LI'er Jesse Kinch on ABC singing competition series, 'Rising Star'

Under normal circumstances, another Long Islander on another unscripted TV series would not be the biggest news of the moment, but this may not be a normal circumstance, or moment: Long Islander Jesse Kinch, of Seaford, will be on Sunday's season premiere of ABC's "Rising Star" at 9. He'll compete against nine other individual singers and groups.

Here's more on Kinch, via ABC: "A full-time musician and singer, Jesse plays guitar, piano, bass and drums and also writes music. He counts many of rock’s greatest artists as his influences including John Lennon, Jim Morrison, Stevie Nicks, Bruce Springsteen and many more. If he wins he’d love to bring rock and roll to the masses. Twitter: @jessekinch; Instagram: jessekinch"

  ABC is clearly expecting a huge turnout Sunday for this: It's worked social media relentlessly, and the reception already would appear to be promising, insofar as "Rising Star" is engineered to the instant-gratification-web-sated-and-raised generation that may end up watching. "Star" asks that viewers download an app  that will enable them to swipe a vote in real time for a contestant. "Star" has indeed gotten much advance publicity - and has been noted in frequent recent stories that chronicled the struggles of singing competition series like "American Idol," wondering whether this is the Next Flavor or Just Another Flavor. We'll know by Monday morning. 

   Here's ABC's description in some detail:  

Josh Groban will host, and country music superstar Brad Paisley, music sensation Kesha and hip-hop artist and actor Ludacris comprise the expert panel on ABC’s “Rising Star,” the next evolution of live television. “Rising Star” completely reinvents the traditional singing competition as--for the first time ever--the audience has the final say in real time. The show follows a group of aspiring singers as they perform live. During the performances, viewers vote in real time via an app to determine if the singer will advance in the competition. If the voting reaches a certain threshold, the performer moves on.