Building the Band

Building the Band
Promotional poster
Presented by	AJ McLean
Judges	Nicole Scherzinger Liam Payne Kelly Rowland
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	10
Production
Executive producers	Simon Crossley Clara Elliot Alison Holloway Cat Lawson Katrina Morrison
Running time	53–54 minutes
Production company	Remarkable Entertainment
Original release
Network	Netflix
Release	July 9 (2025-07-09) – July 23, 2025 (2025-07-23)

Building the Band is an American reality television singing competition which was filmed in August 2024 in Los Angeles County & Manchester England (live shows) and aired on Netflix starting on 9 July 2025. The program format sees 50 artists form 6 groups through a selection process, which leads to eliminations until one group is selected as the winner and earning a $500,000 prize.

Host and Judges of Building the Band

AJ McLean

Liam Payne

Kelly Rowland

Nicole Scherzinger

Backstreet Boys member AJ McLean serves as the main host for the series. McLean is joined by three judges to help mentor the contestants. The judges include former One Direction member Liam Payne, (in his final appearance), former Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland, and former Pussycat Dolls member Nicole Scherzinger.^[1]

In the first round, all 50 artists sang a solo performance to the rest of the contestants while in pods, unable to see one another. Each artist was able to send 10 "likes" to performers who they wanted to see in a band alongside them, and performing artists had to receive at least 5 likes to avoid instant elimination. If all of the performers liked by a contestant had either been eliminated or formed a band without them, they were automatically eliminated due to a lack of connections.

In between performances, artists were able to have voice chats to get to know one another better in preparation for the formation of groups. They were told by AJ that only six bands could be formed and that they had to have between three to five members. Once a group of artists were locked in a group, they performed a song together as they met in-person for the first time.

At the end of the round, 22 artists advanced as part of six groups.

Among this episode's contestants were Aaliyah Rose, who previously competed on the twelfth season of The Voice and Chance Perez, who was previously a member of the boyband, In Real Life and Conor Smith, who previously competed on the eighth season of The Voice Australia.

Among this episode's contestants were Malik Heard and Elise Kristine, who both previously competed on the twenty-first season of American Idol.

Among this episode's contestants were Erica Padilla, who previously competed in Eurovision – Australia Decides for the chance to represent Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, Zach Newbould, who previously competed on the twenty-second season of The Voice, and Jenna Marquis, who previously competed on twenty-fourth season of The Voice.

Among this episode's contestants were Joey McGrew, who competed on the twenty-first season of American Idol, Karlee Tanaka, who previously competed on Dream Academy, and Eric Who, who previously competed on the twenty-second season of The Voice.

After five groups had been formed, Bri, Christian, Jenna M., Jermarcus, Karlee, Max, Maya, and Thomas were eliminated due to lack of remaining connections.

After all six groups had been formed, Alexandra, Cece, Eric, Ethan, Joey, Mandy, Nico, Peter, Pillow Prince, and Vibi were eliminated.

Notes

Notes

Band Names:

• Band 1, Aaliyah, Cameron, Donzell & Katie, formed the group SZN4.
• Band 2, Bradley, Landon, Malik & Shade, formed the group Soulidified, in episode 10 they changed their name to ICONYX.
• Band 3, Brianna, Nori & Wennely, formed the group 3QUENCY.
• Band 4, Conor, Mason, Shane & Zach, formed the group Midnight 'Til Morning.
• Band 5, Autumn, Erica, Jenna D. & Noriella, formed the group Siren Society.
• Band 6, Alison, Elise & Haley, formed the group Sweet Seduction.

Although the show was advertised with 50 contestants, only 44 were revealed to the public.

Notes

Production took place during the summer of 2024, with the final performances taped in late August in Manchester, England.^[2] Building the Band was Liam Payne's final TV project, as he died in October 2024. The show received the blessing from Payne's family to air, and it was dedicated in his memory.^[3]

• Building the Band on Netflix
• Building the Band at IMDb
• Building the Band at UKGameshows.com