Popstars: The Rivals
Popstars: The Rivals is a British television talent show series that was broadcast on ITV in late 2002. It was the second UK series of the international Popstars franchise. Unlike Popstars, which resulted in the formation of one winning group, Hear'Say (although the other finalists would go on to form Liberty X), Popstars: The Rivals created two rival groups, Girls Aloud and One True Voice, who competed against each other for the Christmas number one spot on the UK Singles Chart. Girls Aloud won and would go on to achieve twenty consecutive top ten hits, four number ones and six top ten albums, two of which reached number one and from that, group member Cheryl would achieve five number-one singles and two number one albums.
Popstars: The Rivals
United Kingdom
English
1
18
Nigel Hall
Duncan Gray
Claudia Rosencrantz
Nicholas Steinberg
30–60 minutes (inc. adverts)
7 September –
22 December 2002
Popstars The Rivals aired on ITV1 on Saturday nights from 7 September 2002, beginning with three pre-recorded episodes of preliminary audition rounds, before switching to live broadcasts of studio performances. During the rounds of live show, viewers voted for their favourite performers by telephone and the Red Button on digital television remote controls. In the final weeks, five women and five men were chosen by the British public to form the two groups, boy band One True Voice, and girl group Girls Aloud. The final episode of Popstars: The Rivals aired live on 22 December 2002. During the broadcast, Pepsi Chart Show presenter Neil Fox revealed in a live link-up that "Sound of the Underground" recorded by Girls Aloud had reached number one on the Singles Chart, thereby becoming the Christmas number one. One True Voice's double A-side single, "Sacred Trust/After You're Gone" entered the chart at number two.
The series was hosted by Davina McCall, with the performances judged by Pete Waterman, Louis Walsh and Geri Halliwell. In addition to the main show, Popstars: The Rivals Extra aired on both ITV2 after the main ITV1 show on Saturdays and also as a teatime show on ITV1 during the week. Both versions of the show were presented by popstar Dane Bowers and Pop Idol finalist Hayley Evetts.
Judges and presenters[edit]
Judges[edit]
On the judging panel, neither Nigel Lythgoe, Paul Adam nor Nicki Chapman, the three judges from the first series of Popstars, returned for Popstars: The Rivals. Lythgoe had left ITV to work with Simon Fuller at 19 Entertainment and become the executive producer of Pop Idol and American Idol,[1] although he initially expressed an interest in appearing.[2] Chapman also went to 19, where she managed the careers of Pop Idol winner and runner-up Will Young and Gareth Gates.[1] Adam turned down the opportunity to return as he was too busy working as a music executive at RCA Records.[1]
The judges for Popstars: The Rivals were announced as record producer and songwriter Pete Waterman, who worked with Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Rick Astley and Steps amongst others as part of 1980–90s production trio Stock Aitken Waterman, Geri Halliwell, who rose to fame as part of the Spice Girls and later had a career as a solo popstar;[1][3][4] and Chris Evans, who had presented breakfast shows on BBC Radio 1 and Virgin Radio, and The Big Breakfast and TFI Friday on Channel 4.[5] Evans later decided not to appear, and after approaching Sharon Osbourne,[6] producers chose Louis Walsh, a music manager who had represented Boyzone, Samantha Mumba, Ronan Keating and Westlife, and who had judged on the 2001 Irish edition of Popstars as the third judge.[1][7]
Presenters[edit]
The series was presented by Davina McCall,[4] who had hosted the Popstars finale in 2001,[8] and also hosted Big Brother, God's Gift, Streetmate and Don't Try This at Home as well as hosting the Brit Awards in 2000 and 2003.[1] Former Another Level singer Dane Bowers and former Popstars and Pop Idol contestant Hayley Evetts presented Popstars: The Rivals Extra on ITV2.[9][10]
Production[edit]
Popstars The Rivals drew on the success of the first series of Popstars, which aired during early 2001,[11] and Pop Idol, which aired in the winter months of 2001–2002.[12] Popstars resulted in the formation of one winning pop group, Hear’Say,[13][14] who was selected solely by the judges,[11] but Pop Idol made extensive use of viewer interactivity with the home audience voting for their favourite act to win the competition either via the show's official website or by calling premium-rate telephone numbers.[12] In the months since Popstars finished, the five runners-up of the show had formed their own group, Liberty X, and were enjoying more commercial success than Hear’Say. The British media had also begun to create a rivalry between the two groups.
The Popstars producers drew upon this rivalry for Popstars: The Rivals to create two winning pop groups, a boy band and a girl group, in a "battle of the sexes",[3] to vie for the Christmas number one spot in the UK Singles Chart, a traditionally competitive time in the British music market. To further the rivalry, members of the public were to select who would remain in the show by voting for their favourite acts using premium-rate telephone numbers, text messaging, via the Popstars website, and with the Red Button on digital television remote controls. Each week, the singer with the fewest public votes would be eliminated from the competition until five men and five women remained, who would then form the two rival groups. Elements of Channel 4's Big Brother were used in Popstars: The Rivals when the final ten boys and final ten girls moved into two houses and lived together, watched by television cameras.
Selection process[edit]
Applications and auditions[edit]
Initial auditions began on 9 August 2002 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London.[15] and continued in a number of cities around the United Kingdom. This stage of the competition was broadcast over three episodes, with auditions taking place in London,[16] Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester.[17] Most contestants were invited to audition after sending in video tapes of themselves singing, but open auditions were also held at Wembley Conference Centre in Wembley, London on 9 August 2002 and at the Lowry Hotel in Manchester a week later. This was in response to the massive demand of the original Popstars series which had seen thousands turned away due to time restraints.[18] Just two of the hopefuls advanced from the London open auditions.[19]
The open auditions were broadcast across 3 episodes. Around 100 contestants made it through to the next round of the competition.
Bootcamp[edit]
The 102 remaining contestants had to travel to London for the bootcamp stage, where they were met by Davina McCall. With only 50 places available in the next round, the judges had tough decisions to make. The contestants were put through various workshops to test both their singing and dancing abilities. All contestants were able to choose a song to perform, while choreographers judged them on their dancing.
After two days of the workshop, 52 contestants failed to progress and left the competition. 13-year-old Stephanie McMichael was eliminated after producers discovered she had lied about her age and was below the age limit.
The final 50 were next reduced to 30 through another series of workshops. Pete Waterman mentored the boys, Louis Walsh oversaw the girls and Geri Halliwell acted as an intermediary between the two groups. After much deliberation, the judges called contestants to see them individually and deliver their verdicts.
Judges' visits[edit]
The last two episodes before the live shows saw the final 30 being reduced to a final 20, with five boys and five girls failing to make the cut. The three judges were assigned contestants to visit separately in their respective homes and deliver the good or bad news of whether they had reached the live finals. The remaining contestants would move into a house together for the live stages of the competition.
The ten eliminated acts were:
Boys – Justin Webb, Sean Haven, Owen Doyle, Jacob Thompson, Jeremy Medcalf
Girls – Kimberley Walsh, Pollyanna Woodward, Nicola Roberts, Annika Gavitas, Charlie Houston
Winners' singles[edit]
Battle for Christmas Number One[edit]
After the two bands had been formed, three further episodes were broadcast as the two rival bands battled it out for the coveted Christmas Number One. On 7 December 2002, a live show featured both bands premiering their debut singles. One True Voice released the double A-side "Sacred Trust/After You're Gone", whilst Girls Aloud released "Sound of the Underground" as their song. On 14 December, a pre-recorded episode was aired, going behind the scenes of both band's first official few weeks together, filming their music videos and undergoing a nationwide tour of TV and radio stations to promote their singles.
The Christmas No. 1 Showdown[edit]
On 22 December 2002, the final episode of series, entitled The Christmas No. 1 Showdown, was a live show to reveal which of the two groups (if either) had made it to number one in the UK Singles Chart.
The show linked up with Neil Fox at the Pepsi Chart Show studios around halfway through the programme, where he ran down the top 10 singles before revealing the act that had charted highest. Girls Aloud were the lucky ones, reaching number one with first week sales of around 213,000. One True Voice went straight in at number two having sold close to 137,000 copies, while another Popstars: The Rivals act, The Cheeky Girls charted at number three.[35] "Sound of the Underground" remained at number one for four weeks in total, stretching into 2003. The girls performed their new single live together for the second time shortly after it had been announced that they had reached number one.
The show also featured special performances from both The Cheeky Girls and from Hazel Kaneswaran, who had to leave the competition before the live shows after she was over the age limit. One True Voice and Girls Aloud also sang a special group version of "Winter Wonderland" and closed the series with a group performance of "White Christmas", joined at the climax by all of the contestants who had participated in the live shows.
Sponsorship[edit]
McDonald's sponsored the show in a £4 million deal which covered the programmes on ITV and ITV2 and the official website. The sponsorship provided promotion for the show nationwide in McDonald's restaurants whilst the sponsorship bumpers during the programmes centred on a fictional puppet band called "The Happy Hyenas". Martin Strowde, the sponsorship director at Granada Television said "We're delighted that McDonald's has teamed up with us for what promises to be the most exciting hit this autumn".[44]