Let's Figure Out How Exactly 'Rising Star' Works

If you're getting bored with the spinning chairs on The Voice and blah-as-ever format of American Idol, then ABC's new singing competition Rising Star may be exactly what you're looking for. It has the potential to finally infuse some life back into the tired television genre, so forget the performers on the show — Rising Star might just be the next big thing itself. The series will premiere on Sunday, June 22 and I know what you're thinking: How exactly is this show any different from the dozens of other talent competitions out there, and perhaps more importantly, how does Rising Star even work? First, let's talk about the judges — technically, that's you. Viewers will tune into the show, which is live right from the audition stage, to vote on whether performers should move on in the competition via the Rising Star app.

As the performers sing, viewers at home can use the app to send them forward in the competition. If Tinder is your go-to dating app, you should already be familiar with the way Rising Star works. If you like one of the performers, swiping right on the app indicates that you want them to move on. How's that for modern technology?

If the performer gets enough votes, they will move on in the competition — but not before something kind of awesome happens. The coolest (and also weirdest) part of Rising Star is that the performers are singing behind a three story high wall, which will only "rise" when the performer is selected by America. And it's not just a "wall," it's a video screen that shows both the performer and viewers at home. A random collection of viewers will pop up on the mini-squares of the video screen, which means that you might spot yourself on Rising Star one day— even if you have no singing ability whatsoever.

Though Rising Star doesn't have judges in the traditional sense, the show boasts some of the biggest names in the music industry. Like fellow singing competition The Voice, Rising Star will feature professionals from various areas of the music industry as "experts," including Kesha, Ludacris, and Brad Paisley . Instead of actually judging the competition, the group will provide contestants with feedback and advice on how to make their next performance even better. Josh Groban has also joined the show as host of the competition. Here's hoping that all four of these industry professionals team up for a quartet by the end of the summer.

Get ready to start swiping.

Images: ABC, perezhilton/tumblr, paulineycat/tumblr