Rabat – Premiered on July 9, “Building the Band” – Netflix’s most recent singing competition – dropped 10 episodes for the first season, modernizing the format by making it a more reality-TV-show like.

With a $500,000 (Approximatively MAD 4.88 million) prize on the line, the series starts with 50 vocalists, each placed in their individual sound booth where they can hear each other perform but can’t see one another (Yes, it’s a musical blind date!)

Using only their instinct and based only on talent and chemistry, each singer has 10 votes to cast for the voices that resonate with them. 

Based on these choices, contestants form their own bands, only meeting their bandmates face-to-face once the groups are locked in. Only six bands make it through, with each band made up of three to five members.

The next step is when the newly formed groups perform live in front of judges and mentors – Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls, Destiny’s Child‘s Kelly Rowland, and late Liam Payne from One Direction.

Blackstreet Boys’ AJ McLean – Building the Band’s host – expressed his appreciation for the show’s twist through an Instagram post captioned “Building the Band is the brand new music competition where singers pick their bandmates — without ever laying eyes on ‘em first. Wild, right? The talent blew me away… and it’s gonna blow you away too.”

As a heartfelt tribute to Payne, the first episode opens with McLean dedicating a speech to the former One Direction star – a gesture executive producer Cat Lawson says is “absolutely right.” 

“We all loved him and I think he was amazing in the show,” added Lawson, who co-leads Remarkable, the Banijay-backed company behind Building the Band.

According to Deadline, the show wrapped production by October 2024, while they confirmed that Payne had finished filming a few days before he died on October 16 of that same year.

While the series’ airing received some backlash from critics due to the tragic circumstances of Payne’s death, Netflix’s decision to move forward came after discussions with the late singer’s family.

Payne’s sister, Ruth Gibbins, took to Instagram via a story to express how heartbroken she was that Payne would never see how brilliant he is on the show.

The first seven episodes are now available to stream on Netflix, while the remaining three episodes are to be aired on July 23.