"Musical! The Show" was a casting show of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation ORF whose goal is to find the Austrian musical star by televote.
According to ORF, the winner would have appeared in the Viennese production of the Queen musical We Will Rock You, but an agreement between the ORF and the promoters BB promotion and the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien did not materialize at short notice. Instead, the ORF announced that the winner would receive a cash prize of 50,000 euros. With this money, the winner should finance his individual further education.
The candidates had no experience with a live broadcast and little or no experience performing in front of a large audience or singing with a live orchestra. They should progress their skills during the weeks of telecast.
In the program, the candidates have to prove their musical skills by presenting excerpts of certain musicals per show. The songs are assigned to the participants by the ORF and can not be selected by the participants themselves.
After the voting of the viewers by phone call and SMS, the two last-placed candidates once again had the chance to convince the viewers with a self-chosen joker song. Televoting, which was limited to 60 seconds, again determined who was allowed to move up to the next round.