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[AdamAloud]

So Rob mentioned this a while ago and I thought it sounded really interesting and the first weekly competition show started this week. Scandipop have done a little write-up explaining how it works.

A brand new TV Talent show has started this autumn in Norway. And it’s one with a difference. Reinventing the age old format for 2016, what makes The Stream stand out is that it uses Spotify streaming figures instead of televotes, to determine how popular a contestant is, and it makes that the process of elimination every week.

After a few weeks of audition stages and whittling the numbers down, it’s this week where things really kick off. There are nine contestants entering the weekly competition stage of the show – three have been signed by Universal Music, three by Warner Music, and three by Sony Music. All nine contestants released their songs to Spotify over the weekend, and the streaming figures that clock up throughout this week will decide who gets eliminated this weekend. And then next week the process starts again with the remaining eight.

AMAZING.

Amazing not just that they’re using Spotify as a platform to measure votes and popularity, but amazing in the sense that all three major lables have come on board. It’s a bit huge, this one.

And what about the actual songs? Well each contestant has gone into the recording studio to cover a popular song of their (and their mentor’s) choice. But as the songs will rely on Spotify success in order to score highly, the record labels have actually paid for good quality productions on each of them. And they’ve also seemed to shy away from karaoke covers too. So we get an ethereal synth version of DJ Snake & Justin Bieber’s ‘Let Me Love You’, an acoustic ballad interpretation of Calvin Harris & Rihanna’s ‘We Found Love’, and an electropop banger re-make of Maria Mena’s ‘Just Hold Me’. And so on.

Again – AMAZING.

It sounds a brilliant format that could really shake up the tired X Factor format. No stupid dated theme weeks, no flash votes, no sing-offs, I'd love to see a UK version. (That 'We Found Love' ballad version can go do one though)

All the songs from the first week are in this Spotify playlist for anyone interested.