Pop Idol is a British music competition television series 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 in the UK based on viewer voting and participation. Two series were broadcast, one in 2001–2002 and a second in 2003. An immense success when it launched in 2001, Maggie Brown in The Guardian wrote, "the show became a seminal reality/entertainment format once on air that autumn". Series judge Simon Cowell became a major public figure in entertainment, and the show produced instant No. 1 chart hits, including for the first series winner Will Young, whose single "Evergreen" was the fastest-selling debut in UK chart history and the best-selling song of 2002. Pop Idol was subsequently put on an indefinite hiatus after Simon Cowell announced the launch of The X Factor in the UK in April 2004.
William Robert Young is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. He came to prominence after winning the 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest Pop Idol, making him the first winner of the worldwide Idol franchise. His double A-sided debut single "Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen" was released two weeks after the show's finale and became the fastest-selling debut single in the UK. Young also came in fifth place in World Idol performing the single "Light My Fire" written by the band the Doors.
Darius Campbell Danesh was a Scottish singer-songwriter, actor and film producer. He first came to prominence as Darius Danesh when he appeared in the first series of Popstars in 2001, and the 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest Pop Idol.
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent; the winner of which receives a £1 million recording contract with the Syco Music record label. The first series was broadcast from 4 September to 11 December 2004. The competition was split into several stages: auditions, bootcamp, judges' homes and live shows, with Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne and Simon Cowell as judges. Kate Thornton presented the show on ITV, whilst Ben Shephard presented the spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2.
Zoe Birkett is an English singer and musical theatre performer.
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The third series was broadcast on ITV from 19 August 2006 until 16 December 2006. Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne and Simon Cowell all returned for their third series on the judging panel. Kate Thornton returned to present the main show on ITV, while Ben Shephard returned to present spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2. After the semi-final on 9 December, Cowell became the winning judge even though the series had not yet finished, as two of his acts, Ray Quinn and Leona Lewis, became the two finalists. Lewis won the series on 16 December, with Quinn finishing as runner-up.
Pop Idol: The Big Band Album is a compilation album featuring big band songs recorded by the final 10 from the first UK series of Pop Idol.
Grease Is the Word is the United Kingdom version of NBC's Grease: You're the One That I Want!. It aired during 2007, and was produced by Syco TV. The winning couple, Susan McFadden and Danny Bayne, went on to star in a long-running West End production of Grease at the Piccadilly Theatre.
The X Factor is a British reality television music competition, and part of the global X Factor franchise created by Simon Cowell. Premiering on 4 September 2004, it was produced by Fremantle's British entertainment company, Thames, and Cowell's production company Syco Entertainment for ITV, as well as simulcast on Virgin Media One in Ireland. The programme ran for around 445 episodes across fifteen series, each one primarily broadcast late in the year, until its final episode in December 2018. The majority of episodes were presented by Dermot O'Leary, with some exceptions: the first three series were hosted by Kate Thornton; while Caroline Flack and Olly Murs hosted the show for the twelfth series.
Hayley Evetts is an English singer, television presenter and stage actress, who rose to fame on the ITV talent show Pop Idol.
Popstars: The Rivals is a British television talent show series, 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 for the Christmas number one spot on the UK Singles Chart. Girls Aloud won and went on to nearly 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.
The second and most recent series of British reality television show Pop Idol aired on ITV on from 13 September to 20 December 2003. Michelle McManus was announced as the winner and received a £1 million recording contract to release her debut album. Ant & Dec returned to present the show on ITV, whilst Simon Cowell, Neil Fox, Nicki Chapman and Pete Waterman all returned as judges.
Pop Idol was a British television talent show that ran for two series, in 2001 and 2003. The show was produced for ITV in a reality television format and aimed to unearth a previously undiscovered singer who could become an international success. Will Young was the winner of the first series and was awarded with a £1 million music recording contract. Young became the most successful contestant with a series of top-five hits, including his debut single "Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen", which peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart in 2002 and broke chart sales figure records. During the next seven years he recorded two further number-one singles, while two of his four albums were number-one in the UK Albums Chart. In the second series, Michelle McManus emerged victorious. Her debut single "All This Time" charted at number one in January 2003. Her second single, "The Meaning of Love", charted at a peak of number 16 and an album of the same name reached number three in the UK Albums Chart.
Keith Semple is a Northern Irish singer and musician. He originally had his own band Keith Semple Band. In 2002, he took part and was a winner in Popstars: The Rivals, consequently becoming a member of the boyband One True Voice (OTV). After the split-up of the band, Semple had a solo career before joining the Chicago-based rock band 7th Heaven in 2006 as their lead singer. In 2010, he took a shot at the ninth season of American Idol but lost his "golden ticket" place due to his legal status and residency considerations. In October 2012, Semple announced he would be leaving 7th Heaven to pursue his original music and announced the formation of his new band, SEMPLE. In September 2015, he auditioned for season 9 of The Voice as part of Team Adam. He was eliminated from competition after the top 24 round. In 2016, he formed the progressive rock band, The Cyberiam, where he serves as lead singer and guitarist.
Popstars is a reality music competition series that was broadcast on ITV in early 2001. It was the first UK series of the international Popstars franchise, and was billed as a documentary on the formation of a modern pop group. The programme began with audition rounds of aspiring singers performing covers of classic songs before a panel of judges. The best performers were selected to come to London for further rounds of auditions. Over the weeks, the judges eliminated various singers from the auditions until just a few singers were left in contention. In the final weeks, five contestants were chosen by the judges to form the new pop group Hear'Say. The programme then showed the group recording and promoting their first single, documenting their first ventures into the music industry.
The X Factor, also known as The X Factor USA, is an American reality television music competition show created by Simon Cowell and produced by FremantleMedia North America and SYCOtv, a partnership between Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment, which aired on Fox. Based on the original UK show, and an addition to The X Factor franchise, the series found new singing talent, drawn from public auditions, and they competed against each other for votes. The winners were determined by the show's viewers via telephone, the Internet, and SMS text voting, and were awarded a recording contract with Cowell's record label Syco Music, worth $5 million in seasons one and two, and $1 million in season three. America voted for the following winners: Melanie Amaro, Tate Stevens, and Alex & Sierra, respectively.
The first season of the American version of the music competition show The X Factor began airing on Fox on September 21, 2011.
The X Factor Indonesia is an Indonesian reality television music competition to find new singing talent, contested by aspiring singers drawn from public audition. The show was adopted from British The X Factor and produced by FremantleMedia and Cowell's production company Syco. It is broadcast on RCTI. In 2014, X Factor Indonesia won the Panasonic Gobel Awards for the category Talent and Best Reality Show.
Pakistan Idol was a Pakistani reality singing competition that was a part of the Idols franchise created by Simon Fuller and owned by 19 Entertainment and FremantleMedia. It was the 50th adaptation of the familiar reality competition format introduced in the British series Pop Idol in 2001. It is developed for the Pakistani entertainment market by Geo TV.
Factor X was the Portuguese version of the television music competition The X Factor, originally created by Simon Cowell. The first episode premiered on 6 October 2013 hosted by Bárbara Guimarães, João Manzarra, Carolina Torres and Tiago Silva. The three judges are Paulo Junqueiro, Sónia Tavares and Paulo Ventura.
