By Stephanie Shore

Rock music is supposed to be about passion. It’s built on the premise of “sticking it to the man.” And unlike the hits played on Top 40 radio, it’s about the creation of raw intensity and brutal honesty – not about the creation of revenue.

The recent influx of competition-meets-reality shows that aim to “create” rock stars – rock reality, if you will – is killing the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll. It’s just not right, and it’s contradictory to what rock music is all about.

“Rock Star: INXS,” a CBS reality show that aired last summer, was among the first of this new breed of television shows. Its objective was to find a new lead singer for INXS, an Australian band whose original singer, Michael Hutchence, committed suicide in 1997.

Some fans were critical of this ploy for publicity – two Australian radio DJs went as far as to call the show “broadband urination on Michael Hutchence’s grave.”

Nonetheless, the concept did well enough to be brought back for a second season. On the recently wrapped “Rock Star: Supernova,” instead of replacing one member of an already established band, the show created a new group altogether made up of former Guns ‘N Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke, former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted and Motley Cr