Rising Star is an Indian version of the international franchise series Rising Star, a reality television singing competition. The program format lets the viewers vote for contestants live via the television channel's mobile app. The show premiered on 4 February 2015 on Colors TV and airs on weekends at 9:00 pm. This is the first reality television show in India which involves Live Audience Voting. Popular playback singer and music director Shankar Mahadevan, playback singer and actor Monali Thakur and actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh are the experts in the show. This show marks as Diljit Dosanjh's television debut. The show is hosted by singer-actor Meiyang Chang and dancer-choreographer Raghav Juyal. Bannet Dosanjh became India's first Rising Star, won Rs. 20 lakhs and also an opportunity to sing a song in an upcoming Vishesh Films movie. Maithili Thakur was declared as the first runner-up. Season Overview The Live Auditions The Live auditions began on 4 February 2017 and lasted for 8 episodes. **An exception was made in the final two audition episodes wherein the wall was raised only if the contestant managed to get at least 90% votes. This modification was made since most of the top contestants who had already qualified for the next round had scored more than 90%. Judges made an exception for two contestants Jidnesh Vaze & Deepesh Bhati and gave them a second chance to participate in the Duels Ki Takkar round. Duels Ki Takkar The top 30 scorers from the auditions moved on to the second round named 'Duels Ki Takkar' which began on 4 March 2017. The contestants who qualify from this round move on to the quarterfinals. Episode 9: 4 March 2017 Episode 10: 5 March 2017 Episode 11: 11 March 2017 Episode 12: 12 March 2017 India's Favourite 16 The top 16 contestants compete in this round. As the round progresses, the contestant who receives fewer votes at that point of the competition moves to the Red Sofa. At the end of the episode, the contestant who sits on the Red Sofa gets eliminated. Episode 13: 18 March 2017 Episode 14: 19 March 2017 Duets Challenge The top 14 contestants compete in this round. On day one, four teams of two perform in duets. The first two teams perform with the wall up and set the target percentage. The next two teams perform with the wall down and attempt to beat the target