The San Antonio Spurs spoiled the Miami Heat’s chances at a third straight NBA Championship. Now that the NBA Finals on ABC are over, it is time to look at ABC’s summer schedule. ABC has struggled during the summer as they don’t have a major summer franchise that draws viewers. NBC has America’s Got Talent, CBS has Big Brother and FOX has So You Think You Can Dance. While ABC has a wide variety of scripted programming, it still lacks that break out show.
This year, ABC has high hopes for Rising Star hosted by Josh Groban. This is not the first time ABC has aired a singing competition show, but the network hopes the twist will make the show succeed where their previous attempts have failed. While the show features Brad Paisley, Kesha, and Ludacris as expert mentors, in now way are they judges. There is also no results show. The reason? The audience watches live and uses an app to determine if the singer will advance in the competition. If the voting reaches a certain threshold, the performer moves on. This all happens in real time. Think of American Idol meeting 24.
As the recent reports of The American Idol Experience closing at Disney’s
Hollywood Studios is evidence of the show’s decline, NBC’s recent dominance with The Voice implies that there is still an audience for this kind of show. Of course, this kind of show is hard to get attention in a crowded genre, but when they hit…. they hit big.
The show is based on Israel’s Kokhav Nolad, which translates into “a star is born.” Since it’s debut in 2003, the show has become a cultural phenomenon and has created its fair share of musical stars. Of course Israel does not have to deal with one wrinkle that the US does, which is time zones. In order to keep the real-time concept relevant for the entire country, the show will air live in the Eastern, Central, and Mountain time zones. For the Pacific Time Zone, a special version of the show will air that will allow west coast viewers to save contestants who eastern viewers did not deem worthy. The show will feature live look-ins to the potentially save-able contestants. Though it should be known that the west cannot make a contestant unsafe who the east coast has already passed through to the next episode.
Of course, the success of this show requires the app to work. And as we all know, Disney has a mixed track record when it comes to apps. In order to make sure everything is ready for its debut (and to promote the show) ABC will be “testing” the app on Monday during the Bachelorette. To participate, you first have to download the app.
Here is the info on how to do just that.
Download the Rising Star App from the App Store
For those that are not fans of dating show, tune in to ABC this Sunday at 8 ET, 7 CT, 6 MT, 8 PT, to get your chance to vote for real. Perhaps if the show is successful, The Rising Star Experience will be what replaces Idol at Hollywood Studios. I figure that is what Disney fans are hoping for, right?