''Popstars'' is an international

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

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 Simon Robert Fuller (born 17 May 1960) is a British entrepreneur, artist manager, and film and television producer. He is the creator of the Idols (franchise), ''Idols'' TV format, including the British series ''Pop Idol'' and the American ser ...

'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 Screentime is an Australian television production company, which develops and produces scripted and unscripted television programs in Australia and New Zealand. The company has produced numerous popular series including '' Popstars'', the '' Un ...

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

'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 ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

'' and '' Got Talent'', as well as ''Idol'' – was Germany. This is where

ProSieben ProSieben (, ''sieben'' is German for "seven"; often stylized as Pro7) is a German free-to-air television network owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media. It was launched on 1 January 1989. It is Germany's second-largest privately owned television company ...

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

Number one singles

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

References

External links

Official ''Popstars'' (Germany)''Popstars'' (Australia)
at the

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

{{Music industry Reality television series franchises Singing talent shows Banijay franchises