Rocking out with Tommy Lee

It's on. \nLast week, the second season of the reality show "Rock Star" started, with Tommy Lee's new band Supernova on the hunt for an unknown performer to front them, and I for one am thrilled by this year's 15 finalists.\nFor those of you who have never seen "Rock Star" in all of its glory, I like to think of it as an "American Idol" with people that can actually sing.\nThe set-up is simple: Tommy Lee and his mates Gilby Clarke of Guns N' Roses and Jason Newsted of Metallica sit back on fluffy Moroccan-esque sofas and pretend to look cool with co-host Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction. Some amazingly talented but underappreciated musicians get up and perform covers of classic rock songs to a live audience. Lee and the gang give the singers constructive criticism at the end of each song. Then co-host Brooke Burke, always wearing something scandalous and made of leather, smiles at the camera and tells everyone how they can vote while pimping a couple of national brands. The entire effect could be likened to watching a one-hour live audition/rock concert every week from the comfort of your own television.\nWhat's truly great about this show is that unlike the fakery going on over at some other stations (with their big red Xs, washed up pop stars and other bells and whistles), everything is kept surprisingly low-key. Navarro has the ability to sound like he's talking directly to you, no matter how large the audience is, and when Tommy Lee gets melodramatic, we just laugh in amusement because it's not him being phony, but instead just taking his childhood class clown act to a new level.\nIt's also nice to see, as the credits roll, that the band members are actually executive producers, so the insipid cutting we see on most reality show competitions is avoided. Also, this way we know that Supernova really is choosing who they want as a lead singer and is not being forced into it by backstage executives.\nBut the finalists are the real stars of this show. \nLast year, the band INXS, whose lead singer died suddenly in 1997, found a new frontman in Canadian JD Fortune, who won after a 12-week stint on "Rock Star."\nThis year, the winner might even be a female, the competition is so fierce. \nAfter seeing the artists perform the first week, my top picks are Storm Large, 37, Patrice Pike, 35, Dilana Robichaux, 33, and Lukas Rossi, 29. A few others, like Ryan Star, Josh Logan and Jill Gioia are great artists but don't fit the band's needs. \nAll of the performers are famous in their own right, whether they've had singles and tours in Europe or Asia or just a homegrown following in the United States. But what distinguishes them is the fact that they have never made it into the coveted American limelight, the superstardom that all of the almost-famous crave. \nBut even if you've never heard of them before, you shouldn't be missing them now. "Rock Star" airs at 9 p.m. Tuesdays on CBS. for the performances, and at 9 p.m. Wednesdays for the final vote tally and a sing-off between the bottom three finalists.