Just in case there’s any juice left in televised singing contests, ABC has bought the rights to the format of the Israeli hit Rising Star, and has ordered ten episodes for next summer, Deadline reports. In Israel, the show airs live — even the audition rounds — and the audience votes, via app, in real time. The Rising Star stage puts contestants behind an LED wall that lights up with the Facebook photos of the voting populace. When the performer passes the threshold of votes needed to move on to the next round, the wall flies up, and everyone rejoices. Unfortunately, it’s going to take more than a flying LED wall to make us care about yet another one of these shows. Watch a clip from the original below, and see if you can find any substantive difference between this, Idol, The Voice, X-Factor, [Whatever Nation] Has Talent, etc.
