TV

'Idol' spinoff to search for bands

Published Thursday, May 10 2007, 09:45 BST | By Neil Wilkes
Bands will be the focus of a new series from the team behind American Idol.

The Search For The Next American Band (working title) - airing on Fox in the Fall - essentially plays like Idol, with auditions and weekly eliminations, but with groups as contestants instead of individuals.

Each week the groups will have to perform different musical styles and genres for the panel of judges, with the home audience voting for their favouries. The last band standing wins a multimillion-dollar record contract.

Cecile Frot-Coutaz, who will exec produce with Simon Fuller, Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick, said they first came up with the idea after last year's American Idol. "We sort of thought it was a no-brainer and asked ourselves why we hadn't thought of it before," she told Variety. "It's a natural extension of Idol."

She added that although many elements of the show would be familiar, the new series would have minimal Idol crossover: Simon Cowell will not serve as judge, nor Ryan Seacrest as host.
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