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CBS Begins 'Rock Star' Casting

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

03:04 PM PT

If you're looking to unleash the devil inside and think you're heaven sent to be the next lead singer of INXS, or at least the next new sensation, what you need is finally here. Auditions began Tuesday (Jan. 25) for Mark Burnett's latest reality program, where judges promise to listen like thieves. It promises the be the strangest party imaginable.

If you can't count the various INXS song titles in the above paragraph, you may not be the right person for the CBS program currently dubbed the "Untitled Rock Star Project." Burnett ("Survivor") is leading the search to help INXS find a replacement for Michael Hutchence and the quest began in Charlotte, N.C.

On Thursday, the show's producers head to Nashville and then are off to New York City for auditions on Sunday, Jan. 30. Minneapolis (Feb. 1), Toronto (Feb. 4), Chicago (Feb. 6), Boston (Feb. 9), Omaha (Feb. 11), New Orleans (Feb. 14), Austin, Texas (Feb. 16), Seattle (Feb. 19) and Los Angeles (Feb. 25) follow. Men and women can audition at the open call, but it's first-come-first-served in all cities. The only requirement is that the wannabes must be over 21 years of age.

Further audition information (including specific locations) is available on CBS' website.

The winner will become the INXS lead singer and will head off on a worldwide tour with the band and be part of their new album.

Burnett, David Goffin ("American Idol"), and INXS managers David Edwards and Michael Murchison are executive producers on the series, which is slated to debut in the summer of 2005. The contestants will live together and the show will document both their lives together and a number of performance-based trials.