Star Search Music and Television Video Spotlight Extravaganza!!!

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Star Search is a television show that was produced from 1983 to 1995 and hosted by Ed McMahon. A relaunch was produced in 2003 - 2004. The show was originally filmed at the old Earl Carroll Theatre at 6230 Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood and later at the Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida.

 

During the course of the show, several contestants competed in several genres of entertainment. While categories were added and removed from season to season, the six basic ones stuck with the show for the duration of the series. They were:

• Male Vocalist
• Female Vocalist
• Junior Vocalist (removed in 1986, returned in 1987)
• Vocal Group
• Fashion Models
• Comedy

Potential contestants must try out to be on the show. If selected, they will compete. In each category, two people compete, a champion and a challenger. The challenger gets the advantage of performing their act first, the champion performs their act second.

All acts are judged by a panel of five judges, each judge can award an act from one to four stars (later changed to five stars). Once both acts are complete, Ed reveals the scores, best average wins. Note that only the four highest ratings are averaged to determine a contestant's final score. The lowest rating is excluded. Example: If four judges gave an act four stars, and the fifth judge gave the same act three stars, the three star rating is excluded. If there is a tie, a studio audience vote breaks the tie in which the results are revealed at the end of the show.

Any performer must win at least three matches in a row, to earn an entry into the next round of the competition. In later seasons, three match winners were automatically retired. In this case, two new performers compete in that category the following week.

The rules for the Quarter and Semi Final shows are the same as above, only random draw (or alphabetical order) determines who will perform first. Note that scores are never revealed in the Quarter or Semi Finals, and only the winners are announced.

The judges are removed for the Championship show, and the studio audience votes for the winners. Winners of Male Vocalist, Female Vocalist, Vocal Group, and Comedy are awarded $100,000 but unlike American Idol, no record contract was guaranteed. Only 3 Star Search winners from the early seasons secured recording contracts- Sawyer Brown, Sam Harris and Durell Coleman. The winner of the Fashion Model category is awarded $100,000 and a contract with a well known modeling agency. Winner of Junior Vocalist wins $25,000.

In early seasons, before the three match limit rule was adopted, the grand champions were determined by how long a champion held their title. While it is believed that Sam Harris holds the record for longest championship, at 14 weeks in Season 1, Harris was actually defeated by singer Beau Williams on Harris' 14th attempt. This record is actually held by Singer Durell Coleman (1985) who won the $100,000 on Season 2 with 15 wins and no defeats.

 

Remake

In the wake of American Idol's success, Arsenio Hall hosted a new version of Star Search, which ran for two years: 2003 and 2004 on CBS, before ending up in reruns on cable channel GSN for one year from 2004 to 2005. This new version was judged by several people, including Ben Stein and Naomi Judd. It introduced "star" Loni Love. Dancer Nick Lazzarini (later the winner of Season 1 of So You Think You Can Dance) also appeared on the show.

The revival consisted of four series. For the first series, the categories were Adult and Junior Singer, Comedy, and Modeling. In series two and three, Modeling was replaced with Dance. In the final series, the Comedy category was scrapped altogether and only the singing and dancing categories remained.

For the first three series, two new competitors faced off. The three house judges, along with the one celebrity judge, gave each contestant a score on a scale from 1 to 5 stars, making a maximum studio score 20 stars. During each commercial break, the home audience went to www.cbs.com/star to rate the competitors who just performed. Each performer could earn up to another 20 stars from the home audience. When the scores were tallied, the higher scoring performer won. If the score was tied, then Arsenio would read off each performer's score rounded to the nearest hundredth (the at home score was initially rounded down to the nearest star, unless there was a tie). That performer would then go on to the next round of competition. The only real exception to this format during the first three series was that three people competed in the semi-final rounds, not two. After the first two series, a special, "Battle of the Best" show took place, where the two Adult Singer, Junior Singer, and Comedian Grand Champions (Modeling was only the first season, and Dance had only been around for one season) were brought back to face off for an additional $100,000.

For the fourth and final series, three contestants in Adult Singer, Junior Singer, and Dance were brought back to initially compete (Comedy was dropped, jokingly because Naomi gave many comics only one star). The three brought back in each category were not necessarily the Grand Champions of their series. The show scrapped the celebrity judge and had three house judges for the entire series: Naomi Judd, MC Lyte, and Matti Leshem (who tried to berate contestants as if he were Simon Cowell).

As in past series, two new contestants competed. With only three judges, 15 stars was possible, and ties were broken by a majority vote between the three. This is where the former contestants came in. Initially, in each category, these three performers made up the "Winner's Circle". The winning challenger then had the chance to challenge one of the three performers in his or her respective winner's circle. The winner's circle performer then had to beat or tie the bar set by the challenger- ties were automatically given to the Winner's Circle performer. If they couldn't beat the score, they were out of the competition, and the challenger took his or her place in the Winner's Circle.

Halfway through the series, the three performers in each Winner's Circle competed against each other in a special show. The winner in each category not only received a trip home, but a free pass to the final show. From then on, there were only two people who could be challenged in each Winner's Circle. In the final show, the three people in each Winner's Circle competed against each other for $100,000. This, along with the Free Pass show, were the only two shows which re-adopted the at-home voting concept.

• The Adult Singer group was the only group to record a complete shutout. The three performers in the beginning were there in the end as well.
• The free pass was equally important in the other two groups as well. In both the Dance and Junior Singer categories, not only did the free pass save the winner from being challenged in an ever-changing Winner's Circle, but they ended up winning their group finals (Junior Singer Mark Mejia and Dancer Jon Cruz).
• Adult Singer and Series 1 champion Jake Simpson was challenged a record five times during his tenure in the Winner's Circle. He not only went a perfect 5-0, but he also won his group final. The only match he lost that entire season was the Winner's Circle Square-Off Special.

This remake lasted two years for the reason its counterpart "American Idol" becomes more popular than "Star Search" leading to its cancellation in April 2004.

 

Selected Star Search Winners

• 1983 Sam Harris Male Vocalist Champion ( Season 1 )
• 1985 Durell Coleman (singer) Male Vocalist Champion (Season 2)
• 1986 Kenny James Male Vocalist Champion
• 1986 Jenny Jones Comedy Champion
• 1987 David Slater Male Vocalist Champion
• 1987 Tracie Spencer Female Vocalist Champion
• 1988 Victor Trent Cook Male Vocalist Champion
• 1988 Linda Eder Female Vocalist Champion
• 1989 Josephine Banig Roberto Female Vocalist Champion
• 1993 Tom Burns Male Vocalist Champion (Season 10)
• 1995 Colleen Ford Junior Vocalist Champion (Season 12)
• 2003 Tiffany Evans (singer) Junior Division Grand Champion (becoming the only performer in "Star Search" HISTORY to receive perfect five scores on ALL of her appearances).

 

Notable competitors on Star Search

• Bill Kaulitz, 2003, singer
• Joseph Williams, TOTO singer from 1986 - 1988
• Josh Strickland, 2004. Current singer and recently played Tarzan in the Broadway Musical Production Tarzan.
• Alanis Morissette
• Aaliyah, 1990, singer
• Christina Aguilera, 1990, singer
• Beyonce Knowles, 1990, singer
• David Archuleta 2003 Jr. Singer Champion
• Spensha Baker 2004 Jr. Singer Finalist - Gospel Artist with Geffen Records
• James Bonamy
• Percy Richard, Vocalist of the Year 1993
• Girl's Tyme, rappers 1992,later changed to Destiny's Child, now singers
• Támar,2004 (also with Girl's Tyme)
• Drew Carey
• Colleen Ford, 1995 Junior Vocal Champion
• Billy Dean
• Diana Degarmo of American Idol Fame
• Charles Divins
• Linda Eder
• Kim J Hunter, 1989, Dancer
• Elisa Fiorillo
• Brad Garrett
• Dana Gould, 1987
• Sam Harris
• Durell Coleman (singer)
• Beth Hart
• Jessica Simpson
• Ty Herndon
• Kent James, 1993 (as part of the music group "Kent & The Kommotion")
• Colleen Ford, 1995, singer
• Kevin James
• Coors Light Twins (Diane Klimaszewski & Elaine Klimaszewski), 1987, teen dancers
• Martin Lawrence, 2003
• Nick Lazzarini, 2003 (as part of the dance group "Hot Under the Collar")
• Julie McCullough, 1987, Spokesmodel
• Carlos Mencia, 1991, Comedy
• Vic Mignogna, 1993
• Dennis Miller
• Vickie Natale, 2003
• Rosie O'Donnell
• Ken Ober
• Steve Oedekerk
• Q'Orianka Kilcher
• Rashaan Patterson
• Joey Pearson
• Alisan Porter
• LeAnn Rimes
• Ray Romano
• Tracey Ross
• J.D. Roth
• Sawyer Brown
• Sinbad
• David Slater
• Britney Spears, 1992, singer
• Marc Summers
• Eboni, 1995, Vocal Group/Band champion
• Justin Timberlake
• Bill Engvall
• Jessica Tivens, 1988, singer
• Lisa Tucker
• Phil Vassar, 1987, singer finalist
• Countess Vaughn
• Dave Chappelle
• Bianca Ryan, 2006, America's Got Talent Winner
• Anna Maria Perez de Tagle
• Nadia Turner, 2005, American Idol Finalist
• Rissi Palmer, Country singer
• Rome Romanne
• Karina Pasian
• Jessica Sierra 2005, American Idol Finalist
• Jordis Unga, 2005, Rock Star: INXS Finalist

 

• Star Search at the National Film and Sound Archive

Categories: Articles lacking sources from September 2007 | All articles lacking sources | 1980s American television series | 1990s American television series | 2000s American television series | CBS network shows | First-run syndicated television programs | Singing competitions | Metromedia | Television series by CBS Paramount Television | American reality television series | 1983 television program debuts | 2003 television program debuts | 1995 television program series endings | 2004 television program series endings

 

 

 

 

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