Banijay readies Mentor for market

Distributor Banijay International is getting ready to launch Danish competition format Mentor at MIPCOM.

The show debuted in Denmark on DR1 on August 30 in the prime Saturday 8pm slot previously held by The X Factor. Banijay Group-owned Nordisk Film TV co-developed the format with Danish musician and X Factor judge Thomas Blachman.

It is billed as “the first talent show ever to acknowledge the responsibility of the coach in deciding the contestants’ fates”. In effect, the mentors can be voted off the show if their acts don’t perform.

“It’s remarkable for a broadcaster to take a risk like this, putting a brand new entertainment format into the biggest slot of the week, and DR and Nordisk deserve so much credit for taking this completely new idea and turning it into one of the most exciting new entertainment formats of the last few years,” said Banijay International’s managing director Karoline Spodsberg.