Critic Reviews

Building the Band takes a while to get going – we don’t even see most bands sing until episode four – but when it’s good, it’s akin to the best kind of karaoke night (minus the awful vocals). Everyone is just having so much fun.

With its vocals only, visuals denied structure, Building the Band could be a novel concept in a crowded field of reality-style singing competitions. Who knows if any of the bands these singers form will coalesce.

As a reality show, it is fine, watchable, well-crafted, leaving sufficient cliffhangers to keep you pressing play, though its first four episodes do begin to feel a little drawn-out and repetitive.

After the novelty of the blind auditions, it turns into a grindingly dull, by-numbers talent contest. .... AJ McLean, of Backstreet Boys fame, hosts the show competently. At the beginning, he dedicated the series to Liam Payne and his family. Payne doesn’t appear until episode seven.