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Pop Idol discography

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Pop Idol is a British television programme that ran for two series, in 2001 and 2003. The show was produced for ITV in a reality television format and aimed to find a new singer. Will Young was the winner of the first series [1] and was awarded a music recording contract, allowing him to begin his music career.[2] Young became the most successful contestant with a series of top 5 hits, including his debut single "Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen", which peaked at number one in the UK Singles Chart in 2002 and broke chart sales figure records.[3] He continued to have chart success for the next seven years: "Light My Fire" and "Leave Right Now" also became number-one singles and two of his four albums were number-one in the UK Albums Chart. In the second series in 2003, Michelle McManus emerged victorious.[4] Her debut single "All This Time" charted at number one in January 2003,[5] but she left the music industry after one further single, "The Meaning of Love", and an album of the same name.

In addition to Young and McManus, a number of artists who did not win the show have had success in the UK charts. Gareth Gates, who finished as the runner-up behind Young in the first series, scored a number-one hit with a cover of "Unchained Melody" in March 2002, released at the same time as Young's debut. He had further success with "Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake)" and the double-A side "The Long and Winding Road" / "Suspicious Minds" which both reached the top of the charts in 2002. After "What My Heart Wants to Say" broke this run of successful singles, Gates was joined by The Kumars to record the Comic Relief single for 2003, "Spirit in the Sky".[6] He achieved several more top 20 hits before leaving the industry, only briefly returning in 2007.

Darius Danesh had a string of successful singles and a top-10 album, including his debut single "Colourblind" reaching number-one in August 2002.[7] Other contestants from the first series to have chart success were Sarah Whatmore (who did not even make the selection for the live shows), Rosie Ribbons, Rik Waller, Zoe Birkett and Jessica Garlick, the latter being selected as the United Kingdom's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 and finishing third in the competition.

Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes were the only contestants from the second series, other than McManus, to have chart success. Rhodes finished as runner-up in the competition while Nixon finished third; the pair quickly came together as a duo, Sam & Mark. They released a cover of The Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends" as a double-A side with "Measure of a Man".[8] This earnt them a debut number-one single in January 2002, while they also reached the top 20 with a follow-up, "The Sun Has Come Your Way".

Singles

Artist Series Song title Release date UK peak chart position
Will Young 1 "Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen" 25 February 2002 1 [9]
Gareth Gates 1 "Unchained Melody" / "Evergreen" 18 March 2002 1 [10]
Rik Waller 1 "I Will Always Love You" March 2002 6 [11]
Jessica Garlick 1 "Come Back" [a] 13 May 2002 13 [12]
Will Young 1 "Light My Fire" 25 May 2002 1 [13]
Rik Waller 1 "Something Inside (So Strong)" June 2002 25 [14]
Gareth Gates 1 "Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake)" 8 July 2002 1 [15]
Darius Danesh 1 "Colourblind" 29 July 2002 1 [16]
Sarah Whatmore 1 "When I Lost You" 9 September 2002 6 [17]
Will Young/Gareth Gates 1 "The Long and Winding Road"[b] 23 September 2002 1 [18]
Gareth Gates 1 "Suspicious Minds"[b] 23 September 2002 1 [18]
Rosie Ribbons 1 "Blink" 21 October 2002 12 [19]
Will Young 1 "Don't Let Me Down" / "You and I" 18 November 2002 2 [20]
Gareth Gates 1 "What My Heart Wants to Say" 9 December 2002 5 [21]
Darius Danesh 1 "Rushes" 25 November 2002 5 [22]
Rosie Ribbons 1 "A Little Bit" 13 January 2003 19 [23]
Zoe Birkett 1 "Treat Me Like a Lady" 13 January 2003 12 [24]
Sarah Whatmore 1 "Automatic" 10 February 2003 11 [25]
Darius Danesh 1 "Incredible (What I Meant to Say)" 3 March 2003 9 [26]
Gareth Gates and The Kumars [c] 1 "Spirit in the Sky" 10 March 2003 1 [27]
Darius Danesh 1 "Girl in the Moon" 9 June 2003 21 [28]
Gareth Gates 1 "Sunshine" 13 September 2003 3 [29]
Will Young 1 "Leave Right Now" 24 November 2003 1 [30]
Michelle McManus 2 "All This Time" 25 November 2003 1 [31]
Gareth Gates 1 "Say It Isn't So" 8 December 2003 4 [32]
Michelle McManus 2 "The Meaning of Love" 26 January 2004 16 [33]
Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes
(Sam & Mark)		 2 "With a Little Help from My Friends" / "Measure of a Man" 9 February 2004 1 [34]
Will Young 1 "Your Game" 15 March 2004 3 [35]
Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes
(Sam & Mark)		 2 "The Sun Has Come Your Way" 24 May 2004 19 [36]
Will Young 1 "Friday's Child" 5 July 2004 4 [37]
Darius Danesh 1 "Kinda Love" 18 October 2004 8 [38]
Darius Danesh 1 "Live Twice" 10 January 2005 7 [39]
Will Young 1 "Switch It On" 14 November 2005 5 [40]
Will Young 1 "All Time Love" 16 January 2006 3 [41]
Will Young 1 "Who Am I" 24 April 2006 11 [42]
Gareth Gates 1 "Changes" 9 April 2007 14 [43]
Gareth Gates 1 "Angel on My Shoulder" 18 June 2007 22 [44]
Will Young 1 "Changes" 15 September 2008 10 [45]
Will Young 1 "Grace" 22 December 2008 33 [46]
Will Young 1 "Let It Go" 2 March 2009 58 [47]

Albums

Only albums that charted in the Top 100 of the UK albums chart are included in this list.

Artist Series Album title Release date UK peak chart position
Will Young 1 From Now On 7 October 2002 1 [48]
Gareth Gates 1 What My Heart Wants to Say 26 October 2002 2 [49]
Darius Danesh 1 Dive In 2 December 2002 6 [50]
Gareth Gates 1 Go Your Own Way 22 September 2003 11 [51]
Will Young 1 Friday's Child 1 December 2003 1 [52]
Michelle McManus 2 The Meaning of Love 16 February 2004 3 [53]
Darius Danesh 1 Live Twice 25 October 2004 36 [54]
Will Young 1 Keep On 21 November 2005 2 [55]
Gareth Gates 1 Pictures of the Other Side 25 June 2007 23 [56]
Will Young 1 Let It Go 29 September 2008 2 [57]

Pop Idol albums

In addition to the solo material released by the contestants, the company behind Pop Idol released two compilation CDs featuring songs performed by the participants.

Album title Record label Series Release date UK peak
chart position
Pop Idol: The Big Band Album Sony BMG 1 April 2002
Pop Idol: The Idols - Xmas Factor Sony BMG 1 December 2003

Other releases

  • Rosie Ribbons was dropped by her record label, Telstar Records, when they ran into financial difficulties.[58] She had recorded an album called Misbehaving that was never released, however a promotional version became available.
  • Jessica Garlick released "Hard Not to Fall" as a download single on 11 May 2009, coinciding with the Eurovision Song Contest 2009.[59]
  • Rik Waller released two albums that failed to chart: From Now in July 2002 and Innocence in July 2005.
  • Michelle McManus released a further single, "Just For You" in 2007, along with and album, Different Beat but neither reached the Top 100 in the charts.
  • Andy Scott-Lee, who finished seventh on the second series of the show, released an self-titled album in 2008 and a single, "Forgettable", that made only #134 in the charts.

Chart records

"Unchained Melody" and "Evergreen/Anything Is Possible" became two of the most successful singles of the 2000s, selling more than 1 million copies, two of only 10 songs that have achieved that feat as of 2009. "Evergreen/Anything Is Possible" sold 385,00 copies during its first day of sale in a single chain of record stores, Virgin Megastores , beating the total of 160,000 copies of Hear'Say's "Pure and Simple" in 2001. Hear'Say sold 550,000 during a whole week, while Young had advance orders of 1.2million copies at HMV stores.[60] It beat Band Aid's record of 750,000 sales in the first week of release, eventually reaching 1.2million sales.

See also

Notes

a ^ Jessica Garlick was chosen to represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002, where she performed "Come Back".[61] She finished third in the competition[62] and the song charted at #13 in the UK Singles Chart.

b ^ "The Long and Winding Road" / "Suspicious Minds" was released as a double A-side single. Gareth Gates and Will Young were featured on the former but the latter was sung only by Gates.

c ^ Gareth Gates collaborated with The Kumars from the television programme The Kumars at No. 42 for the 2003 Comic Relief single, a cover of "Spirit in the Sky".[63]

References

  1. ^ "Will Young wins Pop Idol contest". Telegraph Online. Telegraph Publishing Group. 9 February 2002. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  2. ^ "Will wins Pop Idol". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 10 February 2002. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  3. ^ Insert footnote text here
  4. ^ "Michelle captures Pop Idol crown". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 21 December 2003. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
  5. ^ "Pop Idol's Michelle tops charts". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 11 January 2004. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
  6. ^ "Comic Relief tops record total". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 15 March 2003. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  7. ^ "Darius scores first number one". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 4 August 2002. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
  8. ^ "Sam and Mark top the chart". MTV News. MTV. 1 August 2006. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
  9. ^ "Anything Is Possible/Evergreen". Chart Stats. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  10. ^ "Unchained Melody". Chart Stats. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  11. ^ "I Will Always Love You". Chart Stats. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  12. ^ "Come Back". Chart Stats. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  13. ^ "Light My Fire". Chart Stats. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  14. ^ "Something Inside (So Strong)". Chart Stats. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  15. ^ "Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake)". Chart Stats. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  16. ^ "Colourblind". Chart Stats. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  17. ^ "When I Lost You". Chart Stats. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  18. ^ a b "The Long and Winding Road/Suspicious Minds". Chart Stats. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  19. ^ "Blink". Chart Stats. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  20. ^ "Don't Let Me Down/You and I". Chart Stats. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  21. ^ "Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake)". Chart Stats. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  22. ^ "Rushes". Chart Stats. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  23. ^ "Blink". Chart Stats. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  24. ^ "Treat Me Like a Lady". Chart Stats. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  25. ^ "Automatic". Chart Stats. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  26. ^ "Incredible (What I Meant to Say)". Chart Stats. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  27. ^ "Spirit in the Sky". Chart Stats. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  28. ^ "Girl in the Moon". Chart Stats. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  29. ^ "Sunshine". Chart Stats. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  30. ^ "Leave Right Now". Chart Stats. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  31. ^ "All This Time". Chart Stats. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  32. ^ "Say It Isn't So". Chart Stats. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  33. ^ "The Meaning of Love". Chart Stats. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  34. ^ "With a Little Help from My Friends / Measure of a Man". Chart Stats. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  35. ^ "Your Game". Chart Stats. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  36. ^ "The Sun Has Come Your Way". Chart Stats. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  37. ^ "Friday's Child". Chart Stats. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  38. ^ "Kinda Love". Chart Stats. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  39. ^ "Live Twice". Chart Stats. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  40. ^ "Switch It On". Chart Stats. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  41. ^ "All Time Love". Chart Stats. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  42. ^ "Who Am I". Chart Stats. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  43. ^ "Changes". Chart Stats. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  44. ^ "Angel on My Shoulder". Chart Stats. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  45. ^ "Changes". Chart Stats. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  46. ^ "Grace". Chart Stats. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  47. ^ "Let It Go". Chart Stats. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  48. ^ "From Now On". Chart Stats. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  49. ^ "What My Heart Wants to Say (album)". Chart Stats. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  50. ^ "From Now On". Chart Stats. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  51. ^ "Go Your Own Way". Chart Stats. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  52. ^ "Friday's Child (album)". Chart Stats. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  53. ^ "The Meaning of Love (album)". Chart Stats. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  54. ^ "Live Twice (album)". Chart Stats. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  55. ^ "Keep On". Chart Stats. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  56. ^ "Pictures of the Other Side". Chart Stats. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  57. ^ "Let It Go (album)". Chart Stats. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  58. ^ "Pop Idols: Where are they now?". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 21 May 2003. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  59. ^ "Singer who knows Eurovision story". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 14 May 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  60. ^ "Pop Idol single 'flying off shelves'". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 26 February 2002. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  61. ^ "Idol singer picked for Eurovision". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 3 March 2002. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  62. ^ "Pop Idol's Jessica third in Eurovision". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 26 May 2002. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  63. ^ "Comic Relief charity singles over the years". uk.music.yahoo.com. Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 22 June 2009.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pop_Idol_discography&oldid=299960702"