Idol Philippines season 1

On October 17, 2018, it was announced that ABS-CBN will broadcast the third incarnation of the Idol franchise in the Philippines after it had sealed a franchise deal with Fremantle and 19 Entertainment, the co-owners of the format.^[5]

The winner of the season received ₱2,000,000, a paid vacation trip to Taiwan, a House & Lot from Camella Homes and an exclusive recording contract from Star Music

Judges and host of the first season of Idol Philippines

Regine Velasquez

James Reid

Vice Ganda

Moira Dela Torre

Billy Crawford

In October 2018, Regine Velasquez was revealed as the first judge after signing her exclusive contract with ABS-CBN.^[6][7] With her 32 years in the entertainment industry, this will be a first time for her to judge a singing competition.^[8][9] Following this announcement, there were rumors that Jessica Sanchez, the runner-up of the 11th season of American Idol, will be added as a judge but it has been denied by her.^[10] Speculations also circulated that David Archuleta, the runner-up of the seventh season of American Idol, was also considered to become a judge for the show, but the rumors were downplayed by him saying that he was not invited by the network's management.^[11]

In November 2018, Billy Crawford confirmed his role as the host of the local franchise which is part of his renewed contract deal with ABS-CBN.^[12][13]

On February 26, 2019, Philippine Entertainment Portal unofficially revealed that James Reid, Vice Ganda and Moira Dela Torre will join Velasquez as the show's judging panel. According to the website, a reliable source sent them a photo of the four judges standing behind a judges' table similar to those of the other Idol franchises.^[14] The three remaining judges' were later confirmed on the same day, after they were officially introduced on TV Patrol, ABS-CBN's primetime newscast.^[15][16][17] Among the four judges, Vice Ganda is an experienced judge—having been a judge for It's Showtime besides being a host, Pinoy Boyband Superstar, and two seasons of Pilipinas Got Talent. It was revealed in an interview that Vice Ganda was the only judge handpicked by Fremantle.^[18]

An online show, called Idol on the Road, airs together with the main program on Idol Philippines' Facebook and YouTube accounts; it is hosted by BoybandPH and comedian Jervi Li, commonly known as KaladKaren Davila. The said show airs live from the Idol Philippines Bus.

The pre-auditions for the premiere season took place in different key cities in the Philippines. Auditionees must be 16 to 28 years old.^[19]

Aside from ground scouting and pre-auditions held all over the Philippines, the online auditions was also launched in November 20, 2018.^[29]

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The auditions were recorded at the One Canvas Events Place in Makati. In the televised auditions, contestants will perform in front of the panel of judges. Each contestant must receive three "yes" votes from the judges in order to advance and receive a golden ticket to Idol City. The first audition episode was aired on April 21, 2019, with the final audition episode being aired on June 8, 2019. 69 Idol hopefuls were able to advance and receive their respective golden ticket to Idol City.

The theater rounds were recorded at the ABS-CBN Soundstage at San Jose del Monte, Bulacan and first aired on June 9, 2019. These are composed of three rounds – the Group, Do or Die, and Solo rounds.

In the Group round, the Idol hopefuls were grouped based on their genre and sound. As a group, they selected a song from a list that they think is the best for them, additionally they gave a name to their group. At the end of the group rounds, thirty-nine Idol hopefuls remained.

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In the Do or Die round, the judges divided the remaining Idol hopefuls into six and selected a song for them to perform. At the end of the second round, twenty contestants remained. The male hopefuls performed pop hits from female artists, while the female hopefuls performed hits from OPM Rock bands.

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The Solo round is the final round of the Theater Rounds where the remaining Idol hopefuls pick a solo song. Only the twelve hopefuls proceeded to the Live shows. The first episode aired the performances of the female Idol hopefuls; while the second episode aired the performances of the male Idol hopefuls.

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For the first time in the Idol franchise, the judges determined half of the contestants' score while the public determined the other half via public vote. The Hopefuls with the lowest scores were eliminated in varying amounts per week with the best possible score a contestant can receive is 100% per the format the network uses in scoring.

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For the first week of the Live Shows, the Top 12 performed songs sung or composed by OPM Icon and National Artist Ryan Cayabyab with Cayabyab also serving as guest mentor.

For Week 2, the Top 10 performed songs written or performed by Star in a Million winner Erik Santos and Pinoy Dream Academy winner Yeng Constantino. Santos and Constantino also mentored the Top 10.

For Week 3, the Top 8 performed the Philippines’ most streamed hits. Morissette served as guest mentor.

For Week 4, the Top 6 performed songs by singer-songwriter Gary Valenciano. He also served as guest mentor.

The Top 5 performed live at Newport Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila on July 27, 2019. Two contestants were eliminated by the end of night one, leaving the Top 3 to battle it out on July 28, 2019. In addition to the competition pieces sung by the Top 5, female winners from different singing competitions performed songs sung by American Idol winners as special guests.

The Top 3 performed live at Newport Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila on July 28, 2019. The winner was announced at the end of the show.

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The televised auditions for the first season was met with mixed public reception.^[30] Netizens questioned Dela Torre and Reid's credibility as judges, although Reid was praised for his frankness.^[30] The show was compared in a negative light to other singing competitions, including The Voice of The Philippines, specially following the aftermath of the rejection of reggae artist Luke Baylon, in which only one judge, Velasquez voted to advance Baylon into the next round.^[31][32] Amid the criticism, Velasquez defended her fellow judges in an interview with reporters during the 35th PMPC Awards for movies, stating that "the three were chosen to be at the judging table because of their individual expertise".^[33]