Star Academy

Star Academy, called Operación Triunfo ("Operation Triumph") in Spanish-speaking countries, is a highly successful television pop music talent contest with viewer voting and reality show elements. The show format originated in Holland, with the original "Starmaker" produced by Endemol, that has been broadcast in over 50 countries.

There are many versions of the Star Academy or Operación Triunfo 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.

The Star Academy concept belongs to the Dutch production company Endemol. The first country to broadcast the format was Holland on March 5, 2001.

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.

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.

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