Starmaker

**Original release** | 6 February 2017 – present

***Starmaker*** is a Lashardian music reality television series, broadcast on Pop TV, beginning in 2017. Created to replace the canceled *Lashardian Idol* and to compete with *The X Factor: Lashardia*, broadcast on the rival LRT, *Starmaker* is an original show created in collaboration by Pop TV producers and executives at Cyclops Records. The winner of the show receives a recording contract with Cyclops Records.

The original judging panel consists of Bleta, Era, Kam Wiköluk, Katia Charkölarssen, and Sox, while it is hosted by Oliver Hansölisa and Janeta Hanköchuras.

## Format

### Auditions

The first stage are the auditions. After viewing audition tapes, producers invite about 300 auditionees to audition in front of the judges in Ubenmoor. While watching the auditions, the judges can push one of three buttons. The first button helps them advance to the next round, the second button prevents them from the next round, and the third button immediately shuts down their performance.

If at least three of the judges press the first or second buttons, the auditionee automatically moves on or is eliminated, respectively. If at least one judge presses the third button, the auditionee is immediately eliminated, no matter the other judges' opinions.

### Sudden death

After the auditions, the remaining artists move on to the sudden death round. This is in place to ensure that an even number of contestants move on to the next round. In this round, the judges put the acts into two categories; A-listers and B-listers. The A-listers automatically move on to the next round, while the B-listers must compete in the sudden death round. Each b-lister is paired up with another based on their desired sound and image. They perform a duet with each other in front of the judges, and the judges decide which one of them is eliminated. At the completion of the sudden death round, 50 acts remain.

### Interview

The remaining 50 semifinalists are then intensively interviewed by the five judges regarding their plans for their music career, their desired sound, and what they want out of their music career. They also fill out a questionnaire about their desired image and sound. After this, the five judges form teams of five based on their impressions from the interview and questionnaire. Each judge has five artists on their team. The 25 acts not selected are sent home.

### Live shows

The 25 remaining artists then advance to the live shows. In the first live show, the acts from two teams perform, while in the second, three teams perform. In these first two live shows, there is no public vote, and the other judges choose to eliminate two artists from each team.

Public voting begins with the third live show, when 15 acts remain; three on each team. In the third and fourth live shows, all acts perform. Following the performances, the judges rank the acts on the other teams from their favorite to least favorite. The first receives three points, second favorite one point, and least favorite no points. After this, each act receives points from the public based on their share of the public voting. Following the combination of judges' points and public points, the act with the least amount of points on each team is eliminated. Next week, the judges and public break apart 100 points between each team's acts, and the top act on each team moves on.

During the fifth live show, points from the judges are eliminated. All five acts perform and are typically styled by their mentor judges. After the performances, the act with the least amount of votes is eliminated. This continues until there's a final three acts. The final three perform three songs in the final; their best performance from the series, a duet with their mentor judge, and their debut single. The public then chooses a winner, who wins a recording contract with Cyclops Records.

## Series details

     Member of "Team Bleta"

     Member of "Team Era"

     Member of "Team Kam"

     Member of "Team Katia"

     Member of "Team Sox"