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.
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.
Laurence Roderick Llewelyn-Bowen is an English interior designer and television personality best known for appearing on the BBC programme Changing Rooms.
Myleene Angela Klass is a British musician, singer, television presenter and model. She was a member of the pop group Hear'Say, and later released two solo classical crossover albums in 2003 and 2007. More recently, Klass has been a television and radio presenter. She has hosted television series including Popstar to Operastar (2010–2011) and BBQ Champ (2015) on ITV and The One Show (2007) on BBC One. She was briefly a regular panellist on the ITV lunchtime chat show Loose Women in 2014. In 2006, Klass was runner-up on the sixth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, and later returned for the "All-Stars" series, I'm a Celebrity... South Africa in 2023, which she went on to win and was crowned the first "I'm a Celebrity legend".
Hear'Say were a British pop group. They were created through the ITV reality TV show Popstars in February 2001, the first UK series of the international Popstars franchise. The group, who were signed to Polydor Records, originally consisted of Danny Foster, Myleene Klass, Kym Marsh, Suzanne Shaw, and Noel Sullivan.
Rolando Villazón Mauleón is a Mexican operatic tenor, stage director, author, radio and television personality and artistic director. He now lives in France, and in 2007 became a French citizen.
The Alan Titchmarsh Show is a British daytime chat show presented by Alan Titchmarsh. It was first broadcast on ITV on 3 September 2007 until 14 November 2014 and aired on weekday afternoons. The show's main focus is the "Best of British" theme with many of the shows' segments focusing on fashion, health, nature, cookery and animals.
Popstars: The Rivals is 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. Girls Aloud won and would go on to achieve twenty consecutive top ten hits, four number ones and six top ten albums, two of which reached number one and from that, group member Cheryl would achieve five number-one singles and two number one albums.
I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! returned to ITV for a sixth series on Monday 13 November 2006 and ran until Friday 1 December 2006. Once again the series was hosted by Ant and Dec.
The first series of British reality television show Pop Idol was broadcast on ITV in the United Kingdom during the winter months of 2001 and 2002. The show was a singing competition open to people aged between 16 and 26 years old, with the winner receiving a £1 million recording contract to release their debut album. Pop Idol received ratings of as high as 10 million viewers for shows before the live final. The footage of the program's opening titles, as well as the live final of this series, was used in the first season of American Idol, in which Kelly Clarkson won the season.
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 is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The eighth series aired on ITV on 20 August 2011 and ended on 11 December 2011. Dermot O'Leary hosted the main show on ITV, while Caroline Flack and series 6 runner-up Olly Murs co-presented the spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2. Louis Walsh returned to the judging panel and was joined by Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland and Tulisa. Barlow, Rowland, Tulisa joined the panel replacing judges, Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole. Series 5 winner Alexandra Burke served as a guest judge for week 4 of the live shows due to Rowland having a throat infection.
Popstar to Operastar was a British television music competition to find new singing talent in Opera. The show began on 15 January 2010 and finished on 19 February 2010. The show has eight popstars which took part within the competition battled each other learning opera. The judges were Rolando Villazón, Katherine Jenkins, Meat Loaf and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. The winner of the show was Darius Campbell and with the runner-up being Bernie Nolan.
The second and final series of Popstar to Operastar began on 4 June 2011, with eight celebrities in competition to become an opera singer, after achieving success as a popstar. The judges were confirmed; with Rolando Villazón and Katherine Jenkins and two new judges Vanessa-Mae and Simon Callow, who took over the places of Meat Loaf and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. Myleene Klass returned as the presenter taking on sole presenting duties as Alan Titchmarsh did not return.
Jonathan Antoine and Charlotte Jaconelli, known collectively as Jonathan and Charlotte, were an English classical crossover duo from Essex. They finished as runners-up in the sixth series of Britain's Got Talent in 2012, being beaten by dancing dog act Ashleigh and Pudsey. At the time, they were aged 17 and 16 respectively. Despite not winning, the young duo were offered a £1 million record deal by Simon Cowell on his record label Syco. They released two albums, Together in 2012 and Perhaps Love in 2013. In February 2014, the duo decided to split and embark on solo careers.
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The eleventh series began airing on ITV on 30 August 2014 and finished on 14 December 2014. Dermot O'Leary presented his eighth series of the main show on ITV and Sarah-Jane Crawford presented spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2, replacing Caroline Flack and Matt Richardson. Louis Walsh was the only judge from series 10 to return and was joined by former judges Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, Simon Cowell, and new judge Mel B, who replaced Sharon Osbourne, Gary Barlow and Nicole Scherzinger. Former judge Tulisa returned as a guest judge for the final on 13 December due to Mel B being ill. The series also saw the lower age limit decreased from 16 to 14, as it was in series 4 and 5. This was Walsh's final series as a judge before returning in series 13. It was O'Leary's final series as presenter on the main show, as he announced on 27 March 2015 that he was leaving to pursue other projects, before returning in series 13. On 11 May, Crawford also confirmed via Twitter that she would leave her position as The Xtra Factor presenter.
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The twelfth series began airing on ITV on 29 August 2015 and ended on 13 December 2015. The judges were Simon Cowell, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, who returned for their respective ninth and fifth series as judges, series 9 guest judge and former The Voice UK coach Rita Ora, and BBC Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw, with Grimshaw and Ora replacing Louis Walsh, the only judge who had been on the show from its inception in 2004, and Mel B. It was presented by Caroline Flack and Olly Murs, who had both previously co-presented spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2 and replaced Dermot O'Leary, who left after eight series. Rochelle Humes and Melvin Odoom presented The Xtra Factor, replacing Sarah-Jane Crawford. Louisa Johnson was announced as the winner on 13 December 2015, making Ora the winning mentor.
BBQ Champ is a British reality television series that first aired on 31 July 2015 and ended on 28 August 2015 on ITV. The show was presented by Myleene Klass and starred judges Mark Blatchford and Adam Richman.
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The thirteenth series began airing on ITV on Saturday 27 August 2016 and ended on Sunday 11 December 2016. Dermot O'Leary returned to present the main show on ITV for the ninth time to replace Olly Murs and Caroline Flack, who left after series 12. Simon Cowell was the only judge from the 12th series to return; Nicole Scherzinger, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh all returned, replacing Rita Ora, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Nick Grimshaw. Matt Edmondson and Rylan Clark-Neal replaced Rochelle Humes and Melvin Odoom as hosts of The Xtra Factor, which was rebranded as The Xtra Factor Live and was broadcast live twice every week, with Roman Kemp making appearances as a digital presenter and social media reporter. Matt Terry was announced the winner on 11 December 2016, making Scherzinger the winning mentor for the second time. Saara Aalto finished second.
The fifteenth and final series of the British television music competition The X Factor began airing on ITV on 1 September 2018, presented by Dermot O'Leary. Simon Cowell returned alongside new judges Louis Tomlinson, Ayda Field, and Robbie Williams who replace departing judges Nicole Scherzinger, Sharon Osbourne, and Louis Walsh. Nile Rodgers filled in for Williams while he was away on his tour for weeks 3–5 of the live shows. On 2 December, Jamaican-born singer Dalton Harris won the series making him the first and only foreign contender to win the UK show. This was the only series that featured Tomlinson, Field, and Williams as judges.
