Reality show to pick new INXS singer

'Rock Star' will help Aussie combo find Hutchence successor

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By Barry A. Jeckell

Billboard

updated 11:36 a.m. ET June 15, 2004

NEW YORK - Australian rock band INXS, which lost its singer, Michael Hutchence, to suicide in 1997, will be at the center of a new reality show called “Rock Star.”

The latest show from Mark Burnett, the creator of such reality hits as “Survivor” and “The Apprentice,” will see a new lead singer chosen for the veteran combo.

“I am a long-time fan of INXS and feel very fortunate that INXS approached us with this idea and have entrusted us with their future,” Burnett said in a statement posted Monday on the band’s official Web site. “I feel there’s room on TV for more than one great music-based show, and I feel that rock music has been totally left out of that mix.”

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Since Hutchence’s death, surviving band members Andrew Farriss, Tim Farriss, Jon Farriss, Kirk Pengilly and Garry Beers have occasionally performed with fellow Australian Jon Stevens on vocals. That lineup played during the closing ceremonies of the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney and toured North America in 2002 with Simple Minds.

“After Michael died, we wanted to search the world for a new singer but didn’t know how we could effectively do that,” Tim Farriss said. “By having Mark and everyone at MBP (Mark Burnett Prods.) embrace the concept, we’ve now found a fantastic way to make that happen.”

“Rock Star” auditions will be held on five continents. The winner and INXS will record a studio album, the band’s first since 1997’s “Elegantly Wasted” (Mercury), and then head out on a world tour.

Unlike other music reality shows such as “American Idol” and “Nashville Star,” the viewing audience will not be the sole arbiter of the show’s outcome. Band members will also assess contestants in tandem with leading entertainment industry specialists.