Starmaker (season one)

**The first season** of the Lashardian music competition show *Starmaker*, began airing on Pop TV on 6 February 2017.

The competition consists of auditions; sudden death; the interviews; and then the live shows. Auditions for the show began in late summer 2016 and concluded in early autumn 2016. The show was hosted by Lashardian radio host Oliver Hansölisa and Lashardian television presenter Janeta Hanköchuras, while the judging panel consisted of Bleta, Era, Kam Wiköluk, Katia Charkölarssen, and Sox.

Season one's finale aired on 10 April 2017, resulting in Natasha Fridrikögabs as the winner, and Bleta as the winning judge.

## Judges and host

After the show's announcement in spring 2016, it was confirmed that former *Lashardian Idol* judges Era and Sox would be returning to judge *Starmaker*. Kam Wiköluk and Katia Charkölarssen joined the judging panel in June 2016, while Bleta was the final judge to be announced, in July 2016.

Oliver Hansölisa and Janeta Hanköchuras were confirmed as the hosts of the show in July 2016.

## Selection process

### Auditions

Producers invited interested artists to submit audition tapes, beginning in June 2016. The end of the submissions period was on 31 July 2016. The following month, 300 auditionees were invited to Ubenmoor to take part in auditions in front of the judges. The auditions were filmed on 27 August, 28 August, 29 August, and 30 August 2016. The auditions were aired on 6 February, 7 February, and 13 February 2017.

### Sudden death

173 acts were able to pass through the auditions on to the sudden death round. 43 of the acts were determined to be "A-listers" by the judges and directly advanced to the next round, while 130 were determined to be "B-listers" by the judges, and had to take part in the sudden death round. At the end of the sudden death round, 108 acts remained and moved on to the interviews. The sudden death round was held in autumn 2016, and aired on 14 February and 20 February 2017.

### Interviews

108 acts moved on to the interviews, where they were interrogated by the judges regarding their desired sound, image, history with music, inspirations, and who they believed they were as an artist. The judges then selected their teams, and only 25 advanced to the live shows; each judge having a team of five acts. After the teams are chosen, the judges give their team members makeovers and also help them further develop their sound and image. The interviews were held in autumn 2016, and aired on 21 February 2017.

## Finalists

The final 25 finalists were confirmed as follows;

Key:

     – Winner
     – Runner-up
     – Third place

## Live shows

### Week 1 (27 February 2017)

* **Guest performer:** Riyanka – "Never Give Up"

### Week 4 (20 March 2017)

* **Guest performer:**Davie Boy – "Tears"

### Week 5 (27 March 2017)

* **Guest performer:**Western Stars feat. KATYA – "The Only Way Is Up"

Contestants' performances on the fifth live show

### Week 6 (3 April 2017)

* **Guest performer:**Mina Isakösaars – "Somebody Who Can Dance"

Contestants' performances on the sixth live show

### Finals (10 April 2017)

* **Guest performer:**Marlina – "Touch", "All Fired Up", "Walk on Water", "I've Been Waiting for This Night", "Camo Baby"

## Elimination chart

### Overall

     Member of "Team Bleta"

     Member of "Team Era"

     Member of "Team Kam"

     Member of "Team Katia"

     Member of "Team Sox"

### Team

     Member of "Team Bleta"

     Member of "Team Era"

     Member of "Team Kam"

     Member of "Team Katia"

     Member of "Team Sox"