ABC announces ‘Rising Star’ premiere date; is voting better than ‘American Idol’?

Are you ready to see yet another singing competition on TV? In a way, we know that the very thought of this may in some ways seem like torture. We already have way too many of these shows in the first place, especially when you think about there being “American Idol,” “The Voice,” America’s Got Talent,” and possibly still “The X Factor” if it gets renewed.

So does the world really need “Rising Star” on the air? The simple answer is that they do not. However, ABC and network programming head Paul Lee made it very clear this week at TCA that they really have a ton of faith that this show can bring something new to what has already become a genre of TV that has become stale. The premise here is pretty simple: Singers come out and perform in front of judges live, as well as America. Social media helps helps to gauge the amount of support for an artist; if it gets to a certain threshold in between the judges, the audience in studio, and the viewing public, they move on to another round of the competition.

Lee is encouraged about the show, which is from an international format, could end up becoming a major part of the TV landscape. It does very well with young viewers in Israel, brought on largely by the fact that they have an immediate say in what happens. The only part of this that is troublesome here is the time-zone problem. Lee is considering doing something similar to “The Voice,” where the West Coast viewers may just have to follow along online. It’s not particularly fair, but for some silly reason, West Coast viewers don’t have the option to see an early feed.

Do you think that “Rising Star” is going to be a successful show for the network? Be sure to share your thoughts below.