FOX Television Group co-CEO Dana Walden claimed that it would be different from 'The Voice' and 'American Idol', which had 'become much more about celebrity panels and much less about star making.'
- Aug 9, 2017
AceShowbiz - FOX is officially moving forward with its new singing competition "The Four". At the Television Critics Association press tour executive session on Tuesday, August 8, FOX Television Group co-CEO Dana Walden announced that the network gave the upcoming show a series order.
Walden claimed that "The Four" would be different from other singing competition such as "American Idol" and "The Voice". "They've become much more about celebrity panels and much less about star making," Walden said of ABC's "Idol", which tapped Katy Perry to be a judge on the revival with whooping $25 million contract.
FOX's top reality programming executive Rob Wade went on calling "The Four" as the most "pure, clean format" for a singing competition he's ever seen. He described it as " 'Game of Thrones' with better singing and less nudity."
He offered some new details of the series, which was based on an Israeli format. When asked whether he was worried about the show getting swamped by all the other singing competitions, Wade said, "Not really. The truth of the matter is, coming to the job and getting my feet under the table-five months sounds like a long time, but it's not. And this is the first thing that came through the door that I genuinely was like, 'Oh, this is really good.' "
He revealed that the first season might have "anywhere between four and eight" episodes. "It's very different. I know that the natural instinct would be to go all 'Idol' or 'Voice' [in season length], but this is different. It's an event that's going to go on for a short amount of time," he explained.
As for how much "The Four" would pay its panelists, Wade said $25 million was for a figure who is "over a very long run," before adding, "So we're not going to get anywhere near that total figure." However, to be able to compete against the other singing competition shows, Wade suggested that everything was not completely out of the realm of possibility. "We're in this for real. If it's the right name, we'll have to go to negotiations," he said.
The panelist could also change from season to season. "If the chemistry’s going great, you don't want to disrupt it too much. But I think what they've done great on 'The Voice' is change one or two people each season. I do like that format. We'll see who we get," Wade shared.
As of today, "The Four" has not secured on-screen talent. FOX hasn't scheduled a premiere date for the series.
