''Guitar Star'' is a

talent show A talent show is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are performances rather ...

that has aired on

Sky Arts Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...

from 9 June 2015 to 2 August 2016 and is presented by

Edith Bowman Edith Eleanor Smith (born January 1974) is a Scottish radio DJ and television presenter. She hosted '' Colin and Edith'', weekday afternoons, weekend breakfast, and ''The Radio 1 Review'' on BBC Radio 1 until 2014 and has presented a variety of ...

, with judges

Huey Morgan Hugh Thomas Diaz Morgan (born 8 August 1968) is an American musician best known as the former frontman of rock/hip hop band Fun Lovin' Criminals. Morgan performs both vocals and guitar and combines rock, hip hop, jazz, reggae, and funk influenc ...

Nitin Sawhney Nitin Sawhney , D.Mus (; born 1964) is a British musician, producer and composer. A recipient of the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award in 2017, among multiple international awards throughout his career. Sawhney's work combines Asian a ...

and Helen Sanderson, as they scour across the UK to unearth a world-class guitarist. The nine-part series searches the UK and Ireland for talented guitarists for the chance to perform on the main stage at this year’s Latitude festival, a major music festival in the UK. The judges look for guitar players that are willing to jam, strum and pluck their way to victory. A second and final series was confirmed in March 2016, and will be screened in July. The deadline for applications ended Thursday 10 March.

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, play ...

and Miloš Karadaglić were confirmed as the new set of mentors.

Format

The nine-part series is presented by Edith Bowman and judged by industry experts Huey Morgan, Nitin Sawhney and Helen Sanderson. The first stage of the competition will consist of four televised auditions which took place in four national centres across the UK and Ireland. After the auditions, 16 guitarists will be whittled down to 4 by the judges. The semi-finalists will be joined alongside world-famous guitar legends in a recording studio to perfect their sound. Along the way the hopeful’s ability will be tested across a range of music genres. They will be mentored by some of the world’s biggest guitar stars and play in iconic music venues.

Auditions

The competition was open to people of all ages, ability and styles including: rock, jazz, acoustic, folk or classical. The closing date for entries was 31 March 2015 The judges' auditions were held across four venues. Auditions began in Cardiff on 9 April 2015 and ended in London on 4 May 2015.

References

External links

* * *{{UKGameshow, Guitar_Star 2010s British music television series 2015 British television series debuts 2016 British television series endings Sky UK original programming 2010s British reality television series English-language television shows