The One: Making a Music Star

The One is an adaptation of the Operación Triunfo/Star Academy format owned by Endemol, and was produced by Endemol USA, the producers of Big Brother, Fear Factor, Deal or No Deal, and other reality shows. Star Academy was in fact developed in 2001, around the same time as the original Pop Idol, although the format took much longer to appear in North America. Nonetheless, American Idol's established popularity has contributed to The One being perceived by some viewers and critics as a ripoff of the Idol franchise.

CBC personality Stroumboulopoulos hosted the American series – his selection brought added attention from the Canadian media following the debate over the CBC's decision to air the series. The judges were songwriter Kara DioGuardi, industry veteran Mark Hudson, and former record executive Andre Harrell. The show's executive producer was Fear Factor producer Matt Kunitz. DioGuardi would later become a judge on American Idol, starting with that program's eighth season in 2009.

In promotions leading up to the show's premiere, ABC called The One "the show Fox doesn't want you to see" or "where Idol has never gone", because the contestants would always be competing, even when the stage isn't set, and grudges, rivalries, and breakdowns can develop. In fact, the viewers at home only chose who the bottom 3 are; the judges then saved one, and then the remaining contestants get to vote off a contestant between the other two.

In Canada, The One was promoted by CBC as the must-see event of the summer. Ads for The One ran for several weeks before the show premiered.

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The series was initially scheduled to air Tuesday nights from 9:30 to 11:00 p.m. ET/PT (performance), and Wednesday nights from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. (results), from July 18 to September 6.^[3] Prior to the premiere, performance episodes were expanded to two hours starting at 9:00 p.m. ET. At the last minute, the airing of the first results show was changed to 10:00 p.m. ET. A planned further change for the Tuesday episodes, to the 8:30 to 10:00 p.m. ET timeslot, became moot following the show's cancellation.^[4]

Viewers in the United States voted through telephone, text messaging or on the Internet. Canadian viewers were required to vote over the Internet only.

This was the first version of the Operación Triunfo / Star Academy format to not be completed before the end of the corresponding season. Press reports suggested that the producers would be obliged to name a winner at some point, as The One was a contest, with a recording contract as its grand prize.^[5] However, assuming a winner was chosen, it is unlikely that either the selection process or the actual identity of the winner will ever be released.

Contestants are listed in alphabetical order by last name, in format: name, age, hometown.^[6]

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, and the second-worst such episode in the history of American broadcast television,^[11] scoring only 3.2 million total viewers (1.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic), and fifth place in its timeslot.^[12] In Canada, the premiere of The One 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.^[13]

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.^[14] 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 One "had the most backing from ABC than any summer show has ever had (sic)."^[1]

Canadian ratings have dipped as low as 150,000^[15] – 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.^[16]

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).^[1] The network confirmed that the show will not air in fall 2006^[17] – in fact, the show had never been given a fall timeslot^[18] – but the show was "still under development."^[17]

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."^[19]

A 2018 retrospective article on the site TV by the Numbers noted that The One was one of several music-related flops ABC had attempted in the 21st century and that The One in particular represented a "nadir" among them, even as shows several years later would have lower ratings. The article also noted that, in general, "ABC is terrible at music shows" and had yet to have a successful show in the genre before buying the rights to American Idol that year.^[20]

In January 2025, Endemol Shine North America head Sharon Levy told Deadline Hollywood that the company was in the process of pitching a new iteration of the Star Academy format to potential outlets.^[21]