ''Messa da Requiem'' is a musical setting of the Catholic funeral mass ( Requiem) for four soloists, double choir and orchestra by Giuseppe Verdi. It was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, whom Verdi admired. The first performance, at ...

as the theme tune. For the second series, Titchmarsh did not return. Winner of the first series was

Darius Campbell Darius Campbell Danesh (19 August 1980 – 11 August 2022) was a Scottish singer-songwriter, actor and film producer. He first came to prominence as Darius Danesh when he appeared in the first series of '' Popstars'' in 2001, and the 2002 inau ...

, and of the second was

Joe McElderry Joseph McElderry (; born 16 June 1991) is an English singer and songwriter. He won the sixth series of the ITV show ''The X Factor'' in 2009. His first single " The Climb" reached number one on both the UK Singles Chart and the Irish Singl ...

. The first episode of series 2 brought in 5.98 million viewers, bringing the show its highest ratings to date. Each week the results show featured a guest performance, normally an opera star singing to promote their upcoming album. For every vote cast, money was donated to the Nordoff-Robbins charity. The winner also received a payment for a charity of their choice.

Format

The show is an opera-singing competition in which eight celebrity singers known for pop music compete to try to win the title of the show. Each week they are trained by professional opera stars (mentors) who teach them how to sing opera. The acts all perform live, giving a performance of their operatic song in an effort to impress viewers who may vote to keep them in the competition. Each performance is live on television and in front of a live studio audience. The two singers with the fewest public votes are in the ''bottom two'' and get the chance to sing again. However, their previous performance are "forgiven and forgotten" and the judges vote based on their sing-off performance who should stay. During the first series, if the judges' vote went to a tie it would go down to the public vote. However, during series two the ''head judge'' decided who stayed in the competition after the sing-off, if it was a tie. The head judge changed every week. However, if the judges voted against a contestant to stay in the competition they were eliminated. A proportion of revenue from the telephone votes was donated to the Nordoff-Robbins

music therapy Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music t ...

charity.

Judges and presenters

Once the show had been announced, there was a lot of speculation over who would be on the judging panel. It was later confirmed the show's judges were Katherine Jenkins and

, who would both mentor contestants.

and

were confirmed to be judge critics, who would judge the contestants' performances only and not mentor the acts. It was later confirmed

and Alan Titchmarsh would co-host the show. Titchmarsh left after series 1. After series 1, it was confirmed Loaf and Llewelyn-Bowen would not be returning as judges and would be replaced by

and

Judges

* Katherine Jenkins – Judge and mentor (2010–2011) *

– Judge and mentor (2010–2011) *

– Judge (2011) *

– Judge (2010) *

– Judge (2010) * Alfie Boe – Guest judge and mentor (2011)

Presenters

(2010–2011) * Alan Titchmarsh (2010)

Series 1 (2010)

Popstars

Series 2 (2011)

Popstars

References

External links

* * {{Popstar to Operastar 2010 British television series debuts 2011 British television series endings 2010s British reality television series ITV reality television shows Opera competitions Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios 2010s British music television series