ITV have confirmed they're making another "musical talent" TV show.
Rising Star — which is already a huge success in Israel — is billed as "an innovative, interactive, musical talent format, where viewers at home vote in real-time during performances, via an app, which is fully integrated in the show".
Basically a singer sings a song in front of a big blank screen which is then populated by the faces of people who are voting for them via the app. If they then gain a 70% approval from the viewers and the judges (of course there are judges!), then the screen lifts up and they walk out to the studio bit for the next round.
Your friend and ours, Elaine Bedell, who as you well know is ITV's Director of Entertainment and Comedy, had this to say about it all:
"It's rare that you find a genuinely innovative new entertainment format — but Keshet [the company who devised the show] have come up with one and I'm very pleased that it will now be on ITV. The bold real- time voting element means that viewers' votes control every twist and turn of the live programme — and that makes for an incredibly dramatic, emotional and exciting show."
As you can see, the picture used to promote features a man holding an acoustic guitar. Or perhaps having a sideways wank. Either way, not ideal. :(