A new reality singing competition show is coming to NBC that will focus on digital and social media to find the next big talent.
Every reality TV show has it gimmick. For The Voice it’s the blind auditions, but for The Stream, it’s going to be a digital search for America’s next star.
According to Variety, NBC has greenlit the show, giving “aspiring musicians the chance to be discovered through the internet and social media, like many of today’s stars such as Justin Bieber and Adele first found fame.”
In fact, the whole audition portion of the show will allow contestants to upload their tapes from the comfort of their own home. No travelling to other cities or auditioning in front of judges or audiences until they’ve been selected to appear on the show.
On the one hand, this sounds like a great way to find talent who may not be able to afford taking time off to audition for a show, especially if they don’t live in a major city.
On the other hand, quality and editing will certainly be a concern for those behind the show, and they’ll need to make sure that whoever they pick to come on stage is actually the real deal.
Variety also explains the way the rest of the competition will work, saying that once tapes have been uploaded to the digital platform “The Stream,” the 100 most-streamed musicians will perform in front of the judges, who are described as “industry titans.”
The judges, who have yet to be chosen, will pick 30 musicians to work with for one week, and then choose only three contestants to compete in a weekly live show. The live show contestants will be narrowed down by the audience, once again using the number of streams as an indicator of preference and popularity.
The final winner will therefore be the most-streamed artist.
Any genre and any configuration of numbers, whether solo artists, duos, or full-blown groups, are accepted.
This sounds like a pretty cool concept, and an easy way for viewers to interact with and choose their favorite contestants. However, only time will tell what sort of speed bumps the show will run into.