'Rising Star' advances five artists to the live duels and eliminates five acts

Rising Star advanced five talented hopefuls and cut five acts during Sunday night's third episode of the new ABC reality singing competition.


Rising Star's third episode continued to feature "The Wall" representing America's vote. Viewers were asked to check-in to the Rising Star phone application in order to vote "yes" or "no" to whether they'd like to see the wall rise once a contestant is performing behind it onstage.

If the voting meter reached 70% or above, the wall would rise and the contestant could perform the rest of his or her song for the live audience -- ultimately moving one step closer to landing a record contract with Capital Records. 

Sharing their advice on the judges' panel was Brad Paisley, Kesha and Ludacris. Each judge could vote to advance any artist, which would add an impactful 7% to the performer's voting meter.

If a singer failed to hit the 70% mark based on America's response, he or she would be out of the competition instantly. Each contestant got to sing one song and therefore only had one chance. The singers who survive the cut will perform in the next live duels round of the competition, which begins next week.


Gabrielle Nicole, a 20-year-old from Cleveland, OH, performed "My Man" and made it through with a 90% vote.

Dana Williams, a 24-year-old from Los Angeles, CA, sang "Stay" and advanced with a score of 87%.

Audrey Kate Geiger, a 24-year-old from New York, NY, took the stage with "Stay with Me." The wall rose for Audrey and she ended up with a total of 84% on her response meter.

Karen Hornsby, a 36-year-old from Jacksonville, FL, sang "To Love You More" and made it through with an 82% vote.

Morgan Higgins, a 17-year-old from San Clemente, CA, performed "Alone" and advanced with a score of 79%.


Five acts -- which featured a duo, a trio and one group -- failed to advance to the live duels.

Cliff Cody, a 39-year-old from Somerset, OH, sang "I'm Gonna Be Somebody" and only hit 49% on the meter.

Unselfish, a boy band ages 23-25, from Atlanta, GA, performed "Some Nights" and only hit 46% on the meter.

OhMG, a duo ages 20 and 24, from Los Angeles, CA, took the stage with "Lights" and only reached 33% on the voting meter.

Skye Griffin, a 26-year-old from Houston, TX, sang "Only Girl in the World" and received a low 28% "yes" vote.


TX3, a trio of 23-year-olds from Chester, IL, performed "Keep Your Head Up." They failed to hit the mark with a score of 22%.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski