Editing Star Search (section)

==2003–2004 version==
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2012}}
In the wake of ''[[American Idol]]''{{-'}}s success, [[Arsenio Hall]] hosted a new version of ''Star Search'', which ran from 2003 to 2004 on CBS. It would be rerun on [[Game Show Network|GSN]] from 2004 to 2005. This new version was judged by four panelists, including [[Ben Stein]], [[Naomi Judd]], [[Ahmet Zappa]] and a rotating celebrity panelist (which in at least one case was McMahon himself). Among the winners were singer [[Tiffany Evans]], comedian John Roy and singer Mark Mejia.

The revival consisted of four seasons. For the first season, the categories were Adult and Junior Singer, Comedy, and Modeling. In seasons two and three, Modeling was replaced with Dance. In the final season, the Comedy category was scrapped altogether and only the singing and dancing categories remained.

For the first three seasons, two new competitors faced off. The three house judges, along with the one celebrity judge, gave each contestant a score on a scale from one to five stars, making a maximum studio score 20 stars. During each commercial break, the home audience went to www.cbs.com/star to rate the competitors who just performed. Each performer could earn up to another 20 stars from the home audience. In the climactic moment before the score from the home audience was revealed, Hall would often say, "Hit me with the digits!"

When the scores were tallied, the higher scoring performer won. If the score was tied, then Hall would read off each performer's score rounded to the nearest hundredth (the at-home score was initially rounded down to the nearest star, unless there was a tie). That performer would then go on to the next round of competition. The only real exception to this format during the first three seasons was that three people competed in the semi-final rounds, not two. After the first three seasons, a special, "Battle of the Best" show took place, where the three Adult Singer, Junior Singer, Comedian, and two Young Dancer Grand Champions (Modeling was only the first season, and Dance had only been around for two seasons) were brought back to face off for an additional $100,000.

For the fourth and final season, three contestants in Adult Singer, Junior Singer, and Dance were brought back to initially compete (Comedy was dropped, jokingly because Naomi gave many comics only one star). The three brought back in each category were not necessarily the Grand Champions of their season. The show scrapped the celebrity judge and had three house judges for the entire series: [[Naomi Judd]], [[MC Lyte]], and [[Matti Leshem]] (who tried to berate contestants as [[Simon Cowell]] was doing at the time on ''[[American Idol]]'').

As in past seasons, two new contestants competed. With only three judges, a score of 15 stars was possible, and ties were broken by a majority vote between the three. This is where the former contestants came in. Initially, in each category, these three performers made up the "Winner's Circle". The winning challenger then had the chance to challenge one of the three performers in his or her respective winner's circle. The winner's circle performer then had to beat or tie the bar set by the challenger; ties were automatically given to the Winner's Circle performer. If they couldn't beat the score, they were out of the competition, and the challenger took his or her place in the Winner's Circle.

Halfway through the program, the three performers in each Winner's Circle competed against each other in a special show. The winner in each category not only received a trip home, but a free pass to the final show. From then on, there were only two people who could be challenged in each Winner's Circle. In the final show, the three people in each Winner's Circle competed against each other for $100,000. This, along with the Free Pass show, were the only two shows which re-adopted the at-home voting concept.

* The Adult Singer group was the only group to record a complete shutout. The three performers in the beginning were there in the end as well.
* The free pass was equally important in the other two groups as well. In both the Dance and Junior Singer categories, not only did the free pass save the winner from being challenged in an ever-changing Winner's Circle, but they ended up winning their group finals (Junior Singer Mark Mejia and Dancer Jon Cruz).
* Adult Singer and season 1 champion Jake Simpson was challenged a record four times during his tenure in the Winner's Circle. He not only went a perfect 4–0, but he also won his group final. The only match he lost that entire season was the Winner's Circle Square-Off Special.

At the same time, a [[Spin-off (media)|spin-off]] called ''Star Search – Das Duell der Stars von Morgen'' was produced and aired in Germany, but with less success than the more popular show ''[[Deutschland sucht den Superstar]]'', the German version of the ''[[Idols (franchise)|Idol]]'' franchise.