''Instant Star'' is a Canadian musical comedy-drama television series which aired from 15 September 2004 to 26 June 2008. The series stars

Alexz Johnson Alexzandra Spencer Johnson (born November 4, 1986) is a Canadian musician and actress. Known for her distinctive sound since her debut in 2010, her first album, ''Voodoo'', was independently released with her brother, Brendan Johnson. Over the ...

as teenage singing competition winner Jude Harrison. The show chronicles Harrison's experience in the recording industry whilst focusing on character development. ''Instant Star'' was created by

Linda Schuyler Linda Schuyler (; née Bawcutt; born February 12, 1948) is a Canadian television producer. She is best known for being the co-creator and producer of the ''Degrassi'' franchise, which has spanned five series over four decades. She is a co-found ...

, who also co-created ''

Degrassi ''Degrassi'' is a Canadian teen drama television franchise created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler, that follows the lives of youths attending the eponymous secondary school in Toronto. Each entry since 1987 has taken place in the same contin ...

''. In Canada, the show aired on CTV. In the United States, it aired on Noggin as part of its teen-oriented block,

The N The N (standing for Noggin) was a prime time and late-night block programming, programming block on the Noggin (brand), Noggin television channel, aimed at preteens and teenagers. It was launched on April 1, 2002, by MTV Networks and Sesame Works ...

Epitome Pictures Epitome Pictures Inc. (later known as DHX Studios Toronto) was a Canadian film and television production company based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded by Linda Schuyler and Stephen Stohn in 1992, the company is best known for producing '' Degrassi: ...

produced the show, and both CTV and The N were involved in the production and financing. Four seasons of the show (each with 13 episodes) were made. CTV and The N both pulled funding following the fourth season, despite plans by Epitome Pictures to continue with a fifth season. The fourth and final season ended on June 26, 2008, in the United States.

Overview

In each episode of the show, Jude Harrison must deal with the issues and challenges of both her musical career and her personal life, as one weaves into the other. She also faces dilemmas and choices in her relationships, dividing her feelings between the loves in her life, while also recording with G-Major Records. These people are important to her music – the one thread that ties her life together. Her best moments are when she is working with others in creating and performing her music. In addition to her music and her loves, there is much else going on in her personal life and in the lives of those around her.

Episodes

Cast

Main

as Judith "Jude" Harrison *

Kristopher Turner Kristopher Turner (born September 27, 1980) is a Canadian actor, producer and director. He is best known for his role as Dr. Gavin Murphy on the medical drama series ''Saving Hope'', and as Jamie Andrews on the CTV teen drama '' Instant Star'' ...

as James "Jamie" Andrews *

Tim Rozon Timothy James Rozon (born June 4, 1976) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his roles as Tommy Quincy on the CTV Television Network, CTV teen drama ''Instant Star'', Mutt Schitt in the CBC Television, CBC comedy ''Schitt's Creek'', Doc Hollida ...

as Thomas "Tom" Quincy *

Laura Vandervoort Laura Dianne Vandervoort (born September 22, 1984) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Lisa in the ABC science fiction series '' V'' (2009). She also known for role as Sadie Harrison in the CTV teen drama series '' Instant ...

as Sadie Harrison *

Barbara Mamabolo Barbara Mamabolo (born November 30, 1985) is a Canadian actress and singer. Career Mamabolo has made guest-star appearances on the critically acclaimed series '' The Eleventh Hour'', '' Sue Thomas: F.B. Eye'', and ''Relic Hunter''. Her stage cr ...

as Katrina "Kat" Benton (season 1; recurring, season 2) * Tracy Waterhouse as Georgia Bevans (season 1) * Matthew Brown as Shay Mills (season 1) * Andrea Lui as EJ Li (season 1) * Wes Williams as Darius Mills * Tyler Kyte as Vincent Spiederman (recurring, season 1; main, seasons 2–4) *

Cory Lee Cory Lee (born as Cory Lee Urhahn) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and actress. She is most noted for playing the role of Karma in the television series '' Instant Star'', and Miss Oh on '' Degrassi: The Next Generation''. Early life Born ...

as Karma (seasons 3–4) *

Zoie Palmer Zoie Palmer is a Canadian actress best known for her roles as Dr. Lauren Lewis in the supernatural drama '' Lost Girl'' and as the Android in the science fiction series ''Dark Matter''. Early life Palmer was born in Camborne in Cornwall, Engla ...

as Patsy Sewer (recurring, season 2; main season 3) * Mark Taylor as Kwest (recurring, seasons 1–2; main, seasons 3–4) * Christopher Gaudet as Wally Robbins (recurring, seasons 1–2; main, seasons 3–4) * Ian Blackwood as Kyle Bateman (recurring, season 2; main, seasons 3–4) *

Craig Warnock Craig Warnock (born 22 February 1970) is an English actor. Warnock's best known role is that of Kevin in Terry Gilliam's ''Time Bandits'' (1981). Warnock has acted in ''To the Lighthouse'' (1983), an adaptation of the novel by Virginia Woolf ...

as Paegan Smith (season 4) *

Tatiana Maslany Tatiana Gabriele Maslany ( ; born September 22, 1985) is a Canadian actress. She rose to prominence for playing multiple characters in the science-fiction thriller television series ''Orphan Black'' (2013–2017), which won her a Primetime Emmy ...

as Zeppelin (season 4) *

Cassie Steele Cassandra Rae Steele (born December 2, 1989) is a Canadian actress and singer known for portraying Manny Santos on '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' and Abby Vargas on '' The L.A. Complex''. In 2014, she played Sarah in the MTV horror televisi ...

as Blu (season 4) *

Kyle Riabko Kyle Riabko (born 29 September 1987) is a Canadian musician, composer and actor from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Before starring on Broadway in both '' Spring Awakening'' and ''Hair'', Kyle released a full-length album of original music on Colum ...

as Milo Keegan (season 4)

Recurring

* Katrina Matthews as Eden Taylor (season 1) * Simon Reynolds as Stuart Harrison

Supporting

Guest stars

The Instant Stars

Music

:''Other article:

Instant Star soundtracks The television show ''Instant Star'' has produced a series of soundtracks featuring songs from the show, mostly performed by Alexz Johnson, released between 2005 and 2009. The first two albums contain only songs sung by Johnson, but starting from ...

'' Each episode of the series features a new song performed by Alexz Johnson. Usually, the song is about something that occurs in the episode. However, in some episodes, there is no direct explanation to the lyrics; sometimes it's just a song. Some episodes can feature more than one song, but there is only one song per episode that is to be featured on the soundtrack for that season. For instance, there are 13 episodes per season, which means there are 13 main songs. One of the songs, "Perfect," was written by Canadian synth pop artist

Lights Light is an electromagnetic radiation, part of which stimulates the sense of vision. Light or Lights may also refer to: Illumination * Lighting * Light bulb * Traffic light Arts and entertainment Music * Lights (musician) (born 1987), Canadian s ...

. Alexz Johnson recorded the vocals on the first and second soundtracks, while even co-writing some of the songs with her brother Brendan. For the third and fourth soundtracks, Alexz wasn't featured for all of the songs because of the release of her debut album and conflicts with prior record labels. Just before the broadcast of the second season on The N, viewers had a chance to see

in concert in a show called ''Instant Star: Backstage Pass'', singing two of the songs from each season of the show and accompanied by her band from the show, Spiederman Mind Explosion.

Broadcast

''Instant Star'' was broadcast in over 120 countries.

Home releases

Funimation Entertainment Crunchyroll, LLC is an American entertainment company based in Coppell, Texas. It currently operates the anime-focused eponymous over-the-top subscription video on-demand streaming service. The company was founded as Funimation in May 1 ...

released the first two seasons on DVD in Region 1 in 2007.

Echo Bridge Home Entertainment Echo Bridge Entertainment was an American independent distribution company. It acquired and distributed feature films, scripted and non-scripted series, documentaries, and children's programming for home video, digital and television in the Unit ...

acquired the rights to the series in 2010 and subsequently released the final two seasons on DVD, available in the US only.

Reception

In 2005, after its first season, ''Instant Star'' was nominated for three

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

s in the category of Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series. Nominations included: (1) Best Series; (2) Best Performance (Alexz Johnson); and (3) Best Direction ( Graeme Campbell). The show won the award for Best Direction for the episode ''You Can't Always Get What You Want''. On August 28, 2007, the show received three more Gemini Award nominations in the category of Best Children's or Youth Program or series. Alexz Johnson was again nominated for Best Performance (for the episode, "I Fought the Law"), and there were two more nominations for Best Direction - Graeme Campbell (for "I Fought the Law"), and Pat Williams (for "Personality Crisis").

References

External links

*
Instant Star
On-set photo gallery @ '' TheGATE.ca'' {{Playing With Time, Inc. and Epitome Pictures 2000s Canadian comedy-drama television series 2000s Canadian music television series 2000s Canadian teen drama television series 2000s Canadian teen sitcoms 2004 Canadian television series debuts 2008 Canadian television series endings CTV Television Network original programming Television series about fictional musicians Television series by WildBrain Television series by Bell Media Canadian English-language television shows The N original programming Serial drama television series Funimation Television series by Alliance Atlantis Canadian television series about teenagers