A winner has been crowned on Netflix’s “Star Search” reboot.
After a season full of impressive routines and breakthrough talent, “Star Search” named its winner as TJ Salta during its finale on Tuesday. The decision came not from judges Jelly Roll, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Chrissy Teigen, but from viewers whose voting accounted for 100% of the decision.
With the title of winner of “Star Search,” the top contestant will take home the grand prize of $500,000, as well as newfound fame.
The finalists competing for the grand prize included variety groups Duo Vespertilio and the aforementioned TJ Salta, dance group Movement 55, music acts Steven “Spud” Howard and H3rizon, junior music acts Madison Lauren and Harry Merlin Piper and comedy act Janine Harouni.
Duo Vespertilio came in fourth place while Steven “Spud” Howard came in third place. The runner up taking second place was Harry Merlin Piper.
The finale kicked off with four head-to-head matchups between the eight finalists, wherein viewers gave one vote per performer on a five-star scale.
Then, the top four performers — which included Duo Vespertilio, TJ Salta, Steven “Spud” Howard and Harry Merlin Piper — advanced to a final multiple-choice vote that determined the winner. Throughout the finale, there were nine chances for the audience to vote.
The finale capped off five weeks of live episodes, which aired every Tuesday and Wednesday since Jan. 20.
“Star Search” hails from Jesse Collins Entertainment and co-showrunners Jason Raff and David Friedman, and is executive produced by Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon, Madison Merritt, Elaine Metaxas, Taraji P. Henson and Steve Mosko.
The new competition series builds on the legacy of the original “Star Search,” which ran from 1983 to 1995 in syndication and helped launch the careers of Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Dave Chappelle and Adam Sandler, among others. There was a reboot of “Star Search” at CBS, which launched in 2003 and ran for four seasons.
“Star Search” is now streaming on Netflix.
