Idool (TV series)
| Idool | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Created by | Simon Fuller |
| Presented by |
Koen Wauters Kris Wauters |
| Judges | Jean Blaute Jan Leyers Nina De Man Herman Schueremans and others |
| Country of origin | Belgium |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| Production company(s) |
FremantleMedia 19 Television |
| Distributor | FremantleMedia Enterprises & VTM |
| Release | |
| Original release | January 3, 2003 – 2011 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Idool is the Belgian version of the Idol series. The series was launched in late 2002 by Belgian television network vtm. The contestants are first narrowed down to 100 contestants, and then down to 30-50 through several auditions and tests by a panel of judges. From this point on, the viewers decide who are in and who are out, and the judges limit themselves to commenting. TV viewers being what they are, the votes are based not solely on the singers vocal performance, but also on his or her looks, clothes, entertainment value, and other factors.
In difference to the versions from other countries of the franchise, several contestants achieved on-going success in the local music industry, most notably Natalia Druyts, runner-up from season one, who managed to sell over 400,000 albums, and over 1 million concert tickets between 2003 and 2010 in Flanders; and Hadise Açıkgöz, who did not even make the top 10 in Season 1 but nevertheless became a career musician who represented Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 placing 4th. In 2012 vtm replaced Idool with another singing talent competition, The Voice van Vlaanderen, while still retaining the rights to Idool's format.
Auditions were held in Antwerp, Ghent & Brussels where the top 100 was invited to the next round. The season was launched in late 2002 and was aired until May when Peter Evrard narrowly beat Natalia Druyts with just 50.7% of the votes. Evrard would eventually represent his country on World Idol later that year where managed to place as 2nd runner-up but was clearly outdone by his female competition on a larger scale. The show saw most of its finalists landing record deals, most notably Wim Soutaer and Brahim Attaeb, who placed 3rd and 4th respectively. Other cast members included Hadise Açıkgöz, who started a successful singing career the year later and became the host of the second season of X Factor, Udo Mechels who won the first season of X Factor and Johan Waem, who achieved European-wide success under his stage name Danzel. All of the three managed to enter the top 50 but were not chosen by the viewers to advance to the final 10.
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