Fame Factory

Fame Factory was a Swedish reality television show structured in the form of Star Academy series also known under that name (Star Academy) in France or various names like Fame Academy in the UK, Operación Triunfo in Spain etc.

Fame Factory was launched in 2002 on the Swedish channel TV3 and was hosted for 4 seasons by Bert Karlsson. For all seasons, the Academy was held at Skara with the final each year held at various location: at Paroc-fabriken in Skövde for season 1 (2002), at the Olssons Lada also in Skövde for season 2 won by (2003), at Hovet in Stockholm season 3 (2004, in two legs, winter and spring) and the Skara market town (season for in 2005).

The instructors for the Academy school was Mikael Gordon-Solfors and the program was produced by the Swedish production company Strix and by Joachim Janckert. The principals for the academy were Micke Grahn (for season 1 and first leg of season 3), Monica Einarson (for season 2), Bengt Palmers (for second leg of season 3) and Lotta Engberg (season 4). The program was suspended after 4 seasons.

Winners were Magnus Bäcklund in season 1 in 2002, Anders Johansson in season 2 in 2003, Johan Becker in season 3 (2004) and Sandra Oxenryd in the final season 4 (2005).

The winner of season 1 Magnus Bäcklund was paired with contestant Jessica Andersson to form the duo Fame. The duo won the Melodifestivalen 2003 and represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with "Give Me Your Love" finishing fifth in the competition, while the winner of season 4, Sandra Oxenryd, represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 but failed to qualify for the final.