Reality TV searches for new Hutchence:
The Next Great Rock Star - produced by Mark Burnett, the man behind reality TV hit Survivor - is a 13-part series about the band's worldwide search for a new frontman or woman; a tall order given that Hutchence was acknowledged as one of rock's most charismatic and attractive stars.
The show will be an attempt to "turn the music reality TV show format on its head", according to a spokesman for INXS's London management company.
"Music-based reality TV shows have become a dirty word, especially in the UK, with much of it resulting in manufactured pop with a short shelf-life and quick injection of cash.
"But we want to find a permanent replacement, who can write, record and tour with the band. We are trying to take the music reality TV format and flip it on its head and make it credible," said the spokesman.
An open audition is being held at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire on February 8 with closed auditions and call-backs for potential finalists all being filmed. The recordings will not form TV episodes in themselves but the footage of the finalists' auditions will be shown as they progress during the show.
Thirteen finalists will be chosen from the worldwide auditions and they will be flown to Hollywood to live together in a mansion where the cameras will be rolling 24 hours a day, resembling the format of the BBC's Fame Academy show.
At the mansion the potential rock stars will be put through their paces performing and writing songs and their ability to cope with the pressures of fame will be tested with mock press conferences, photo and video shoots.
Every week three instalments of the show will be screened. The first half-hour episode will be fly-on-the-wall footage from inside the mansion; the second hour-long episode will showcase live performances from the contestants with a house band rather than INXS; the final half-hour show will be the weekly vote.
The mechanism of the vote has yet to be finalised, but it will be a mixture of viewers' telephone votes, contestants voting for each other and the members of INXS voting for their favourite.
The show will be broadcast in the US in the summer on CBS while talks with UK channels are still on-going but INXS's management company is "100% certain" it will be shown in Britain.
mediaguardian
