Members of One Direction, Pussycat Dolls, and Destiny’s Child to judge new Netflix reality TV show
Netflix

Members of One Direction, Pussycat Dolls, and Destiny’s Child to judge new Netflix reality TV show

Alan Pedder

Just when we thought that every permutation of music-based reality TV show had been exhausted, along comes Building the Band, a new Netflix production that begins shooting later this year.

Not to be confused with the Danity Kane-spawning Making the Band from the early 2000s, the new series features a twist that might best be described as The Voice meets Love is Blind. According to Netflix behind-the-scenes blog Tudum, singers will be “isolated in individual booths” and tasked with forming their own bands, sight unseen, based on “musical compatibility, connection, chemistry and merit.”

Following a first announcement in May, the streaming giant has now confirmed Backstreet Boys member AJ McLean as host, and judges Liam Payne of One Direction, Nicole Scherzinger of Pussycat Dolls, and Kelly Rowland of Destiny’s Child. The show will also feature guest judges, to be announced later.

Scherzinger and Rowland are no strangers to the role of reality TV show judge. Back in 2012, it was Scherzinger who replaced Rowland on the panel for the UK’s X Factor – and, it has since come to light, was instrumental in Liam Payne becoming a member of One Direction on the show, 2 years earlier.

Rowland later went on to build and manage her own band, June’s Diary, in the 2016 docuseries Chasing Destiny, although the partnership was short-lived.

The new announcement comes just weeks after X Factor mogul Simon Cowell was reportedly forced to rethink his new Netflix reality series, The Midas Touch, after an underwhelming turnout of boyband hopefuls at auditions in the UK.

Alan Pedder

Södra Öland, Sweden

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