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Pop's Ultimate Star

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Pop's Ultimate Star was TV2's reality television show which pits former reality contestants againest each other, most of whom are former NZ Idol contestants. The show was produced by Eyeworks Touchdown, with first prize $50,000 and a Kia 'Rio' car. It is hosted by Dominic Bowden and was originally scheduled to be held in the St. James Theatre in Auckland. After damage to the St. James theatre the show was shifted to the Bruce Mason theatre before finally relocating to TVNZ's Avalon studio in Wellington.

Originally, public voting occurred from the performance show on Sunday, where the eventual two contestants who have the lowest public votes will then be in a "sing off" on Wednesday, where the judges eliminated one contestant. After week five, TVNZ changed the format and a contestant was eliminated in the Sunday night show by the judges after the two with the lowest number of public votes were chosen.

The judges are music industry veterans Peter Urlich from Th' Dudes, Jordan Luck from The Exponents, Harry Lyon from Hello Sailor and Kim Willoughby from When The Cat's Away. Lyon is the show's musical director and Willoughby the performance coach and stylist.

The show debuted on 29 May 2007, receiving mainly negative reviews, ranging from judges, song choice, lighting, singing and the most common one was the sound issue. Another controversial issue was the introduction of immunity challenges, during episodes two through four.

Contestant Placing Status Bottom 2
Joe Cotton Former singer – TrueBliss Winner
Nik Carlson Runner-up, NZ Idol Season two Runner-Up
Matthew Saunoa Winner, NZ Idol Season three Eliminated
Emily Williams Runner-up, Australian Idol and singer – Young Divas Eliminated Nik Carlson
David Wikaira-Paul Former actor – Shortland Street Eliminated Nik Carlson
Ben Lummis Winner, NZ Idol Season one Eliminated Emily Williams
Camillia Temple 3rd place, NZ Idol Season one Eliminated Nik Carlson
Steve Broad 3rd place, NZ Idol Season two Eliminated Camillia Temple
Rosita Vai Winner, NZ Idol Season two Eliminated Nik Carlson
Keri Harper Former singer – TrueBliss Eliminated Emily Williams