Other Pop Idol Info

The highlight of my year was most definitely Saturday 9th February. The night one Mr William Young was crowned Pop Idol 2002!

Some people been following this programme since October, and it really had taken over my life! I used to spend the evenings sitting in front of the TV laughing at the people that went though. We all remember the YMCA girl! For those of you who did not watch the competition, this girl thought she was going for an audition to be a television presenter. Once she found out that it was for becoming a Pop Idol, she thought she might as well have a go anyway. I was in fits of laughter when I saw this because she truly was awful! Then there was the guy who sang a Rick Astley song, written by Pete Waterman, one of the four judges. At the end of his rendition, Mr Waterman stated: “That is NOT the song I wrote”. I think you can guess just how terrible it was! These were my favourite of the most atrocious singers I have ever heard!

Out of 10,000 participants, the judges managed to select 50 singers, who they thought would make successful pop singers. One week at a time, they took 5 singers and placed them in front of the 4 judges that they had previously met: Simon Cowell, Pete Waterman, Nikki Chapman and Dr Fox. All week, Pop Idol Extra, on ITV 2, watched the 10 rehearsing with their voice coaches and preparing for the big night at the end of the week, where they would perform to the judges, who would then give out their thoughts. This was always my favourite part of the programme! Some people were offended by the comments that these judges would come out with, but I really thought they were valid! Mr Cowell would really speak his mind, and tell people that they had awful voices, and how he did not know how they ever managed to get into the final 50. Mr Waterman seemed only ever to say that the awful people were great and that the really good people were singing the wrong songs. Dr Fox would come out with classic analagies, my favourite being: “Your performance was like coming down on Christmas morning to a great big present. The biggest under the tree. Then you open it up to discover a pair of socks”. Ms Chapman would then go on to say things like “you look fantastic and your performance really showed some flair”. You could always rely on her to say something nice to the performer!

Very quickly, the judges became famous for their nasty comments. The headlines talked about them, the radio stations talked about them, they were all over TV and everywhere you went people were talking about them. It was clear that this programme was becoming increasingly popular and taking over from the Eastenders catchphrase of: “Everyone’s talking about it”. You could guarantee that everyday of your life, you would hear or take part in at least one conversation about Pop Idol.

After we had watched all 10 performers, and listened to the judge’s thoughts, the telephone lines opened for public voting. The votes were collated, and 2 of the 10 singers would go through to the final 10. It was a painful and tense process when we tuned in a little later to find out the votes. Ant and Dec, of Biker Grove fame, would tell you who came 4th and 3rd and then invite the person who came 2nd to join them, followed by the person who came 1st. Everyone looked very sad as they said goodbye to the other 8 people that they had become very attached to. If you then turned over to ITV 2, if you are fortunate enough to have digital TV of any kind, you would get Pop Idol Extra, hosted by Kate Thornton, who would then chat with the 10 contestants and show the favourite bits of their week.

Down to the final 10 singers, the competition got a lot more tense! The performances were now in front of a live audience, as well as being broadcast live on TV. These 10 youngsters, as well as becoming the best of friends, were fighting for the title of Pop Idol 2002. For each of them, they were very close to the start of their pop singing career. They knew, that no matter how far they got from now, they had a shot at a career in the chosen field. They were performing to the right people, performing regularly on live TV and really working hard to make their dreams come true.

Every week, they sang a song each, and waited for the phone poll results to tell them who would be eliminated. One by one, they left the show. Each week one person left, and each week the left over singers became closer friends.

Each week followed a theme: Your Pop Idol, Christmas, Burt Bacharach, Music from the Movies, Abba, Number 1 hits, Big Band, Judges Choice and finally to perform the singles that would be released. This gave the people at home, and the judges, a chance to see how these singers could adapt to different styles of music. The stronger contenders shone through clearly, and were able to adapt their singing to any style. The weaker voices became obvious, as they were unable to sing the songs demanded from them.

We had to sit through a painstaking process of hearing the results. One by one they were told if they were safe, or if they were one of the 3 people to join Ant and Dec on the sofa of doom. Once on the sofa of doom, the selection process went through again, and eventually we found out which person would be leaving that week.

From the moment I noticed him in the final 50 part of the show, I knew that it was William Young that I wanted to win. He had a charismatic performance that could out do any of the other performers. What other people seem to forget is that aside from a great voice, a pop idol has to have the stage presence, the charisma, the interview skills and the personality to cope. Mr Young was able to sustain all of these, and was clearly the right choice for the Pop Idol title.

Will Young's Double A-Side single Evergreen/Anything is possible, was released. On 25th February 2002, it had sold 2,000,000 copies and is already the fastest selling record ever!

Who knows whether it is the fact the he won Pop Idol 2002 that has made him so popular, or if he would have made it without the show? One thing I do know, is that this TV programme that caused such a stir, has given us someone who I think will be a great performer, and will last a very long time in the music industry.

I know that Gareth Gates, Rosie Ribbons, Darius and Zoë Burkett have all received recording contracts, and I am sure that others will too.

The makers of this programme should be glad that they have given us a wealth of stars of the future! No matter what their background, where they come from, how old they are, these people have been through a high amount of torture purely to realise their dream. All my respect goes out to those 10,000 who took part so bravely.