The Four: Why Fox's New Show Is More Like Game of Thrones Than American Idol
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What do Fergie, Sean "Diddy" Combs, DJ Khaled, Meghan Trainor, and music executive Charlie Walk have in common? They're ready to find the country's next big music superstar on Fox's new reality singing competition, The Four: Battle For Stardom.
The coaches and host (Fergie) plus two executive producers took the stage at the 2018 TCA Winter press tour on Jan. 4 to hype their show, telling reporters how it's different from other singing competition shows and that they're all in, bringing so much experience and expertise to the table for the potential music stars. The first episode has already premiered, so find out if it's worth your while!
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The winner's prize has three parts.
Fox president of alternative programming Rob Wade said the winner will have a ton of support from the show's panel of music industry experts, which is part one of the prize. The panel consists of artists DJ Khaled, Meghan Trainor, and Sean "Diddy" Combs and music executive Charlie Walk.
The second part is a deal with iHeartRadio for air play, and the third part is the traditional recording contract, this one with Republic Records.
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It's only going to run six weeks.
Of course, this is just the test run. If The Four is wildly successful, it's not hard to imagine Fox making it longer than six weeks for subsequent seasons.
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There's a "gladiatorial" aspect to it.
"We start with four great singers, and then people come in and try and knock them off their chairs," said Wade, adding later, "I think just by its nature, this gladiatorial feel of the show, it's fresh. It's new."
Combs added, "It's like Game of Thrones, OK? Game of Thrones, you get to challenge, and if you want to chop somebody's head off to get the seat, it has that vibe. Not literally. You know what I'm saying."
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The combativeness is what makes The Four different.
About what makes this show different from other singing competition shows, host Fergie said, "You start off with these four [singers] that have been picked, and they have something to lose. They already have that seat. They have the best of the best, and they have got to defend that seat. So the level of something that could be lost, the stakes make it that much higher."
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The coaches panel is genuinely hyped to be here
All four coaches really conveyed a sense of how much they enjoy one another and how excited they are about the show.
"We are the fresh, new kids on the block, and we are coming with a rambunctious, captivating, entertaining energy that I think that, you know, the show in a sense has to speak for itself," said Combs.
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The celebrities all play different roles.
Fergie is the nurturing mom type, DJ Khaled and Combs bring experience of being supersuccessful artists, and Meghan Trainor said she's the new artist who knows what it's like to be nervous and to worry about failure, while Charlie Walk knows the industry.
"Our team represents some of the biggest stars in the world year after year," said Walk. "We strive for excellence and working with the biggest and best talent. The residue of that is coming on this show and why we're doing it. So it's important for me really just to play me and keep the same standards in which we have at Republic Records on the floor."