Macy Kate of 'Rising Star' wows, but surprise may be a hoax

On the season premiere of "Rising Star," musicians from across the country performed live in hopes of getting votes from viewers at home, but one performance seemed to stand out from the rest, and that performer was 17-year-old Macy Kate. She was actually chosen from the audience at the start of the night. Apparently, she had auditioned for the show on Instagram and was unaware that she would actually be a part of the show at all.

When host Josh Groban surprised her with the news that she was actually a part of the competition, she seemed shocked, and probably terrified that she only had less than two hours to practice ... talk about pressure.

But CarterMatt was a little skeptical about Macy Kate's "last-minute" performance, suggesting it was likely set up: "This whole Instagram – sitting in the audience thing feels a little bit convenient, and the quality of her submission along with her verified Twitter account suggests to us that she's a little more polished than they led us believe. She is good, though, and this competition definitely needs that."

Still, even with Macy Kate's solid performance, TV Line described the show as '10 fair-to-tragic acts' [that] limped their way through a series of dated or done-to-death ditties. Yikes.

Either way, interacting with the show live is what makes the it different. Hollywood Life notes that contestants need 70% of America's votes to make the wall rise and to get them through to the next round, and votes from the judges each count as 7% each.

But The Hollywood Reporter thought the show had a "shaky start," a complicated premise, and way too many commercial breaks, adding that it took about 15 minutes just to get from one contestant to the next. Most fans on Twitter agreed, the pace of the show was too slow, and with the exception of a few, the talent wasn't too impressive either.

We guess only time will tell if "Rising Star" will be able to compete with other singing competition shows, like NBC's hit show, "The Voice."

Watch more of the premiere below:

In other TV news, American Idol judge Jennifer Lopez recently reunited long-lost lovers.