WB’s ‘Superstar’ rewards the worst singers

“American Idol” ended last week, but the search for singers continues on The WB’s “Superstar USA.”

But this time, the search isn’t for good singers — it’s for the absolute worst.

“Superstar USA,” airing again tonight at 9 (KSKN-22 in Spokane), has become one of the most talked-about new reality shows of the season.

It’s a blatant ripoff of “American Idol” in that three judges — a woman, an African American man and a snarky white producer — critique singers hoping for a record deal.

The twist is that they praise those who can’t sing well — and some are so bad, they’re unintelligible — while telling those who can sing that they’re not good enough to be stars.

Viewers are in on the hoax, but the contestants didn’t find out until the taping had ended. To preserve the joke, they couldn’t watch their competitors sing. And in later episodes, when the finalists appear before an audience, the crowd was duped into cheering for bad singers.

Joseph Halling, 21, known on the show as the flamboyant JoJo, called his experience “surreal.” Producers found the shoe salesman at a karaoke bar in Minneapolis and persuaded him to audition.

“I watch ‘American Idol.’ I see these divas performing,” he said. “I know I’m not to that caliber, yet at the same time I love to entertain.”

Halling said he laughed hysterically when told he was the butt of a joke.

“They were great at keeping it a secret,” he said.