The hook in "Rising Star" is that neither competitors nor viewers will have to wait to find out who stays and who goes: Audience voting will happen in real time over an app, and competitors will be able to see the results as they come in.
The four members of the show's "panel of experts" are set to appear together in a preview for the show on Sunday at the Billboard Music Awards, which is being hosted by Ludacris and not coincidentally airing on ABC starting at 8 p.m.
Executive producers of “Rising Star” have connections to other reality singing competitions: Ken Warwick was with “