Rock Star: INXS is the first season of the reality television show Rock Star where fifteen contestants competed to become the lead vocalist for the Australian rock band INXS.
INXS enjoyed great popularity through the 1980s and early 1990s, but after frontman Michael Hutchence died in 1997, the band attempted to continue with alternate singers, but remained largely dormant until this show. The winner of the series, J. D. Fortune, was announced on Tuesday, September 20, 2005, and became the band's new lead singer. Following the series, on November 29, 2005, the band released the studio album Switch with Fortune on lead vocals.
Contents
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 fewest 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 to the departing contestant, "You're just not right for our band, INXS."
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 Wednesday results show to be expanded to one hour for the duration of its run. The winner, J. D. Fortune, was announced on Tuesday, September 20, 2005.
Runner-up Marty Casey and his Chicago-based band Lovehammers were invited to open for INXS on their 2006 tour.
Directed by Michael A. Simon, the show was executive produced by Survivor's Mark Burnett and hosted by Brooke Burke and former Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Dave Navarro. Other executive producers were David Goffin (American Idol, On the Lot, Eco-Challenge, Combat Missions), Lisa Hennessy (Eco-Challenge) and INXS managers David Edwards and Michael Murchison, with Conrad Riggs as co-executive producer.
Five musicians (Paul Mirkovich, Jim McGorman, Nate Morton, Sasha Krivtsov, and Rafael Moreira) made up the house band that backed the 15 contestants during the show.
A.J. Dickerson and Scott C. Wilson were among the many video editors of the Tuesday performance shows. Scott C. Wilson did the final mixes on the Tuesday performance shows.
Finals
Three contestants reached the finale: Mig Ayesa, Marty Casey, and J. D. Fortune. Fortune was considered by many the underdog of the three as he established a renegade image during the competition, while Casey was considered the favorite due to his popularity with voters. In the finale, Ayesa, Casey, and Fortune each selected a song that was performed previously on the show. Ayesa chose Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", Casey chose Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here", and Fortune chose The Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want". Based on these performances, INXS eliminated Ayesa.
Afterwards, 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". Following the performances, INXS announced Fortune as 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 competition, the remaining eight contestants were divided into two teams of four and challenged to write lyrics to a melody written by Andrew Farriss. 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. Initially considered to have jeopardized his chances of winning the competition (since it was perceived he couldn't work in a team), Fortune's move resulted in his creation of the lyrics of "Pretty Vegas", which became a favorite of INXS, played a major role in his ultimate victory, and 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. The number represents the week in which the song was performed. Except for the second week, each week one finalist was asked to perform an encore performance of the song they performed the night before, noted as an "Encore Performance".
Each week (except for the first and final weeks), the three finalists who had the lowest total audience votes were asked to perform an INXS song of the band's choice, noted as a "Bottom 3 Performance". After everyone performed one non-INXS song in the first and last episodes, the band chose one contestant to be eliminated out of the entire group. There was no voting for the bottom three.
In the seventh week, two contestants were given the chance to perform original songs (Mig & Deanna.)
For the ninth week performance episode, each contestant performed an original song as well as a non-INXS song. In the elimination episode that week, all the remaining contestants plus Dave Navarro performed as an ensemble with INXS on their new track Us, as the opening act for that week's encore.
For the tenth week performance, INXS chose two songs for each of the remaining contestants to perform.
The ages given below were the ages of the contestants during the recording of the show.
J. D. Fortune – 32 years old, born September 1, 1973, in Mississauga, Ontario, but raised in Salt Springs, Nova Scotia (Winner, selected to be the lead singer of INXS, September 20, 2005) Formerly lived in his car.
Marty Casey – 32 years old, from Chicago, Illinois (Eliminated last, September 20, 2005) Worked as a real estate appraiser.
MiG Ayesa – 35 years old, from London, England (born in the Philippines, and raised in Sydney) (Eliminated thirteenth, September 20, 2005) Best known for his role as Galileo Figaro in the musical We Will Rock You: a Tribute to the Music of Queen.
Elimination chart
A Night at the Mayan Theatre
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".
The list of the contestants' performances is:
J. D. Fortune – "American Woman" (The Guess Who)
Marty Casey – "You Really Got Me" (The Kinks)
Mig Ayesa – "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Nirvana) & "Baby, I Love Your Way" (Peter Frampton)
Suzie McNeil – "Remedy" (The Black Crowes)
Jordis Unga – "Baba O'Riley" (The Who) & "The Man Who Sold the World" (David Bowie)
Ty Taylor – "Cult of Personality" (Living Colour)
Deanna Johnston – "Piece of My Heart" (Janis Joplin)
Jessica Robinson – "Celebrity Skin" (Hole)
Brandon Calhoon – "Rock and Roll All Nite" (Kiss)
Tara Slone – "Middle of the Road" (The Pretenders)
Heather Luttrell – "Burning Down the House" (Talking Heads)
Daphna Dove – "One Way or Another" (Blondie)
Neal Carlson – "Brown Sugar" (The Rolling Stones)
Rock Star: INXS The DVD
A DVD titled Rock Star: INXS The DVD was released on November 29, 2005, containing selected performances by the final six contestants (J. D. Fortune, Marty Casey, Mig Ayesa, Suzie McNeil, Jordis Unga, and Ty Taylor) as well as the post-finale mini-concert by INXS & J. D., short behind-the-scenes footage, and extras including the contestants' casting interviews and a photo slideshow: The DVD when RIAA Certified Gold in 2005.
J.D.'s Welcome
Show Performances
The following performances with introductions (some not aired on the show) by the contestants:
J. D. Fortune – "California Dreamin'" (The Mamas & the Papas)†
Jordis Unga – "Heart-Shaped Box" (Nirvana)†
Suzie McNeil – "Losing My Religion" (R.E.M.)
Marty Casey – "Mr. Brightside" (The Killers)
Ty Taylor – "Everybody Hurts" (R.E.M.)†
Jordis Unga – "The Man Who Sold the World" (David Bowie)†
Mig Ayesa – "Live and Let Die" (Paul McCartney)
J. D. Fortune – "The Letter" (Joe Cocker)†
Marty Casey – "...Baby One More Time" (Britney Spears)
Suzie McNeil – "Bring It On Home to Me" (Sam Cooke)
Ty Taylor – "No Woman, No Cry" (Bob Marley)
Jordis Unga – "Imagine" (John Lennon)
Album
INXS released the album Switch following the series with J.D. Fortune on lead vocals and went on tour. Switch was released on November 29, 2005, and peaked at number 17 on the Billboard 200, and appeared on the Canadian Hot 100 and Top Internet Albums charts at numbers two and 56, respectively. The album has sold 391,000 copies in the U.S. since release. The single "Pretty Vegas" received gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on January 26, 2006. In Canada, both the album and the single, Pretty Vegas, went platinum and reached number one on the charts. The album received platinum certification in Dec. 2005 by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), and Canadian sales of the album have exceeded 170,000 units. The album went platinum and peaked at number 18 on the ARIA Charts.
Further seasons
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.