The public ultimately will decide just how super this alleged "supergroup" is.

But truthfully, it's not all that charming or intriguing at first glance.

The creators of the TV show Rock Star announced yesterday the "supergroup" seeking a singer in the second season is called Supernova and consists of drummer Tommy Lee (Motley Crue), bassist Jason Newsted (Metallica) and guitarist Gilby Clarke (Guns 'N' Roses).

For months there have been rumours that the Rock Star franchise, which united Canadian vocalist J.D. Fortune with veteran Aussie band INXS last year, was going to strike a deal with Van Halen. And failing that, maybe at least one of the members of Van Halen would be involved, preferably guitar god Eddie Van Halen.

There were some whispers about Queen as well.

But it took so long for an announcement to come -- auditions already have taken place at various locales, including Toronto -- that it seems obvious the original plan, whatever it was, fell through. Rock Star, which will be broadcast on CBS and Global this summer, has signed songwriter Butch Walker to produce Supernova's first album, to be released in 2007. Walker has written or produced songs for Avril Lavigne, Lindsay Lohan, Pink and, conveniently, Lee.

Dave Navarro and Brooke Burke will return as hosts of the program.

"Friends of mine, like Slash, Macy Gray, Moby and Rob Zombie, will join us and throw in their two cents about who should stay and who should go," Navarro said in a release.

Lee is by far the best-known member of Supernova, for reasons that have little to do with music. He is a first-team celebrity bad boy whose crowning achievement, arguably, was his infamous sex tape with ex-wife Pamela Anderson.

Might Pam, who will host the Juno awards next month and will be added to Canada's Walk Of Fame in June, be coerced into making an "appearance" in a future Supernova video?

There's no argument that the Rock Star concept is 1-for-1 so far, having re-energized and extended the career of INXS.

But can Rock Star do the same for a band with no back catalogue to draw upon?

"It's a new band, so the singer, whoever it is, is going to be able to put their stamp on it," said affable Rock Star executive producer David Goffin, who was in Toronto for the auditions at the Horseshoe Tavern earlier this week.

"The Partridge Family and The Monkees were about manufactured pop music. Rock and roll is not that, so this really is the first successful rock and roll television show ever. There was no historical precedent for rock and roll doing well on TV."

Whether recent Rock Star history can repeat itself remains to be seen. But we all know what a supernova actually is, right?

It's a star that has exploded. The debris is brighter than the sun for a few days, but then it leaves behind a large, expanding shell of gas.

Uh, Tommy, was that you?