CELEBRITIES FORMATS
Spin-offs and original formats boosted by VIPs (or wannabes)
FAMOUS SINGERS (AS WELL AS LESS FAMOUS ONES)
On Saturday 11th January the third series of the original format Ora o Mai Più (‘Now Or Never’), produced by the Italian prodco Ballandi Multimedia, premiered in prime time on the main public channel Rai1. The show is dedicated to Italian music and has an interesting concept: eight singers who have sung very popular songs in the past, which have reached the top of the national charts, but who are now forgotten, are given the chance to relaunch their careers.
A panel of judges, made up of famous singers with more established careers, support the contestants by singing duets with them on songs from their repertoire, helping them to improve their singing technique and assessing their individual performances with a technical score.
In the first part of the show, the eight contestants tell their story and perform their most representative song. In the second round, each contestant sings a song about their coach with the coach himself.
The jury's vote is then added to the public's vote expressed on social networks. At the end of the series, the winning singer wins the release of a CD with some covers and the unpublished song with which they participated in the programme.
FAMOUS AMATEUR BAKERS
On Sunday 12 January, the second series of Bake Off: Famosos al Horno (Bake Off: Celebrities in the Oven), a spin-off of the global franchise The Great British Bake Off (broadcast in over 40 countries), premiered on RTVE's main public channel La1, produced in collaboration with Boxfish. It is interesting to note that the first edition was broadcast on Amazon Prime Video Spanish in 2021.
In each episode of the format, the 14 celebrities will face different culinary challenges: the ‘Creative Test’, where they will have to reinterpret a classic pastry; the ‘Technical Test’, where they will have to recreate a dessert suggested by the judges and be judged in a blind tasting; and the ‘Fantasy Test’, where the desserts will have to be spectacular.
The contestants are judged by 3 experts: the multi award-winning two Michelin star chef Paco Roncero, the media personality and experienced master pastry chef Eva Arguiñano, and the prestigious and internationally renowned pastry chef Damián Betular.
In each episode, the best contestant will win the star chef's trophy, while the worst will be eliminated from the competition. The winner will receive a prize of €100.000 to be donated to the NGO of their choice.
FAMOUS ISLANDERS
The second series of the UK Love Island spin-off series Love Island: All Stars, produced by Lifted Entertainment, part of ITV Studios, and GroupM Motion Entertainment, premiered in the UK on 13 January and continues to air daily (except Saturdays) on ITV2 and ITVX: Peacock receives episodes two days after they air in the UK, while in the US the show premiered on 15 January and airs exclusively on Peacock (see the promo below).
In this franchise, the intertwining of celebrities and non-celebrities is quite curious. The original Love Island was created by ITV Studios in 2005 as Celebrity Love Island (i.e. the celebrity version) for 2 seasons. In 2015 there was a non-celebrity revival, Love Island, which has been hugely successful and influential in British popular culture: in 2018 it became ITV2's most-watched show in its history, and in 2020 it became the most-watched TV show in its target audience of 16-34 year olds. It has been localised in more than 20 countries and is still running in most of them.
In Love Island, a group of contestants, known as ‘Islanders’, live in isolation from the outside world in a Mediterranean villa under constant video surveillance. In order to stay in the villa, the Islanders must pair up with another Islander, whether it be for love, friendship or money, with the overall winning couple receiving a total of £50.000. On the first day, the Islanders will pair up for the first time based on first impressions, but throughout the series they will be forced to 're-couple', where they can choose to stay with their current pair or swap partners.
Love Island: All Stars follows the same rules, but the contestants have been Islanders on previous editions of Love Island (from the second series onwards). So, not exactly 'celebrities', but more like 'previously seen'.
NEWS IN A NUTSHELL
Paramount+ in the UK has commissioned the second series of Dating Naked UK, produced by UK indie The Nest, for broadcast later this year. It will also air on MTV's network of international channels and platforms in over 150 countries.
Channel 4 has partnered with Jamie Oliver and his Jamie Oliver Productions for an hour-long special about dyslexia in the U.K.
STV Player will be the exclusive UK home of the US version of STV Studios' BBC1 daytime quiz Bridge of Lies. The US version, known as Beat the Bridge, launched on Game Show Network (GSN) last summer.
Sony Pictures Television has announced the 6th season of Shark Tank México, produced by Sony Pictures Television Latin America.
Multi-platform food and lifestyle brand Tastemade is launching a new comedic food series, Forking Delicious, which will see a panel of comedians and food icons sample and debate the merits of 100 dishes voted for by Tastemade viewers.
Prodco Scarpetta Media announces a strategic partnership with Japanese broadcaster Kansai TV to bring the comedic game show Don't Show Your Pants to Latin America and the United States.
Great insights as ever, Axel. Thank you !