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The One: Making a Music Star is an ABC television network reality series hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos.
The show aired on ABC and CBC Television in Canada from July 18 to 27, 2006, lasting for one season & 4 episodes.
It was executive produced by Matt Kunitz and distributed by Endemol USA.
Premise[]
The series followed the lives of contestants as they attend a fully functioning music academy that turns aspiring singers into music stars through professional training.
It also followed all the drama in the music academy, as it offers vocal coaching & celebrity mentors who will turn potential into talent in a state-of-the-art training & recording facility.
Each week, contestants performed live for the American audience, who voted to keep their favorites in the competition.
In addition, the contestants' coaches served as judges and the winner will receive a recording contract with a major record company.
Reception[]
At the time of its premiere (according to overnight ratings from Nielsen Media Research), the first episode of "The One" was the lowest-rated series premiere in ABC history, making it the second-worst such episode in the history of American broadcast television, scoring only 3.2 million total viewers (1.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic) & fifth place in its timeslot.
In Canada, the show's on CBC had 236,000 viewers, which trailed far behind "Canadian Idol" on CTV and "Rock Star: Supernova" on Global, each scoring around one million viewers.
The next night's results episode fared even worse in the U.S. ratings, sinking to a 1.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic. The re-run of night 1's episode (which preceded the results show) plunged to an embarrassingly low 0.6 average in the vital demo ratings.
The poor performance of the show helped ABC measure its lowest-rated night in the network's history (among 18-49s), finishing tied for sixth place.
The series was ultimately cancelled after a second week of poor results.
According to CBC executive Kirstine Layfield, in terms of resources and money, the show "had the most backing from ABC than any summer show has ever had (sic)."
Canadian ratings have dipped as low as 150,000 (not necessarily out of step with the CBC's usual summer ratings) although much lower than the broadcaster's stated expectations for primetime audiences, in the one-million range.
The CBC initially insisted that despite the cancellation, a planned Canadian version may still go ahead, citing the success of the format in Quebec ("Star Académie") and Britain (the BBC's "Fame Academy").
The network confirmed that the show will not air in fall 2006; in fact, it had never been given a fall timeslot, but was "still under development."
Critical response was limited but generally negative.
The Hollywood Reporter's Ray Richmond called the series "clearly derivative and opportunistic" with the judges' comments "awkward and forced."
The HDTV broadcast of the premiere episode was plagued by technical problems, including poorly mixed sound on the Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks.