ITV Studios Global Entertainment (ITVS GE) has signed a new deal for ITV Studios’ hit format Popstar To Operastar with Vietnamese production company Cattiensa. Cattiensa will produce an 8 x 90’ series to air on VTV3 in Vietnam in 2013.

Augustus Dulgaro, SVP, Asia Pacific, ITV Studios Global Entertainment, said: “We’re delighted that Vietnamese viewers are going to have the opportunity to see their favourite popstars take on the challenge of opera. The outstanding performance of Popstar To Operastar in Korea has demonstrated the appetite for this creative series in Asia and we look forward to securing further deals for the format.”

According to ITVS GE, Popstar To Operastar has already proven successful in Asia for CJ E&M South Korea’s tvN channel, with two series now produced. The first series almost tripled the channel’s primetime average.

In Popstar To Operastar, brave pop stars put aside their careers in the hope of becoming a bonafide opera sensation in six weeks. They think they can sing, but can they cope with performing a classical aria from Verdito Wagner or a comical intermezzi from Gilbert and Sullivan? The popstars will have world-renowned opera mentors to guide them through the style, the pace, and the complexities of singing opera culminating in a live performance at the end of each week where they face the judges and the public vote.