Zeal Secures International Deals for Singing Bee

LONDON, December 14: Zeal Entertainment has announced ten
new production deals for the Singing Bee
format, including agreements in Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia
Pacific.

European broadcasters that have signed up for adaptations of
the format include ProSieben in Germany, RTL4 in Holland, TV3 in Denmark, to be
produced by Mastiff TV; TV3 in Norway and MTV3 in Finland, to be produced by
Nordisk, and TV2 in Hungary.

In the Middle East, Dubai TV has commissioned the format, as
has Israel’s Reshet.

Additional deals include TVNZ in New Zealand, to be adapted
by Great Southern, and Promofilms is producing a version for Canal 13 in Chile.

Zeal has
previously announced production deals in Australia for Nine Network, Greece for
Alpha TV, Spain for Antena 3, Belgium for VTM, Iceland for Screen 1, Turkey for
Show TV, Sweden for TV3 and in Colombia for Caracol TV.

In Singing Bee,
contestants “sing in the blanks” of partial song lyrics in a contest where it’s
not how well you can sing, but how accurately you sing the lyrics that count.
The show was created by The Gurin Company and Juma Entertainment.

“This is really exciting news,” said Phil Gurin, the
co-creator and executive producer of the show. “The international momentum we
are building with this format proves that it has long-running potential. In
fact, we are optimistic that Singing Bee
will work in every territory it reaches, establishing a long-running musical
variety game show franchise in each country. And Zeal has done a remarkable job
getting it in front of producers and broadcasters everywhere. We continue to
‘sing’ their praises.”

“Shouting
song lyrics at your television screen is fun in any language,” said Bob
Horowitz, the co-creator and executive producer of the series. “Thanks to
Zeal’s outstanding work, I am thrilled that so many people around the world
will get to experience their favorite music against the backdrop of the highly
interactive Singing Bee format.”

—By Ned Berke