Auditions

Each performance began with the contestant singing behind a screen ("The Wall").^[7] Once the contestant reached 70% of "Yes" votes on either the east or west coast, the wall was raised and the contestant advanced to the next round of the competition. Alongside the viewers' vote, three of the panelists (excluding the host) had 7% of the vote each, which would be added should they vote "Yes".^[1]

Duels

Contestants who made it through the auditions were paired by the judges to face off in a duel (in the event of an odd number of contestants making it through, the contestant who had the highest number of votes across all time zones but did not make it through the auditions was given a slot in the duels). The first contestant to sing, chosen by a coin toss before the show, sang with the wall up and set the benchmark for the second contestant. The second contestant sang with the wall down. If the second contestant surpassed the first contestant's vote total, the wall rose and the second contestant advanced to the next round while the first contestant was eliminated; if the second contestant failed to raise the wall, the second contestant was eliminated and the first contestant was sent through. Also, the losing contestant with the highest number of West Coast votes in each episode was given a save and advanced to the next round.

Top 13

After the duel rounds end, 13 of the contestants that survived perform. The first 7 contestants performed with the wall up, after which the contestant with the lowest vote total was placed in the hot seat. The subsequent contestants performed with the wall down, and they had to beat the vote total of the contestant in the hot seat to raise the wall. If they succeeded in doing so, the contestant in the hot seat was eliminated, the contestant with the next lowest vote total was placed in the hot seat, and the performing contestant was provisionally qualified; otherwise, the performing contestant was eliminated if they failed to raise the wall. This continues until the six contestants with the lowest number of votes were eliminated. In addition, the eliminated contestant with the highest number of West Coast votes in each episode was given a save and was through to the next round. In this stage, each panelist's vote added 5% to the total.

Quarterfinals & Semifinals

The quarterfinals and semifinals followed the same format as the top 13, except with a few changes to the weightage of the panelists' votes and number of contestants. In the quarterfinals, eight contestants battle for six spots (including the West Coast save), and each panelist's vote counts as 3%. In the semifinals, six contestants battle for four spots (including the West Coast save), and each panelist's vote added 1% to the total.

Finale

During the finale, the four remaining contestants were paired into two preliminary duels. The first contestant sang with the wall up and set the target for the second contestant. The second contestant sang with the wall down. If the second contestant beat the target percentage, the wall rose and the contestant moved on to the final duel. However, if the second contestant's percentage was lower than the first contestant's, the wall stayed down and the contestant was eliminated. In the final duel, the two contestants that moved on faced off against each other with their second song. The same process applied for this round, except that the running vote total was not revealed and both contestants sang with the wall up. The contestant with the higher vote percentage was declared the winner of the competition; in the event of a tie, the winner would be determined by whoever had the highest number of votes during the first duel of the finale. The experts' yes vote counted as a home vote as they vote with their phones; their choices were not revealed to both the performers and the audience. People residing in the West Coast were not eligible to vote during the finale.

Time zones

Due to the effects of time zones on North American broadcasting, the show aired at 9 p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. Central, and 7 p.m. Mountain Time Zones. To accommodate the Mountain Time Zone (which usually does not carry any live programming with the Eastern and Central time zones and airs it on an hour delay), ABC rotated the usual 7 p.m. MT program, Wipeout to air at 8 p.m. MT instead out of Rising Star.^[8] Additionally, the network's affiliates in the Caribbean Sea region, including Aguadilla, Puerto Rico's WPRU-LP and WSVI in the United States Virgin Islands (which have since disaffiliated from the network) broadcast the series live, despite being an hour ahead in the Atlantic Time Zone (as they both take ABC's Eastern feed an hour ahead except during daylight saving in which Eastern Time is at the same time as in the Atlantic Time Zone for these regions due to not observing daylight saving time.).

In the state of Arizona (except for the Navajo Nation), which does not observe Daylight Saving Time, the program aired live at 6 p.m. local time. For Pacific and Alaskan time zone viewers, a dedicated feed was provided to show real-time voting particular to these viewers and a comparison to how the earlier time zones voted. In an instance where a contestant who didn't pass based on viewers from the Eastern, Central, and Mountain Time Zones, yet ends up faring better with the Pacific and Alaskan time zones, the contestant would pass. In addition, a "West Coast save" was given to the losing contestant with the highest number of West Coast votes in the post-audition rounds, except for the finale.

As Alaska is one hour before the Pacific Time Zone, and programming normally airs similar to Central and Mountain time, Alaskans was able to participate live as well. However, residents of Hawaii were unable to participate since Hawaii time is two hours behind Pacific Time (or three when daylight saving time is observed in Pacific Time). Likewise, viewers in the other western insular islands such as American Samoa, Guam and Northern Mariana Islands had no means to participate whatsoever, as network programming on the affiliates of those islands is usually delayed by a day as it would be early morning if it did air live.

During West Coast broadcasts, live cut-ins to show reactions of contestants who passed only with West Coast viewers were displayed. There was no revocation of "pass" status if West Coast viewers rejected a contestant during the initial audition rounds. ABC stated that the chances of the West Coast differing substantially from other viewers was statistically small;^[9][10] however, in weeks 8 and 9 of the competition, West Coast votes differed enough from East Coast votes that contestants Maneepat Myra Molloy and Audrey Kate Geiger were saved over other contestants who had higher totals on the East Coast.

For CTV viewers in Canada, broadcasts originally followed the ABC model through all time zones, but switched partway through the season so all CTV stations across Canada aired the show live with the Eastern feed.

Auditions

The Duels (July 13–27, 2014)

Top 13 (August 3, 2014)

During this round, an expert's vote added 5% to the total percentage; the eight contestants with the highest voting percentages (including the West Coast save) advanced to the next round, while the other five were eliminated.

Week 8: Quarterfinals (August 10, 2014)

In this round, the experts' votes added 3% to the total vote percentage; the six contestants with the highest voting percentages (including the West Coast save) advanced to the semifinals, while the other two were eliminated.

Week 9: Semifinals (August 17, 2014)

In this round, the experts' votes added 1% to the total vote percentage; the four contestants with the highest voting percentages (including the West Coast save) advanced to the final. This was the last round where people living in the Pacific and Alaskan time zones were eligible to vote.

Week 10: Finals (August 24, 2014)

During the finale, the experts voted on their phones, making theirs count as equal to a home judge's vote, as well as keeping their votes secret from the performers and the audience. People residing in the Pacific and Alaskan time zones were not eligible to vote in the finale, and as a result, voting was only open to those residing in the Eastern, Central, and Mountain time zones.

Elimination table

Note: Voting percentages are listed in order of those in the Eastern/Central/Mountain time zones, followed by those in the Pacific/Alaska time zones (except for the final week).

Blue numbers indicate the highest voting percentage for each week.

Red numbers indicate the lowest voting percentage for each week.

  The performer was eliminated that week.

  The performer was initially eliminated but was later saved by having the highest voting percentage in the Pacific/Alaska time zones.

  The performer was initially eliminated but was saved by having the highest combined voting percentages across all time zones (due to an odd number of performers qualifying).^[11]

  The performer won Rising Star.

  The performer was the runner-up.

  The performer placed third in the Finals.

  The performer placed fourth in the Finals.

U.S. Nielsen ratings

Season Averages: 1.1 demo and 4.08 million viewers