"Popstars: The Rivals" (2002) TV series

Release Date:

7 September 2002 (UK)

Genre:

Music | Reality-TV

Plot Keywords:

Pop Star | Audition | Pop Group | Boy Band | Singer

Cast

Davina McCall	...	Presenter
Pete Waterman	...	Judge
Geri Halliwell	...	Judge
Louis Walsh	...	Judge
Nadine Coyle	...	Winner / Herself - Girls Aloud
Sarah Harding	...	Winner / Herself - Girls Aloud
Nicola Roberts	...	Winner / Herself - Girls Aloud
Cheryl Cole	...	Winner / Herself - Girls Aloud (as Cheryl Tweedy)
Kimberley Walsh	...	Winner / Herself - Girls Aloud
Anton Gordon	...	Runner-Up / Himself - One True Voice
Matt Johnson	...	Runner-Up / Himself - One True Voice
Daniel Pearce	...	Runner-Up / Himself - One True Voice
Keith Semple	...	Runner-Up / Himself - One True Voice
Jamie Shaw	...	Runner-Up / Himself - One True Voice
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Emma Beard	...	Herself - Clea
Lynsey Brown	...	Herself - Clea
Mikey Green	...	Himself
Javine Hylton	...	Herself
Gabriella Irimia	...	Herself - The Cheeky Girls
Monica Irimia	...	Herself - The Cheeky Girls
Hazel Kaneswaran	...	Herself
Aimee Kearsley	...	Herself - Clea
Andrew Kinlochan	...	Himself
Nikk Mager	...	Himself
Chris Park	...	Himself
Pete Smith	...	Himself
Chloe Staines	...	Herself - Clea

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

London Weekend Television (LWT)

Movie Connections:

Follows "Pop Idol" (2001)

Oh God, it gets worse.

Now Popstars was an addictive show. The concept of seeing how a pop group was put together was an exciting and interesting idea, and it remained compulsive viewing throughout. Then we had Pop Idol, which turned the tables and let the public decide on who would become the nation's next big music star. Pop Idol became duller and duller as weeks went on, and left fairly talented kids with nothing to do but belt out agonisingly bad cover versions week after week in the vain hope of achieving a record contract and becoming famous. Which of those two was the most important in their eyes is anybody's guess really. Inevitably, the format has lumbered onto our screens again, and Popstars: The Rivals was born. Amazingly, it has turned out to be even worse than its awful predecessor. What's the gimmick this time around, I hear you cry? Well, a boy group and girl group are to be formed, and will compete for the Christmas number one spot in the UK charts.

To say that this is dire really is stating the obvious. The notion of having your face splashed across the papers and living the high life seems to have consumed many of the nation's young people, and now everyone is coming along to screech out a slushy ballad in the front of the judges for a place in the final line-up. But this was never about talent. This seemed to be just about being on television for some of them. The amount of truly talented contestants was shockingly limited. Bar a few shining examples (Javine Hylton, anyone?), they all came across as a bunch of faceless gimps. Of course, much of the drama from the show was wrought from the childish rivalry of the two judges, Pete Waterman and Louis Walsh. Seeing two elderly men moan and bitch at each other about how they are going to triumph when Christmas comes rolling around was excruciatingly embarrassing. Who cares? How I would love to see someone swoop in from nowhere and grab the top spot from their grubby hands. Sadly, that doesn't look to be the case. Add to the mix Geri Halliwell, who spouts meaningless drivel to the hopefuls and acts as a wall between Waterman and Walsh, and Davina McCall, who shouts her way through every live show, and this is a grim way to spend an early Saturday evening. Now that the groups are formed, it is inevitable that they will be appearing in pantomime and opening supermarkets in a couple of years time. Didn't the failure of the Popstars band Hear'Say ring any bells with them? Their material is flimsy to say the least, with the boys (One True Voice, who on Earth thought that sounded good?) singing predictable ballads and the girls (Girls Aloud, good name, bad line-up) trying to be edgy with laughable tracks. Hopefully someone will have the bright idea of bringing quality entertainment to our screens in the very near future. Until then, just go out for the evening and curb your time spent in the singles section of your local record store. You'll be a better person for it, believe me.