American Idol...for Bands!

The American Idol-inspired The Next Great American Band, which seeks to find exactly what its title promises and reward that TV-viewer-approved outfit with a record contract, will premiere in October on Fox.

The show is produced by 19 Entertainment, the masterminds behind the mega-successful Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, and mirrors the singing competition in several ways: National auditions have been held to narrow down the applicant pool, and judges will choose ten semi-finalists who will perform music from a different genre each week. Also like Idol, the judges (who — along with the show’s host — have yet to be announced) will offer guidance to American voters, who will ultimately decide the winner.

The main dissimilarity between Band (which is still the series’ working title) and Idol is that bands will be allowed to perform original music if they choose to do so. The top three groups will ultimately compete against each other to win a recording contract. Band will kick off with a two-hour episode on Friday, October 19, and follow with weekly hour-long shows every Friday at 8 PM. Though submissions officially closed at the end of last month (groups playing everything from hip-hop to country auditioned), you can still befriend the show’s MySpace before Rock Daily’s Reality Show Recaps start.

Written By: Erica Futterman