"Pop Idol" (2001) TV series 2001-2003

Creator:

Simon Fuller

Seasons:

1 | unknown

Genre:

Game-Show | Music | Reality-TV

Plot:

In this follow-up to the hit reality TV show "Popstars", the search is on for a new solo singer. Finalists...

Plot Keywords:

Audition | Singer | Manufactured Pop | Singing | Judge

Awards:

6 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Ant McPartlin	...	Himself - Presenter / ... (23 episodes, 2001-2003)
Declan Donnelly	...	Himself - Presenter / ... (23 episodes, 2001-2003)
Simon Cowell	...	Himself - Judge / ... (23 episodes, 2001-2003)
Nicki Chapman	...	Herself - Judge / ... (23 episodes, 2001-2003)
Neil Fox	...	Himself - Judge / ... (23 episodes, 2001-2003)
Pete Waterman	...	Himself - Judge (22 episodes, 2001-2003)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

19 Television

Trivia:

Simon Cowell's nieces and nephew, Tanyette, Melissa and Joshua, were shown briefly in the audience in various episodes during the first season.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Top Gear: (2007-11-11)" (2007)

Disgraceful.

I certainly feel the fool for watching Pop Idol from the beginning, because I didn't realise what an absolute abomination of a show it actually was. What began as a rather compelling series turned into a laughable and embarrassing mess that should be forgotten very, very quickly. Being a fan of Popstars, the show where television cameras followed the search for a five-piece pop group, Pop Idol should have been very entertaining indeed. This time around, judges were looking for the perfect popstar, someone who embodied all the qualities of today's pop performer (relatively good-looking, passable voice, the ability to dance in time with music, and so on). Of course, you got your fair share of good and bad eggs, and the judges on the show provided a sizeable amount of exaggerated drama. Who could forget Simon Cowell and his vicious put-downs? Well, I have already.

The real reason that Pop Idol was such an awful and offensive show was because it didn't consider quality for it's final contestants. The worst, and most unacceptable thing in my opinion, was that this was meant to be a television competition, and there was only meant to be one winner. Viewers were encouraged to phone in and vote for the person they thought was most worthy of a record deal, and they did. So why, only a few months after the big finale, do we see the runner-up with a Number One single, other contestants with impending single releases, and countless other contestants in negotiations? This was just damn ridiculous. I know that a show like this is all about the money the people involved can make from it, but I really do not see any of the contestants standing the test of time. Give them all a bunch of cover versions to release and no-one will care. This wasn't about nurturing and developing talent. It was to get teenage girls all hot and bothered over good looking young boys releasing tired love songs. The final ten contestants did have talent, but that doesn't really matter in a show where their destiny includes their face being adorned on Easter Eggs, chocolate bars and sponsorship deals with many popular products.

In short, Pop Idol was terrible. Hopefully now people will have become bored of reality television shows and give real, quality television a chance. Sadly, I'm not that confident.