Tegna To Debut Singing Competition In Sept.

Tegna today announced Sing Like a Star, a new, interactive, weekly cross-platform singing competition, will premiere on Saturday, Sept. 16.

It will produced out of WWL, Tegna’s CBS affiliate in New Orleans, and air in 33 Tegna communities. The show is hosted by New Orleans native Arthel Neville, a television journalist and daughter of music legend Art Neville.

New, original programs like Sing Like a Star are a component of the company’s content transformation strategy. Sing Like a Star will be Tegna’s third original program to launch this fall. “Daily Blast LIVE” and “Sister Circle” will both debut on Sept. 11.

The company’s content strategy also includes initiatives to reinvent and strengthen local journalism through the creation of digital-first news content, award-winning investigative reports and projects like Verify, which provides unbiased fact checking.

Sing Like a Star will target with audiences of all ages and backgrounds by giving undiscovered and talented singers a shot at fame. To appear on the show, amateur singers will post an audition through the StarMaker app. Singers with the most online votes will be invited to New Orleans and appear on the show.

Each episode will feature three contestants singing for 60 seconds in front of Arthel Neville and a panel of judges who will give them a score. Two contestants will advance to the final round where they will sing for 75 seconds. The singer with the highest score will be the weekly winner. The top scoring weekly winners will be eligible to return for the finals where one talented contestant will be selected to record their own debut album and perform at an upcoming New Orleans music festival.

“What makes Sing Like a Star unique is its simplicity,” said Bob Sullivan, Tegna SVP of programming. “If you think you have what it takes, simply upload a video, encourage your social followers to vote for your audition and with enough votes, you’ll be on the show. Sing Like a Star will be fun and interactive and give aspiring, talented singers across the country a shot at being discovered.”

Sing Like a Star will be co-produced by Tegna and Quark Entertainment, a production company based in New Orleans. Tegna says the show’s interactive format “will offer unique sponsorship and integration opportunities within each episode and on the Sing Like a Star app and website.”

Sing Like a Star will be hosted by Arthel Neville, daughter of music legend Art Neville and a New Orleans native. Early in her broadcasting career, Neville worked at Tegna’s WWL and KHOU Houston. She’s hosted Extreme Close-Up for E! Entertainment, co-hosted the Miss Teen USA Pageant and the Miss Universe Pageant and was an original host of the syndicated show Extra. Neville has hosted her own signature show on CNN, Talk Back Live with Arthel Neville, and is currently a weekend anchor on Fox News Channel.