The music competition reality show is a bit of a dying art. American Idol, long a ratings juggernaut for FOX has seen rapid declines in ratings for seasons now, culminating in this year's barely-watched finale. Even newcomers like The Voice and The X Factor US faced slipping ratings this year, causing the latter to get cancelled after just three seasons. But, ABC is looking to change all of that with Rising Star, which premiered Sunday night (June 22).
ABC has clearly invested a lot in Rising Star - with relentless promotion and likely a ton of money going into production, with that massive two-ton wall, host Josh Groban and "experts" Kesha, Brad Paisley and Ludacris. But how does the show stack up?
Right from the beginning, it was clear there were quiet a few little technical hiccups. Groban himself admitted that he, the experts and the crew at ABC were "terrified" of the show, which wasn't practiced until two days before airtime, according to a new profile over at Billboard.
And there were quite a few hosting stumbles... awkward jokes, slightly misogynistic jabs at Kesha's sex life, weird references by "Luda," but none of these people had ever been on TV before, in this capacity, so it feels as though they should get a bit of a pass for a bumpy episode one.
When it all boils down, the rules to Rising Star are quite simple: singers enter the stage standing behind a massive, two-ton wall, and perform live for the experts, live audience and people watching at home. The twist at Rising Star that makes this show different than American Idol and such is that the viewers at home can vote instantaneously yes or no for a performer via a smartphone app, linked to a Facebook or Twitter account. Those who reach 70 percent move on to whatever the next stage of the competition is. Those who don't... go home.
Despite the ease of use for the smartphone app and the simplistic nature of the competition, Groban spent over 10 minutes at the start of the show explaining the rules.
Snore.
And the dragging pace is really the biggest flop of Rising Star's debut. Clocking in at two hours on a TV guide, the show is roughly 50 percent content and 50 percent commercials, with a new break taking place after every. single. performance. It gets tiring to watch ads for frozen food and other ABC shows when all you want to do is watch people sing, and it's not like you can fast-forward, which is what the network is clearly banking on for this live show.
It's understandable why ABC would format Rising Star this way, but it makes the viewer feel like nothing more than a number to entice advertisers. And it really makes the time slot for Rising Star feel like a loooong two hours.
So, despite the hosting bumps and all those "brought to you by" ads, how was the real meat of Rising Star... the contestants?
The answer is... meh.
Over two hours, the show featured a paltry 10 acts, who sang for 90 seconds a piece. For those doing the math, that's 15 minutes of actual performances in a 120 minute show.
Out of those 10 performers, seven reached the coveted 70 percent barrier to move on to the next round but none stuck out so much outside of those 90 seconds on stage.
Youth pastor Joshua Peavy was the first to sing for the night, taking on the classic love ballad "Everything I Do." Despite his country bumpkin voice, Peavy was all soul in his music, bringing out the type of gusto Brian Adams made famous.
For a show that boasts about its modern concept, many of the song choices at the top of Rising Star were simply dated. There was a Whitney Houston cover of "How Will I Know" by Brooklynite Lisa Punch, a stiff rendition of "Con Te Partiro" from Maneepat Malloy and an electrifying, shaken performance of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put A Spell On You" from the soft-spoken, rousing singer Jesse Kinch.
Kinch was the show's true standout, as the 20-year-old with a '70s haircut and matching classic rock soul shook through his powerful performance, accompanied by himself in "beast mode" and an acoustic guitar. He walked away with an astounding 92 percent approving rating from the audience, a high point until the end of the show.
Though the dated songs shined on Rising Star, with the previous four all moving on to the next round, the newer songs did not fare so well. Daniel & Olivia, a couple from Los Angeles tried to perform OneRepublic's "Counting Stars," but were so offbeat and their vocals simply didn't mesh.
Despite a solid falsetto, 16-year-old prom attendee Colin Huntley could not make it through on Ed Sheeran's "Sing" and One Direction wannabes Beyond 5 proved that no band can have five Justin Timberlakes and whined their way through the Avicii hit "Wake Me Up!"
But, to be honest, each and every singer on Rising Star had more or less the same talent level and without my own notes for the purposes of this review, I would have never remembered a single name.
Rising Star falls into the same pitfalls as recent seasons of American Idol, The Voice and even The X Factor... instead of focusing primarily on the music, it pins its successes on gimmicks, star judges and all the flashing lights and glitz of just being in a competition. Sure, Sarah Darling got dropped from her label before popping up on Rising Star to sing Kacey Musgraves' "Merry Go Round" but other than the general notion that she was pretty and the song was done fine, there's just not much to write home about.
If Rising Star wants to set itself up as the next generation of music competition shows, that's great... a valiant cause that America could probably use. But in order to do that, it may be necessary to tear down the wall, hire some unknown but technically proficient judges and put the focus where it truly belongs: on the singers. Because despite a Capitol Records deal at the end of this show, nobody will know who won Rising Star, but they will remember how fun it was to watch and vote along.
And that's just not the point. But maybe selling frozen food is, and I have my priorities wrong.
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