People's Artist (Russian: Народный Артист|Narodny Artist) was a Russian music competition television series, based on the popular British reality television series Pop Idol. It was produced by RTR in association with FBI Music and FremantleMedia. Season 1 and 2 were hosted by Fyokla Tolstaya and Ivan Urgant.
People's Artist remains today the only Idol series to feature miming in their "best of" show (Финальный Концерт final'niy kontsert) where none of the contestants sang live.
Aleksey Goman won season one, with Aleksandr Panayotov coming in second.
(ages stated at time of contest)
| Contestant | Age | Hometown | Voted Off | Liveshow Theme | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aleksey Goman | 20 | Winner | Grand Finale | ||
| Aleksandr Panayotov | 19 | 19 December 2003 | |||
| Aleksey Chumakov | 22 | 5 December 2003 | Songs by Alla Pugacheva/Filipp Kirkorov | ||
| Mariya Zaytseva | 20 | 28 November 2003 | Songs by Igor Krutoy | ||
| Oksana Kazakova | 21 | 21 November 2003 | Contestant's Choice | ||
| Anna Alina | 22 | 14 November 2003 | Songs by Igor Nikolaev | ||
| Natalya Pavolotskaya | 19 | 6 November 2003 | Film Songs | ||
| Irina Toporez | 22 | 31 October 2003 | Songs by David Tukhmanov | ||
| Yuliya Valeeva | 25 | 24 October 2003 | Rhythm and Melody | ||
| Irina Chernishova | 20 | Saint Petersburg | 17 October 2003 | Old Songs |
Kyiv, Ukraine and Minsk, Belarus were included in the auditions this season which resulted in almost all finalists from that season coming from one of the two countries and no auditions outside of Russia being held in the next season.
(ages stated at time of contest)
| Contestant | Age | Hometown | Voted Off | Liveshow Theme | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruslan Alehno | 22 | Minsk | Winner | Grand Finale | |
| Paulina Dmitrenko | 20 | Kharkiv | 19 December 2004 | ||
| Yury Ignatov | 26 | Tyumen | 11 December 2004 | ||
| Yuliya Vdovenko | 20 | Kyiv | 4 December 2004 | ||
| Evgeniy Anishko | 20 | Kyiv | 20 November 2004 | ||
| Vera Karetnikova | 20 | Minsk | 13 November 2004 | ||
| Dilyara Vagapova | 19 | Kazan | 6 November 2004 | ||
| Vladislav Shlykov | 24 | Pavlohrad | 30 October 2004 | ||
| Tatyana Kazyuchits | 18 | Minsk | 23 October 2004 | ||
| Darya Urizchenko | 25 | Minsk | 16 October 2004 |
This season had auditions in Moscow, Voronezh, Saratov, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Saint Petersburg, Irkutsk and Chelyabinsk. The 125 chosen candidates (35 males and 90 females) advanced to Moscow in the theatre round where they were reduced to 10 finalists to perform live on television. Season three was hosted by Olga Shelest and Oskar Kuchera. On 3 June 2006 Amarkhuu Borkhuu won with 61.7% of the vote over Marina Devyatova.
The jury this season was: