Popstars The Rivals was a British television talent show series that was broadcast on ITV in late 2002. It was the second UK series of the international Popstars franchise. Unlike Popstars, which resulted in the formation of one winning group – Hear'Say – Popstars: The Rivals created two rival groups, Girls Aloud and One True Voice, who competed against each other for the Christmas Number One spot on the UK Singles Chart. 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 live show, viewers voted for their favourite performers by telephone and the Red Button on digital television remote controls. In the final weeks, five females and five males were chosen by the British public 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.
Three judges - Geri, Louis and Pete - arrive in London to audition thousands of hopefuls. While Davina McCall speaks to some of the hopefuls in the waiting room, the judges are shocked by two zany Romanian twins, Gabriela and Monica, and a massive row breaks out over one loud hopeful. Meanwhile, a legion of Geri and Spice Girl fans show up just to meet their idol, and one hopeful takes the judges' advice so seriously that he shaves off his 3-year-old goatee.
The judges conclude their open audition tour in Glasgow and Manchester. Some of the hopefuls include a woman 7 months pregnant, Nadine, the girl rejected from the Irish 'Popstars' for lying about her age, and a blind boy with an amazing voice. Meanwhile, the judges are pursued by zany twins Gabriela and Monica, some minor fights continue between Louis and Pete, and Geri makes a face from the past. The judges finally decide on the final 100, who will return to audition in London.
The final 102 Popstars hopefuls arrive in London for a workshop to decide on who goes through to the live finals. 13-year-old Stephanie is rejected for lying about her age and London brothers Mike and Alan sing a special song for Davina. Also, all of the hopefuls must sing a song of their choice and are assessed on their dancing ability with choreographer Tonya. At the end of the first two days of the workshop, the three judges decide on the 50 people who will progress to the next stage of the audition process.
The final 50 have one last chance to impress the judges. Pete goes with the boys to assess their vocal and dance abilities, Louis does the same with the girls, Geri mediates between them, and Davina talks to a lot of the hopefuls about what they're feeling. Then it's the Green Mile - the final 25 boys and 25 girls make the long walk in to a conference room, where they are each told what the judges think of them and if they are in or out. At the end of the episode, the final 30 celebrate before heading home - pretty soon the judges will visit them each to tell them whether or not they've made the final 20.
The judges visit the boys home to reveal if they have made it in the final 10. The final 10 boys are: Andrew, Anton, Chris, Daniel, Jamie, Keith, Matt, Mikey, Nikk and Peter.
The judges today are visiting the girls to tell them if they are in the final 10. The final 10 girls are: Aimee, Chloe, Cheryl, Emma, Hazel, Javine, Lynsey, Nadine, Nicola and Sarah.
There's trouble in this half-hour special when Hazel, one of the 10 girls chosen for the series, is discovered to have lied on her application form. Being 10 days too old for the show, Geri heads over to Dublin to tell her that she will be removed from the project. As Hazel gives birth to a healthy baby son, the judges decide on a replacement. Kimberly is overjoyed when she is told that she is now in the final 10 girls.
The competition goes LIVE in the ITV1 London Studio where all ten boys sing live to the nation and the three judges Pete Waterman, Louis Walsh and Geri Halliwell. After all ten had performed, the second show of the evening, the result, aired and it was Chris and Andrew who had polled the least public votes. Davina then revealed that Andrew was the first male finalist to be booted out of Popstars:The Rivals.
The 10 female finalists sang live for the first time, and as always the three judges and the nine remaining male contestants were on hand to view the night's performances. Emma Beard sufferted most criticism by the judges and was one of the bottom two along with Lynsey, but it wasn't Emma the public wanted out and Lynsey was the first female finalist to be voted off.
The boys sing live for thier second time. There is a suprise for the entire crew when finalist Pete admits that he is too old for the show by a few months. The two with least public votes were Chris and Nikk but because of Pete's revelation Chris is saved from the vote-off but since Nikk polled fewest votes he is out.
The competition continues as the girls sing live to the nation and a live studio audience. The two with least votes turn out to be Emma and Chloe and they are both eliminated from the show. House-favourite Chloe looked composed, whereas Emma was shocked and vowed ""the ones that won't make it, will form a band - just you wait"".
Postars : The Rivals continues with another live edition and its the boys week to rise or fall, with one more finalist to go by the end of the night. Chris was given a reprieve from the public and was not in the bottom two for the first time in the series, but unfortunatley for Matt and Mikey the public hadn't smiled on them. Mikey was given his marching orders and Matt survived for another week at least.
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