Star Academy

For other uses, see Star Academy (disambiguation).

Star Academy is a Dutch-developed reality television talent show format that first aired in the Netherlands as Star Maker.

Star Academy
Created by	John de Mol Tim van Rongen
Original work	Star Maker (the Netherlands)
Owner	Banijay Entertainment
Years	2001–present

Format

There are many versions of the 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

Location of different versions of Star Academy

  Own version

  Joint version

The public entity RTVE participated with Gestmusic, a Spanish branch of Endemol, in the development of a music program in 2001. The objective was to promote three musical careers and to find the new representative of Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest. After carrying out a series of auditions for thousands of people throughout Spain, on 22 October 2001, the first Operación Triunfo season began airing on Spanish television channel, La 1. A total of 16 contestants were candidates for the prize. Although production company Gestmusic created the format, Star Academy first premiered in France on 20 October 2001, two days before Operación Triunfo began airing in Spain.

Star Academy 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 Idols franchise, but different in that it also shows the contestants' lives together in the "Academy" where they are trained; 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.

In 2009, the Georgian local version of the show was cancelled mid-season as a result of their Academy building collapsing. Two on-site technical staff members died in the collapse in the early morning of 26 April 2009. Several contestants were brought to hospital following the disaster, but none of them were in danger. Rustavi 2 subsequently axed the series.

In 2011, most Star Academy series outside of Africa and the Middle East were phased out in favor of another musical competition format from Endemol, The Voice. In Europe, many of the series were cancelled as a result of lower ratings and high production costs. In 2017, the series was revived in Spain after six years of absence and Russia after an absence of ten years. Although the Spanish series became a ratings success, the Russian revival became a ratings flop and was not renewed in 2018.

During the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Spain was the only country in the world that was producing a season of the show. The contestants were aware of the developments with regards to the pandemic, which led to the show being eventually paused for several months with the contestants sent home.

Star Academy around the world

There were more than 30 franchises of Star Academy all around the world, with 103 winners. As of 2020, only the Spanish version is still in production. The French-Canadian adaptation (based on the French version) returned in winter 2021.

  Franchise with a currently airing season

  Franchise awaiting confirmation

  Franchise with an unknown status

  Franchise with an upcoming season

  Franchise no longer in production

Region	Local name	Channel	Winner	Main Presenters
African Countries	Project Fame Website	M-Net DStv (Live) The Africa Channel (Broadcast in 2008)	Season 1, 2004: Lindiwe Alam	James Alexander Vusi Twala
Arab Maghreb	Star Academy Maghreb Website	Nessma TV	Season 1, 2007: Hajar Adnane	Nabila El Kilani
Arab world	Star Academy Arabia Website Website Website	LBCI CBC (starting season 9)	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 Zeytoun Season 8, 2011: Nessma Alaa Mahgoub Season 9, 2013–2014: Mahmoud Mohey Season 10, 2014: Mohamed Chahine Season 11, 2015–2016: Marwan Youssef	Hilda Khalife
Argentina	Operación Triunfo Website Website 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 Season 5, 2012–2013: F.A.N.S.	Alejandro Wiebe, "Marley" (Season 1–4) Germán Paoloski (Season 5)
Belgium	Star Academy (Dutch) Website Website	Kanaal Twee	Season 1, 2005: Katerine Avgoustakis	Walter Grootaers
	Star Academy (French) Website	RTL-TVI	Season 1, 2002: Mélanie Martin's	Virginie Efira & Frédéric Hebrays
Bolivia	La Fábrica de Estrellas - Star Academy Website	Red Unitel	Season 1, 2016: David Soliz Season 2, 2016: Vania Taborga	Anabel Angus Angélica Mérida
Brazil	Fama Website Website	Rede 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) Toni Garrido (Season 1-2)
Bulgaria	Star Academy Website	Nova Television Nova+ (Live) CableTel (Live)	Season 1, 2005: Marin Yonchev	Maria Ilieva
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: Jean-Marc Couture Season 6, 2021: William Cloutier Season 7, 2022: Krystel Mongeau Season 8, 2025 : Upcoming season	Julie Snyder (Season 1–5) Patrice Michaud (Season 6) Marc Dupré (Season 7) Jean-Philippe Dion (Season 8–)
Chile	Operación Triunfo Website	Mega	Season 1, 2003: Mónica Rodríguez	Álvaro Escobar
East Africa	Tusker Project Fame Website Website	M-Net (Africa) (Season 1) NTV (Season 1) Citizen TV (Season 2–5) RTNB (Season 5) Channel 10 (Season 1) StarTV (Season 2–3, 5) TBC (Season 4) UBC (Season 1, 4) WBS (Season 2–3) NTV (Season 5) Rwanda TV (Season 3–5) SSTV (Season 4) Channel 146 (Season 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: Ruth Matete	Gaetano Kagwa (Season 1) Fumnilayo Raimi (Season 2) Mich Egwang (Season 3–5) Sheila Mwanyigah (Season 3–5)
	Tusker All-Stars (All-Stars Format)		Season 1, 2011: Davis Ntare, Peter Msechu & Alpha Rwirangira	Gaetano Kagwa Eve D'Souza
France	Star Academy Website Website Website	TF1 (Season 1–8, 10-) NRJ 12 (Season 9)	Season 1, 2001–2002: Jenifer Bartoli Season 2, 2002: Nolwenn Leroy Season 3, 2003: Élodie 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, 2012–2013: Laurène Bourvon Season 10, 2022: Anisha Jo Season 11, 2023-2024: Pierre Garnier Season 12, 2024: Current season	Nikos Aliagas (Season 1–8, 10-) Mathieu Delormeau (Season 9) Tonya Kinzinger (Season 9)
Georgia	ვარსკვლავების აკადემია Varskvlavebis Akademia Website	Rustavi 2	Season 1, 2008: Dito Lagvilava Season 2, 2009: Cancelled	Sopho Khalvashi Giorgi Qorqia
Germany	Fame Academy Website	RTL II Tele 5 MTV2 Pop	Season 1, 2003–2004: Become One	Nova Meierhenrich
Greece / Cyprus	Fame Story Website	ANT1	Season 1, 2002: Notis Christodoulou Season 2, 2004: Kalomira Season 3, 2004–2005: Pericles Stergianoudes Season 4, 2006: Leonidas Balafas	Natalia Germanou (1) Andreas Mikroutsikos (2) Tatiana Stefanidou (3) Sophia Aliberti (4)
		Star Channel Omega TV	Season 5, 2023: Anna Poltzoglou	Nikos Koklonis
	Star Academy - Super Star Academy Website	Epsilon TV Plus Channel Cyprus	Season 1, 2017: Christina Ksirokosta	Menios Fourthiotis
Hungary	Star Academy Magyaroszág Website	TV2	Season 1, 2016: Renáta Szőcs	Majka Nóra Ördög
India	Fame Gurukul Website	SET India	Season 1, 2005: Qazi Touqeer & Ruprekha Banerjee	Mandira Bedi (Season 1-Celebrity) Manav Gohil (Season 1-Celebrity) Sophie Choudry (Season 2) Shilpa Sakhlani (Season 2)
	Celebrity Fame Gurukul (Celebrity Format) Website		Season 1, 2005: Amit Sareen
	Fame X Chal Udiye Website	SAB TV	Season 2, 2006–2007: Rehan Khan
Israel	סטאר אקדמי	Reshet 13	Season 1, 2024: Upcoming season	Noa Kirel
Italy	Operazione Trionfo Website	Italia 1	Season 1, 2002: Bruno Cuomo	Miguel Bosé
	Star Academy Website	Rai 2	Season 1, 2011: Cancelled	Francesco Facchinetti
Kazakhstan	Жұлдыздар фабрикасы Juldizdar Fabrikasi Website	TV7	Season 1, 2011: Alisher Egemberdiev	Adil Liyan
Mexico	Operación Triunfo Website	Televisa (Live)	Season 1, 2002: Darina Márquez	Jaime Camil
Mongolia	Оддын академи Oddin akademi	Edutainment TV	Season 1, 2017: The Wasabies
Netherlands	Star Maker Website	Yorin	Season 1, 2001: K-otic	Gijs Staverman
	Star Academy Website		Season 2, 2002: Cancelled	Danny Rook
Peru	Operación Triunfo Website	América Televisión	Season 1, 2012: Mayra Alejandra Goñi	Gisela Valcárcel
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) Sam Milby (Season 1) Roxanne Barcelo (Season 1) Billy Crawford (Season 2)
	Pinoy Dream Academy: Little Dreamers (Kids Format)		Season 1, 2008: Philip Nolasco
Poland	Fabryka Gwiazd Website	Polsat	Season 1, 2008: Martyna Melosik	Maciej Rock
Portugal	Academia de Estrelas Website Website	TVI	Season 1, 2002–03: Mané Crestejo	Teresa Guilherme
	Academia de Famosos (Celebrity Format) Website Website		Season 1, 2003: Romana	Paulo Pires Fernanda Serrano
	Operação Triunfo Website Website Website	RTP	Season 1, 2003: Sofia Barbosa Season 2, 2003–04: Sofia Vitória Season 3, 2007–08: Vânia Fernandes Season 4, 2010–11: Jorge Roque	Catarina Furtado (Seasons 1–2) Sílvia Alberto (Seasons 3–4)
Romania	Star Factory Website	Prima TV	Season 1, 2003–2004: Alex Velea	Laura Iordache Virgil Ianțu
	Fabrica de Staruri Website Website	Prime TV 2 Plus TVR1 (Season 3)	Season 1, 2008–2009: Alexandru Manciu Season 2, 2010: Alexandru Belenki Season 3, 2012: Alexandru Mataev	Andreea Raicu (Season 1) Dan Negru (Season 2) Marius Vizante (Season 3)
Russia	Фабрика звёзд Fabrika zvyozd Website	Channel One	Season 1, 2002: Pasha Artemyev 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	Yana Churikova
	Фабрика звёзд. Возвращение Fabrika Zvyozd. Vozvrachtcheniè (All-Stars Format) Website		Season 1, 2011: Victoria Dayneko
	Фабрика звёзд. Россия-Украина Fabrika Zvyozd. Rossiya-Ukrayina (All-Stars Format) Website Website	Channel One Novyi Kanal	Season 1, 2012: Russia	Yana Churikova Dmitry Shepelyov
	Новая Фабрика звёзд Novaya Fabrika zvyozd Website	Muz-TV (Season 1) TNT (Season 2)	Season 1, 2017: Guzel Hasanova Season 2, 2024: Maria Gordeeva	Ksenia Sobchak (Season 1) Regina Todorenko Timur Rodriguez (Season 2)
Spain	Operación Triunfo Website Website Website	La 1 (Seasons 1–3, 9–11) Telecinco (Seasons 4–8) Amazon Prime Video (Season 12–)	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 Season 9, 2017–2018: Amaia Romero Season 10, 2018: Famous Oberogo Season 11, 2020: Nía Correia Season 12, 2023–2024: Naiara Moreno Season 13, TBA: Upcoming season	Carlos Lozano (Season 1–3) Jesús Vázquez (Season 4–7) Pilar Rubio (Season 8) Roberto Leal (Season 9–11) Chenoa (Season 12–)
Turkey	Akademi Türkiye Website	ATV	Season 1, 2004: Barış Akarsu	Öykü Serter
	Anadolu Rüzgarı Website	TGRT	Season 2, 2005: Nesil
	Star Akademi Türkiye Website	Kanal 1	Season 3, 2008: Bahadır Sağlam
	Star Akademi Website	Star TV	Season 4, 2011: Giray Songül
Ukraine	Фабрика зірок Fabrika Zirok Website	Novyi Kanal	Season 1, 2007–2008: Olga Tsibulska & Alexander Bodyansky Season 2, 2008: Vladimir Dantes & Vadim Oleynik Season 3, 2009: Stas Shurins Season 4, 2011: Yulia Rudneva	Andriy Domansky (Season 1, 3) Dmitry Shepelev (Season 2) Vasilisa Frolova (Season 1) Masha Efrosinina (Season 3) Oleksandr Pedan (Season 4) Erika (Season 4)
	Фабрика Суперфiнал Fabrika Superfinal (All-Stars Format)		Season 1, 2010: Oleksiy Matias	Masha Efrosinina
United Kingdom	Fame Academy Website	BBC One BBC Three	Season 1, 2002: David Sneddon Season 2, 2003: Alex Parks	Cat Deeley Patrick Kielty
	Comic Relief Does Fame Academy (Celebrity Format)		Season 1, 2003: Will Mellor Season 2, 2005: Edith Bowman Season 3, 2007: Tara Palmer-Tomkinson	Cat Deeley (Seasons 1–2) Patrick Kielty (Seasons 1–3) Claudia Winkleman (Season 3)
	Fame Academy Bursary		Season 1, 2003: Vishal Gopal Season 2, 2003: Shona Kipling Season 3, 2003: Daniel Allinson Season 4, 2003: Daniel Powell Season 5, 2003: David Rimbault	—
United States	The One: Making a Music Star Website Website	ABC CBC	Season 1, 2006: Cancelled	George Stroumboulopoulos
Vietnam	Star Academy: Ngôi nhà âm nhạc Website	HTV	Season 1, 2012: Phạm Quốc Huy	Yến Trang Tuấn Tú
	Star Academy Vietnam: Học viện ngôi sao Website	VTV	Season 1, 2014: Hoà Nguyễn (Hoà Minzy) Season 2, 2015: Nguyễn Ngọc Thảo Nhi	Dustin Nguyễn Tú Linh
West Africa	Project Fame West Africa Website	TV3 (Season 1–3) Metro TV (Season 4–present) Clare TV (Season 1–3, 5–present) SKY TV (Season 4) AIT (Season 1–5) GET TV (Season 5–present) MiTV NTA Nigerzie ONTV Silverbird SoundCity ABC TV (Season 1–3) SLBC (Season 4–5)	Season 1, 2008: Iyanya Mbuk Season 2, 2009: Mike Anyasodo Season 3, 2010: Chidinma Ekile Season 4, 2011: Monica Ogah Season 5, 2012: Ayobami Ayoola Season 6, 2013: Olawale Ayodele Season 7, 2014: Geoffrey Oji Season 8, 2015: Jeffery Akor Season 9, 2016: Okiemute Ighorodje	Dare Art Alade (Season 1) Funlola Raimi (Season 1) Joseph Benjamin (Season 2-9) Adaora Oleh (Season 2–6) Bolanle Olukanni (Season 7-9)
Western Balkans	Операција триумф Operacija Trijumf Website Website Website Website	B92 Nova TV TV In FTV/RTRS A1 TV	Season 1, 2008–2009: Adnan Babajić	Ana Mihajlovski Nikolina Pišek Milan Kalinić Maca Marinković

Star Academy hymns, official themes

Region	Local name	Hymn
African Countries	Project Fame Website
Arab Maghreb	Star Academy Maghreb Website	Lili Twil (Long nights)
Arab world	Star Academy Arabia Website
Argentina	Operación Triunfo Website	Season 1-3: Canta (Sing)
Belgium	Star Academy Flanders (Dutch) Website	Fame
	Star Academy Wallonia (French) Website	Star
Bolivia	La Fábrica de Estrellas - Star Academy
Brazil	FAMA Website	Season 1: Dom Verdadeiro (True Gift)
Bulgaria	Star Academy Website	Fame
Canada	Star Académie Website	Season 1: Et c'est pas fini (And it's not over)
Chile	Operación Triunfo Website	El cielo puedes alcanzar (You can reach the heaven)
East Africa	Tusker Project Fame Website
France	Star Academy Website	Season 1: La Musique (The Music) Season 2: Paris Latino Season 3: La Bamba Season 4: Laissez-moi danser (Let me dance) Season 5: Je ne suis pas un héros Season 6: Porque te vas Season 7: Bangla Desh Season 8: Chante Season 9: Parce qu'on vient de loin Season 10: Ne partez pas sans moi (Don't Leave Without Me) Season 11: Au bout de mes rêves Season 12: Recommence-moi
Georgia	ვარსკვლავების აკადემია Varskvlavebis Akademia Website
Germany	Fame Academy Website	Fame
Greece	Fame Story	Season 1: You can be a star
	Star Academy - Super Star Academy Website
Hungary	Star Academy Magyaroszág Website	season 1: Élj együtt a zenével (Live with the music)
India	Fame Gurukul Website
	Fame X Chal Udiye Website
Italy	Operazione Trionfo Website
	Star Academy Website
Kazakhstan	Жұлдыздар фабрикасы Juldizdar Fabrikasi Website
Mexico	Operación Triunfo Website	Déjame Volar (Let me fly) Mi música es tu voz (My music is your voice)
Mongolia	Оддын академи Oddin akademi
Netherlands	Star Maker Website	Miracles by Jessica Folker
	Star Academy	"A Day Without You" [Main Mix] by Kristine Blond
Peru	Operación Triunfo Website	Que cante tu corazón (Let your heart sing)
Philippines	Pinoy Dream Academy Website	Pinoy Dream Academy (Theme)
Poland	Fabryka Gwiazd Website
Portugal	Academia de Estrelas Website	Alma na voz (Soul in voice)
	Operação Triunfo Website	Season 1: Acreditar (To Believe) Season 2: Sou quem eu quiser (I'm whoever I want)
Romania	Star Factory Website
	Fabrica de Staruri Website Website
Russia	Фабрика звёзд Fabrika zvyozd Website	Season 1-7: Круто ты попал на тв (Cool you got on tv)
	Новая Фабрика звёзд Novaya Fabrika zvyozd Website Archived 27 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine
Spain	Operación Triunfo Website	Season 1: Mi música es tu voz (My music is your voice) Season 2: La fuerza de la vida (The force of life); Un segundo en el camino (A second on the road) Season 5: Adelante (Go ahead) Season 6: Agua (Water) Season 7: Te doy todo (I give you everything); Música (Music) Season 9: Camina (Walk) Season 10: Somos (We are) Season 11: Díselo a la vida (Tell it to life); Sal de mí (Get out of me) Season 12: Historias por contar (Stories to tell)
Turkey	Akademi Türkiye Website
	Star Akademi Türkiye Website
	Star Akademi Website
Ukraine	Фабрика зірок Fabrika Zirok Website	Season 1-4: Гимн Фабрики зірок (Hymn of Фабрики зірок)
United Kingdom	Fame Academy Website
United States	The One: Making a Music Star Website
Vietnam	Star Academy: Ngôi nhà âm nhạc Website
	Star Academy Vietnam: Học viện ngôi sao Website
West Africa	Project Fame West Africa Website
Western Balkans	Операција триумф Operacija Trijumf Website	Himna Akademije (Academy Hymn)

Parodies of Star Academy

• Mexico: Aperración al Triunfo
• France: StarLoose Academy, Vedette de Star
• Greece: Super Star Academy

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" (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"

See also

• List of television show franchises
• La Academia
• American Idol
• Australian Idol
• Making the Band