The man behind MTV’s ‘The Real World’ - George Verschoor – is launching a country music pop idol in the US which will base itself on the BBC’s critically panned Fame Academy. Auditions began in Nashville yesterday with some 400 wannabe country stars competing for a place on the show. Ten finalists will be selected from 30 auditions around the US. Like the Fame Academy the finalists will then live together in a Big Brother style house where they will meet, write, and work with people from Nashville's country music industry. Here’s hoping the show gets a better reaction than Fame Academy when it gets aired.
Elsewhere in the world of pop idol TV – 2000 hopefuls showed up to the Detroit auditions for the second series of American Idol earlier this week, Shania Twain has led a masterclass in the BBC’s Fame Academy house as she does the media rounds in the UK promoting new single ‘Gonna Getcha Good’, and the Mirror has said the five girls who make it into the final Popstars band in the UK will release a cover of the East 17 song ‘Stay Another Day’ in their bid for the Christmas number one. It will double a-side with an original song and will be released on 16 Dec. Bookies still have the Popstars boy band as favourites for Christmas number one, oblivious of who wins the TV show overall.