Popstars (British TV series)

Did You Know?

• A VHS compilation of clips and interviews was released on 19 March 2001, followed by a DVD a week later, by Video Collection International and Granada Media.
• A follow-up series called Soapstars used the original Popstars format to find actors for a new family in ITV's soap Emmerdale, but neither the show nor the winners' roles were deemed a success.
• Nigel Lythgoe, dubbed 'Nasty Nigel' by the British press, later became head judge on So You Think You Can Dance.

Format

Aspiring singers auditioned by performing covers before a panel of judges, who selected contestants to advance to London for further rounds. The judges eliminated singers over several weeks until five were chosen to form the group Hear'Say. The programme then documented the group recording and promoting their first single, "Pure and Simple", ending on the night the single charted at number one on the UK Singles Chart. Daniel Hill narrated the series, and Davina McCall hosted the live final episode, simulcast with Mark Goodier on BBC Radio 1's Top 40 chart show. The judging panel included Nigel Lythgoe, Nicki Chapman, and Paul Adam.

Notable acts and performers

The five winners—Danny Foster, Myleene Klass, Kym Marsh, Suzanne Shaw, and Noel Sullivan—formed Hear'Say, which sold three million records worldwide and achieved two UK number-one singles before disbanding after eighteen months. Klass later became a television and radio presenter; Marsh and Shaw acted in television soap operas, with Marsh competing on Strictly Come Dancing in 2022 and Shaw winning Dancing on Ice in 2008. Sullivan performed in West End theatre, and Foster appeared on reality shows including The Voice UK in 2013. The five other finalists formed Liberty X (Michelle Heaton, Tony Lundon, Kevin Simm, Jessica Taylor, Kelli Young), who had ten consecutive UK top 20 singles and were commercially more successful than Hear'Say before splitting in 2007. Notable auditionee Darius Danesh was eliminated after performing an alternative version of Britney Spears's "...Baby One More Time"; he later placed third on Pop Idol, had a solo career, and died in 2022. Contestant Warren Stacey signed with Def Jam Recordings and reached number 26 with "My Girl, My Girl". Louise Leach, eliminated at bootcamp, founded a children's dance school in Hendon.

Aftermath

The first series was a ratings success for ITV. Simon Fuller used the Popstars format as inspiration for Pop Idol, which incorporated audience voting and live performances and proved even more popular. These elements were adopted for the second series, Popstars: The Rivals. In 2004, Simon Cowell created The X Factor, which became more popular than both Popstars and Pop Idol.