Believe me when I tell you, I had no intention of ever watching CBS and Mark Burnett's latest reality series, "Rock Star INXS" for a several reasons. For one, I don't like "American Idol" style reality show-- shows featuring bad singing and cheesy pop songs. Two, I thought the premise was just plain icky: a nationwide talent search to replace the deceased frontman of a popular rock band? And last of all, I just didn't want to get sucked into yet another reality series.

But last night, I fell asleep during the commercial break of "The King of Queens" (one of my favorite shows) and I woke up to the beginning of "Rock Star INXS" and a gorgeous young singer belting out his rendition of the Mama's and the Papa's classic "California Dreaming". Suddenly I was wide awake. This guy was awesome-- he had the voice, the look of a rock star. This guy was rocking and there wasn't any cheesiness involved. Suddenly I was very intrigued.

In 1997, INXS front man, Michael Hutchence, tragically ended his life in a hotel room in Australia. The band has been understandably quiet since then, but now they are back in search of a new lead singer. Enter Burnett and "Rock Star INXS". It's an ingenious concept, to say the least, as it is drawing massive attention to a band that hasn't had a hit single in years.

The hosts of the show are Brooke Burke (of E Entertainment Television's Wild On) and rock god Dave Navarro (of Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Pepper fame). Just having Navarro on this show gives it some credibility, as he is too cool to be on anything tacky (okay, I take that back-- he did star in his own wedding-planning-style MTV reality series with wife Carmen Electra) . Burke is what she is-- pretty and perky, perfect reality show fare, and at first I mistook her for Navarro's wife, Carmen Electra (they sure look alike).

The remaining members of the rock group INXS were there as well, as they would be the final decision makers on who would get kicked off the show last night. Yes, America does do some voting as well, but the INXS guys get the final say on who gets the boot.

So the three contestants with the lowest number of votes each had to get up and sing another song. But here's the best part-- they didn't sing tired old pop tunes like they do on "American Idol". Instead, each of them were assigned a classic INXS song (that's right-- real rock songs): "New Sensation", "I Need You Tonight" and "Never Tear Us Apart", respectively.

After each contestant sang their song, the INXS guys huddled to make their vote. They ended up voting off a guy named Will, who had a decent voice but not much stage presence. I personally thought he tried to hard to sing like Michael Hutchence-- and INXS probably doesn't want a Michael Hutchence clone.

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by "Rock Star INXS". The singing was actually enjoyable to watch and now I'm curious to see how it all pans out. It's a great-- if somewhat morbid-- twist on the whole reality singing star theme. Yes, "American Idol"-- be afraid. Be very afraid.