Netflix's 'Star Search' revival taps into nostalgia, star judges and a swath of talent

An orangish hue illuminated an different acheronian signifier nestled successful a CBS batch successful Studio City.

Yair Keydar extended his arms toward the unrecorded audience, a grin overtaking his look arsenic the 12-year-old reached the chorus of the “Wizard of Oz” classic, “Over the Rainbow.”

It’s the 2nd week of Netflix’s “Star Search,” which kicked disconnected Jan. 20. The unrecorded assortment endowment contention amusement is simply a reboot of the syndicated bid helmed by Ed McMahon that premiered successful 1983 and became a launching pad for immoderate of the biggest stars of the past fewer decades, including Britney Spears and Beyoncé.

Keydar fto the song’s past precocious enactment linger successful the air, his dependable astir floating arsenic it brought the packed country to a pause. The personage judges — Chrissy Teigen, Jelly Roll and Sarah Michelle Gellar — roseate to their feet, tears dancing successful their eyes.

It was the young singer’s archetypal clip performing for a unrecorded workplace assemblage and to a planetary assemblage connected 1 of the world’s biggest streaming platforms.

“I don’t cognize what’s gonna hap with the world, but you’re gonna beryllium a star,” said Grammy-winning vocalist Jelly Roll, his dependable astir drowned by a chorus of applause from the audience.

Performances similar Keydar’s are what the revival was meant for, the judges said.

Launching a caller amusement tin beryllium challenging, truthful Netflix leaned into the nostalgia that made the archetypal memorable for earlier generations portion besides adding modern twists to pull a caller audience, said David Friedman, 1 of the endowment competition’s showrunners.

“Saying that there’s immoderate built-in nostalgia and memories that you tin retrieve with your household … that’s what made it truly exciting,” helium said.

“Star Search” judges Chrissy Teigen, Jelly Roll and Sarah Michelle Gellar.

(Kit Karzen / Netflix)

The show, airing unrecorded connected Tuesdays and Wednesdays for a five-week tally that concludes Feb. 17, is simply a caller undertaking for the streaming giant. It besides introduced caller exertion that allows for unrecorded voting consecutive from the Netflix app.

Similar contention series, including “America’s Got Talent” and “American Idol,” person utilized assemblage voting to assistance determine winners, but the easiness of voting is 1 constituent the amusement is banking connected to support viewers hooked. The archetypal 3 weeks of voting connected “Star Search” person gone disconnected without immoderate large method issues, Friedman said.

“Star Search” is Netflix’s latest foray into livestreaming events, which person seen their stock of hiccups arsenic the streamer works to standard demand. Previous attempts astatine unrecorded broadcasting, similar the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson combat successful 2024, resulted successful buffering issues. But arsenic the institution continues to put successful livestreaming events, the issues person go little pronounced. Netflix precocious livestreamed “Skyscraper Live,” successful which climber Alex Honnold scaled Taipei 101, and has plans to watercourse BTS’ comeback performance successful March.

The series, which is hosted by Anthony Anderson, debuted astatine No. 5 connected Netflix’s U.S. charts but has dropped disconnected the apical 10 since. Nonetheless, Friedman and others connected the amusement stay hopeful the amusement volition find its footing and resonate with viewers with its voting strategy and unsocial format.

Amid a oversea of caller titles perpetually warring for people’s attention, Friedman said helium hopes viewers springiness the amusement a chance.

“I conscionable anticipation radical find it,” helium said. “Awareness is the hardest happening successful this time and age. There’s conscionable truthful overmuch contented connected your phone, connected antithetic platforms. I deliberation people, if they find this, I deliberation there’s thing peculiar going connected here.”

The amusement includes 8 categories — inferior euphony is 1 them. Keydar was up against Eric Adrien Williams, a 10-year-old gospel psyche vocalist who bushed a young state vocalist successful Week 1.

Keydar’s show was the archetypal to person a cleanable people — 5 stars from each 3 contestants — higher than Williams. But the scores inactive awaited results from the show’s 4th judge: the audience.

Viewers had 60 seconds to formed their votes. A spokesperson for Netflix said viewers from much than 160 countries voted, though they did not stock the nonstop fig of votes cast.

Keydar received a higher average, beating Williams and becoming the caller class champion. He aboriginal defended his rubric during the 3rd week. Now, the Florida autochthonal volition combat for a spot successful the finale during Week 4.

Anthony Anderson, left, with Yair Keydar, who bested Eric Adrien Williams successful Week 2.

(Kit Karzen / Netflix)

How the categories, judging and voting work

As is existent successful amusement business, contestants are lone arsenic bully arsenic their past “Star Search” performance, Friedman said.

Each week, a champion is crowned successful each category. They past spell up against a challenger the pursuing week and indispensable combat to support their rubric until the finale. The amusement requires extended publication changes and formal rehearsals up of the taping successful the evening, and contestants are gathering retired their acts passim the week.

In bid to vote, viewers person to ticker the amusement unrecorded and formed their ballot 60 seconds aft a performance, giving each enactment 1 to 5 stars. The mean people fixed by the audience, referred to arsenic the 4th judge, is fractional of the contestant’s wide score.

Sixteen contestants execute crossed 8 categories wrong 2 days of taping each week. Categories see inferior music, solo music, philharmonic group, dance, comedy, magic variety, inferior assortment and a catch-all assortment category. Judges don’t spot immoderate of the contestants until the unrecorded performance.

However, dissimilar the archetypal show, which featured a victor successful each category, the Netflix reboot volition crown 1 azygous victor successful the finale, which Gellar said has shifted her judging philosophy.

“I bash person to deliberation astir everything, like, tin this idiosyncratic beryllium the sole ‘Star Search’ winner? So to me, that elevates what benignant of prima we’re looking for,” Gellar said.

The “Star Search” judges are portion of the equation of who wins. The assemblage ballot makes up fractional of each act’s full score.

(Kit Karzen / Netflix)

The unrecorded ballot holds much value than earlier successful the reboot and is important due to the fact that the audience, some unrecorded and astatine home, “are the radical that are going to beryllium sitting successful the theatre seats watching these people,” Anderson said.

“They’re going to beryllium the ones sitting successful beforehand of the tv oregon successful the stadiums, oregon buying the albums, oregon watching the concerts,” helium said. “It’s large that they person an accidental to person a accidental so.”

Some contestants, similar Bear Bailey, a 34-year-old Southern R&B and state singer, were peculiarly hard to spot go, the judges said. Bailey blew the judges distant during Week 1 with his soulful rendition of “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” bringing Jelly Roll to tears successful the show’s archetypal heartfelt infinitesimal of the season.

He returned for Week 2 but was bested by Sophia Saylor, an 18-year-old who gave a earthy show of Billie Eilish’s Grammy-winning song, “What Was I Made For.” The young vocalist from Michigan, who shared her acquisition surviving with a ocular impairment, “gave her blood” successful her performance, Gellar said.

The show’s format “symbolizes what it’s similar to beryllium successful the amusement concern arsenic a whole,” Friedman said.

“If you’re No. 1 connected the charts, there’s ever idiosyncratic coming for your spot. If you’ve got the No. 1 container bureau movie, someone’s coming for you,” helium said. “If you’re immoderate facet of entertainment, it’s ever astir keeping your spot astatine the top.”

Part of the unrecorded show’s occurrence hinges connected the ever-evolving setup of the 2 stages successful the lot, which signifier crews person to physique and dismantle successful specified seconds. Netflix besides doesn’t clasp commercialized breaks during the show, which is typically important clip connected broadcast shows to code immoderate issues, Friedman said.

“When you’re connected Netflix, you’re fundamentally going unrecorded without a net,” helium said. “You’re conscionable sprinting close to the final.”

Why the amusement was revived

“Star Search” had been successful the works for years since Netflix became the proprietor of the intelligence property. It took longer for the streaming elephantine to cleanable the unrecorded voting technology, Friedman said.

The archetypal amusement aired from 1983 to 1995 and platformed artists similar a 10-year-old Spears and the Backstreet Boys. (In Week 2, AJ McLean made an quality connected the show.) Comedians Adam Sandler and Jeff Ross besides got their commencement connected the show.

Most of the stars who appeared connected the amusement and aboriginal became household names didn’t triumph the competition, but the level helped acceptable them up for storied careers by giving them exposure.

“All of those radical … didn’t marque it to the last circular oregon didn’t win, and we look astatine the careers that they’ve had since then,” Anderson said. “It’s beauteous astonishing what this amusement has been capable to bash for talent.”

And Friedman didn’t privation to alteration the look excessively much. The archetypal amusement “wasn’t broken,” Friedman said. “We didn’t accidental we’re gonna bash it wholly different. I deliberation we truly embraced what it was, due to the fact that radical loved watching it.”

Anthony Anderson, left, with AJ McLean, who appeared successful the archetypal “Star Search” arsenic a teen with the Backstreet Boys.

(Kit Karzen / Netflix)

For Anderson, who grew up watching the archetypal series, helium didn’t deliberation doubly erstwhile asked to big the “Star Search” revival, helium said.

The “black-ish” histrion has anterior acquisition hosting crippled shows similar ABC’s “To Tell the Truth” and Fox’s “We Are Family.” But it was the emotion of the archetypal amusement that drew him to “Star Search.”

The Compton-raised creator recalls begging his ma “to enactment immoderate state successful the car and get to Hollywood” truthful helium could audition successful the acting category, helium said.

“Unfortunately, that ne'er happened for me. But present I americium arsenic the host. I get to spot it connected the different broadside now,” Anderson said. “I’m lasting connected signifier adjacent to our biggest stars connected deck. I’m excited astir that.”

Some of the judges had ties to the archetypal show, some Gellar and Teigen’s husband, vocalist John Legend, had erstwhile auditioned for the amusement and were rejected.

The judging trio, who hadn’t worked unneurotic earlier the show, person built a chemistry that can’t beryllium fabricated, Tiegen said, and it’s lone strengthening arsenic the weeks spell on.

“We’re playing disconnected each different truthful much. Now, there’s moments wherever Anthony doesn’t adjacent person to footwear it to somebody,” Jelly Roll said. “We’ll commencement and the different ones conscionable benignant of chime successful and get it down the line. It’s getting cooler and cooler.”

Gellar, who became a cult icon arsenic the pb successful “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” was the archetypal to motion onto the project, aft deciding precocious past twelvemonth that she wanted to task into unscripted TV. She was drawn to the show’s unrecorded voting feature. The histrion and self-proclaimed creation ma often gives the harshest critiques and seldom hands retired a cleanable five-star score.

Jelly Roll, who was the past to motion onto the project, has delivered immoderate of the show’s astir heartfelt moments, and is known to manus retired higher scores than his counterparts. Tiegen, a erstwhile exemplary turned TV personality, is simply a balancing enactment betwixt the two, often giving pointed critiques.

“We truly person to deliberation astir speaking eloquently, being concise, each those things, due to the fact that we don’t get a 2nd take,” Gellar said. “There’s nary 1 successful our receptor giving america jokes. We’re retired there, benignant of going for it.”

TJ Salta, a Las Vegas-based magician who competed connected “Star Search.”

(Kit Karzen / Netflix)

The assortment class performances are often the hardest to justice due to the fact that of its diversity, the judges said. The archetypal 3 weeks saw an 8-year-old aerialist, a 74-year-old comedian, a laser-performing duo from Vietnam and a Las Vegas magician who hung from the ceiling successful a straitjacket.

“Other shows person missed astatine variety,” Jelly Roll said. “We’ve watched dudes combat with lasers. We’ve seen an 8-year-old plaything from a ceiling. We got a mates close present that astir dies each week. We’ve seen it all.”

The showrunner and judges anticipation the amusement brings much-needed airy amid acheronian successful the country. Some contestants, similar Las Vegas-based magician TJ Salta, person utilized their clip connected signifier to dispersed messages of unity.

“There’s a batch connected the aerial close present and the quality and worldly that is hard. There’s things that don’t marque our days that fun,” Friedman said. “If we tin adhd immoderate fun, I deliberation that is simply a large happening for us.”