August 8, 2017
Just over a year after cancelling “American Idol,” the Fox network has announced that it will debut “The Four,” a new singing competition, which will premiere in 2018 on a date to be announced. “American Idol” is being revived on ABC in January 2018, with judge Katy Perry and host Ryan Seacrest as the on-air talent announced so far. “American Idol” was on Fox from 2002 to 2016.
Here is what Fox announced about “The Four” in a press release:
“The Four” begins where most competitions end: with the four finalists. Four super-talented and fiercely competitive singers, chosen from their auditions by the show’s panel of music industry experts, will try to defend their coveted spots on the stage, as they are challenged individually by new singers determined to replace them. Each week, if any of the four are outperformed, they’ll go home and their challengers will take their place.
And those challengers could be fans who had been sitting on a couch one week, and singing onstage the next. Viewers who think they’ve got the talent to compete and unseat the four singers onstage will have the opportunity to submit an audition video. America will have the chance to decide who is brought onto the show by voting on the available streamed auditions and influencing which challengers will take on “The Four” and shake up the competition.
If the existing four singers outperform their challengers, then they survive to sing another week, until the end of the season, when the singers have safely secured their spots on stage and face off against each other, resulting in one being named the winner. At stake is the ultimate prize: the panel of industry experts becomes key players on the winner’s team. This elite group of star-makers will help shepherd the winner’s career and be fully invested in making him or her a breakout star.
Expert panelists and additional information regarding “The Four” will be announced soon.
“The Four” was created by Armoza Formats and is produced by ITV Entertainment in association with Armoza Formats. David George, Adam Sher, David Eilenberg, Jessica Sebastian-Dayeh, Simon Thomas, Becca Walker, David Friedman, Avi Armoza and Nehama Cohen will serve as executive producers.