Editing Star Search (section)

==1983–1995 version==
While categories varied slightly from season to season, the ten basic categories<ref>{{cite episode|series=Star Search |network=CBS |year=1983–1995}}</ref> during the 1983–1995 version were:

* Female singer
* Male singer
* Junior singer (Second half of the season)
* Teen singer (First half of the season)
* Group vocal
* Dance
* Junior dance (First half of the season)
* Teen dance (Second half of the season)
* Spokesmodel
* Comedy

[[Image:Star Search original logo.png|thumb|150px|left|The original ''Star Search'' logo, used from 1983 to 1994]]
[[Image:Star Search '95.jpg|thumb|150px|left|The ''Star Search'' logo used from 1994 to 1995]]
Eight categories were contested per show. Potential contestants auditioned to be on the show. In each category, two selected contestants would compete, a champion and a challenger. The challenger would usually perform first, while the champion performed second. In later seasons, the champion performed first.

All acts were judged by a panel of four judges, and each judge could award an act from one to four stars (later changed to five stars).  Once both acts were complete, Ed would reveal the scores, and the best average won. If there was a tie, a studio audience vote broke the tie, in which case the results were revealed at the end of the show.

Any performer must win at least several shows in a row, depending on the number of shows left in the season, to earn an entry into the next round of the competition; usually this was three or four wins in a row.  In later seasons, three-match winners were automatically retired. In this case, two new performers would compete in that category the following week.

In most seasons, two semifinal shows took place, one in the fall, the other in the spring, prior to the championship show.  Each semifinal used seven judges.  No scoring was used, and the judges' votes weren't revealed, but the acts that won their semifinals would then compete in the championship show.

On the championship show, winners of Male Vocalist, Female Vocalist, Vocal Group, Comedy, and Dance, were awarded $100,000 but no record contract was guaranteed. Many Star Search winners from the early seasons secured recording contracts within a few weeks of the end of the competition—first season vocal group winner [[Sawyer Brown]], first season male vocalist champion [[Sam Harris (singer)|Sam Harris]] and second season male vocalist champion Durell Coleman were the first three, and were later followed by second season vocal group winner Limited Warranty, third season female vocalist champion [[Linda Eder]], second season junior male vocalist champion Jimmy Salvemini, whose album was produced by [[Luther Vandross]], fourth season male vocalist champion [[David Slater]], and third season junior female vocalist runner-up [[Tiffany Darwish|Tiffany]].  Despite not winning her competition (she lost to Melissa Moultrie), Tiffany, performing as 'Tiffany Renee,' was the first ''Star Search'' alumna to land a #1 hit, with her cover of the Top 5 [[Tommy James and the Shondells]] hit "[[I Think We're Alone Now]]" —actually improving on the original single's chart performance.<ref>Chart positions courtesy Billboard Publications, Inc.</ref> The winner of the Spokesmodel category was awarded $100,000 and a contract with a well-known modeling agency.  The first Spokesmodel winner was [[Tracey Ross]], who later became a leading actress on the soap opera ''[[Passions]]''.  Winners of Junior Vocalist, Junior Dance, Teen Vocalist, and Teen Dance win $10,000.

In early seasons, before the three match limit rule was adopted, the grand champions were determined by how long a champion held their title.  While it is believed that [[Sam Harris (singer)|Sam Harris]] holds the record for longest championship, at 14 weeks in Season 1, Harris was actually defeated by singer Beau Williams on Harris' 14th attempt. This record is actually held by singer Durell Coleman (1985), who won the $100,000 on Season 2 with 15 wins and no defeats.

In the 1992–93 season, a daily version of the show aired but was cancelled midseason.

In the 1993–1994 season, the title was changed to "Ed McMahon's Star Search."

Former [[MTV]] veejay [[Martha Quinn]] joined the series as co-host for the 1994–95 season, judging the musical groups competition.<ref>"'STAR SEARCH' ROLLS 3RD YEAR AT DISNEY." THE ORLANDO SENTINEL, 3 STAR ed., sec. A SECTION, August 20, 1994, p. A2. NewsBank: Access World News, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref=news/0EB4F1F836C700D3. Accessed January 31, 2020.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nndb.com/people/631/000025556/|title=Martha Quinn}}</ref>

''Star Search'' was typically syndicated on [[Fox Television Stations]] (before October 1986, [[Metromedia|Metromedia, Inc.]]), stations owned by the [[Ryman Hospitality Properties#Broadcast properties|Gaylord Broadcasting Co.]], stations owned by [[Taft Broadcasting]], and stations owned by [[Cox Media Group|Cox Communications]].