WB’s ‘Superstar USA’ Turns ‘American Idol’ On Its Head

Variety announced today that after weeks of secrecy, the word is finally out on a new reality show on The WB – a twist that takes American Idol and turns it upside down. Or, considering what’s been going on with William Hung’s fame, perhaps just really an extension of what we’ve already seen, taken to much greater lengths.

The show, headed by veteran reality producer Mike Fleiss, is called Superstar USA and will use a format similar to that of AI, Fame, Nashville Star, etc. However, the big twist is that the whole show is a set-up, Joe Schmo-style. Only those who are truly talentless will advance, while those who can sing will be sent packing.

OK, so some people may say we’ve seen that already in a few American Idol cases – Nikki McKibbin, anybody? – but this is different. Fleiss said that the show is “about people who are clearly delusional and watching them butcher song after song.” He also described them as, “people [who] believe they’re the next pop superstar, even though they’re horrible singers.”

Let’s face it, we’ve seen those very sorts of people in the early stages of American Idol auditions. They leave the judges and viewers speechless, but then can’t understand why they haven’t advanced. Well, in this show, they will advance!

There were open casting calls held in Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis, and Philadelphia, and the first two episodes will feature these auditions. There, the “panelists” (rather than “judges”) told good singers that they weren’t good enough, and praise the bad ones.

From that group, 12 “singers” will go through the usual reality show makeovers as our Superstar USA finalists. The producers apparently thought of everything – right down to the fake fans! And none of them know that the whole thing is a hoax until the final episode – which is why The WB was keeping it a secret, even though industry insiders knew they were working on something big. Fleiss calls the finale, “the most incredible 20 minutes of television I’ve ever seen.”

Obviously, the whole thing is filmed by now, and was done over only four weeks. It will premiere on The WB on Monday, May 17, at 9/8 Central. It appears the show will air twice a week – Mondays and Tuesdays – for seven hour-long episodes.

The show is hosted by Brian McFayden, a former MTV VJ, and there are three AI-like judges: Chris Briggs, a producer of the show, in Simon’s role; Vitamin C in Paula’s; and Tone-Loc in Randy’s.

The WB is expecting Superstar to hit it big. The network’s co-chairman, Jordan Levin, said, “We have a young audience that’s very literate and very savvy when it comes to this genre. The idea of deconstructing and twisting it was appealing to us.” They may well be right. Despite what many critics say about there being too many “bad auditions” shown on AI, the fact is that the audience eats them up. And that same audience has indeed turned William Hung into a star of sorts.

Fleiss knows the show will have critics. But he defended the concept by noting that he was dealing with people who had a dream and wouldn’t let anything interfere in that dream – not even a lack of talent. He added, “It’s a little bit mean at times, but people thought The Bachelor was mean.”

Whether people will think Superstar is too mean remains to be seen – but many people went into Joe Schmo expecting that to be too mean, and it turned out alright. The same is true of My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé. Indeed, most reality shows with upside-down twists have had that hanging over them, but have managed to make it work.

Helping to ease the pain, perhaps, is that although the whole competition is a hoax, the “winner” will still get $100,000 and a recording contract. Not bad – in fact, even better than what William Hung got. Plus runners-up will also get some sort of payment, and there is even already talk of a group album and a Final 12 tour.

Check back with RealityNewsOnline for further details as the show draws near. We expect to be following this show closely!

David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

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