Popstars is an international reality television franchise aimed to find new singing talent. Serving as a precursor to the Idol franchise, Popstars first began in New Zealand in 1999 when producer Jonathan Dowling formed the girl group TrueBliss. Despite all shows in the Popstars franchise having been off air in recent years, it remains one of the most successful TV show formats of all time with the format being sold to more than 50 countries and producing groups such as Girls Aloud that had success on the UK charts for the next ten years after winning. The show was the inspiration for Simon Fuller's Idol franchise.
The show was the inspiration for Simon Fuller's Pop Idol franchise which would dominate reality TV, (along with Big Brother and Survivor) for the next few years.
Although Popstars started successfully in most countries during the early 2000s, the shows gradually began to fail and were dropped by many broadcasters due to poor ratings. The last country where Popstars was still popular and successful – besides other casting shows such as The X Factor and Got Talent, as well as Idol – was Germany. This is where ProSieben produced the ninth season in 2010 because of the show's massive success in the ratings, but in 2012, Popstars was finally cancelled due to the short success of the groups formed throughout the episodes. In 2007, the show returned to France on M6 for one season. A new version of Popstars started in 2008 in the Netherlands and ran for three seasons. Germany's version returned for an eleventh season in 2015, but would later get cancelled following poor ratings. In 2021, a revamped version of the original New Zealand series returned to TVNZ. The new series focuses on individual artists and songwriting development and does not involve putting together a pop group.
Franchise has ceased production Franchise awaiting debut or renewal
Argentina | El Nueve (1) Telefe (2) | Season 1, 2001: Bandana Season 2, 2002: Mambrú | ||||
Australia | Popstars | Seven Network | Season 1, 2000: Bardot Season 2, 2001: Scandal'us Season 3, 2002: Scott Cain | |||
Popstars Live | Season 1, 2004: Kayne Taylor | Miranda Murphy | ||||
Austria | Popstars: Mission Österreich | Puls 4 Website | Season 1, 2011: | Season 1, 2011: | ||
Belgium | Pop Stars | VT4 | Season 1, 2001: Vanda Vanda | |||
Brazil | Popstars | SBT | , 2002: Rouge Season 2, 2003: Br'oZ | Season 1: Ksis, , Maíra Charken, Marjorie Estiano and Season 2: Vinícius "D'Black" Cardoso | ||
Canada | Popstars (1) Popstars: Boy Meets Girl (2) Popstars: The One (3) | CTV (1) Global TV (2–3) | Season 1, 2001: Sugar Jones Season 2, 2002: Velvet Empire Season 3, 2003: Christa Borden | Julie Crochetière | ||
Colombia | Popstars | Canal Caracol | Season 1, 2002: Escarcha | |||
Denmark | Popstars (1–3, 5) Popstars Showtime! (4) | TV 2 (1–4) Kanal 5 (5) | Season 1, 2001: EyeQ Season 2, 2002: Jon Nørgaard Season 3, 2003: Season 4, 2004: Maria Lucia Season 5, 2014: Linnea | Season 2: Julie Berthelsen and Christine Milton Season 3: Emil Thorup | ||
Ecuador | Popstars | Teleamazonas | Season 1, 2003: Kiruba Season 2, 2004: La Coba | |||
Finland | MTV3 | Season 1, 2002: Gimmel, Paula Vesala, Mira Luoti Season 2, 2004: INDX | Season 1: Jenni Vartiainen Season 2: Jane | |||
France | Popstars (1–2, 4–) Popstars – le duel (3) | M6 (1–4) D8 (5) Amazon Prime Video (6-) | Season 1, 2001: L5 Season 2, 2002: Whatfor Season 3, 2003: Linkup Season 4, 2007: Sheryfa Luna Season 5, 2013: The Mess Season 6, 2024: SOR4 | Season 1: Louisy Joseph Season 2: Chimène Badi Season 3: Diadems and M. Pokora Season 4: Léa Castel, Slimane Season 5: Sindy Auvity | ||
Germany | Popstars | RTL Zwei (1–2, 11) ProSieben (3–10) | Season 1, 2000–01: No Angels Season 2, 2001: Bro'Sis Season 3, 2003: Overground Season 4, 2004: Nu Pagadi Season 5, 2006: Monrose Season 6, 2007: Room 2012 Season 7, 2008: Queensberry : Some & Any : LaViVe : Season 11, 2015: Leandah | Season 2: Yasmin K. Season 3: Preluders Season 5: Bisou | ||
Greece | Popstars | Mega Channel | Season 1, 2003: Hi-5 | |||
Hungary | Popsztárok | TV2 | Season 1, 2002: Sugar & Spice | |||
India | Coke V Popstars | Channel V | Season 1, 2002: Viva Season 2, 2003: Aasma | |||
Indonesia | Popstars Indonesia | Trans TV | Season 1, 2003: Sparx | |||
Ireland | Irish Popstars | RTÉ One | Season 1, 2002: Six | Nadine Coyle | ||
Italy | Popstar (1) Superstar Tour (2) | Italia 1 | Season 1, 2001: Lollipop Season 2, 2003: Lucky Star | Season 1: Valentina Monetta | ||
Kenya | Coca-Cola Popstars | Season 1, 2004: Sema (Kenya) | ||||
Malaysia | Popstars | ntv7 | Season 1, 2003: By'U | |||
Mexico | Popstars | Televisa | Season 1, 2002: T' de Tila | (Playa Limbo) Ana Brenda Contreras | ||
Netherlands | Popstars: The Rivals | RTL 4 | Season 1, 2004: Men2B (boys), Raffish (girls) | |||
Popstars | SBS6 | Season 1, 2008: RED! Season 2, 2009–10: Wesley Klein Season 3, 2010–11: Dean Saunders | ||||
New Zealand | Popstars | TVNZ 2 | Season 1, 1999: TrueBliss Season 2, 2021: Christabel Williams Season 3, TBA: Renewal pending | |||
Norway | Popstars | TV3 | Season 1, 2001: Cape | |||
Portugal | Popstars | SIC | Season 1, 2001: Nonstop | Gémeas | ||
Romania | Popstars | Pro TV | Season 1, 2003: Cocktail | |||
Russia | Rossiya 1 | Season 1, 2002: Drugie Pravila (Другие правила; lit. Other rules) | ||||
Slovakia | Markíza | Season 1, 2001: Seven Days to Winter Season 2, 2002: Misha Season 3, 2003: Zuzana Smatanová Season 4, 2004: Vetroplach Season 5, 2005: Bystrík Season 6, 2006: Ivo Bič Season 7, 2007: Peoples Season 8, 2008: Mária Čírová | ||||
Slovenia | Popstars | Kanal A | Season 1, 2002: Bepop Season 2, 2003: Unique | Season 2: B.B.T. and Hajdi Korošec | ||
South Africa | Popstars | SABC 1 (1–3) e.tv (4) | Season 1, 2002: 101 Season 2, 2003: Adilah Season 3 2004: Jamali and Ghetto Lingo Season 4, 2010: Nne Vida | Season 1: Afro Z | ||
Spain | Telecinco | Season 1, 2002: Bellepop | Jesús Vázquez | |||
Sweden | Popstars | Kanal 5 | Season 1, 2001: Excellence Season 2, 2002: Supernatural Season 3, 2003: Johannes Kotschy | Season 2: Martin Rolinski | ||
Switzerland | Popstars | TV3 | Season 1, 2001: Tears | |||
Tanzania | Coca-Cola Popstars | Season 1, 2004: Wakilisha | ||||
Turkey | Popstars | Kanal D (1) Show TV (2) Star TV (3) | Season 1, 2003: Adibin Özşahin Season 2, 2004: Selçuk Demirelli Season 3, 2006: Metin Levent | |||
Uganda | Coca-Cola Popstars | Season 1, 2004: Blu3 | ||||
Ukraine | Суперзірка (Superstar) | 1+1 | Season 1, 2010: Viktoriya Korzheniuk | |||
United Kingdom | Popstars (1) (2) | ITV | Season 1, 2001: Hear'Say Season 2, 2002: Girls Aloud | Season 1: Liberty X , Darius Campbell, Warren Stacey Season 2: One True Voice, Javine Hylton, Clea, Phixx, The Cheeky Girls, Hazel Kaneswaran | ||
United States | Popstars USA | The WB | Season 1, Early 2001: Eden's Crush Season 2, Late 2001: Scene 23 | Season 1: Nicole Scherzinger, Nikki McKibbin Season 2: Josh Henderson | ||
Bandana |
February 2002 |
May 2002 |
Noche |
Vivir Intentando |
Mambrú |
Startin' Somethin' |
Bardot |
Controlled Folly |
Rouge |
October 2002 |
C'est La Vie |
October 2003 |
Br'oZ |
Sugar Jones |
Next, Please |
Kiruba |
June 2003 |
August 2003 |
November 2003 |
Baila La Luna |
L5 |
Whatfor |
Notre étoile |
Sheryfa Luna |
January 2008 |
Elle'Ments |
August 2001 |
Now... Us! |
Pure |
Never Forget (Where You Come From) |
It's Done |
Girls in the House |
Your Dark Side |
Temptation |
Strictly Physical |
This Is It |
Popstars |
Nonstop |
A Different Way |
How Raffish Are You? |
Dream |
Popstars |
June 2001 |
Sound of the Underground |
What Will the Neighbours Say? |
Stand-alone single for Comic Relief |
Out of Control |
|
|