BBC Entertainment has teamed up with the “Big Brother” of reality TV, Endemol, or at least, its music entertainment producer Initial, to produce its own answer to Pop Idol.
Fame Academy plans to put 12 pop hopefuls through intense training to become pop stars, with footage of them living and rehearsing together forming a series which will go out on BBC1, BBC Choice, Radio One and BBCi.
It is promised that public voting and viewer interaction will form a key part of the series, while the prize at the end is being billed (by the BBC) as “the biggest in showbiz history.” Part of the interactive element will be professional advice and specialist information on how to succeed in the business for wannabes watching at home.
Jane Lush, controller of entertainment commissioning, said: “I’m really excited about the scale and ambition of this programme and the chance to combine story telling, emotion and music.” Similar formats to Fame Academy have already proved successful for Endemol in European countries including Holland, France and Spain.
The BBC is currently asking potential participants to send in short VHS tapes of themselves performing a well-known song. The resulting entries would doubtless provide another series in itself…
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