Popstars: The Rivals is a British television talent show series, broadcast on ITV in late 2002. It was the second British series of the international Popstars franchise. Unlike Popstars, which resulted in the formation of one winning group, Hear'Say (the other finalists went on to form Liberty X), Popstars: The Rivals created two rival groups, Girls Aloud and One True Voice, who competed for the Christmas number one spot on the UK Singles Chart. Girls Aloud won and went on to achieve 20 consecutive top-ten hits, including four number ones, and six top-ten albums, two of which reached number one. Group member Cheryl has achieved five solo number-one singles and two number-one albums.
Popstars: The Rivals aired on ITV 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 the 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 viewers 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 ITV show on Saturdays and also as a teatime show on ITV during the week. Both versions of the show were presented by pop star Dane Bowers and Pop Idol finalist Hayley Evetts.
Judges and presenters
Judges 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, although he initially expressed an interest in appearing. Chapman also went to 19, where she managed the careers of Pop Idol winner and runner-up Will Young and Gareth Gates. Adam turned down the opportunity to return as he was too busy working as a music executive at RCA Records.
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; 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. Evans later decided not to appear, and after approaching Sharon Osbourne, 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.
Presenters The series was presented by Davina McCall, who had hosted the Popstars finale in 2001, 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. Former Another Level singer Dane Bowers and former Popstars and Pop Idol contestant Hayley Evetts presented Popstars: The Rivals Extra on ITV2.
Production Popstars: The Rivals drew on the success of the first series of Popstars, which aired during early 2001, and Pop Idol, which aired in the winter months of 2001–2002. Popstars resulted in the formation of one winning pop group, Hear’Say, who was selected solely by the judges, 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. 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", 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
Applications and auditions Initial auditions began on 9 August 2002 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London. 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, Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester.Popstars: The Rivals: Open Auditions - 3 TV.com 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. Just two of the hopefuls advanced from the London open auditions.
The open auditions were broadcast across 3 episodes. Around 100 contestants made it through to the next round of the competition.
Bootcamp 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 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 Gabbitas, Charlie Houston
Finalists Ten men and ten women finalists were chosen to perform in the live shows. There was some controversy as one of the original finalists, Hazel Kaneswaran, was forced to pull out of the show because she was 10 days too old at the time of the auditions. The show had an age limit of 24 and Hazel had just turned 25. Her situation was further complicated by the fact that she was eight months pregnant. She had the baby in October 2002. Kimberley Walsh, one of the girls who did not make the final 10, took Kaneswaren's place for the live shows. A special half-hour episode was broadcast on 6 October 2002 to show these changes, with Geri Halliwell informing Hazel of her elimination and Louis Walsh inviting Kimberley back onto the show.
Nicola Roberts, who also failed to make it through, replaced 19-year-old Nicola Ward, who quit the show over what she considered "exploitation" of contestants by the producers.
Final 10 Boys
Finalist Age*From Status Andrew Kinlochan 23London Eliminated 1st in Week 1 Peter Smith 25Dublin Withdrew in Week 3 Nikk Mager 18Halifax Eliminated 2nd in Week 3 Michael "Mikey" Green 22Manchester Eliminated 3rd in Week 5 Chris Park 20Newcastle upon Tyne Eliminated 4th in Week 7 Jamie Shaw 17Cardiff Qualified Anton Gordon 19North London Qualified Daniel Pearce 24Ashford Qualified Matthew "Matt" Johnson 17North Wales Qualified Keith Semple 21Larne Qualified
Final 10 Girls
Finalist Age*From Status Lynsey Brown 19Salford Eliminated 1st in Week 2 Emma Beard 19Northampton Eliminated 2nd and 3rd in Week 4 Chloe Staines 18Chelmsford Aimee Kearsley 16Southport Eliminated 4th in Week 6 Javine Hylton 20Ladbroke Grove Eliminated 5th in Week 8 Sarah Harding 20Stockport Qualified Kimberley Walsh 20Bradford Qualified Nadine Coyle 17Derry Qualified Nicola Roberts 17Runcorn Qualified Cheryl Tweedy 19Newcastle upon Tyne Qualified
* as of week 1 (boys) and week 2 (girls)
Live shows
Results summary Colour key –Contestant was in the bottom two but was declared safe. –Contestant was in the bottom three but was declared safe. –Contestant was in the bottom four but was declared safe. –Contestant was eliminated. –Contestant withdrew from the competition. –Contestant qualified for One True Voice or Girls Aloud.
Boys + Weekly results per contestant Contestant Week 1 Week 3 Week 5 Week 7 (Final) Keith SempleSafeSafeSafeQualified Matt JohnsonSafeSafeBottom twoQualified Daniel PearceSafeSafeSafeQualified Anton GordonSafeSafeBottom threeQualified Jamie ShawBottom threeSafe Safe Bottom two - Qualified Chris ParkBottom twoBottom twoSafe Eliminated Mikey GreenSafeSafeEliminated Eliminated (week 5) Nikk MagerSafeEliminated Eliminated (week 3) Peter SmithSafe Withdrew (week 3) Andrew KinlochanEliminated Eliminated (week 1)
Girls + Weekly results per contestant Contestant Week 2 Week 4 Week 6 Week 8 (Final) Cheryl TweedySafeBottom fourBottom twoQualified Nicola RobertsSafeSafeSafeQualified Nadine CoyleSafeSafeSafeQualified Kimberley WalshBottom threeBottom four Bottom fourQualified Sarah HardingSafeSafeBottom fourBottom two - Qualified Javine HyltonSafeSafeSafeEliminated Aimee KearsleySafeSafeEliminated Eliminated (week 6) Chloe StainesSafeEliminated Eliminated (week 4) Emma BeardBottom twoEliminated Eliminated (week 4) Lynsey BrownEliminated Eliminated (week 2) Eliminated Lynsey Brown Fewest votes to save Emma Beard Fewest votes to save Aimee Kearsley Fewest votes to save Javine Hylton Fewest votes to qualify for the bandChloe Staines Fewest votes to save
Live show details