Idols

Idols is a Finnish reality-television singing competition that airs on Nelonen (and formerly also on MTV3 and Sub). It debuted in the summer of 2003, and went on to become one of the most popular shows on Finnish television. Part of the Idol franchise, it originated from the reality program Pop Idol created by British entertainment executive Simon Fuller, which was first aired in 2001 in the United Kingdom. The program seeks to discover the best unsigned singer in Finland through a series of nationwide auditions, and the outcomes of the later stages of the competition are determined by public phone voting. The four original judges were music executives Jone Nikula and Asko Kallonen, and songwriter-producers Hannu Korkeamäki and Nanna Mikkonen. The current judging panel consists of Nikula, singer Lauri Ylönen, drummer Jussi 69 and rapper Sini Sabotage. The show is hosted by television presenter Heikki Paasonen. Former hosts include Ellen Jokikunnas, Jani Toivola and Niina Backman. In the seven seasons to date, its winners have been Hanna Pakarinen, Ilkka Jääskeläinen, Ari Koivunen, Koop Arponen, Martti Saarinen and Diandra Flores and Mitra Kaislaranta. Saarinen was the oldest winner at 30 whilst Flores was the youngest at 17. To date, Idols contestants have collectively sold over a million records throughout Finland. Idols is also unique throughout the Idol franchise because so far, the first or second runner-up of almost every season has in fact gone on to become more commercially successful than the winner.