True Academy Fantasia is a singing contest judged through popular votes. Season 4 surprised viewers by beginning with twenty contestants. However, only the twelve highest-voted contestants made it to the second episode.
Academy Fantasia is a franchise of La Academia, a popular reality TV show from Mexico. The contestants are selected through nationwide auditions, as well as through online audition clips. The live auditions take place in major cities in every partof Thailand to search for those who dream about becoming superstars. Four judges will eliminate thousands of people down to the top 100 then last twelve or more finalists into the Academy House for study.
The contestants live in the same house with hundreds of hidden cameras. Audiences can watch them 24 hours live on TV and online. Each week, the contestants are assigned individual songs and sometimes group songs to perform on stage every Saturday until the last week of the show. The contestants attend voice class, dance class, and acting class to practice the songs that they perform.
After each performance, the commentators will evaluate the performance. At the end of the concert, the contestant(s) who received the lowest percentage of audience votes will have to leave the show. The winners and the runners-up will automatically receive record deals with the True Fantasia record label. After the end of each season, there is a nationwide concert tour starring the top 12 finalists.
(Source: Wikipedia; MyDramaList)
