Pop Idol

This article is about the British television series. For the Idol franchise, see Idols (TV series). For popular culture icons in general, see pop icon.
Pop Idol
Genre Reality
Created by Simon Fuller
Developed by Nigel Lythgoe (uncredited)
Presented by Ant & Dec (ITV)
Kate Thornton (ITV2)
Judges Nicki Chapman
Simon Cowell
Neil Fox
Pete Waterman
Composer(s) Cathy Dennis
Julian Gingell
Barry Stone
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 2
No. of episodes 46
Production
Executive producer(s) Simon Fuller
Nigel Lythgoe
Richard Holloway
Ken Warwick
Location(s) Various cities (auditions)
Criterion Theatre (theatre rounds)
Teddington Studios (heats)
The Fountain Studios (live finals)
Running time 60-165mins (inc. adverts)
Production company(s) Thames Television
19 Entertainment
Distributor FremantleMedia
Release
Original network ITV
Picture format 16:9
Original release 6 October 2001 (2001-10-06) – 20 December 2003 (2003-12-20)
Chronology
Related shows The X Factor (UK)
External links
Website

Pop Idol is a British television music competition created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and participation. Two series were broadcast—one in 2001–2002 and a second in 2003. Pop Idol was subsequently put on an indefinite hiatus after series judge Simon Cowell announced the launch of The X Factor in the UK in April 2004.[1]

The show has become an international TV franchise since, spawning multiple Idol series worldwide. In the mean time a legal dispute arose with the makers of Popstars, which eventually led to the word "pop" being excluded from the titles of all the spin-offs, such as American Idol, Australian Idol, Arab Idol, Indonesian Idol, Indian Idol, New Zealand Idol, Latin American Idol, Idol (Poland), Idols (South Africa) and Pakistan Idol.

Format

One of the UK's top-earning TV format exports, Pop Idol made extensive use of premium-priced viewer interactivity, with viewers voting by telephone, mobile telephone texting (not used on series one), through the "red button" on digital television sets, or via the official website. The final of the first series of Pop Idol in February 2002 received the highest-ever one-night vote for a UK TV show, making the show one of ITV's most profitable. The sister show on ITV2, Pop Idol Extra, hosted by Kate Thornton also made extensive use of mobile phone text messages to raise additional revenue. The first Pop Idol received very high voting figures despite allowing only telephone and Internet voting and not making use of texting or the "red button".

The Saturday night primetime show initially followed the audition process, as hopefuls sang before four judges (record producer and music executive Pete Waterman, music executive and music manager Simon Cowell, music promoter and music manager Nicki Chapman and Radio DJ and television personality Neil "Dr" Fox) at various locations around the UK. Besides the successful auditionees, the poorest "singers" were often aired due to their obvious lack of talent or presence. Poor singers often faced harsh criticisms from the judges, especially from Simon Cowell (whose controversial rantings also made him famous on American Idol). The judges' reactions to such performances often ranged from disgust to nearly open laughter; their style of judgement and attitude towards pop-star wannabes resulted in the controversial opinions of others about the show's setup, including that of Take That manager Nigel Martin Smith.[2]

The viewing public quickly fell in love with the format though, as viewing figures indicated. The judges' policy of speaking candidly would have to be sanitised in series 2, however, as it received condemnation from MPs.[3]

Once the first round of auditions were completed, the series moved to the Criterion Theatre, where further auditions saw the judges decide on a group of 50. Unusually, this was the final point at which the judges had direct control over the contestants' fates, as the remainder of the results would be driven solely by viewer voting.

Stage 3 of the series took place in a conventional TV studio. The 50 contestants were split into five groups of ten, each of whom sang one song for the judges, accompanied only by a piano. Each judge offered their opinion, and at the end of the pre-recorded show phone lines opened for votes. Later the same evening a live show followed in which the voting results were revealed, the top two earning a place in the final ten. In series 2, a wildcard round (an innovation that originated on American Idol) was added, in which the judges selected ten rejected contestants and gave them a second chance. In this special edition, one contestant, Susanne Manning, was selected by the viewer vote, and one, Sam Nixon, was chosen by the judges. This meant that the next stage began with twelve contestants, rather than the ten in series 1.

For the final stage, the show moved to a more lavish TV set, where all remaining contestants sang on live television, accompanied by either a backing track or live band. Most editions had a theme, with contestants singing songs from a particular genre or artist (no original songs were performed at any stage in the competition). Again, the judges offered comments, but the results were decided by viewer voting. Again, a live results show was broadcast later in the evening, but this time the singer with the fewest votes was eliminated, the rest continuing to the following week, until only the winner remained.

Exceptions to the usual format were limited. In series 1, Darius Danesh was promoted to the live shows when Rik Waller dropped out. Danesh was third in the results for the group where Waller had won his place. Also, the first two live shows of series 2 saw two contestants leave, in order to rebalance the numbers after the addition of the two extra performers from the wildcard show.

Results and legacy

The first series was won by Will Young, with Gareth Gates coming second. Michelle McManus won the second series. All of the top three contestants from series 1 had number-one singles in the UK. Young continues to be a recording artist. Gates initially had great success as a recording artist, releasing three studio albums and seven top 5 singles. He has since moved on to a successful career in musical theatre appearing as lead in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, as Marius in Les Miserables, on tour and in the West End and as Claude in Hair. In 2013, he became a member of the supergroup 5th Story. Darius Danesh had two hit albums and has appeared in the West End musicals Chicago, playing the role of Billy Flynn, and Gone with the Wind, originating the role of Rhett Butler. He also appeared in the touring version of Guys and Dolls as Sky Masterson. Finalists Rosie Ribbons and Zoe Birkett have both scored chart hits, Birkett also moving on to a career in musical theatre whilst Jessica Garlick represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002. Semi-finalist Sarah Whatmore had two chart hits, despite failing to be voted into the top 10. Series 2 contestants enjoyed significantly less chart success, which many believe damaged the credibility of the show and helped hasten its demise in its home country.

Immediately after the second series of Pop Idol, the same set was used to host World Idol, in which winners of various Idol series around the world, including original Pop Idol winner Will Young, American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson and Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian, competed in a one-off competition, complete with a large judging panel featuring one judge from each country (Simon Cowell officially representing American Idol, with Pete Waterman the "official" UK judge). The surprise winner was Norway's Kurt Nilsen, who proceeded to minor UK chart success. Cowell was strongly critical of World Idol, and it is highly unlikely to be staged again.

After the second series of Pop Idol, ITV put the show on indefinite hiatus when in April 2004 judge and music executive Simon Cowell announced the launch of his own show, The X Factor, which he and his record label (Syco) held the rights to.[1] In September 2004, Pop Idol creator Simon Fuller filed a lawsuit against The X Factor producers claiming that the format was copied from his own show.[4] The case was eventually settled out of court in November 2005, and as part of the settlement, Simon Fuller was made a joint partner in the X Factor show, and Simon Cowell was obliged to stay on as a judge on American Idol for a further five years.[5]

ITV's licence to produce Pop Idol has since expired, meaning that other channels could theoretically acquire the series. Despite rumours (see below), no broadcaster has since acquired the rights to the format in the UK.

Despite running for only two series, Pop Idol's impact was immense and led 19 Entertainment and FremantleMedia to roll the format out globally; currently there are over 50 versions in 110 countries, including, notably, American Idol, on which Cowell as a judge until 2010, before launching The X Factor USA in 2011.

Series 1 (2001/02)

Main article: Pop Idol (series 1)
Colour key
     –Contestant was in the bottom two
     –Contestant was in the bottom three
     –Contestant received the fewest public votes and was eliminated
     –Contestant received the most public votes
Contestant Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
Will Young 1st
27.3%		 1st
22.6%		 1st
21.3%		 1st
29.8%		 2nd
25.2%		 2nd
24.0%		 2nd
27.9%		 1st
39.8%		 Winner
53.1%
Gareth Gates 2nd
26.3%		 2nd
20.8%		 2nd
21.0%		 2nd
23.3%		 1st
36.6%		 1st
25.4%		 1st
28.7%		 2nd
39.3%		 Runner Up
46.9%
Darius Campbell N/A1 3rd
19.0%		 3rd
18.2%		 3rd
18.0%		 4th
13.3%		 3rd
23.7%		 3rd
24.5%		 3rd
20.9%		 Eliminated
(week 8)
Zoe Birkett 3rd
10.8%		 4th
14.2%		 4th
11.4%		 5th
7.8%		 3rd
14.0%		 4th
15.6%		 4th
18.9%		 Eliminated
(week 7)
Hayley Evetts 6th
6.8%		 5th
5.1%		 5th
8.4%		 4th
10.8%		 5th
5.8%		 5th
11.3%		 Eliminated
(week 6)
Rosie Ribbons 4th
10.5%		 7th
4.8%		 7th
6.9%		 6th
5.5%		 6th
5.1%		 Eliminated
(week 5)
Laura Doherty 8th
4.3%		 8th
4.3%		 6th
7.1%		 7th
4.8%		 Eliminated
(week 4)
Aaron Bayley 5th
6.8%		 6th
5.4%		 8th
5.7%		 Eliminated
(week 3)
Jessica Garlick 7th
4.6%		 9th
3.8%		 Eliminated
(week 2)
Rik Waller N/A Quit Withdrew
(week 2)
Korben 9th
2.6%		 Eliminated
(week 1)

Series 2 (2003)

Main article: Pop Idol (series 2)

Following the completion of the series, the official Pop Idol companion book published percentages of votes for each contestant every week. In some circumstances, the book suggested that the bottom 2 or 3 contestants were not the same as announced by the show hosts. It is not known if the incorrect result was announced, or if the book merely made a typing error. However, the contestant deemed to have had the lowest percentage was always eliminated on that week, meaning the overall result of the show was not changed.

Colour key
     –Contestant was in the bottom two
     –Contestant was in the bottom three
     –Contestant received the fewest public votes and was eliminated
     –Contestant received the most public votes
Contestant Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
Michelle McManus 5th
9.9%		 1st
17.2%		 6th
10.7		 1st
23.3%		 1st
24.3%		 2nd
29.0%		 1st
40.0%		 1st
40.3%		 Winner
58.2%
Mark Rhodes 10th
4.9%		 7th
7.1%		 2nd
15.5%		 5th
10.9%		 5th
13.7%		 3rd
15.1%		 3rd
19.0%		 2nd
33.6%		 Runner-up
41.8%
Sam Nixon 2nd
12.4%		 5th
11.1%		 5th
11.5%		 2nd
16.8%		 2nd
18.0%		 1st
34.2%		 2nd
23.4%		 3rd
26.0%		 Eliminated
(week 8)
Chris Hide 3rd
11.0%		 6th
8.1%		 3rd
13.5%		 6th
10.9%		 3rd
16.9%		 4th
12.2%		 4th
17.5%		 Eliminated
(week 7)
Susanne Manning 1st
16.8%		 4th
13.4%		 1st
22.3%		 4th
11.9%		 4th
13.8%		 5th
9.7%		 Eliminated
(week 6)
Roxanne Cooper 8th
5.2%		 3rd
13.4%		 7th
9.6%		 3rd
16.5%		 6th
13.2%		 Eliminated
(week 5)
Andy Scott-Lee 7th
7.1%		 2nd
16.0%		 4th
12.3%		 7th
9.8%		 Eliminated
(week 4)
Kim Gee 6th
8.2%		 8th
5.7%		 8th
4.6%		 Eliminated
(week 3)
Brian Ormond 9th
5.2%		 9th
5.0%		 Eliminated
(week 2)
Marc Dillon 4th
11.0%		 10th
4.2%		 Eliminated
(week 2)
Kirsty Crawford 11th
4.2%		 Eliminated
(week 1)
Leon McPherson 12th
4.0%		 Eliminated
(week 1)

Video games

Pop Idol was released as a video game developed by Codemasters for the PlayStation 2 on 30 October 2003. The player creates his/her own singer, then they must sing their way through the auditions, theatre stages, heats, and then the finals. The game increases in difficulty as the player progresses through the competition. With each stage of the finals, one or two players with the least public vote tally are eliminated. The gameplay mainly consists of lining up a moving symbol with a fixed object in the centre of the screen and pressing the corresponding symbol on the game's controller. If the player presses it when the symbol is in the middle of the circle, their singer sings a good note. If he or she presses it when it is not in the circle, or mistimes their press, the singer sings a bad note.

Main article: Idol series

The Idol format has been launched in dozens of nations worldwide, and there have been many imitations of the programme.

A World Idol international television special was held in December 2003, featuring national first series Idol contest winners competing against each other; viewers worldwide voted Norwegian Idol's Kurt Nilsen "World Idol".

The similar Popstars format preceded Pop Idol, and was succeeded in Britain by one series of Popstars: The Rivals and twelve series of The X Factor as of 2015.[6] After Popstars producers threatened legal action, a deal was struck that, among other clauses, does not allow the use of the word "pop" in the title of Pop Idol editions outside of the UK.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Cowell reveals new talent search". BBC. 23 April 2004. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  2. ↑ "Take That manager attacks Pop Idol". BBC News. 16 October 2001.
  3. ↑ Pop Idol judges criticised by MPs
  4. ↑ "Pop Idol mogul sues Simon Cowell". BBC. 10 September 2004. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  5. ↑ "X Factor copyright case settled". BBC. 29 November 2005. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  6. ↑ xfactor.itv.com
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