LOS ANGELES — An orange hue illuminated an otherwise dark stage nestled in a CBS lot in Studio City.

Yair Keydar extended his arms toward the live audience, a smile overtaking his face as the 12-year-old reached the chorus of the "Wizard of Oz" classic, "Over the Rainbow."

It's the second week of Netflix's "Star Search," which kicked off Jan. 20. The live variety talent competition show is a reboot of the syndicated series helmed by Ed McMahon that premiered in 1983 and became a launching pad for some of the biggest stars of the past few decades, including Britney Spears and Beyoncé.

Keydar let the song's last high note linger in the air, his voice nearly floating as it brought the packed room to a pause. The celebrity judges — Chrissy Teigen, Jelly Roll and Sarah Michelle Gellar — rose to their feet, tears dancing in their eyes.

It was the young singer's first time performing for a live studio audience and to a global audience on one of the world's biggest streaming platforms.

"I don't know what's gonna happen with the world, but you're gonna be a star," said Grammy-winning singer Jelly Roll, his voice nearly drowned by a chorus of applause from the audience.

Performances like Keydar's are what the revival was meant for, the judges said.

Launching a new show can be challenging, so Netflix leaned into the nostalgia that made the original memorable for earlier generations while also adding modern twists to attract a new audience, said David Friedman, one of the talent competition's showrunners.

"Saying that there's some built-in nostalgia and memories that you can remember with your family … that's what made it really exciting," he said.

The show, airing live on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for a five-week run that concludes Feb. 17, is a novel undertaking for the streaming giant. It also introduced new technology that allows for live voting straight from the Netflix app.

Similar competition series, including "America's Got Talent" and "American Idol," have utilized audience voting to help decide winners, but the ease of voting is one element the show is banking on to keep viewers hooked. The first three weeks of voting on "Star Search" have gone off without any major technical issues, Friedman said.

"Star Search" is Netflix's latest foray into livestreaming events, which have seen their share of hiccups as the streamer works to scale demand. Previous attempts at live broadcasting, like the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight in 2024, resulted in buffering issues. But as the company continues to invest in livestreaming events, the issues have become less pronounced. Netflix recently livestreamed "Skyscraper Live," in which climber Alex Honnold scaled Taipei 101, and has plans to stream BTS' comeback concert in March.

The series, which is hosted by Anthony Anderson, debuted at No. 5 on Netflix's U.S. charts but has dropped off the top 10 since. Nonetheless, Friedman and others on the show remain hopeful the show will find its footing and resonate with viewers with its voting system and unique format.

Amid a sea of new titles constantly fighting for people's attention, Friedman said he hopes viewers give the show a chance.

"I just hope people find it," he said. "Awareness is the hardest thing in this day and age. There's just so much content on your phone, on different platforms. I think people, if they find this, I think there's something special going on here."

The show includes eight categories — junior music is one them. Keydar was up against Eric Adrien Williams, a 10-year-old gospel soul singer who beat a young country singer in Week 1.

Keydar's performance was the first to receive a perfect score — five stars from all three contestants — higher than Williams. But the scores still awaited results from the show's fourth judge: the audience.

Viewers had 60 seconds to cast their votes. A spokesperson for Netflix said viewers from more than 160 countries voted, though they did not share the exact number of votes cast.

Keydar received a higher average, beating Williams and becoming the new category champion. He later defended his title during the third week. Now, the Florida native will fight for a spot in the finale during Week 4.

How the categories, judging and voting work

As is true in show business, contestants are only as good as their last "Star Search" performance, Friedman said.

Each week, a champion is crowned in each category. They then go up against a challenger the following week and must fight to keep their title until the finale. The show requires extensive script changes and dress rehearsals ahead of the taping in the evening, and contestants are building out their acts throughout the week.

In order to vote, viewers have to watch the show live and cast their vote 60 seconds after a performance, giving each act one to five stars. The average score given by the audience, referred to as the fourth judge, is half of the contestant's overall score.

Sixteen contestants perform across eight categories within two days of taping each week. Categories include junior music, solo music, musical group, dance, comedy, magic variety, junior variety and a catch-all variety category. Judges don't see any of the contestants until the live performance.

However, unlike the original show, which featured a winner in each category, the Netflix reboot will crown one single winner in the finale, which Gellar said has shifted her judging philosophy.

"I do have to think about everything, like, can this person be the sole 'Star Search' winner? So to me, that elevates what kind of star we're looking for," Gellar said.

The live vote holds more importance than before in the reboot and is crucial because the audience, both live and at home, "are the people that are going to be sitting in the theater seats watching these people," Anderson said.

"They're going to be the ones sitting in front of the television or in the stadiums, or buying the albums, or watching the concerts," he said. "It's great that they have an opportunity to have a say so."

Some contestants, like Bear Bailey, a 34-year-old Southern R&B and country singer, were particularly hard to see go, the judges said. Bailey blew the judges away during Week 1 with his soulful rendition of "Hard Fought Hallelujah," bringing Jelly Roll to tears in the show's first heartfelt moment of the season.

He returned for Week 2 but was bested by Sophia Saylor, an 18-year-old who gave a raw performance of Billie Eilish's Grammy-winning song, "What Was I Made For." The young singer from Michigan, who shared her experience living with a visual impairment, "gave her blood" in her performance, Gellar said.

The show's format "symbolizes what it's like to be in the entertainment business as a whole," Friedman said.

"If you're No. 1 on the charts, there's always someone coming for your spot. If you've got the No. 1 box office movie, someone's coming for you," he said. "If you're any aspect of entertainment, it's always about keeping your spot at the top."

Part of the live show's success hinges on the ever-evolving setup of the two stages in the lot, which stage crews have to build and dismantle in mere seconds. Netflix also doesn't hold commercial breaks during the show, which is typically crucial time on broadcast shows to address any issues, Friedman said.

"When you're on Netflix, you're basically going live without a net," he said. "You're just sprinting right to the final."

Why the show was revived

"Star Search" had been in the works for years since Netflix became the owner of the intellectual property. It took longer for the streaming giant to perfect the live voting technology, Friedman said.

The original show aired from 1983 to 1995 and platformed artists like a 10-year-old Spears and the Backstreet Boys. (In Week 2, AJ McLean made an appearance on the show.) Comedians Adam Sandler and Jeff Ross also got their start on the show.

Most of the stars who appeared on the show and later became household names didn't win the competition, but the platform helped set them up for storied careers by giving them exposure.

"All of those people … didn't make it to the final round or didn't win, and we look at the careers that they've had since then," Anderson said. "It's pretty amazing what this show has been able to do for talent."

And Friedman didn't want to change the formula too much. The original show "wasn't broken," Friedman said. "We didn't say we're gonna do it completely different. I think we really embraced what it was, because people loved watching it."

For Anderson, who grew up watching the original series, he didn't think twice when asked to host the "Star Search" revival, he said.

The "black-ish" actor has prior experience hosting game shows like ABC's "To Tell the Truth" and Fox's "We Are Family." But it was the love of the original show that drew him to "Star Search."

The Compton-raised artist recalls begging his mom "to put some gas in the car and get to Hollywood" so he could audition in the acting category, he said.

"Unfortunately, that never happened for me. But here I am as the host. I get to see it on the other side now," Anderson said. "I'm standing on stage next to our biggest stars on deck. I'm excited about that."

Some of the judges had ties to the original show, both Gellar and Teigen's husband, singer John Legend, had once auditioned for the show and were rejected.

The judging trio, who hadn't worked together before the show, have built a chemistry that can't be fabricated, Tiegen said, and it's only strengthening as the weeks go on.

"We're playing off each other so much. Now, there's moments where Anthony doesn't even have to kick it to somebody," Jelly Roll said. "We'll start and the other ones just kind of chime in and get it down the line. It's getting cooler and cooler."

Gellar, who became a cult icon as the lead in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," was the first to sign onto the project, after deciding late last year that she wanted to venture into unscripted TV. She was drawn to the show's live voting feature. The actor and self-proclaimed dance mom often gives the harshest critiques and seldom hands out a perfect five-star score.

Jelly Roll, who was the last to sign onto the project, has delivered some of the show's most heartfelt moments, and is known to hand out higher scores than his counterparts. Tiegen, a former model turned TV personality, is a balancing act between the two, often giving pointed critiques.

"We really have to think about speaking eloquently, being concise, all those things, because we don't get a second take," Gellar said. "There's no one in our ear giving us jokes. We're out there, sort of going for it."

The variety category performances are often the hardest to judge because of its diversity, the judges said. The first three weeks saw an 8-year-old aerialist, a 74-year-old comedian, a laser-performing duo from Vietnam and a Las Vegas magician who hung from the ceiling in a straitjacket.

"Other shows have missed at variety," Jelly Roll said. "We've watched dudes fight with lasers. We've seen an 8-year-old swing from a ceiling. We got a couple right now that almost dies every week. We've seen it all."

The showrunner and judges hope the show brings much-needed light amid darkness in the country. Some contestants, like Las Vegas-based magician TJ Salta, have used their time on stage to spread messages of unity.

"There's a lot on the air right now and the news and stuff that is hard. There's things that don't make our days that fun," Friedman said. "If we can add some fun, I think that is a big thing for us."

©2026 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.