Lashardian Idol

**Original release** | 11 January 2016 – 30 May 2016

***Lashardian Idol*** is a Lashardian music reality television competition show broadcast on Pop TV, beginning in 2016. Based on the *Idol* franchise the series found new singing talent (solo artists ages 16 and over), drawn from public auditions, and they competed against each other for votes. The winner was determined by the show's viewers via telephone, the Internet, and SMS text voting, and was awarded a recording contract with Cyclops Records.

The show began airing on 11 January 2016, and has aired annually from January through May. The series employs a panel of judges who critique the contestants' performances. The original judging panel consists of rapper Sox, musician Era, record producer Mikael Borisölebers, and record executive Martina Aleksöpseft. It is hosted by duo Nikola & Nikolas.

In October 2016, it was confirmed that Pop TV had not renewed the show for a second season.

## Judges and hosts

### Judges

The show had originally planned on having three judges; however, four judges were later cast. Some rumored names included Lina Leftöhamm, Bleta, and Kam Wiköluk. Sox, Era, Mikael Borisölebers, and Martina Aleksöpseft were later announced to be the show's judges. The show decided to continue with the four judges format.

Sox (2016)Era (2016)Mikael Borisölebers (2016)Martina Aleksöpseft (2016)
### Hosts

The show originally announced that a single person would host the show, but fraternal twin comedy duo Nikola & Nikolas were later announced to be hosting the show.

Nikola & Nikolas (2016)
## Selection process

### Contestant eligibility

The eligible age-range for contestants is currently sixteen to twenty-nine years old. The contestants must be legal Lashardian residents, cannot have advanced to the semi-finals of any Lashardian music competition show, and must not hold any current recording or talent representation contract by the semi-final stage.

### Initial auditions

Contestants go through at least three sets of cuts. The first is a brief audition with a few other contestants in front of selectors which may include one of the show's producers. Although auditions can exceed thousands in some cities, only a few hundred of these make it past the preliminary round of auditions. Successful contestants then sing in front of producers, where more may be cut. Only then can they proceed to audition in front of the judges, which is the only audition stage shown on television. Those selected by the judges are sent to Ubenmoor. Between 10–60 people in each city may make it to Ubenmoor.

### Ubenmoor week

Once in Ubenmoor, the contestants perform individually or in groups in a series of rounds. There are usually three rounds of eliminations in Ubenmoor. In the first round the contestants emerged in groups but performed individually. For the next round, the contestants put themselves in small groups and perform a song together. In the final round, the contestants perform solo with a song of their choice accompanied by a band‍.

### Audience voting

From the semi-finals onwards, the fate of the contestants is decided by public vote. During the contestant's performance as well as the recap at the end, a toll-free telephone number for each contestant is displayed on the screen. For a two-hour period after the episode ends (up to four hours for the finale), viewers may call or send a text message to their preferred contestant's telephone number, and each call or text message is registered as a vote for that contestant. Viewers are allowed to vote as many times as they can within the two-hour voting window. However, the show reserves the right to discard votes by power dialers. One or more of the least popular contestants may be eliminated in successive weeks until a winner emerges.

### Semi-finals

The twenty-four semi-finalists are divided by gender in order to ensure an equal gender division in the top twelve. The men and women sang separately on consecutive nights, and the bottom two in each groups were eliminated each week until only six of each remained to form the top twelve.

### Finals

The finals are broadcast in prime time in Jorden, Ubenmoor, in front of a live studio audience. The finals last ten weeks. Each finalist performs songs based on a weekly theme which may be a musical genre such as Motown, disco, or big band, songs by artists such as Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley or The Beatles, or more general themes such as number-one hits or songs from the contestant's year of birth. Initially the contestants sing one song each week, but this is increased to two songs from top four or five onwards, then three songs for the top two or three.

The most popular contestants are usually not revealed in the results show. Instead, typically the three contestants (two in later rounds) who received the lowest number of votes are called to the center of the stage. One of these three is usually sent to safety; however the two remaining are not necessarily the bottom two. The contestant with the fewest votes is then revealed and eliminated from the competition. A montage of the eliminated contestant's time on the show is played and they give their final performance. A double elimination takes place halfway through the season.

### Prizes for the winner

The winner receives a record deal with Cyclops Records, for up to six albums, and secures a management contract with Wilhelmina Management (which has the right of first refusal to sign all contestants), as well as various lucrative contracts. All top 10 finalists earn the privilege of going on a tour, where the participants each earn a six-figure sum.