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{{short description|International version of the television show Pop Idol}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox television
| image                = World Idol.jpg
| caption              =
| alt_name             = ''SuperStar Weltweit'' (German)<br />''SuperStar El Alaam'' (Arabic)
| genre                = 
| creator              = [[Simon Fuller]]
| developer            = 
| writer               = 
| director             = Jonathan Bullen
| creative_director    = 
| presenter            = [[Ant & Dec]]<br />[[Ben Mulroney]] ([[CTV Television Network|CTV]] version)
| starring             =
| judges               = {{hlist|[[Simon Cowell]]|[[Pete Waterman]]|[[Randall Abrahams]]|[[Nina De Man]]|[[Shona Fraser]]|[[Ian Dickson (TV personality)|Ian Dickson]]|[[Elias Rahbani]]|[[Zack Werner]]|[[Jan Fredrik Karlsen]]|[[Henkjan Smits]]|[[Kuba Wojewódzki]]}}
| voices               = 
| narrated             = 
| theme_music_composer = 
| opentheme            = 
| endtheme             = 
| composer             = 
| country              = 
| language             = Various
| num_seasons          = 1
| num_episodes         = 2
| list_episodes        = 
| executive_producer   = [[John Brunton (producer)|John Brunton]] <br> Simon Fuller
| producer             = {{hlist|Sue Brophey|Conrad Green|Ken Warwick}}
| editor               = 
| cinematography       = 
| camera               = 
| runtime              = 
| company              = [[19 Entertainment]]<br>[[Thames Television]]<br>[[Talkback Thames]]
| network              = [[#Broadcasters|See below]]
| first_aired          = {{Start date|2003|12|25|df=yes}}
| last_aired           = {{End date|2004|01|01|df=yes}}
| related              = {{Collapsible list 
 | title = Various national ''Idol'' shows
 |United Kingdom: ''[[Pop Idol]]''<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
 |South Africa: ''[[Idols (South Africa)|Idols]]''<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
 |Poland: ''[[Idol (Poland)|Idol]]''<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
 |United States: ''[[American Idol]]''<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
 |The Netherlands: ''[[Idols (Netherlands)|Idols]]''<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
 |Germany: ''[[Deutschland sucht den Superstar]]''<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
 |Norway: ''[[Idol (Norway)|Idol]]''<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
 |Arab States: ''[[Super Star (Arabic TV series)|Super Star]]''<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
 |Belgium: ''[[Idool (TV series)|Idool]]''<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
 |Canada: ''[[Canadian Idol]]''<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
 |Australia: ''[[Australian Idol]]''<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
 |[[Idol (TV series)#Idols around the world|Other international versions]]
}}
| location             = [[The Fountain Studios]], London, England<br />[[Toronto|Toronto, Ontario]], Canada 
}}
{{Infobox television season
| image                = 
| image_upright        = 1.13
| module1              = {{Infobox reality competition season
| winner               = [[Kurt Nilsen]]
| runner_up            = [[Kelly Clarkson]]
}}
}}
'''''World Idol''''' (Germany: '''''SuperStar Weltweit''''', Arab World: '''''SuperStar El Alaam''''') is a one-off international version of the singing competition television show ''[[Pop Idol]]'', featuring winners of the various national [[Idol (franchise)|''Idol'' shows]] around the world competing against each other.

==Background==
The performance show was broadcast on Christmas Day 2003, with the results show aired on New Year's Day 2004. It was produced in the United Kingdom at [[Fountain Studios]] in London, using the set from the recently completed second series of ''Pop Idol''. After presenting the competitors, viewers from the 11 participating countries were allowed to [[televoting|vote by telephone]], but not for the participant from their home country.

All participants sang in English except for [[Diana Karazon]], who sang in [[Arabic language|Arabic]].

British presenters [[Ant & Dec]] hosted the show on most English speaking countries, while local presenters hosted for their own country in the local language. Additionally, Canada’s [[CTV Television Network|CTV Network]] used ''[[Canadian Idol]]'' host [[Ben Mulroney]] (with the show on [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]], which used Ant and Dec as hosts, was not [[Simultaneous substitution|simulcast]] with the CTV feed, to prevent Canadians from calling the American [[toll-free]] number to vote for their idol, [[Ryan Malcolm]]). [[Victoria Beckham]] performed her UK No. 3 hit "[[Let Your Head Go]]" during the results interval.

The show was broadcast on 11 television broadcasters worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/entriq-inc-and-fremantlemedia-sign-agreement-to-bring-world-idol-pay-per-video-to-the-internet-73395512.html |title=Entriq, Inc. and FremantleMedia Sign Agreement to Bring 'World Idol' Pay-Per-Video to the Internet |location=California |work=[[PR Newswire]] |access-date=2012-04-26}}</ref>

==Broadcasters==
*Germany: [[RTL Television]]<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=http://www.bce.ca/news-and-media/releases/show/first-canada-now-the-world-canadian-idol-ryan-malcolm-takes-global-stage-in-world-idol-dec-25-and-jan-1-on-ctv |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130115074602/http://www.bce.ca/news-and-media/releases/show/first-canada-now-the-world-canadian-idol-ryan-malcolm-takes-global-stage-in-world-idol-dec-25-and-jan-1-on-ctv |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 January 2013 |title=First Canada, Now The World. Canadian Idol Ryan Malcolm Takes Global Stage In World Idol, Dec. 25 and Jan. 1 on CTV |publisher=[[Bell Media]] |date=2003-11-13 |access-date=2012-04-26}}</ref>
*United Kingdom: [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
*Norway: [[TV 2 (Norway)|TV 2]]<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
*United States: [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
*Canada: [[CTV Television Network|CTV]]<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
*Australia: [[Network Ten]]<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
*Belgium: [[VTM (TV channel)|vtm]]<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
*Poland: [[Polsat]]<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
*The Netherlands: [[RTL 4]]<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
*Arab States: [[Future TV]]<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
*South Africa: [[M-NET]]<ref name="autogenerated1"/>

==Results==
The points were awarded in a similar fashion as the [[Eurovision Song Contest]], i.e. each country awarded a number of points from 1 to 10 to each other country, using each number once. The results were:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Rank !! Performer !! Country !! Points !! Song !! Original artist
|- style="font-weight:bold; background: gold;"
| 1 || [[Kurt Nilsen]]|| [[Norway]] || style="text-align: center;"|106 || "[[Beautiful Day]]" || [[U2]]
|-
| 2 || [[Kelly Clarkson]] || [[United States]] || style="text-align: center;"|97 || "[[(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman]]" || [[Aretha Franklin]]
|-
| 3 || [[Peter Evrard]] || [[Belgium]] ||style="text-align: center;"| 83 || "[[Lithium (Nirvana song)|Lithium]]" || [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]]
|-
| 4 || [[Heinz Winckler]] || [[South Africa]] || style="text-align: center;"|80 || "[[I Don't Want to Miss a Thing]]" || [[Aerosmith]]
|-
| 5 || [[Will Young]] || [[United Kingdom]] || style="text-align: center;"|72 || "[[Light My Fire]]" || [[The Doors]]
|-
| 6 || [[Ryan Malcolm]] || [[Canada]] ||style="text-align: center;"| 62 || "[[He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother]]" || [[The Hollies]]
|-
| 7 || [[Guy Sebastian]] || [[Australia]] ||style="text-align: center;"| 56 || "[[What a Wonderful World]]" || [[Louis Armstrong]]
|-
| 8 || [[Alicja Janosz|Alicja "Alex" Janosz]] || [[Poland]] || style="text-align: center;"|55 || "[[I Don't Know How to Love Him]]" || from ''[[Jesus Christ Superstar]]''
|-
| 9 (tie) || [[Alexander Klaws]] || [[Germany]] || style="text-align: center;"|45 || "[[Maniac (Michael Sembello song)|Maniac]]" || [[Michael Sembello]]
|-
| 9 (tie) || [[Diana Karazon]] || [[Arab world|Arab States]] || style="text-align: center;"|45 || "Ensani Ma Binsak" || original song
|-
| 11 || [[Jamai Loman]] || [[Netherlands]] || style="text-align: center;"|36 || "[[Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word]]" || [[Elton John]]
|}

===Spokespersons===
Each country appointed a spokesperson (or a pair of spokespersons) to announce their respective country's points.

{{Div col}}
* [[Ant & Dec]] (United Kingdom)
* {{ill|Nina De Man|nl}} (Belgium)
* [[Osher Günsberg|Andrew G]] and [[James Mathison]] (Australia)
* [[Ryan Seacrest]] (United States)
* [[Rania Kurdi]] and {{ill|أيمن القيسوني|ar|lt=Ayman Kaissouni}} (Arab States)
* {{ill|Maciej Rock|pl}} (Poland)
* [[Tooske Ragas]] (Netherlands)
* [[Ben Mulroney]] (Canada)
* [[Michelle Hunziker]] and {{ill|Carsten Spengemann|de}} (Germany)
* [[Thomas Numme]] and [[Harald Rønneberg]] (Norway)
* [[Marah Louw]] (South Africa)
{{Div col end}}

==Scoreboard==
Each country's Idol automatically gained the maximum 12 points. Therefore, the most points an Idol could gain from another country was 10.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%;"
! Performer !! [[Germany|GER]] !! [[Australia|AUS]] !! [[Arab World|Pan-<br>Arabia]] !! [[Canada|CAN]] !! [[Netherlands|NED]] !! [[South Africa|RSA]] !! [[Poland|POL]] !! [[United States|USA]] !! [[Belgium|BEL]] !! [[United Kingdom|UK]] !! [[Norway|NOR]] !! Total !! Rank
|-
| [[Alexander Klaws]] (GER) 
! style="background:#efefef; text-align:center;"|12
| 1 || '''10''' || 1 || 4 || 2 || 4 || 1 || 7 || 2 || 1 || 45 || 9
|-
| [[Guy Sebastian]] (AUS) || 2 
! style="background:#efefef; text-align:center;"|12
| 2 || 6 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 3 || 6 || 3 || 56 || 7
|-
| [[Diana Karazon]] (Pan-Arabia) || 6 || 4 
! style="background:#efefef; text-align:center;"|12
| 5 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 8 || 1 || 4 || 2 || 45 || 9
|-
| [[Ryan Malcolm]] (CAN) || 3 || 5 || 9 
! style="background:#efefef; text-align:center;"|12 
| 5 || 7 || 2 || 4 || 2 || 5 || 8 || 62 || 6
|-
| [[Jamai Loman]] (NED) || 1 || 2 || 1 || 2 
! style="background:#efefef; text-align:center;"|12 
| 4 || 3 || 2 || 4 || 1 || 4 || 36 || 11
|-
| [[Heinz Winckler]] (RSA) || 7 || 8 || 8 || 7 || 2 
! style="background:#efefef; text-align:center;"|12 
| 6 || 9 || 8 || 7 || 6 || 80 || 4
|-
| [[Alicja Janosz]] (POL) || 8 || 3 || 7 || 3 || 3 || 3 
! style="background:#efefef; text-align:center;"|12 
| 3 || 5 || 3 || 5 || 55 || 8
|-
| [[Kelly Clarkson]] (USA) || 9 || 9 || 5 || 9 || 9 || 8 || 8 
! style="background:#efefef; text-align:center;"|12 
| 9 || 9 || '''10''' || 97 || 2
|-
| [[Peter Evrard]] (BEL)|| 4 || 7 || 6 || 8 || 7 || 6 || 9 || 7 
! style="background:#efefef; text-align:center;"|12 
| 8 || 9 || 83 || 3
|-
| [[Will Young]] (UK) || 5 || 6 || 3 || 4 || 8 || 9 || 7 || 5 || 6 
! style="background:#efefef; text-align:center;"|12 
| 7 || 72 || 5
|- style="background:gold;"
| '''[[Kurt Nilsen]]''' (NOR) || '''10''' || '''10'''|| 4 || '''10''' || '''10''' || '''10''' || '''10''' || '''10''' || '''10''' ||  '''10''' 
! style="background:#efefef; text-align:center;"|12 
| '''106''' || '''1'''
|}

===10 points===
Below is a summary of all 10 (max) points in the final:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! N. !! Contestant !! Voting nation
|-
| 9 || [[Norway]] || Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States
|-
| 1 || [[Germany]] || Arab States
|-
| 1 || [[United States]] || Norway
|}

==Judges==
The judges of the competition were:
{{Div col}}
* [[Randall Abrahams]] (South Africa)
* [[Simon Cowell]] (representing United States, also judge on original UK show)
* {{ill|Nina De Man|nl}} (Belgium)
* [[Ian Dickson (TV personality)|Ian "Dicko" Dickson]] (Australia)
* [[Shona Fraser]] (Germany)
* [[Jan Fredrik Karlsen]] (Norway)
* [[Elias Rahbani]] (Lebanon)
* {{ill|Henkjan Smits|nl}} (Netherlands)
* [[Pete Waterman]] (United Kingdom)
* [[Zack Werner]] (Canada)
* [[Kuba Wojewódzki]] (Poland)
{{Div col end}}

==Reception==
[[Simon Cowell]], who judged ''[[American Idol]]'' as well as the original ''Pop Idol'', was very critical of the format. He went as far as to say he hated it, in that it made the winners from the ten other ''Idol'' competitions into losers.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.today.com/popculture/cowell-disses-world-idol-1c9485759|title=Cowell disses 'World Idol'|date=2004-01-21|work=[[Today (American TV program)|Today]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> Cowell also thought many of the judges were trying to copy his abrasive style (including [[Canadian Idol]] judge [[Zack Werner]]). Television critics also panned the programme, particularly as the UK phone voting was profit-making, whereas tradition dictates that Christmas specials of such programmes donate profits to charity.{{cn|date=July 2025}}

===Ratings===
In Canada, the special was watched by 1.9 million viewers.<ref name="bellmediapr2003">{{cite web|url=https://www.realitytvworld.com/news/world-idol-draws-ok-ratings-in-us-but-mixed-ratings-throughout-world-2127.php |title='World Idol' draws OK ratings in US but mixed ratings throughout the world |publisher=Reality TV World |date=2003-12-29 |access-date=2019-05-12}}</ref> In Poland, ''World Idol'' was the highest-rated in its timeslot, 4.5 million viewers, and 28.6 share per cent.<ref name="bellmediapr2003"/> In the United States, ''World Idol'' was the number-one show of the night among adults from 18–34 but drew a disappointing 6.5 million viewers overall.<ref name="bellmediapr2003"/> In Australia, it was the highest-rated show of the night, it had about 2.4 million viewers.<ref name="bellmediapr2003"/> In the Netherlands, it was the No. 1 rated show in its timeslot.<ref name="bellmediapr2003"/> In the UK, over 4 million tuned in, but the show was beaten by other popular programs that aired Christmas night.<ref name="bellmediapr2003"/>

==See also==
*[[Idol series|''Idol'' series]]
*''[[Pop Idol]]''
*''[[American Idol]]''
*''[[Idols South Africa]]''
*''[[Canadian Idol]]''
*''[[Australian Idol]]''
*''[[Idol (Norway)]]''
*[[Idol series#Idols around the world|International versions of ''Idol'']]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0388546}}

{{Navboxes
|list=
{{Pop Idol}}
{{American Idol}}
{{Idols South Africa}}
{{Idool}}
{{Idol Norway}}
{{Canadian Idol}}
{{Australian Idol}}
{{DSDS}}
{{Idol series}}
}}

[[Category:2003 British television series debuts]]
[[Category:2004 British television series endings]]
[[Category:CTV Television Network original programming]]
[[Category:Fox Broadcasting Company original programming]]
[[Category:Future TV original programming]]
[[Category:Idols (franchise)]]
[[Category:ITV (TV network) original programming]]
[[Category:M-Net original programming]]
[[Category:Network 10 original programming]]
[[Category:Polsat original programming]]
[[Category:RTL (German TV channel) original programming]]
[[Category:RTL 4 original programming]]
[[Category:TV 2 (Norway) original programming]]
[[Category:VTM (TV channel) original programming]]
[[Category:Television series by Fremantle (company)]]
[[Category:Television series by Sony Pictures Television]]