The Next Star is a Canadian reality television show on YTV hosted by Adamo Ruggiero. The show is a competition to find the most talented singer in Canada who is under 15 years of age. The Next Star inspires many to come and audition for their chance to win and become the next star. Winning contestants are Dunnery Bond, Tianda Flegel, Diego Gomes and Melissa "Charlie" Storwick. Four contestants have had commercial success after their appearance on the show: Alyssa Reid with the song "Alone Again", certified as gold in Canada, Brock Zanrosso with the song "Edge (End of the World)", Victoria Duffield with the song "Shut Up and Dance" which also went gold,^[1] and Mimoza Duot with the song "Love". At the 2012 Juno Awards, Reid was nominated for New Artist of the Year.

On the show, Canadian singers 15-years-old or younger can audition in an open call, attracting thousands nationwide. The process involves performing in a total of 2 rounds. The first round being a group audition. If a contestant advances, they will then have a one-on-one performance in front of a producer for the show. If the auditoner again advances, they are sent to the judges, Keshia Chante, Mark Spicoluk, and Tara Oram to perform on camera. A total of 16 (sometimes 12) contestants are selected to proceed to Toronto, where they then perform another song of their choice, and the top six are chosen. The final six contestants are then put through multiple tasks from creating a single to choosing their look. Finalists spend a 6 weeks in Toronto, culminating in a live finale.

Winners[link]

Season 1 (2008)[link]

Season one premiered on YTV, on July 18, 2008. During the first two episodes, there was a coast-to-coast search for the next big hit. The judges traveled to Halifax, Toronto, Calgary, Winnipeg, Montreal, and Vancouver. Out of thousands that auditioned, only twelve contestants were selected and proceeded to the semi-finals. In Toronto, the judges then decided which six of the twelve would continue.

Top 6[link]

These were the top six contestants of season one. It was soon announced that 11 year old Charlotte Kosc had been diagnosed with viral meningitis and pneumonia in her right lung and therefore couldn't continue in the competition (she had been chosen to carry on as one of the top six). Amanda Rowland was selected as a replacement.

• Alyssa Reid, then aged 15, now 19
• Amanda Rowland, then aged 14 now 18
• Briar Gillis, then aged 14 now 18
• Christina LeClair, then aged 13, 14 at the finale, now 16
• Dunnery Bond, then aged 14, now 17
• Maranda Thomas, then aged 11, now 15

Singles[link]

Each of the six finalists also got to record a single, available on iTunes or on the show's season one compilation EP.

Episodes[link]

The first three episodes consisted of auditions and narrowing the top 12 down to 6 finalists.

Contestant success[link]

Alyssa Reid's debut single called "If You Are" which was released on August 23, 2010 with an accompanying music video. Her second single called "Alone Again" featuring P. Reign. "Alone Again" was released in November 2010, entering the Canadian Hot 100 at #79 for the week of January 1, 2011 and peaked at #11 the week of April 23, 2011. It was also certified Gold by the RIAA. Alone Again also had a music video. In February 2011, she entered the "Canadian Emerging Artist" chart at #1. Her second single, "The Game" was released on May 31, 2011 and entered the Canadian Hot 100 at #89 on the week of August 3, 2011 and peaked #35 on the week of September 24, 2011. She has released two studio albums. She has worked with many big named artists such as P. Reign, Tyler Medeiros, Danny Fernandes, JRDN, Jesse Labelle, and Emily Osment.

Season 2 (2009)[link]

The second season of "The Next Star!" premiered on July 17, 2009.^[2] Suzie McNeil, Steve Cranwell and Christopher Ward all returned as judges, and Adamo Ruggiero returned as host.^[3]

Format[link]

This season's format is very similar to the previous one, with the judges and host traveling to 6 different locations throughout Canada to find their top contestants. But, unlike last year, the judges chose 16 contestants to move on to the semi-finals, as opposed to last year's Top 12. The winner will receive a grand prize package valued at over $6 million Canadian dollars including studio time at Metalworks Studios, to write and record two additional songs (not including the one performed on the show). These songs will be produced by Universal Canada, and released in spring 2010. They will also have their own showcase at the premier annual Canadian Music Week Showcase, where they will debut their songs; as well as receiving a J-45 Standard Acoustic Guitar and an Epiphone Valve Jr. Combo Amp courtesy of Gibson Guitars. The season's compilation EP was released in October 2009.^[4]

The September 27 finale, from International Showplace at Canada's Wonderland, featured performances by FeFe Dobson and Justin Bieber, who had recently earned his first hit with "One Time", but not yet released an album.

Top 6[link]

The Top 6 was revealed to Canada on August 7, 2009.

• Wren Burnett, then age 14 (13 at time of audition), now 15
• Tianda Flegel, then aged 15, now 17
• Lizz Kellermann, then age 15, now 17
• Darrelyne Bickel, then age 15, now 17
• Rayandra Hudson, then age 14 (13 at time of audition), now 15
• Brock Zanrosso, then age 15, now 17

Singles[link]

Each of the six finalists also got to record a single, which are available on iTunes or on the show's season two compilation CD EP.

Contestant success[link]

Brock Zanrosso has released three singles: "Push The Walls", "Edge (End of the World)" (which has reached commercial success) and "Perfect Storm", all with accompanying music videos. In 2011, he released an EP "Prelude". The song "Suffocate" was featured on an episode of Degrassi: The Next Generation.

Tianda Flegel released her single with a music video called "Liar Liar" in 2010. She had another single released on July 13, 2010 on iTunes called "Run for Cover".

Top 16 contestant Adriana Lombardo released single "We Are Young" featuring Eyesus in 2011 under the name "Adriiana." It was recently released in the U.S. on May 8, 2012.

Season 3 (2010)[link]

With all three judges and Adamo returning, the audition tour visited St. Johns, Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Saskatoon. Sixteen contestants from across the six cities were invited to Toronto for an additional audition before the judges, after which they were narrowed down to the annual top 6. Weekly episodes ran one hour, the finale 1:30pm. At Canada's Wonderland's International Showplace, Diego Gomes won. He was presented a prize package containing [Kool-Aid] Jammers Ultimate Jam Space, a Gibson guitar, and recording software to write and record songs at home.

The finalists were featured in a YTV Holiday Special that December, in a music video with Carlos (The Zone), singing "All I Want For Christmas Is You".

Contestant success[link]

Diego Gomes currently has two singles out called "Call My Name" and "Tonight We're on Fire" both on iTunes and released in 2011. He also had a guest appearance on one of the early episodes of the 4th season of the Next Star.

Victoria Duffield got a record deal from Warner Music Canada in 2011. Her debut single called "Shut Up and Dance" was released on July 19 along with a music video which was also available on iTunes on the same day. A week after her single was released, her song hit many major Canadian radio stations. She then in 2012 has released her new single Feel. She also had a guest appearance on the Next Star season 4 finale episode.

Isabelle Stern won the first prize of $1000 twice on the French television show "L'echelle Du Talent." She also has been writing songs, and has won a music video, recording time, and is hoping to hit the studio in a few weeks. In the meantime, she is doing many shows in Montreal, locally and at school.

Mimoza Duot has released a single called "Love" on her YouTube channel on July 10, 2011. It was released on iTunes on August 3, 2011. "Love" aired on Family Channel on November 14 and played throughout the whole month of "Bully Awareness Month". The video has a cameo appearance of Kardinal Offishall. She worked on the single with Jonathan Arsenault and Derick Robinson from So You Think You Can Dance Canada.

Season 4 (2011)[link]

The fourth season of The Next Star premiered on July 18, 2011. All three judges and host Adamo returned for the season. The season got a new logo - a big star with the on it. This season also had a new intro and the theme was slightly modified for the opening title sequence. For the first time since the first season, Calgary, Alberta was one of the 6 audition cities.

The Top 6 were revealed to Canada August 2011.

• Melissa "Charlie" Storwick, age 12, now 13
• Shania Fillmore, age 15, now 16
• Milly Benzu, age 15, now 16
• April Llave, age 13
• JD Meeboer, age 15, now 16
• Parker Schmidt, age 12, now 13