Building the Band

Building the Band is an American reality television singing competition which was filmed in August 2024 in Los Angeles County & Manchester, England (live shows) and aired on Netflix starting on 9 July 2025. The program format sees 50 artists form 6 groups through a selection process, which leads to eliminations until one group is selected as the winner and earning a $500,000 prize.

Building the Band
Promotional poster
Presented by	AJ McLean
Judges	Nicole Scherzinger Liam Payne Kelly Rowland
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	10
Production
Executive producers	Simon Crossley Clara Elliot Alison Holloway Cat Lawson Katrina Morrison
Running time	53–54 minutes
Production company	Remarkable Entertainment
Original release
Network	Netflix
Release	July 9 (2025-07-09) – July 23, 2025 (2025-07-23)

Host and judges

Host and Judges of Building the Band

AJ McLean

Liam Payne

Kelly Rowland

Nicole Scherzinger

Backstreet Boys member AJ McLean serves as the main host for the series. McLean is joined by three judges to help mentor the contestants. The judges include former One Direction member Liam Payne, (in his final appearance), former Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland, and former Pussycat Dolls member Nicole Scherzinger.^[1]

The Booths

In the first round, all 50 artists sang a solo performance to the rest of the contestants while in pods, unable to see one another. Each artist was able to send 10 "likes" to performers who they wanted to see in a band alongside them, and performing artists had to receive at least 5 likes to avoid instant elimination. If all of the performers liked by a contestant had either been eliminated or formed a band without them, they were automatically eliminated due to a lack of connections.

In between performances, artists were able to have voice chats to get to know one another better in preparation for the formation of groups. They were told by AJ that only six bands could be formed and that they had to have between three to five members. Once a group of artists were locked in a group, they performed a song together as they met in-person for the first time.

At the end of the round, 22 artists advanced as part of six groups.

The Booths color key

	Artist eligible to form a band
	Artist ineligible to form a band
	Artist was eliminated with less than 5 likes
	Artists formed a band

Episode 1

Among this episode's contestants were Aaliyah Rose, who previously competed on the twelfth season of The Voice and Chance Perez, who was previously a member of the boyband, In Real Life and Conor Smith, who previously competed on the eighth season of The Voice Australia.

Order	Contestant	Age	Home State/Country	Song	Likes
1	Donzell Taggart	22	Arkansas	"Jealous"	20
2	Alison Ogden	24	Maryland	"Dangerous Woman"	16
3	Katie Roeder	23	Massachusetts	"Unstoppable"	18
4	Chance Perez	26	California	"There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back"	3
5	Kevin Chung	29	Georgia	"Selfish"	2
6	Conor Smith	22	Australia	"Drivers License"	5
7	Jenna Dave	19	Nevada	"Too Little, Too Late"	7
8	Thomas Berberian	20	Brazil	"Lego House"	14
9	Autumn Stallia	20	Maryland	"Best Part"	12
10	Aaliyah Rose	22	Utah	"Tummy Hurts"	28
11	Max Wright	20	California	"Snooze"	18
12	Bri	22	New Jersey	"How Deep Is Your Love"	26
13	Nori Royale	23	Georgia	"Greedy"	16
14	Cameron Goode	22	Illinois	"Almost is Never Enough"	15
15	Landon Boyce	20	Utah	"Toxic"	20

Episode 2

Among this episode's contestants were Malik Heard and Elise Kristine, who both previously competed on the twenty-first season of American Idol.

Order	Contestant	Age	Home State/Country	Song	Likes
1	Elise Kristine	20	Washington	"You Broke Me First"	28
2	Malik Heard	27	Texas	"Versace on the Floor"	19
3	Wennely Quezada	24	Missouri	"Water"	21
4	Hannah Alexandra	22	Florida	"Espresso"	2
5	Gabriella Lora	25	New York	"Lean On"	2
6	Noriella	25	New York	"The Door"	16
7	Shane Appell	22	New York	"Lose Control"	19
8	Bradley Rittmann	22	Massachusetts	"So Sick"	12
9	Shade	26	Maryland	"Let Me Love You"	10
10	Nico May	21	Wisconsin	"Stick Season"	12
11	Cece Keating	21	Texas	"Rise Up"	9
12	Vibi	27	Canada	"Flowers"	18

Episode 3

Among this episode's contestants were Erica Padilla, who previously competed in Eurovision – Australia Decides for the chance to represent Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, Zach Newbould, who previously competed on the twenty-second season of The Voice, and Jenna Marquis, who previously competed on twenty-fourth season of The Voice.

Order	Contestant	Age	Home State/Country	Song	Likes
Group 1	Aaliyah, Cameron, Donzell & Katie[a]			"Too Sweet"
1	Zach Newbould	21	Massachusetts	"Beautiful Things"	23
2	Mandy Rose	23	Virginia	"What Was I Made For?"	N/A
3	Erica Padilla	23	Australia	"Motivation"	N/A
4	Haley Gosserand	20	Missouri	"Feather"	N/A
5	Maya Patel	24	Illinois	"Ain't Nobody"	10
6	Jenna Marquis	20	California	"Million Reasons"	5
7	Christian Kirk	28	North Carolina	"We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off"	14
8	Brianna Mazzola	24	Pennsylvania	"River"	23
Group 2	Bradley, Landon, Malik, & Shade[a]			"Finesse"
9	Peter Carboni	29	Massachusetts	"Slow It Down"	N/A
10	Jermarcus Riggins	26	Florida	"I Can't Make You Love Me"	N/A
11	Mason Watts	25	Australia	"Breakeven"	N/A

Episode 4

Among this episode's contestants were Joey McGrew, who competed on the twenty-first season of American Idol, Karlee Tanaka, who previously competed on Dream Academy, and Eric Who, who previously competed on the twenty-second season of The Voice.

Order	Contestant	Age	Home State/Country	Song	Likes
Group 3	Brianna, Nori & Wennely[a]			"Levitating"
Group 4	Conor, Mason, Shane & Zach[a]			"Higher Power"
Group 5	Autumn, Erica, Jenna D. & Noriella[a]			"Want to Want Me"
1	Alexandra Starr	29	New York	Not featured[b]	N/A
2	Eric Who	25	South Carolina		N/A
3	Ethan Pugh	26	New York		N/A
4	Joey McGrew	22	Texas		N/A
5	Karlee Tanaka	21	Hawaii	Not featured[b]	N/A
6	Pillow Prince	26	Illinois	Not featured[b]	N/A

After five groups had been formed, Bri, Christian, Jenna M., Jermarcus, Karlee, Max, Maya, and Thomas were eliminated due to lack of remaining connections.

Episode 5

Order	Contestant	Age	Home State/Country	Song	Likes
Group 6	Alison, Elise & Haley[a]			"Into You"

After all six groups had been formed, Alexandra, Cece, Eric, Ethan, Joey, Mandy, Nico, Peter, Pillow Prince, and Vibi were eliminated.

Notes

1. They formed a group during this episode
2. During this round, the solo performances of Alexandra, Eric, Ethan, Joey, Karlee and Pillow were not featured.

First Looks

Episode	Order	Band	Song
Episode 5	1	Autumn, Erica, Jenna D. & Noriella	"Love Yourself"
	2	Conor, Mason, Shane & Zach	"Ocean Eyes"
Episode 6	3	Aaliyah, Cameron, Donzell & Katie	"Somebody That I Used To Know"
	4	Brianna, Nori & Wennely	"Kill Bill"
	5	Bradley, Landon, Malik & Shade	"U Remind Me"
	6	Alison, Elise & Haley	"I Want It That Way"

Notes

The Showcases

Showcases color key

	The Judges advanced The Band in the competition
	The Band was eliminated

Band Names:

• Band 1, Aaliyah, Cameron, Donzell & Katie, formed the group SZN4.
• Band 2, Bradley, Landon, Malik & Shade, formed the group Soulidified, in episode 10 they changed their name to ICONYX.
• Band 3, Brianna, Nori & Wennely, formed the group 3QUENCY.
• Band 4, Conor, Mason, Shane & Zach, formed the group Midnight 'Til Morning.
• Band 5, Autumn, Erica, Jenna D. & Noriella, formed the group Siren Society.
• Band 6, Alison, Elise & Haley, formed the group Sweet Seduction.

Episode 7

Order	Band	Song	Result
1	Sweet Seduction	"Emotions"	Safe
2	Midnight "Til Morning	"Iris"	Bottom two
3	Siren Society	"Don't Cha"	Eliminated
4	Soulidified	"Sure Thing"	Safe
5	3QUENCY	"Made for Me"	Safe
6	SZN4	"Sweet Love"	Safe

Episode 8

Order	Band	Song	Result
1	SZN4	" Believer"	Safe
2	Sweet Seduction	"Ghost"	Eliminated
3	Soulidified	"Can We Talk"	Safe
4	Midnight "Til Morning	"The Reason"	Bottom two
5	3QUENCY	"Bad Guy"	Safe

Episode 9

Order	Band	Song	Result
1	SZN4	"Bust Your Windows"	Safe
2	Midnight "Til Morning	"Circles"	Eliminated
3	3QUENCY	"Have You Ever?"	Safe
4	Soulidified	"Saturn"	Bottom two

Episode 10

Order	Band	Song	Order	Song	Result
1	3QUENCY	"Have Mercy"	5	"Always Be My Baby"	Winners
2	ICONYX	"Bye Bye Bye"	N/A already eliminated		Third place
3	SZN4	"Human"	4	"Blinding Lights"	Runner-up

Elimination chart

Although the show was advertised with 50 contestants, only 44 were revealed to the public.

Results color key

	Winner							Bottom two
	Runner-up							Formed a group
	Third place							Did not perform
	Fourth place							Eliminated

Elimination chart for Building the Band lp

Artists	Bands	Episodes
		1	2	3	4[a]	5	6	7	8	9	10
Brianna Mazzola	3QUENCY			Safe	Group		Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Winners
Nori Royale		Safe
Wennely Quezada			Safe
Aaliyah Rose	SZN4	Safe		Group			Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Runner-up
Cameron Goode		Safe
Donzell Taggart		Safe
Katie Roeder		Safe
Bradley Rittmann	ICONYX (Soulidified)		Safe	Group			Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom two	Third place
Landon Boyce		Safe
Malik Heard			Safe
Shade			Safe
Conor Smith	Midnight 'Til Morning	Safe			Group	Safe		Bottom two	Bottom two	Fourth place
Mason Watts				Safe
Shane Appell			Safe
Zach Newbould				Safe
Alison Ogden	Sweet Seduction	Safe				Group	Safe	Safe	Eliminated
Elise Kristine			Safe
Haley Gosserand				Safe
Autumn Stallia	Siren Society	Safe			Group	Safe		Eliminated
Erica Padilla				Safe
Jenna Dave		Safe
Noriella			Safe
Alexandra Starr					Safe[a]	Eliminated
Cece Keating			Safe			Eliminated
Eric Who					Safe[a]	Eliminated
Ethan Pugh					Safe[a]	Eliminated
Joey McGrew					Safe[a]	Eliminated
Mandy Rose				Safe		Eliminated
Nico May			Safe			Eliminated
Peter Carboni				Safe		Eliminated
Pillow Prince					Safe[a]	Eliminated
Vibi			Safe			Eliminated
Christian Kirk				Safe	Eliminated
Jenna Marquis				Safe	Eliminated
Jermarcus Riggins				Safe	Eliminated
Karlee Tanaka					Eliminated
Max Wright		Safe			Eliminated
Maya Patel				Safe	Eliminated
Thomas Berberian		Safe			Eliminated
Bri		Safe			Eliminated
Gabriella Lora			Eliminated
Hannah Alexandra			Eliminated
Kevin Chung		Eliminated
Chance Perez		Eliminated

Notes

1. During this round, the solo performances of Alexandra, Eric, Ethan, Joey, Karlee and Pillow were not featured.

Episodes

No.	Title	Original release date
1	"The Pinky Promise"	July 9, 2025 (2025-07-09)
2	"Locked In"	July 9, 2025 (2025-07-09)
3	"The Magic Number"	July 9, 2025 (2025-07-09)
4	"I Always Get What I Want"	July 9, 2025 (2025-07-09)
5	"The First Look"	July 16, 2025 (2025-07-16)
6	"Breaking the Band"	July 16, 2025 (2025-07-16)
7	"The Showcase"	July 16, 2025 (2025-07-16)
8	"The Big Stage"	July 23, 2025 (2025-07-23)
9	"The Pressure is On"	July 23, 2025 (2025-07-23)
10	"The Finals"	July 23, 2025 (2025-07-23)

Production

Production took place during the summer of 2024, with the final performances taped in late August in Manchester, England.^[2] Building the Band was Liam Payne's final TV project, as he died in October 2024. The show received the blessing from Payne's family to air, and it was dedicated in his memory.^[3]