Even for its fans, one disappointment of the television series American Idol is the relatively mediocre quality of the many of the songs used on the show. The reason for this is simple. In order for a song to be performed on TV, it must be licensed from the music publisher, and many publishers have been reluctant to grant licenses to American Idol due to what has come to be known as "the William Hung factor" (i.e., they fear the value of their copyrights isn't likely to be enhanced -- and may actually be reduced -- when the songs are performed by amateurs so talentless that they're funny.) Somehow, the producers of Rock Star: INXS got around this problem (perhaps by being choosier with the contestants from the get-go, perhaps due to connections), and as a result viewers were treated to performances of well-known songs associated with such major rock artists as Paul McCartney, John Lennon, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Queen, Nirvana, R.E.M., and Radiohead. That music makes Rock Star: INXS a far more palatable experience than a similar package of American Idol performances might be. The singers -- Mig Ayesa, Marty Casey, Suzie McNeil, Ty Taylor, Jordis Unga, and winner J.D. Fortune, whose prize was to become the new lead singer of INXS -- sometimes employ arrangements similar to the familiar versions of the songs, and sometimes they take liberties. But they are all competent performers who get something out of the material, even when it isn't music they knew beforehand. In particular, Unga brings an emotional reading to Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World"; Taylor shows a clear affinity for Bob Marley's "No Woman No Cry"; and McNeil nails Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." Nevertheless, it's easy to see why Fortune won. He comes off as more of a rock star than the others, and his rough voice seems ideal to cover the INXS songs associated with deceased singer Michael Hutchence. In addition to an hour's worth of musical performances, the DVD contains a 22-minute INXS set with Fortune and a variety of behind-the-scenes, rehearsal, and audition footage. It is not a condensed version of the series, but rather a collection of video highlights for people who saw the show on TV. (Host Dave Navarro is seen now and then, but not heard, for example, and there are no reviews of the performers, though there are occasional allusions to the criticisms.) That said, it wouldn't be surprising to find that two or three performers from this batch went on to bigger things from here. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
Rock Star: INXS was the first season of the reality television show
Rock Star where 15 contestants competed to become the lead vocalist for the
Australian rock band INXS.
INXS enjoyed great popularity through the 1980s and early 1990s,
but in 1997, frontman Michael Hutchence committed
suicide. The band attempted to continue with alternate singers, but remained largely dormant
until this show.
Background
Contestants were housed in the Paramour Mansion, and squared off in a singing
contest featuring well-known rock songs. Each week, viewers voted for their favorite contestant. The three contestants with the
least number of votes performed an INXS song the following night. The members of the band then decided which contestant would be
sent home, with lead guitarist Tim Farriss invoking the show's catchphrase "you're just not
right for our band, INXS" to the departing contestant.
The show originally appeared three nights a week on CBS. The format consisted of a half-hour
behind-the-scenes episode on Monday, a one-hour performance episode on Tuesday and a half-hour elimination episode on Wednesday.
However, on August 3, 2005, CBS announced the behind-the-scenes
episode would move to Sunday nights on VH1 effective August 7,
2005 due to low ratings in the United States. As the show continued, the ratings improved. This
prompted the expansion of the Wednesday results show to one hour for the duration of its run. The winner, J.D. Fortune, was announced on Tuesday, September 20,
2005.
The series is produced by Mark Burnett Productions. Mark Burnett ("Survivor", "The Apprentice"), David Goffin, ("American
Idol") Lisa Hennessy ("Eco-Challenge") and INXS managers David Edwards and Michael Murchison are executive producers. Conrad
Riggs is co-executive producer.
A slight controversy erupted when contestant Ty Taylor was eliminated with five contestants
to go. Taylor suggested that racial prejudice might have had something to do with why he was in the bottom three several times,
despite giving performances with which INXS were very satisfied. This is speculated to have been based on several negative
comments he received on his official Rocker "Space" during the season about being black.
The program also came under criticism from some INXS fans who suggested the program dishonoured the memory of Michael Hutchence and this is not how he would have wanted his replacement to be chosen. Australian
radio stationTriple J hosts Jay and The Doctor went so far as to describe the show as "Broadband urination on Michael Hutchence's
grave" and added sarcastically "We don't mind if you don't" referring to those involved in the show.
Australian rock star Jimmy Barnes, who had worked with INXS in the past, both prior to
and after Hutchence's death, was very critical of INXS going the Reality Show route
to pick a new lead singer.
With the competition down to Casey and Fortune, each performed an INXS song with, for the first time on the show, all five
members of INXS. Casey performed "Don't Change" and Fortune performed "What You Need". INXS announced Fortune was the winner.
Original songs
During the competition, Casey and Fortune performed two original songs that became fan favorites. Both songs would receive
multiple encores during the competition. Casey's original song was called "Trees" and was described by host Dave Navarro as a song that he could imagine being heard on the radio 'today'. In fact, the song received
some radioplay as a result of its exposure on the show.
At one point in the Rockstar: INXS competition, the remaining eight contestants were challenged to write lyrics to
melody written by Andrew Farriss. They were divided into two teams of four. When Fortune
did not see eye to eye with his team (which included Casey), he decided to venture out on his own and write his own lyrics. At
first, Fortune's move was considered to have jeopardized his chances of winning the competition (since it was perceived he
couldn't work in a team), but it was this move that resulted in his creation of the lyrics of "Pretty Vegas". This song became a
favorite of both fans and INXS and played a major role in Fortune winning the competition. It also became the first single from
their new album Switch.
Top 15 finalists
The following is a list of songs performed by each finalist during the competition and the number represents the week in which
the song was performed. Each week one finalist was asked to perform an encore performance of the song they performed the night
before which is noted as an "Encore Performance". The three finalists who had the lowest total votes were also asked to perform
another song of the band's choice, this song is noted as a "Bottom 3 Performance". This was the case for every week except for
the first one, which had two performance episodes. At the end of the first episode, and everyone performing one song, the band
chose one contestant to be eliminated out of the entire group. There was no voting for the bottom three. Also, in later weeks two
songs were performed by each of the remaining contestants. (Age given is the age of the contestant during the filming of the
show.)
MiG Ayesa - 35 years old, from London, England (Originally born in the Philippines, and raised in Sydney, Australia) (Eliminated thirteenth, 9/20/2005) Best known for his role as Galileo Figaro in the Musical "We
Will Rock You; a Tribute to the Music of Queen".
The show spawned a soundtrack entitled A Night at the Mayan Theatre, containing the performance from each contestant
from the premiere episode, as well as two bonus tracks of Jordis Unga performing "The Man
Who Sold the World" and Mig Ayesa performing "Baby, I Love Your Way".
By the end of the competition, CBS was encouraging musicians to submit audition tapes for consideration in a second Rock Star
competition. Speculation on which band would be at the center of the competition varied. Van
Halen and Alice in Chains were reportedly considered, but both denied the
rumours. However, in March, 2006, it was announced that the new season would focus on finding a lead singer for a new group
entitled Supernova, featuring Mötley Crüe
drummer Tommy Lee, former Metallica bassist
Jason Newsted, and former Guns N' Roses guitarist
Gilby Clarke. The second season of Rock Star premiered on July 5, 2006 on CBS in the United States. Once again, it was hosted by Dave Navarro and Brooke Burke.[1]
