Fabryka Zirok

Fabryka Zirok (Фабрика зірок – Star Factory), is a Ukrainian televised talent show, which began in 2007 that features a group of young male and female candidates, aged 16 or older, across the country.

The show became a huge success and a must-watch event for its fans. It is the Ukrainian adaptation of the French television show Star Academy, which is produced by Endemol. Fabryka Zirok is produced by Dutch company Endemol and Ukrainian Novyi Kanal. The show is based on the Spanish format called Operación Triunfo.

The show basically revolves over 16 contestants that go live in an isolated penthouse apartment, with one of the contestants getting eliminated every week. The contestants get to showcase their talents in a weekly concert in which the contestants get to perform on stage with various designs, dancers, solo performances, a cappella on piano and sharing the stage with the most popular singers in Ukraine and the CIS. The contestants were required to be aged 16 or older at the time of the contest.

Teachers

 * Vocals: Olena Grebenyok
 * Choreography: Olena Kolyadenko
 * Acting Instructor: Roman Viktyok
 * Fitness: Lilya Podkopayeva
 * Stylist: Angela Litsiya, Volodimir Tarasyok
 * Psychiatrist: Vadim Kolesnikov

Seasons & Contestants
=== Fabryka Zirok 1 (2007-2008) ===
 * Olga Tsibulska  Winner
 * Katya Velaskes
 * Sasha Ilchyshyn
 * Vitaliy Yarouviy
 * Elizabeth Anum-Dorkhuso
 * Christina Kim
 * Jeka Milkovskiy
 * Yulia Borza
 * Vitaliy Bondarenko
 * Dasha Astafieva
 * Arina Domsky
 * Taras Chernyenko
 * Dima Kadnay
 * Evgen Tolochniy
 * Oleksander Bodyanckiy
 * Dasha Kolomiets

===Fabryka Zirok 2 (2008) ===
 * Duet Vladimir Dantes - Vadim Oleynik  Winner
 * Anastasia Vostokova
 * Kira Shaytanova
 * Regina Todorenko
 * Alisa Tarabarova
 * Mark Savin
 * Ganna Mukhina
 * Lina Mytsuky
 * Olena Vinogradova
 * Boris Aprel
 * Kara Kay
 * Denis Dekanin
 * Vlad Darvin
 * Max Barskih
 * Gurgen

Fabryka Zirok 3 (2009)

 * Stas Shurin   Winner
 * Andrey Philipov
 * Mykola Serga
 * Oleksiy Matias
 * Eva Bushmina
 * Vitaliy Cherva
 * Anastasia Plis
 * Vasil Nagirnyak
 * Tatiana Vorjeva
 * Artyem Mekh
 * Irina Kristinina
 * Erika
 * Santa Dimopulos
 * Borisenko Brothers
 * Alina Actrovska
 * Sabrina

Fabryka Superfinal (2010)
Selected contestants from the past 3 seasons compete to become the top superstar:
 * Oleksiy Matias  Winner
 * Maxim Barskikh
 * Olga Tsibulska
 * Mykola Serga
 * Vitaliy Bondarenko
 * Vadim Oleynik
 * Stas Shurin
 * Vladimir Dantes
 * Elizabeth Anum-Dorkhuso
 * Eva Bushmina
 * Boris Aprel
 * Borisenko Brothers
 * Dima Kadnay
 * Erika
 * Regina
 * Alisa Trabarova

===Fabryka Zirok 4 (2011) === Producer
 * Sergei Kuzin

Jury
 * Masha Efrosinina
 * Iryna Bilyk
 * Alyona Mozgovaya
 * Vitaliy Drozdov

Contestants
 * Anna Voloshina
 * Pavel Voronets
 * Snezhana Firsova
 * Sonya
 * Denis Lyubimov
 * Anton Klimik
 * Misha Sokolovskiy
 * Paulina
 * Sergey Klimentyev
 * Kseniya Lanova
 * Dasha Doris
 * Yuriy Klyuchnik
 * Yulia Rudnyeva  Winner
 * Yevgeniy Belozerov
 * Masha Goya
 * Dima Kaminskiy

Criticism, incidents and scandals
The Novyi Kanal (Ukrainian: Новий Канал) TV channel and Konstantin Meladze consider the appearance of a foreign performer at the Star Factory to be a miracle, and have appropriated the artist who miraculously appeared from Riga at the casting in Kyiv. Despite the resonance of the case, none of the organisers and producers of the Ukrainian Star Factory project confirmed the theft of Stas Shurin from the global talent agency TUARON and its Swedish talent manager Anton Sova. According to the Ukrainian music publication Muzvar, the case of the artist and the manager was included in the TOP-5 most famous cases of breakdowns in the Ukrainian music industry.

Acknowledging that the artist had a manager would have meant that the artist would have lost his place in the contest and would have had legal consequences for all parties. The artist himself denied any business relationship with the Swedish talent manager Anton Sova and the global talent agency TUARON in order to keep his place in the "Star Factory-3" competition, which he eventually won.