Nepal Idol () is a Nepalese reality television singing competition that is part of the Idols franchise created and owned by FremantleMedia. Nepal Idol 2017 was the first season of Idol franchise in Nepal which aired on AP1 TV.
In the first season, auditions were held at seven cities; Nepalgunj, Butwal, Narayangarh, Birgunj, Biratnagar, Pokhara and Kathmandu. Contestants aged 16 to 30 years are allowed to participate. The first ever season of the show was won by Buddha Lama from Pokhara, Nepal in which a total of 93,100,000 votes were cast for the grand finale. The second season of Nepal Idol was won by Ravi Oad from Dhangadi. And, the third season of Nepal Idol was won by Sajja Chaulagain from Morang. According to organizers, more than 125,000 people watched the Grand Finale Event live on YouTube, which was a record for any Nepalese television show watched online. Nepal Idol is produced by AP1 TV for Annapurna Media Network.
In the finale event of season 3, the announcement of winner was affected due to a COVID-19 positive case from one of the production team members, which led to the finale program being withheld and announcement of the winner by digital method.
For Season 4, all past three judges got replaced by new judges, namely, Sambhujeet Baskota, Sugam Pokharel and Subani Moktan. Bhupendra Thapa Magar was winner of season 4.
For season 5, all judges of season 4 got replaced by Nhyoo Bajracharya, Indira Joshi and Kali Prasad Baskota; who returned to the show again. Karan Pariyar won the fifth season.
The sixth season was announced by AP1 TV by releasing promotional content on its social handles in January 2025, followed by a press conference on 6 March 2025.
AP1 TV officially announced the launch of Nepal Idol Junior in mid-2024, inviting young talents to apply through digital auditions via the "Aafno Digital" app. While the franchise has been under the Annapurna Media Network's umbrella for years, this specific junior edition is scheduled to air its first season in 2026. The show will be judged by a star-studded panel featuring Sugam Pokharel, Subani Moktan, and Asmita Adhikari, with Mahesh Kafle and Dr. Sareesha Shrestha confirmed as the hosts.
Format Nepal Idol also follows the format provided by Fremantle Media from Idol Bible and followed by other versions of Idol Series.
Hosts As per the format, there is at least one or two hosts both of them being of same gender or opposite gender. Nepal Idol was hosted by television actor and model Sushil Nepal and actress, model, VJ and television journalist Reema Bishwokarma. After announcement of season 2 Sushil Nepal was replaced by versatile and talented media personality Asif Shah who is also television producer, music video and tvc director, singer and actor from famous Nepali movie, 'Dui Rupiyan'. For season 3, new host Mampi Ghosh replaced Reema Bishwokarma who moved to Comedy Champions. In 2019, Asif Shah and Mampi Ghosh, previously known as Pawankali, hosted the third season. Similarly, Mampi Ghosh got replaced by Reshma Ghimire in Season 4. Reema Bishwokarma returned once again in Season 5.
Judges A preselected panel of music industry representatives are given to judge the contestants in prejudge round which is not televised. Actual panel of judges of three or five judge the contestants from Televised Audition to Grand Finale.
Season 1–3 In season one, two and three the judges were Nhyoo Bajracharya, Indira Joshi and Kali Prasad Baskota. Bajracharya is a music composer and singer. He has composed dozens of famous songs in Nepali, Nepal bhasa and Hindi. His popular compositions include "Ful ko aakhaa ma fulai sanasar" with Ani Choying Drolma with his fusion style music. Indira Joshi is a singer, model, and actress. She released the song "'Rato Ghanghara" from her album Dance with Me. She has also sung the item number "Udhreko choli" from the movie Loot. She had already been among top 5 contestants in the first season of Nepali singing reality show Nepali Tara. Kali Prasad Baskota is a singer, musician, writer, and lyricist. His initial hits were the songs like "Chahana Sakiyo" and "Lappan Chappan". Kali had done his singing debut from song "Jaalma" from movie Resham Filili which was one of the biggest hit of that time. His other popular compositions includes "Thamel Baazar" from the movie Loot 2 and "Nira" from Purano Dunga movie. All three judges were replaced in Season 4 as they moved for other reality show, Saregamapa Lil Champs.
Season 4 All three judges from last three seasons were replaced by Sambhujeet Baskota, Subani Moktan and Sugam Pokharel. Sambhujeet Baskota is a Nepali music composer who is considered to be the most popular and prolific music director of the Nepali Film Industry. He has composed over 3,000 songs, which have appeared in more than 250 films. He has composed songs for many Nepali hit films like Prem Pinda, Karodpati, Thuldai etc. Similarly, Sugam Pokharel is a Nepali popular pop singer, songwriter, RJ and music composer who is working in the Nepali music industry since 1995. In recent years, he has been also known as a popular playback singer. He became popular as a playback singer for the song Ke yo Maya ho from the movie Mero Auta Sathi Chha. Most of the Nepali people remember him for the festival song Dashain Tihar. He has given many other hit songs such as Mero Auta Sathi Chha, Mero Sansar, K yo Maya ho, Feri tyo din, etc. Likewise, Subani Moktan is a singer/songwriter and also a music arranger. Besides her own independent music, she also works as a playback singer for movies and a teacher at Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory.
Season 5–present The three old judges Nhyoo Bajracharya, Indira Joshi and Kali Prasad Baskota returned to Nepal Idol Season 5 after a break of a season.
Performance stages Auditions are held in numerous places in any particular region or country that give most people (audition entry is bound by certain legal requirements such as age and citizenship for example) the chance to sing in front of musical/television producers and if successful, they advance to a recorded televised audition where the show "judges" advance up to 300 people in some countries to the next round. The Theatre round is where a specially selected group of auditioners from all regional auditions converge (always in the host city) to perform in three sub stages: a chorus line in groups of 10 where free song choices are allowed, a trio (or less commonly a duo or quartet) where contestants must memorize a preselected song to perform and choreograph together, and finally a solo a cappella round where contestants sing a song of their own choice without musical backing in front of friends, family, judges & fellow contestants. Each stage of the theatre round, a number of contestants are eliminated and sent home by the judges, very few contestants brought back during the Wildcards show. Piano Round: After theatre, top 18 or top 20 contestants are selected. They are divided into 8 or 10 within themselves and 3 or 4 are eliminated from the round. Eliminated contestants are brought back during wildcard shows. Gala Round: The gala occurs usually pre-recorded where contestants sing in a television studio fully televised; again judges give critiques but beginning at this stage, home viewers vote via telephone and SMS (and in some countries other voting mechanisms including via Internet) who they want to stay in the competition. The contestants are judged by 50% audience vote and 50% judges marking. Gala usually consists of 12 contestants where they perform individually or in a group (usually in elimination day) semi-final contestants sing every week until all finalists have been chosen. Wildcards episode is also featured. Judges can use veto power of no elimination for only one time. Grand Finale: The Grand Finale occurs when there are three contestants left in the competition. This is the pinnacle of the entire series and often highest-rated show; also for some countries, it is venued in a prestigious location. There are usually group performances and/or special musical guests. Also, it has the best moments of the series which leads up to the announcement of the winner, which is determined by the highest number of votes. When that happens, he or she will perform an encore of the coronation single which sometimes includes pyrotechnics/fireworks. In every round, the set is often changed.
Season summary +SeasonYearFirst AiredLast AiredHostsJudgesNetworkTotal episodesWinnerRunner-upDirector/s120172017 March 312017 Sept 23Sushil NepalReema BishwokarmaNhyoo BajracharyaIndira JoshiKali Prasad BaskotaAP1 TV39Buddha LamaNishan BhattaraiLaxman Poudyal220182018 Aug 92018 Dec 21Asif Shah38Ravi OadBikram BaralSuresh Paudel
Aleen Shrestha
Lokesh Bajracharya32019/202019 Dec 192020 Aug 28Mampi Ghosh36Sajja ChaulagainPrabin Bedwal42021/222021 Dec 92022 Mar 19Reshma GhimireSambhujeet BaskotaSubani MoktanSugam Pokharel30Bhupendra Thapa MagarNamgyel TamangSuresh Paudel520242024 Mar 82024 Jun 22Reema BishwokarmaNhyoo BajracharyaIndira JoshiKali Prasad Baskota32Karan PariyarSalome Gurung620252025 May 16 2025 Aug 30No 2nd Host32Ganga SonamBabita Thapa MagarSuresh Paudel & Aleen Shrestha72027TBATBATBATBATBATBATBATBATBATBATBATBA
Nepal Idol Junior +SeasonYearFirst AiredLast AiredHostsJudgesNetworkTotal episodesWinnerRunner-upDirector12026TBATBAMahesh KafleDr. Sareesha ShresthaSugam PokharelSubani MoktanAsmita AdhikariAP1 TV20TBATBAAleen Shrestha
Season 1 The Project Head of the first-ever franchise singing reality show was Suresh Poudel. He is veteran in Nepali media with the background of working in popular media house in leading position for more than 25 years. The show was directed by Laxman Paudyal. Asst. directors are Manoj K.C. Samaya, Surace Dulal AKA Babu Surace D.C., Mohan Raj Adhikari. Chief Asst. director is Aleen Shrestha. Buddha Lama was the winner of the first season who also happened to be the youngest contestant to be selected.
Audition LocationDateVenueNepalgunj, Lumbini Province12 Magh 2073 (25 Jan 2017)Jay Bageshowri HS School, Surkhet RoadButwal, Lumbini Province15 Magh 2073 (28 Jan 2017)Kalika HS School, KalikanagarNarayangarh, Bagmati Province18 Magh 2073 (31 Jan 2017)Shree Balkumari HS SchoolBirgunj, Province No. 221 Magh 2073 (3 Feb 2017)Gyan Batika HS School, Ranighat RoadsBiratnagar, Province No. 124 & 25 Magh 2073 (6 & 7 Feb 2017)Shree Adarsha HS School, BiratnagarPokhara, Gandaki Province29 Magh & 1 Falgun 2073 (11 & 12 Feb 2017)Navin HS School, GairapatanKathmandu, Bagmati Province07 & 08 Falgun 2073 (18 & 19 Feb 2017)DAV School, Jawalakhel The dates in bold are written in Vikram Samvat.
Top 18 Performers align:center; Rank Voting Code Contestant Age (on show) Hometown Audition city Result 01 03 Buddha Lama 20 Pokhara PokharaWinner 02 07 Nishan Bhattarai 21 Morang KathmanduRunner-up 03 10 Pratap Das 22 Lalitpur Kathmandu3rd Place 04 13 Sagar Ale 21 Narayangarh Narayangadh 05 15 Sujata Pandey21 Butwal Butwal 06 17 Suraj Thapa 30 Nepalgunj Nepalgunj 07 09 Pramila Rai 22 Kathmandu Kathmandu 08 18Ulson Shrestha25Khotang Kathmandu 09 14Sandhya Joshi24Dhangadi Kathmandu 10 04Kenjal Meher Shrestha23 Lalitpur Kathmandu 11 06Menuka Poudel18 Jhapa Biratnagar 12 12Rahul Biswash22Nepalgunj Butwal 13–18 02Bidhya Tiwari23Hetauda Kathmandu 13–18 05 Manoj Thapa MagarBhojpur Biratnagar 13–18 01Afsar Ali Butwal Butwal 13–18 08Pragya Shree Biswokarma16Lalitpur Kathmandu 13–18 16Suraj Tamang Morang Biratnagar 13–18 11Pratap Lama Morang Biratnagar
Elimination Chart * Performer Of the Day X Danger Zone Eliminated