Star Academy

Star Academy is a highly successful television show format based on the Spanish format "Operación Triunfo" produced by Endemol, that has been broadcast in over 50 countries. It is a pop music talent contest with viewer voting and reality show elements.

1 Format
2 History
3 Star Academy around the world
4 Parodies of Star Academy
5 Trivia of Star Academy
6 Special concerts of Star Academy
7 Near copies of Star Academy
8 See also

Format

There are many versions of the Star Academy show, each country having its own slight variations, but the basic concept remains the same: contestants live in a boarding-school called "The Academy", managed by a director, and various teachers coach them in several artistic disciplines. The participants are filmed with cameras throughout the day and night (an idea borrowed from another of Endemol's major reality shows Big Brother). Once a week, the contestants have to face a prime time show, where they sing the song they've prepared during the week before, as well as recapping their trials and tribulations at The Academy from the past week. The live show will often feature special guest stars, with whom some of the contestants have the opportunity to sing. Based on the judges' verdicts and viewer voting, the weakest contestant is dropped. The eventual winner is awarded a record deal and usually some amount of money.

History

The Star Academy concept belongs to the Spanish production company Gestmusic, a Spanish branch of Endemol. The first country to broadcast the format, however, was France on October 20, 2001. Two days later, Operación Triunfo, as the show is called in Spanish speaking countries, went on the air in Spain.

From then on the Star Academy phenomenon began to spread in an unstoppable way, being impelled by the sweeping success of the contest in major media markets like France or Russia.

Nowadays, Star Academy is the second most expanded reality show, just behind Big Brother, and has reached markets as different as India, the Arab World and the United States, becoming the first Spanish format ever acquired by these countries. This show is similar to the "Idol Series" but different in that it also shows the contestants' lives together in the house where they live; American Idol shows nothing of the contestants' personalities or relationships with each other. Star Academy is in essence a singing competition, where the lowest vote-receiver each week must leave the show, ending finally when only one person remains.

Star Academy around the world

There are currently 99 winners of the Star Academy format. The most recent winner is Monica Ogah from Nigeria.

Region	Local name	Channel	Winner	Main Presenters
Africa Countries^[1]	Project Fame Website	M-Net DStv (Live) The Africa Channel (Season 1 in 2008)	Season 1, 2004: Lindiwe Alam	James Alexander (Season 1) Vusi Twala (Season 1)
Arab Maghreb^[2]	Star Academy Maghreb Website	Nessma TV	Season 1, 2007: Hajar Adnane	Nabila El Kilani (Season 1)
Arab World^[3]	Star Academy الأكاديمية Website	LBC	Season 1, 2003-2004: Mohamed Attia Season 2, 2004-2005: Hisham Abdulrahman Season 3, 2005-2006: Joseph Attieh Season 4, 2006-2007: Shatha Hassoun Season 5, 2008: Nader Guirat Season 6, 2009: Abdulaziz Abdulrahman Season 7, 2010: Nassif Zaytoun Season 8, 2011: Nesma Mahgoub Season 9, 2012: February/March	Hilda Khalife (Season 1-8)
Argentina	Operación Triunfo Website	Telefe Canal 4 DirecTV (Live) (Season 4)	Season 1, 2003: Claudio Basso Season 2, 2004-2005: José García Season 3, 2005-2006: Benjamín Rosales Season 4, 2009: Cristian Manuel Soloa	Alejandro Wiebe, "Marley" (Season 1-4)
Belgium	Star Academy (French language) Website	RTL-TVi	Season 1, 2002: Mélanie Martin's	Plastic Bertrand (Season 1)
Belgium	Star Academy (Dutch language) Website	Kanaal Twee	Season 1, 2005: Katerine Avgoustakis	Walter Grootaers (Season 1)
Brazil	FAMA Website	Globo SKY (Live)	Season 1, 2002: Vanessa Jackson Season 2, 2003: Marcus Vinícius Season 3, 2004: Tiago Silva Season 4, 2005: Fabio Souza	Angélica Ksyvickis (Season 1-4)
Bulgaria	Star Academy Website	Nova Television Nova+ (Live) CableTel (Live)	Season 1, 2005: Marin Yonchev	Maria Ilieva (Season 1)
Canada	Star Académie Website	TVA	Season 1, 2003: Wilfred Le Bouthillier Season 2, 2004: Stéphanie Lapointe Season 3, 2005: Marc-André Fortin Season 4, 2009: Maxime Landry Season 5, 2012: February	Julie Snyder (Season 1-4)
Chile	Operación Triunfo Website	Mega	Season 1, 2003: Mónica Rodríguez^[4]	Álvaro Escobar (Season 1)
East Africa^[5]	Tusker Project Fame Website	M-Net (Africa) (Season 1) NTV (Season 1) Citizen TV (Season 2-5) Channel 10 (Season 1) StarTV (Season 2-3) TBC (Season 4-5) UBC (Season 1, 4-5) WBS (Season 2-3) Rwanda TV (Season 3-5) SSTV (Season 4-5)	Season 1, 2006: Valerie Kimani Season 2, 2008: Esther Nabaasa Mugizi Season 3, 2009: Alpha Rwirangira Season 4, 2010: Davis Hillary Ntare Season 5, 2012: May/June	Gaetano Kagwa (Season 2) Fumnilayo Raimi (Season 2) Mich Egwang (Season 3) Sheila Mwanyigah (Season 3-4)
East Africa^[5]	Tusker All-Stars (All-Stars Format)		Season 1, 2011: Davis Ntare, Peter Msechu & Alpha Rwirangira	Gaetano Kagwa (Season 1) Eve D'Souza (Season 1)
France	Star Academy Website	TF1 (Season 1-8) NRJ 12 (Season 9)	Season 1, 2001-2002: Jenifer Bartoli Season 2, 2002: Nolwenn Leroy Season 3, 2003: Elodie Frégé Season 4, 2004: Grégory Lemarchal Season 5, 2005: Magalie Vaé Season 6, 2006: Cyril Cinélu Season 7, 2007-2008: Quentin Mosimann Season 8, 2008: Mickels Réa Season 9, 2012: Spring	Níkos Aliágas (Season 1-8) TBA (Season 9)
Georgia	ვარსკვლავების აკადემია Website	Rustavi 2	Season 1, 2008: Dito Lagvilava Season 2, 2009: Cancelled^[6]	Sopho Khalvashi (Season 1-2) Giorgi Qorqia (Season 1-2)
Germany	Fame Academy Website	RTL 2 Tele 5 MTV2 Pop	Season 1, 2003-2004: Become One^[7]	Nova Meierhenrich (Season 1)
Greece Cyprus	Fame Story Website	ANT1	Season 1, 2002-2003: Notis Christodoulou Season 2, 2003-2004: Kalomoira Saranti Season 3, 2004-2005: Pericles Stergianoudes Season 4, 2005-2006: Leonidas Balafas	Natalia Germanou (Season 1) Andreas Mikroutsikos (Season 2) Tatiana Stefanidou (Season 3) Sophia Aliberti (Season 4)
India	Fame Gurukul Website	SET India	Season 1, 2005: Qazi Touqeer & Ruprekha Banerjee	Mandira Bedi (Season 1-Celebrity) Manav Gohil (Season 1-Celebrity)
	Celebrity Fame Gurukul (Celebrity Format) Website	SET India	Season 1, 2005: Amit Sareen
	Fame X Website	SAB	Season 2, 2007: Rehan Khan	Sophie Choudry Shilpa Sakhlani
Italy	Operazione Trionfo Website	Italia 1	Season 1, 2002: Bruno Cuomo	Miguel Bosé (Season 1)
Italy	Star Academy Website	RAI 2	Season 1, 2011: Cancelled	Francesco Facchinetti (Season 1)
Kazakhstan	Жұлдыздар фабрикасы Juldizdar Fabrikasi Website	TV7	Season 1, 2011: Alisher Egemberdiev	Unknow
Mexico	Operación Triunfo Website	Televisa SKY (Live)	Season 1, 2002: Darina Márquez	Jaime Camil (Season 1)
Moldova	Fabrica de Staruri Website	Prime TV 2 Plus	Season 1, 2008-2009: Alexandru Manciu Season 2, 2010: Alexandru Belenki	Andreea Raicu (Season 1) Dan Negru (Season 2)
Netherlands	Star Maker Website	Yorin	Season 1, 2001: K-otic^[8]	Gijs Staverman (Season 1)
Netherlands	Star Academy	Yorin	Season 2, 2002: Cancelled	Danny Rook (Season 1)
Peru	Operación Triunfo	América Televisión	Season 1, 2012: Upcoming season	Gisela Valcárcel (Season 1)
Philippines	Pinoy Dream Academy Website	ABS-CBN Studio 23	Season 1, 2006: Yeng Constantino Season 2, 2008: Laarni Lozada	Nikki Gil (Season 1-2) Toni Gonzaga (Season 1-2) Bianca Gonzalez (Season 1)
Philippines	Pinoy Dream Academy: Little Dreamers (Kids Format)	ABS-CBN Studio 23	Season 1, 2008: Philip Nolasco
Poland	Fabryka Gwiazd Website	Polsat	Season 1, 2008: Martyna Melosik	Maciej Rock (Season 1)
Portugal^[9]	Academia de Estrelas Website	TVI	Season 1, 2002-2003: Mané Crestejo	Teresa Guilherme (Season 1)
	Academia de Famosos (Celebrity Format) Website	TVI	Season 1, 2003: Romana	Paulo Pires (Season 1)
	Operação Triunfo Website	RTP	Season 1, 2003: Sofia Barbosa Season 2, 2003-2004: Sofia Vitória Season 3, 2007-2008: Vânia Fernandes Season 4, 2010-2011: Jorge Roque	Catarina Furtado (Season 1-2) Sílvia Alberto (Season 3-4)
Romania	Star Factory Website	Prima TV	Season 1, 2003-2004: Alex Velea	Laura Iordache (Season 1) Virgil Ianțu (Season 1)
Russia	Фабрика звёзд Fabrika zvyozd Website	1TV	Season 1, 2002: Pasha Artemyev^[10] Season 2, 2003: Polina Gagarina Season 3, 2003: Nikita Malinin Season 4, 2004: Irina Dubtsova Season 5, 2004: Victoria Dayneko Season 6, 2006: Dmitry Koldun Season 7, 2007: Anastasiya Prikhodko season 8, 2012: Upcoming Season	Yana Churikova (Season 1-7, All-Stars)
Russia	Фабрика Звезд. Возвращение Fabrika Zvyozd.Vozvrachtcheniè (All-Stars Format) Website	1TV	Season 1, 2011: Victoria Dayneko	Yana Churikova (Season 1-7, All-Stars)
Spain	Operación Triunfo Website	TVE (Season 1-3) Telecinco (Season 4-8) Telecinco 2 (Season 6) La Siete (Season 7-8) Canal Satélite Digital (Live) (Season 1-3) Digital+ (Live) (Season 5-6)	Season 1, 2001-2002: Rosa López Season 2, 2002-2003: Ainhoa Cantalapiedra Season 3, 2003-2004: Vicente Seguí Season 4, 2005: Sergio Rivero Season 5, 2006-2007: Lorena Gómez Season 6, 2008: Virginia Maestro Season 7, 2009: Mario Álvarez Season 8, 2011: Nahuel Sachak	Carlos Lozano (Season 1-3) Jesús Vázquez (Season 4-7) Pilar Rubio (Season 8)
Turkey	Akademi Türkiye Website	ATV	Season 1, 2004: Barış Akarsu	Öykü Serter (Season 1-3)
	Star Akademi Türkiye Website	Kanal 1	Season 2, 2008: Bahadır Sağlam
	Star Akademi Website	Star TV	Season 3, 2011: Giray Songül
UK	Fame Academy Website	BBC One BBC Three	Series 1, 2002: David Sneddon Series 2, 2003: Alex Parks	Cat Deeley (Season 1-2) Patrick Kielty (Season 1-2)
	Comic Relief Does Fame Academy (Celebrity Format)		Series 1, 2003: Will Mellor Series 2, 2005: Edith Bowman Series 3, 2007: Tara Palmer-Tomkinson	Cat Deeley (Season 1-2) Patrick Kielty (Season 1-3) Claudia Winkleman (Season 3)
	Fame Academy Bursary		Series 1, 2003: Vishal Gopal Series 2, 2003: Shona Kipling Series 3, 2003: Daniel Allinson Series 4, 2003: Daniel Powell Series 5, 2003: David Rimbault	No presenters
Ukraine	Фабрика зірок Fabrika Zirok Website	Novyi Kanal	Season 1, 2007-2008: Olga Tsibulska Season 2, 2008: Vladimir Dantes & Vadim Oleynik Season 3, 2009: Stas Shurins Season 4, 2011: Yulia Rudneva Season 5, 2012: Upcoming Season	Andriy Domansky (Season 1) Dmitry Shepelev (Season 2) Andriy Domansky (Season 3) Masha Efrosinina (Season 3) Oleksandr Pedan (Season 4) Erika (Season 4)
Ukraine	Фабрика Суперфiнал Fabrika Superfinal (All-Stars Format)	Novyi Kanal	Season 1, 2010: Oleksiy Matias	Masha Efrosinina
USA	The One: Making a Music Star Website	ABC CBC	Season 2006: Cancelled^[11]	George Stroumboulopoulos (Season 1)
West Africa^[12]	Project Fame West Africa Website	TV3 (Season 1-3) Metro TV (Season 4-) Clare TV (Season 1-3) SKY TV (Season 4-) NTA (Season 1-) ABC TV (Season 1-3) SLBC (Season 4-)	Season 1, 2008: Inyanya Mbuk Season 2, 2009: Mike Anyasodo Season 3, 2010: Chidinma Ekile Season 4, 2011: Monica Ogah	Dare Art Alade (Season 1) Fumnilayo Raimi (Season 1) Joseph Benjamin (Season 2-4) Adaora Oleh (Season 2-4)
Western Balkans^[13]	Операција триумф Operacija Trijumf Website	B92 Nova TV TV In FTV/RTRS A1 TV	Season 1, 2008-2009: Adnan Babajić	Ana Mihajlovski (Season 1) Nikolina Pišek (Season 1) Milan Kalinić (Season 1) Maca Marinković (Season 1)

^ Pan regional version with 11 African countries involved: Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
^ Adaptation for the Maghreb area. Countries taking part: Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia.
^ Lebanese-Produced, Pan-Arab version, with 19 contestants chosen from the Arab World countries taking part in it (watching, voting and/or with a contestant): Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE and Yemen.
^ Mónica Rodríguez was chosen as the winner by the jury, however César Ávila was the most voted by the public.
^ Joint version with contestants from Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
^ The five-storey building housing Georgia's "Star Academy" collapsed on April 26, 2009. Two people on the production staff were killed, and the series was abandoned out of respect to those killed. Eight contestants remained. No decision on the future of the series or contestants.
^ (resulting six-member band).
^ Resulting a seven-member band.
^ Endemol produced two versions for each channel.
^ Pasha Artemyev decided to share the award with the other finalists and to create the band Korni.
^ After two weeks, ABC cancelled the series with four episodes aired. No results were announced.
^ Joint version with contestants from Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
^ Joint version with contestants from Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia.

Parodies of Star Academy

Mexico: Aperración al Triunfo
France: StarLoose Academy

Trivia of Star Academy

France was the first one country to air the show
Rosa López from Spain is the first winner
In Mexico, the "Academy" was called "The institute"
In Philippines, they make their own version for kids entitled Pinoy Dream Academy: Little Dreamers
In Portugal, the setting and the academy were exactly the same as in Spain
In Chile, the setting was exactly the same as in Argentina
Marin Yonchev from Bulgaria won the Star Academy when he was 17
Darina Márquez from Mexico, Joseph Attieh from Lebanon, Nassif Zayton from Syria and Quentin Mosimann from France never were nominated
Spanish final on TVE 68% market share
Six million albums were sold during series 1 in Spain
BBC choice in the UK the most watched program
Nearly doubled ratings of TV Globo in Brazil
In Italy, Operazione Trionfo scored seven singles in the top 30 charts
In Russia the Factory of the Stars' website averages 60 000 visitors per day
Vanessa Jackson from Brazil, won FAMA With 18 millions of votes
In the Arab world, the Star Academy is the most watched TV program
In India there were 2 winners
In Russia, Pasha Artemyev decided to share his award with his partners, they integrate the band "Korni"
David Sneddon from UK was invited to participate in "The Winners gala" but he couldn't go
In Portugal Endemol produced two Star Academy versions in different channels
In UK David Sneddon was chosen to replace Naomi who had to leave the Fame Academy due to the problems with her throat
The series was abandoned in two countries:
- North American English (US/Canada), 2006: Show abandoned after two weeks.
- Georgia, 2009: Two members of the production staff were killed when the building collapsed.

Special concerts of Star Academy

Country	Concert	Winner
Spain	"Gala de los ganadores" (The Winners Gala)	No winners
France	EUROBEST	Chenoa (from Spain)
France	WORLDBEST	Elodie (from France)

EUROBEST

Country	Contestant	Song
Spain	Chenoa (finalist of Operación Triunfo 1)	"It's Raining Men"
Belgium	Mélanie Martin's	"Like a Prayer"
United Kingdom	Lemar (finalist of Fame Academy 1)	"With or Without You"
Portugal	Mané Crestejo and Lília Matos	"Sussudio"
Greece	Notis Christodoulou	"1,2,3… Maria"
France	Nolwenn Leroy	"I Will Always Love You"
Netherlands	Sita Vermeulen	"All I Wanna Do"
Russia	Korni	"We Will Rock You"
Italy	Bruno Cuomo	"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"

"Gala de los ganadores" (The winners gala)

Country	Contestant	Song
Spain	Ainhoa Cantalapiedra	"Sobreviviré"
Mexico	Darina Márquez	"Mujer contra mujer"
Brazil	Vanessa Jackson	"De volta pra mim"
Italy	Bruno Cuomo	"L'atmosfera"

WORLDBEST

Country	Contestant	Song
Spain	Miguel and Davinia (Operación Triunfo 3's finalists)	"As"
Argentina	Emanuel (finalist of Operación Triunfo 1)	"Feel"
United Kingdom	Alistair (Fame Academy 2's finalist)	"Everything I do"
Brazil	Nalanda (finalist of FAMA 1)	"Whenever"
Chile	Mónica Rodríguez	"Lady marmalade"
France	Elodie Frégé	"S'il suffisait d'aimer"
Lebanon	Bruno (Star Academy 1)	"The cup of life"
Russia	Yulia Savicheva(finalist of Fabrika Zvezd 2)	"Thorn"
Mexico	Darina Márquez	"Hero"
Canada	Wilfred Le Bouthillier and Marie-Elaine	"Turn around"
Germany	Become One	"Fame"