Pop Star to Opera Star (U.S. TV series)

Following the cancellation of the British version, Pop Star to Opera Star launched in the United States by the middle of 2016.

In May 2018, the U.S. version was renewed for a fourth season. The producers hope to make season 5.

Format
Just like the British version, the American version features members of the pop music community finding new talent in opera. The contestants have to perform with one of the two kinds of microphones: a headset mic, or the operatic mic similar to what you see in performances by operatic groups like The Three Tenors. Each contestant is accompanied by a 40-piece symphony orchestra under the direction of an unknown person. The performances are done live, for which the contestants hope to impress the public, who decides which singer stays in the competition. Each performance is shown both live on television and in front of a live studio audience. The two singers with the fewest public votes are in the bottom two and get the chance to sing again, however their previous performance are "forgiven and forgotten" and the judges vote based on their sing-off performance who should stay and go. During season 1, if the judges vote went to a tie, it would go down to the public vote. Starting from season 2 however, the head judge decides who stays in the competition after the sing off, if it's a tie. However, if the judges vote against the contestant to stay in the competition they will be eliminated. A proportion of the revenue from the telephone votes is donated to a local charity.

Judges and presenters
Once the show had been announced, there was a lot of speculation over who would be part of the judging panel. However, it was later confirmed that the judges would be Australian-American soprano Mary-Jean O'Doherty Basmadjian and America's Got Talent 2008 winner Neal E. Boyd, who would mentor the contestants. Canadian-American multigenre singer Rufus Wainwright was also confirmed to be a judge critic, who would judge each contestant's performances only and not mentor the acts. All the judges critique each performance. Mark S. Doss replaced Boyd starting from season 2.

O'Doherty and Doss mentor the acts, training the pop stars in the art of opera singing; bringing them out their comfort zone and training them to sing in an operatic voice.

After season 1, it was confirmed that Neal E. Boyd would not be returning as a judge and would instead be replaced by Mark S. Doss.

Season 1 (2016)
The first season began on September 23, 2016 and ended on October 28.

Episodes

 * Week 1 (September 23, 2016)


 * Week 2 (September 30, 2016)


 * Week 3 (October 7, 2016)


 * Week 4 (October 14, 2016)


 * Week 5 (Semi-Final - October 21, 2016)


 * Week 6 (Final - October 28, 2016)

Final Duel

Season 2 (2017)
The second season began on August 11, 2017 and ended on September 15. This was also the first season for which fellow judge Neal E. Boyd was replaced by someone else on the judging panel, and that replacement was baritone Mark S. Doss.

Episodes

 * Week 1 (August 11, 2017)


 * Week 2 (August 18, 2017)


 * Week 3 (August 25, 2017)


 * Week 4 (September 1, 2017)


 * Week 5 (Semi-Final - September 8, 2017)


 * Week 6 (Final - September 15, 2017)

Final Duel

Season 3 (2018)
The third season began on September 14, 2018 and ended on October 19.

Episodes

 * Week 1 (September 14, 2018)


 * Week 2 (September 21, 2018)


 * Week 3 (September 28, 2018)


 * Week 4 (October 5, 2018)


 * Week 5 (Semi-Final - October 12, 2018)


 * Week 6 (Final - October 19, 2018)