Banijay Rights to handle global sales for new ITV format Romeo & Duet

Romeo & Duet, a new singing/dating competition format created and produced by Goat Films, has been picked up for worldwide distribution by Banijay Rights ahead of its UK premiere on ITV on April 16.

Presented by Oti Mabuse (pictured) of The Masked Dancer UK and Strictly Come Dancing, the format places a singleton up on a balcony, where they will be wooed through song by unseen contestants below.

Once they pick the most mellifluous suitor, the couple will come face to face for the first time and head out on a date/rehearsal session to practice a duet together. Later in the show, they will return to square off against the other crooning couples in a singing competition to become the week’s winner.

Romeo & Duet was developed from an original idea by Ivor and David Baddiel. Goat Films founder Mel Crawford is executive producer, while Christian Fletcher is series editor. The format was commissioned for ITV by entertainment commissioning editor Joe Mace and Katie Rawcliffe, head of entertainment commissioning.

“Since our first conversations about Romeo & Duet Banijay have been great champions of the show, and I know they will help us make this a global hit,” Crawford said in a news release.

“Romeo & Duet is a heartwarming extravaganza that fuses dating and music in a way that hasn’t been seen before on the small screen,” added Simon Cox, EVP of acquisitions for Banijay Rights. “Mel Crawford and the team at Goat Films have delivered an amazing spectacle, and Banijay Rights is looking forward to taking this show to a whole new viewership worldwide.”

Songwriting competition format I Want Your Song slated for summer premiere in the Netherlands

UK production company Rochford Productions has partnered with Dutch media conglomerate Talpa for a new songwriting competition, I Want Your Song, which is slated to premiere in the Netherlands on SBS6 this summer.

Each episode sees five unknown songwriters pitching their tunes to a Dutch recording artist and an audience of 100 of that artist’s biggest fans. A live band will perform each song, followed by feedback from both the artist and the audience about its potential to be the star’s next big hit. At the end of the episode a winning song is chosen, which will be immediately available for download and streaming along with a music video.

I Want Your Song is created by Rochford Productions and Talpa Concepts, produced by Talpa Entertainment Productions and distributed by Talpa Distribution.

“Working together with creatives from outside of our own company on creating new formats is something we focus on [now] more than ever,” Talpa Concepts MD Geertje Hoek said about the collaboration with Rochford. “Seeing ideas transform to formats and then hit the screen is what makes us all tick here at Talpa.”