History of Pop Idol

THE EARLY ROUNDS

For those who haven’t seen any of this, Pop Idol began a few months ago. We were treated to prime time programmes once a week, where we saw glimpses of the first auditions.

In a similar way to Popstars, we witnessed the terrible, the truly terrible and the cringe-worthy hide-behind-the-cushion appalling. We also saw some flashes of brilliance, but these seemed very rare.

THE FINAL 50

The programme really became riveting viewing for me as the Final 50 were chosen. ITV 2 showed hours of coverage, three days a week, so you could see each group (ten per group over five weeks) practising, before singing their song in front of the judges.

This final was shown on ITV1 on a Saturday night, with a later live show giving the result. The two people from the ten that had the highest amount of phone votes made the final round.

After watching some nine hours on ITV2 per week, we really began to feel we ‘knew’ the contestants. We saw them messing about behind the scenes, chatting informally, eating, drinking and struggling with their emotions. We saw them from their first run through of songs they liked until they came out the other end – stylised, coached, and pampered for stardom.

This is where I really became involved, rooting for certain contestants, wishing unkind thoughts about others <wink>. It was in these rounds that we got to see some excellent also-rans, who hopefully still have a chance for the stardom they deserve.

Who can forget the stunning Sarah Whatmore, who sang in an almost-not-there gold top and knickers? Or the beautiful Natalie Anderson, with a huge smile, sparkling eyes and oodles of charisma?

For the blokes, what about Andrew, who seemed so sure to qualify, having all the right ingredients of a pop star? Or young Oliver, sweet sixteen, but looking twelve and singing like a choirboy?

So many stars, so little time for exposure. So many on the cattle market. So few spotlights to shine…

THE JUDGES

The four judges were responsible for whittling down the thousands of hopefuls. By the time it came to the final fifty, their role had been reduced. Now they offer criticism (not always constructive!) and predict who will go through, who won’t. They are there to suggest a different approach in the future, a change of image, a bit more confidence or returning to their day job as soon as possible.

The judges are Simon Cowell, Nicki Chapman, Pete Waterman and Neil (Foxy) Fox. All important people in the music business, experienced, should know what’s what. But of course, that’s not always how it goes.

Personally, I respect them all and think their track records speak for themselves. They are all highly successful in the business and if I was a young, aspiring singer, I would value their advice. But yes, it gets nasty at times. Then again, if you’re going to cry because someone says you were off-key, how will you fare when the tabloids find out your darkest secrets? Eh? No one said it was going to be easy.

Simon Cowell is the pantomime villain, the King Rat. With his trousers notoriously too high, Ant and Dec (who host the final 10 programmes) continue to tease him about his lack of fashion sense. Poor guy. Still, if he can dish it out, he should be able to take it, right?

Nicki Chapman is the nice one of the panel. Blonde, bubbly, constantly smiling, she rarely finds fault with the contestants. Usually, they are all brilliant, look stunning, sing great and will be the Next Best Thing – but if she’s not so keen, look out for non-committal comments like “You’ve done so well to get this far!”

Pete Waterman is another controversial figure, famously referring to Rik Waller as a ‘fat git’, despite not being particularly svelte himself. Still, he’s another very successful man in the biz. He knows what he’s talking about. He brought us Kylie, Steps, Jason Donovan – well, let’s forget Jason.

Finally, Foxy. He is now well-known for his bizarre, wandering metaphors – someone is described as a doughnut without the jam in, a wonderful looking present that turns out to be small and boring… He can either be a nice guy or a bad one, you never know, but he’s always entertaining. Well, they all are.

FINAL 10

The show is on ITV 1 on Saturday evenings, with coverage on ITV 2 as well. This is presented by the multi-talented actors-cum-singers-cum-TV presenters, Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly. Yep, Ant and Dec. Comic geniuses indeed. They add their own touch of Geordie charm and humour, which adds that extra sparkle to what is already a great idea and compulsive viewing.

What the contestants are competing for is to win the final, the prize being a recording contract, every wannabe’s dream. The problem is that by this stage, they are all really good.

However, instead of most talent contest type shows, Pop Idol adds a Big Brother element – no, you don’t get to see them all in the shower (Shame!), you get to vote off one person a week.

Each of the finalists sings a song, live, with orchestral accompaniment and in a studio full of fans, friends and family. Each week’s show follows a theme, with each singer choosing to sing something tied in with it. Afterwards, the public vote online or by phone, with the contestant receiving the least amount of votes being eliminated from the competition.

As I said, by this stage, they all deserve to do very well and it is always sad to see one of the finalists being voted off. Everyone has favourites and you do feel very sorry for the one sent home each week.

The process is made even more tense by the way Ant and Dec go round the contestants, slowly telling them whether they are safe or not. If they are in the bottom three, they are sent to the ‘Couch of Cruelty’ where, eventually, it is revealed who has lost in that show.

In this way, the final ten are reduced by one each week, until the final decider is shown and voted on – this will be in February. Hot favourites to win are Will and Gareth. Watch this space…

CONTESTANTS

The final ten were chosen, including Rik Waller. However, he developed a severe throat infection and couldn’t sing for the first week. He was given a week’s grace, but was told he would have to pull out of the competition, if he wasn’t fit by the following Saturday. He wasn’t, so his place was taken by the person who came 3rd in Rik’s week – Darius Danesh.

Therefore, the final ten were :-

Aaron Bayley

The eldest of the finalists at 26, a train driver from Newcastle. A cheeky chappie. The ‘People’s Champion’. A real working class hero.

With a winning grin, an endearing accent and bags of personality, his self-deprecating nature and wonderful sense of humour makes him one of the most popular contestants.

In the final 50, he proved his versatility by singing David Gray’s ‘Babylon’ faultlessly in rehearsals, before choosing ‘Walking In Memphis’. His Elvis-esque songs soon bored the audience though and he was eliminated, finishing in 8th place.

LATEST - He is recording a single...

Darius Danesh

A 21 year old student from Edinburgh, Scotland.

After becoming a national figure of fun following his appearance in Popstars, Darius had a taste of infamy. Tall, ponytailed and full of kitsch and clichés. His televised murdering of Baby One More Time, to a series of stylised hand gestures, put him in the 'love him or hate him’ camp of celebs. Was there ever going to be enough love in the room for Darius?

He returned to TV stardom a changed man. Clean-shaven, with short hair and less cheese, Darius Danesh is a star. He is charming, funny, modest and yes, downright gorgeous.

He has an individual look and a great talent. He could go far and I hope he does, he deserves it. He finished 3rd.

LATEST : He has been signed up by Simon Cowell, so expect a single and album out soon.

Gareth Gates

A seventeen year old student from Bradford.

He captured the hearts of the nation early on in the series, when it was discovered that he has a speech impediment, namely a stammer. The lad who took several attempts to get his name out then sang like an angel.

But I got tired of him rather quickly. He has a very vapid, weak, thin voice. He does Westlife songs in a way that would send Shane, Nicky, Brian, Kian and Mark to sleep.

He also seems to have left his personality on a train somewhere. But the little girls like him, the teenagers think he’s gorgeous, the older fans want to mother him. I don’t.

I think he’s the most over-rated singer in the competition and while I wish him no ill, I hope he doesn't win.

LATEST : He has been signed up by Simon Cowell and will have a single out in March. News to be announced soon too, but rumoured to be that he will support Westlife on tour.

Hayley Evetts

A 25 year old from Birmingham.

Another Popstars ‘reject’, she has impressed me much more in Pop Idol than she did during its predecessor. She has a good, vibrant personality. She is confident, but not cocky. She’s pretty, but still natural looking.

She has a very good stage presence and really sparkles. However, I don’t think she’s got a chance of winning. It’s not that she isn’t any good – she is – but the others are just better. I think she’ll be 5th... She was ;-)

LATEST : She is doing some TV presenting for This Morning.

Jessica Garlick

A twenty year old singer from Kidwelly, South Wales.

Famous for having a crush on Pete Waterman (Well, someone had to!), this Welsh lass has a sparkling talent and the personality to match. The sort of woman that appeals to both men and women, she comes across as natural, friendly, warm - just the kind of person you wouldn’t resent gaining huge amounts of success, fame and money.

She was one of my favourites from the early rounds. I loved her rendition of Crazy For You and Papa Don’t Preach, but the audience at home obviously wasn’t too keen. She was eliminated in the second week, finishing 9th.

LATEST : She is in the final four for Song For Europe, phone vote in early March.

Korben

A 21 year old communications adviser from Bedford.

Possibly over-confident, cheeky and with a grin to die for, Korben was seen as one of the favourites while in the final fifty. He has the attitude which can get people’s backs up and I especially dislike people who seem boastful. Initially, he annoyed me, but as the days went on, I became quite a fan.

His performance in the final fifty was outstanding and I thought he was really good in the final ten too, but I must have been in the minority. He was the first one eliminated, finishing 10th.

LATEST : Well, he'll be touring with the rest of the top ten, but otherwise, his arrogance seems to be closing doors before they open ;-)

Laura Doherty

A 19 year old TV presenter from Derry, Northern Ireland.

Giggly, silly, annoying, immature, talkative. Well, you could say bubbly and full of personality – but for me, she’s just too much, she’s Helen Adams on speed!

However well she did in the early rounds, she was lucky to qualify for the final ten, but her luck since then has been ridiculous! She was a weekly visitor on the Couch of Cruelty, surviving three ‘evictions’, despite being the worst each time. She finally finished 7th.

LATEST : She is trying to become a TOTP presenter. Oh dear!!

Rosemary (Rosie) Ribbons

An 18-year-old shop assistant from Alltwen, South Wales.

Blonde, pretty, a Mariah Carey wannabe warbler. She is one of the quieter members of the final and rarely seen grinning. She seems a bit too serious and I think her apparent lack of personality isn’t doing her any favours in gaining votes.

In the final fifty, she was outstanding and thoroughly deserved a place in the last ten. But in the past couple of weeks of the final ten, she was sub-standard and went on the Couch of Cruelty twice. She finally finished 6th, but has apparently been signed up by Pete Waterman, so I doubt it’s the last we’ll hear of her.

LATEST : Despite Pete promising to sign her, he hasn't - yet...

William (Will) Young

A 23 year old student from London.

Awww, what a sweetie, this guy has it all – good looks, intelligence, well spoken, a real gentlemen – and yes, he has a wonderful singing voice too.

To me, Will is THE Pop Idol, my winner without a doubt. He is charming, charismatic, bright, polite and has that X-factor. He’s going to be big. Believe me.

LATEST : Single out February 25th.

Zoe Birkett

The youngest finalist at sixteen, a student from Darlington.

Bubbly, pretty, stylish, full of fun, mature and talented. I like Zoe, I think everyone does. She shows so much confidence – but not cockiness – for her years and really shines on stage.

Her voice is not really my thing, as she’s another warbler in the Whitney Houston style. But I can see she’s good, I wish her well and I think she’ll be the highest place female. That will probably only be 4th though. (I was right!)

LATEST : Duetting with Gareth on the Pop Idol tour and surely someone will sign her soon??

STORY SO FAR…

This is the bit I hope to update every week, so you can follow the story right through to the final nail-biting decisions.

FROM 10 TO 9…

In Week One of the final ten stage, the theme was ‘Your Pop Idol’. The contestants chose a song from their favourite pop idol, so we had recognisable gems from the likes of Madonna and George Michael.

The three to go on the ‘Couch of Cruelty’ were Laura, Jessica and Korben. This was quite a shock, as I really rated Jessica and Korben and had expected them to go on longer in the competition.

Laura was obviously the weakest singer there, with the judges’ less-than-thrilled comments reducing her to tears. This just convinced me further that she was not destined for being the Pop Idol winner. She came across as silly, immature and unable to stand the pressure. But she survived another week, as did Jessica.

The first casualty of the final ten was Korben. In the newspapers the following day, he declared his sexuality was to blame. Then turning up on This Morning, he claimed he had been misquoted and his homosexuality was one of several factors that could have had a part in his failure.

FROM 9 TO 8…

This was the Christmas week, which meant the songs followed the festive theme. We had everything thrown in here really, some pop songs, some old crooners.

I felt Laura was again the weakest and she was dumped on the Couch of Cruelty, but no, that superglue is doing its job, she survived another week.

Rosie’s sexy performance of Santa Baby had certainly been a new departure for her, but the public wasn’t impressed. She made the Couch too and you could tell she wasn’t amused.

But the shock of the night was Jessica being eliminated. I couldn’t see anything wrong with her performance, but there you go. She just wasn’t popular enough. Another of my favourites gone. Good thing I’m not a betting woman.

FROM 8 TO 7…

The theme this time was Burt Bacharach – not the most exciting ranges of songs, I must say. But the evening’s entertainment was saved by some wonderful performances, especially of Will and Darius.

This time, everyone seemed to perform consistently, but once again, I felt Laura was the weakest link. Rosie and Gareth also seemed below their best and I was controversially predicting a place on the Couch of Cruelty for the Gorgeous Gareth.

But no such luck. The Boyband King lives on. Instead, we saw return visits to the Couch for both Laura and Rosie, but the final verdict sent Geordie cheeky chappie Aaron back to the trains. Another travesty. He was great too.

FROM 7 TO 6...

The theme this time was 'songs from the movies'. This was much more upbeat than the previous week and much more enjoyable, with everyone putting in pretty good performances.

As usual, Laura was the worst, performing the theme from A Licence To Kill. She looked great and her presentation was nice, but her vocals were lacking somewhat.

Zoe was sub-standard too, but this could be attributed to her learning a new song (Streetlife) in a day, after discovering her original choice (The Power Of Love) did not qualify, as it hadn't been in a film.

Baby-faced Gareth was actually good this week, even to my critical ears! He sang My Guy, even managing to get a bit of life and movement into his performance.

Darius was very good too, delivering a sophisticated performance. He is so much better now he's lost his vocal idiosyncrasies and his arrogance. Unfortunately, I think the public are an unforgiving lot and he can't win this competition, because he'll always be clouded by his Popstars capers.

As usual, my highlight was Will. Singing a song from Notting Hill (Ain't No Sunshine), I think this was his best performance to date. Absolutely stunning.

Only two on the Couch this week, due to dwindling numbers of contestants - Rosie and self-confessed Sofa Queen Laura. At last, Laura left. Surely it will be Rosie's turn next week?

FROM 6 TO 5…

Abba week! Yes, our Pop Idol wannabes tackled some of the catchiest tunes in the genre and it certainly sorted out the wheat from the chaff.

Hayley was first up and as usual, performed very well – this time singing Take A Chance On Me. But she seems to lack something – two contestants later, I had forgotten what she had sang! I think she could well be out this Saturday, but she deserves to go on to great things.

Zoe had a new sleek hairdo and looked wonderful. She sang Thankyou For The Music really well, gaining excellent comments from the judges.

Darius struggled this time, I Have A Dream being a bit high for his vocal range but it was good enough to stay in at this stage. He really must excel in the next few weeks though or he could be voted off quite soon.

Gareth is my least favourite of the surviving five, but his rendition of One Of Us was beautiful. He has a weak, thin, high choirboy voice, but it was ideal for this song and he shone. Not sure how he’ll cope next week though with a big band number, Will and Darius should have the edge on him there.

Will was outstanding again with his own unique version of Name Of The Game. He improves every week and really deserves to win.

Rosie was appalling this time, warbling horrendously out of key on The Winner Takes It All. She seemed to have given up and it was no surprise that she got voted off. It would have been a travesty if she had stayed.

FROM 5 TO 4…

The theme was the big band era, with ‘swing’ songs and a live band on the stage accompanying the singers. Although this meant some of the singer’s voices were drowned out at times, it also showed off other singer’s voices brilliantly.

I was especially impressed with Zoë this time, who really seemed to sparkle, covering a Judy Garland song. Will was also one of my favourites, although I was not familiar with the song (a Harry Connick Jnr. one) and felt he could have chosen better. These two were the stars of the night for me.

I felt Darius and Hayley were both pretty good, but a notch down from the previous two. Darius was cute and cheeky with Let’s Face The Music and Dance. Hayley was sultry and sexy with That Ole Devil Called Love. It seemed obvious that one of these two would be seen as this week’s ‘Weakest Link’.

My own personal choice would have been for Gareth to be voted off, but of course, this wasn’t going to happen. Despite dancing like a Thunderbird puppet on speed and singing weakly, thinly and too quietly, he was never in any danger. His legions of screaming fans will vote for him regardless. Oh well.

By the end of the evening, Hayley had become the next finalist to be eliminated. After receiving the lowest amount of votes in the recent poll conducted by The <spit> Sun, it was hardly surprising.

FROM 4 TO 3

So it was a different kind of week this time, with each of the four contestants singing two number one hits – one slow number and the other up-tempo.

Gareth began quite weakly with Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, but pulled it back with Unchained Melody. Adequate, but really nothing special.

Darius was exciting, sexy and obviously having a great time up there! He was brilliant singing It’s Not Unusual, then wowed the audience with a slower version of Whole Again. Excellent.

Zoë was uncharacteristically flat on both songs – The Power Of Love and I Wanna Dance With Somebody. But visually, she sold the performance and carried it off quite well.

Will was stunning – There Must Be An Angel didn’t grab me initially, but since hearing it a few more times, I have grown to love it. Night Fever was excellent from the first time I heard it, much more his kind of song and one of the best I’ve heard him do.

So, Zoë was voted off and as Gareth cried in front of the cameras, four became three and the last remaining girl in the competition exited stage left.

FROM 3 TO 2

Three men remaining – well, two men and one boy ;-) This time, it was the judges’ choices with each of the three singing two songs again.

It seemed to be a fast one and a slow one again – well, except for Gareth who sang two slow songs. He also sang Flying Without Wings again – the song he performed in the first audition and the one that got him into the final ten. Should this be allowed or does Gareth Gates get to write the rule book here, we wonder? Ho hum. Moving on…

So Gareth sang Yesterday and – yes, that old Westlife song. As you would expect really. After watching him each Saturday for months now, he bores me. Sorry, but he has the least talent of these final three, it is the sympathy vote that is keeping him in.

Darius was really good again, showing bags of personality, charm and charisma. He has improved each week and completely transformed himself since those ponytailed room-loving days of Popstars.

So Will – again, his voice is unique and the two songs demonstrated this. I thought he was better performing The Sweetest Feeling, but enjoyed both songs.

It was a tense results show at first, because it had been a very close call. There was only 0.6% between 1st and 2nd, but Darius had finished 3rd with some 21& of the 5.8 million votes. He did himself proud and has showed the country he isn’t an arrogant sod after all.

WHO WILL WIN?

So the final is next Saturday – Will Vs Gareth. Longevity Vs over in a heartbeat. Talent Vs sympathy voting

THE FINAL

Wow! What a night it was! Tears, cheering, blind hysteria – and that was just in our house!! The biggest phone vote in British TV history – not that we could get through and we were voting for Will – so much for a fix! Huge TV audiences and a general high level of excitement across the media.

I think everyone knows the result by now. Will won! As you would expect, we were delighted, a winner who is extremely worthy of the title and hopefully a huge successful career ahead of him.

On the night, Will and Gareth sang three songs each. They both sang their versions of the Pop Idol single, the double A-side of Evergreen and Anything Is Possible. As well as those songs, Gareth sang Unchained Melody and Will sang Light My Fire.

The voting was very close, with half a million votes separating them. It was a very dramatic, emotional evening, really edge-of-the-seat stuff. But Wonderful Will won.

Look out for his single on February 25th and check out his official website on www.wyoung.co.uk