You may sneer when they lip-sync, or snicker when you catch them sliding off-key, but being a Canto-pop star is not always as easy as it seems.

Those of you who disagree have the chance to prove your point this Sunday - TVB is recruiting participants for an American Idol-style show to unearth Hong Kong's next pop sensation.

Preliminary auditions will be held in Tseung Kwan O's Metro City, with 240 hopefuls getting their chance to appear on the show. Confirmed as a judge is actor Leung Wing-chung, and a cash prize is in store for the winners. Not much else is clear at this stage, except that the show's name translates roughly as The One Cruel Ding. The name is derived from the fact that contestants will be rejected when one of the judges has had enough and rings a bell - literally 'dinging' them off the stage.