Pop Idol Tour - 2002
'Will Young - talented and naturally funny' - New Musical Express
'Will Young handled his performance and the audience with a pleasant relaxed confidence' - BBC
'star-quality' - The Guardian
BBC News - Source
So here we are at the start of the next stage of the Pop Idol money-making machine.
T-shirts, hats and mugs in place? Soundcheck for the salesboys and girls in the merchandising stalls around Wembley Arena? Fine, let's get on with the show.... The first night of the 21-date national tour of the 10 finalists from ITV1's Pop Idol was a chance for a bunch of excited kids to achieve their dream - see in the flesh some people who had been on TV.
For an occasion that demanded glitz and glam, the rough and ready dance routines and poor costumes of the backing dancers revealed little money has been lavished on the show itself, despite the ticket prices.
But the singers all handled themselves well, although none were forced to sing more than one or two numbers in a row (so not a particular test of live ability).
Of the eight lesser known finalists, Hayley Evett, Aaron Bailey, Jessica Garlick and Zoe Birkett proved themselves the best suited to arena performing.
The Pop Idol himself, Will Young, handled his performance and the audience with a pleasant relaxed confidence as he sang Light My Fire, Evergreen and Beyond the Sea.
Jackie Finlay
Ananova
Wembley has gone wild for the ten finalists as the Pop Idol Tour got under way. Thousands of fans greeted the contestants as they performed a string of hits on the first date of their nationwide tour at London's Wembley Arena.
After performances from eight of the finalists from the TV series, including Aaron Bayley, Korben and Jessica Garlick, Gareth Gates came on stage to perform his single, Unchained Melody. The 17-year-old followed that up by taking to the piano for a slushy duet with Zoe Birkett. There were rumours of romance between the pair after Gareth broke down in tears when Zoe was voted off the show, but the pair insist they are just good friends.
Their performance was followed by the main event when Pop Idol winner Will Young came on stage to an ecstatic welcome from the 11,000 strong crowd. He opened with The Doors' classic Light My Fire, then a rendition of his number one hit, Evergreen. Will, 23, admitted last week that he was gay but judging by the screams from the predominantly female audience the disclosure has done nothing to dent his popularity. His single, a double A-side with Anything Is Possible, looks set to hold on to the number one spot for a third week and has shifted more than 1.5 million copies so far.
The crowd at the sellout show ranged from the very young to the middle aged and the banner-waving fans looked evenly split between Gareth and Will.
Guardian
Watching the immaculate style and gleaming smiles of the 10 Pop Idol finalists as they sway to the over-familiar strains of My Way is a strange and unsettling experience. Gone is the naivety and Top Shop finery that made their utter desperation charming. Now it is lashings of hairspray and emoting over bygone hits. It's like watching your child leave for their first day of school and having them return as Su Pollard.
Keeping tabs on the sunken shoulders and topped-up tans of the 10 wannabes grew to be a guilty but compulsive TV habit. But just in case we missed a fix, Nicky Chapman is on hand to guide us, boos echoing at the mention of Simon Cowell in true pantomime style. "This is la crème de la crème," Neil Fox tells us in a video clip. "Good-looking, talented and witty people." There's not much evidence of the wit - their speaking parts are reduced to scripted interviews with Chapman - but the Pop Idols are easy on the eyes and the ears. They appear in the order in which they were kicked off the show, so Korben is first. With a new blonde mohican and questionable dancing, he bounces around to Wham's Freedom and proves that all the enthusiasm in the world can't create charisma.
It's a pattern that's repeated throughout the night. Although Jessica Garlick, Laura Doherty and Rosie Ribbons hit the right notes and make sultry moves, they never seem more than they are: nice girls given a big break. Aaron Bayley and Hayley Evetts have more presence, being comfortable with both their songs and themselves. "Reckon I scrub up all right for a train driver?" asks Bayley ruefully.
It's only with the arrival of Gareth Gates and Will Young that some star-quality appears. As Gates begins Unchained Melody, his soft voice is overwhelmed by ear-splitting screams and his doe-eyed innocence makes Cliff Richard look like Jim Morrison. Young appears genuinely surprised by his ecstatic reception as he tears through Light My Fire. He is perfectly suited to the big band style that takes up the second half of the show, but the giddy atmosphere evaporates once the standards begin.
The voices get bigger but there's an inescapable sense of watching Butlins Red Coats doing an end-of-season show as they perform songs from the upcoming Pop Idol - The Big Band Album. Zoe Birkett is just 16 but drapes herself over a piano for I Got You Under My Skin and Darius Danesh is smug but playful on Let There Be Love. "Nat would be drinking whisky," he tells us, studying a glass of water, "but it's bad for you."
Independent
There's a strange shimmer on the streets of Wembley. Is Empire Way paved with gold? On closer examination, it's the fallen glitter from a thousand plastic stetsons. Such party paraphernalia is only to be expected: the Pop Idol tour is a magnet for people who don't get out much.
They're also the people who don't buy records much. I'd wager that the last one most of them purchased was made by Hear'Say, and the one before that was "Candle In The Wind '97". The billboards advertising Gareth Gates' single urge us to "Be part of pop history", but in every sense that matters, this is the end of history. No amount of stats about Will Young's single being the biggest seller of all time can mask the fact that, with what amounts to a free six-month campaign of hour-long adverts on prime time ITV, he could have released a recording of his own bowel movements and still achieved the same.
All the millions who phoned in to vote for one or the other were defrauded of their pennies. The winner, nominally, was Young – the fat-tongued, canoe-chinned toff who kept quiet about his sexuality until the counting was done. But there are no losers. Each of the final 10 gets to perform on the arena tour, and gets a five-year contract. What more could they want?
Tonight's show starts with the supposed also-rans: Korben Nosurname ("Freedom"), Jessica Garlick ("Papa Don't Preach"), and Aaron Bailey, the Geordie train driver who seems to be a genuinely nice bloke. He sings "Walking In Memphis". You pray that he doesn't let his ASLEF membership lapse.
Laura Doherty performs "Son Of A Preacher Man". It's so unremarkable that, as only an occasional viewer, I wonder what the other 39,990 contestants must have been like. Even with a radio mic clamped to her face and a PA system the size of two bungalows, she's nigh inaudible. Rosie Ribbons sings "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)" in a voice that's flatter and deader than hedgehog roadkill, but she does have a great porn star name (and, y'know, give it five years or so). Hayley Evetts ("Made For Lovin' You"), at least, is already making other career moves: she tells us she's going to interview Britney on telly.
Presenter/judge Nikki Chapman, wearing a tight black leather Dress (which feels every bit as wrong as seeing your mum in... well, a tight black leather dress) introduces Zoe Birkett as "the most famous 16-year-old in the world". It's an odd concept of what "world" means, but Zoe is the first singer who can actually sing, the first performer who can actually perform, belting out "I Say A Little Prayer" with much gusto and character.
Darius Danesh is a very British kind of celebrity: the loser who doesn't know when he's beaten, the Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards of pop. He's pure cheese: cut his wrists and he'd bleed mozzarella. Nevertheless, as his intro film begins, the hysteria clicks up a notch. Yes, you can "feel the love in the room". If nothing else, Darius – now clean-shaven and short-haired – can work a crowd, gyrating through "It's Not Unusual" with a microphone stuck saucily into his waistband. At the end, paid Wembley workers throw underwear.
Then the hysteria really goes off the scale. Doctor Fox is drowned out by screams while introducing Gareth Gates. It's been said before, but Gates's story is almost too picaresquely perfect, a screenplay waiting to happen: the beautiful boy who can't speak, but can sing like an angel. He's as nervous as hell, (the anti-Darius) as he goes through the motions of "Unchained Melody", but no one cares: "Marry Me Gareth" banners are everywhere.
The response to the winner is muted: Will Young's rendition of "Light My Fire" gets the big budget pyros, but there are no "Marry Me Will" banners. "Thanks for making this song Number One" he says introducing "Evergreen", before the Top 40 has been officially announced. He may be stating the obvious, but it's also ungracious.
After an interval, the 10 return with a big band for a set of Rat Pack covers (where have we heard that idea recently?). Zoe, giving it plenty of Fabulous Baker Boys piano-writhing for "I've Got You Under My Skin", looks born to do it. By contrast, Gareth, swinging his arm like a dead branch through "Mack The Knife", could scarcely look less comfortable. Darius, rocking the Connery in a white tux for "Let There Be Love", breaks off to reminisce. "Six months ago," he says, tears welling up, I'd never have thought I'd be here doing this." Didn't anyone copy him the schedule?
This Is London (London Evening Standard) - Source
The T-shirts boasting "I voted for Will", the giant polystyrene hands, those comedy light-up ears - it could only be a fab night out with the top ten Pop Idol contestants in Wembley Arena, Venue of Legends. Or maybe that should be Venue of Wannabes. Still, the Pop Idols 2002 tour is a triumph for everyday people, and Simon Fuller's marketing expertise. If Big Brother proved that the British public delight in being nosey parkers, Pop Idol reinforces our love of a good old-fashioned talent contest, one where everyone gets a prize. PI 2002 celebrates high street, chain store, arm chair culture.
The extravaganza opened with a video reminder of the show that gained a multi-million phone vote at crunch time. Idol judge Nicki Chapman emerged in a rubber creation, think a downmarket Davina McCall, to reintroduce us to those we had loved - ooh, all of four weeks ago. And a month is a long time in the pop business. That's all it took for Will "Posh Idol" Young to pip Gareth "Cute Idol" Gates at the post, race to number one with his zillion seller Evergreen, and then announce his sexuality - like we really care.
Following forgettable turns from Korben, Jessica Garlick and Aaron the train driver (they all seem to have landed jobs as TV presenters now), the nitty gritty arrived with the lovely Rosie Ribbons, a bit of Welsh class, singing Bryan Adams's Everything I Do. Marvellous. Chapman didn't need to up the "wow, cool" factor; the audience frothed over the lot, regardless. Darius was his smooth, chillingly professional self during It's Not Unusual - pants, basically - but young Gaz Gates, every boy band rolled into one perfect package, won the screamathon with a version of Unchained Melody you'll be hearing a lot of in weeks to come. Will Young sang Light My Fire and Evergreen. Oddly enough he was the only one who looked slightly embarrassed by it all.
In the second half, big band Big Blue backed a selection of older numbers. My Way? Mack The Knife? Didn't Robbie Williams do this a few months ago? He did, but this was more Club Reps meets Come Dancing than Ocean's Eleven. One day this slick, manufactured pop bubble will burst. At the moment it just gets bigger. Real life becomes real life TV and it's all sold back to you. How spooky is that, Nicki?
NME (Peter Robinson)
7.29pm Saturday night. No Pop Idol on the telly any more but, as per the great British misconception that Everyone Is A Winner, the final ten Pop Idol contestants will be providing an evening's entertainment here at Wembley.
7.34pm Look! It's Kate Thornton's mum!
7.35pm Oh. It's Nicki Chapman, tonight's host. In a leather dress.
7.37pm Korben, who made the fatal error of being gay before the Pop Idol final, bursts in and does Wham!'s 'Freedom'. His dancers have the seven deadly sins painted on their backsides.
7.44pm Jessica performs 'Papa Don't Preach' on a chair. It's a black chair, like in that Britney video. Except Jessica's not Britney.
7.48pm "Let's have a look at our favourite train driver!" yells Chapman. It's Aaron, who shouts 'Walking In Memphis' and doesn't get any dancers. When Pop Idol goes on tour, all losers are equal. It's just some are more equal than others.
7.57pm After 'Son Of A Preacher Man', Laura reveals herself to be "a TV presenter back home", the Pop Idol equivalent of that dinner party staple, "I'm writing a novel".
8.04pm In the absence of an eighth pair of dancer's cheeks. Hayley warns us against another deadly sin - over-singing - by example. Fittingly she does this with an Anastacia song, blowing Rosie's dull-as-you-like performances off the stage.
8.09pm Zoë - who, we are led to believe, is 'At it' with Gareth - appears wearing a hat, a bit like Alicia Keys. Or a scarecrow. She has no dancers, but does 'Say A Little Prayer' anyway.
8.14pm It's Darius! 'It's Not Unusual' is fantastic, and Dairus is the first loser not to look totally lost on this huge stage.
8.18pm Gareth Gates, not so much steals the show as is given a getaway car and airtight alibi by Simons Fuller and Cowell. He appears from behind the screen swathed in dry ice, sings 'Unchained Melody' and duets with Zoe.
8.22pm Nicki witters something about having one of the best jobs in the world, because she gets to stand next to Gareth. Nicki should understand that there's a difference between standing next to somebody and having their co** in your mouth.
8.27pm Will Young - talented and naturally funny, and therefore not a proper star at all - does 'Evergreen'. Things explode. Will thanks us on behalf of himself and tonight's other stars. Thanks, and goodnight!
8.31pm Hang on. It's an interval. We're only half-way through!
9.00-10.00pm Time loses all meaning as each of the finalists hurl themselves into an abyss of songs so lacking in pop sensibility that NME wonders whether Slint have been recruited as tonight's musical directors. As he and the losers climax with 'My Way', Will looks forward to a career led by Simon Fuller, svengali behind the Spice Girls and S Club 7. He should remember that Fuller was also the genius behind 21st Century Girls, Jimmy Ray and Next of Kin. Who? Well, that's pop. A place where not everybody can be a winner.
The Sun - Source
Thousands of screaming Pop Idol fans last night proved they still adore Will Young even though he came out as gay this week. They went wild for the 23-year-old winner of TV’s star-making series as its live tour kicked off with a spectacular show at London’s Wembley Arena.
Will and 17-year-old runner-up Gareth Gates performed a string of hits. Gareth belted out his soon-to-be-released single Unchained Melody. And he followed it up by taking to the piano for a slushy duet with Zoe Birkett who had been voted off the telly show amid rumours, denied by both, that they had a fling.
Last night’s gig was presented by Nicki Chapman with video clips of the TV show’s other judges. Regular plays of the telly theme music made it all feel familiar, and the audience of all generations loved it. Korben, the first finalist to be voted off, opened the night.
Sporting a Mohican haircut and backed by a bevy of skimpily-dressed dancers, he sang George Michael classic Freedom. Until the arrival of Will and Gareth, the biggest cheers of the night were reserved for former train driver Aaron Bayley, 16-year-old Zoe and Darius Danesh. Darius had the crowd in a frenzy with his hip swivelling performance of It’s Not Unusual. The other finalists performing were Jessica Garlick, Laura Doherty, Rosie Ribbons and Hayley Evetts.
As the show went on the crowd got noisier and noisier until it reached fever pitch for Gareth and Will who performed Light My Fire and Evergreen.
The second half had a big band theme with dressier costumes and bigger sounds. Highlights, as in the telly show, were Gareth singing Mack The Knife and Will doing Beyond The Sea. The finale saw all the contestants doing a version of the Sinatra Classic My Way.
'Will Young handled his performance and the audience with a pleasant relaxed confidence' - BBC
'star-quality' - The Guardian
BBC News - Source
So here we are at the start of the next stage of the Pop Idol money-making machine.
T-shirts, hats and mugs in place? Soundcheck for the salesboys and girls in the merchandising stalls around Wembley Arena? Fine, let's get on with the show.... The first night of the 21-date national tour of the 10 finalists from ITV1's Pop Idol was a chance for a bunch of excited kids to achieve their dream - see in the flesh some people who had been on TV.
For an occasion that demanded glitz and glam, the rough and ready dance routines and poor costumes of the backing dancers revealed little money has been lavished on the show itself, despite the ticket prices.
But the singers all handled themselves well, although none were forced to sing more than one or two numbers in a row (so not a particular test of live ability).
Of the eight lesser known finalists, Hayley Evett, Aaron Bailey, Jessica Garlick and Zoe Birkett proved themselves the best suited to arena performing.
The Pop Idol himself, Will Young, handled his performance and the audience with a pleasant relaxed confidence as he sang Light My Fire, Evergreen and Beyond the Sea.
Jackie Finlay
Ananova
Wembley has gone wild for the ten finalists as the Pop Idol Tour got under way. Thousands of fans greeted the contestants as they performed a string of hits on the first date of their nationwide tour at London's Wembley Arena.
After performances from eight of the finalists from the TV series, including Aaron Bayley, Korben and Jessica Garlick, Gareth Gates came on stage to perform his single, Unchained Melody. The 17-year-old followed that up by taking to the piano for a slushy duet with Zoe Birkett. There were rumours of romance between the pair after Gareth broke down in tears when Zoe was voted off the show, but the pair insist they are just good friends.
Their performance was followed by the main event when Pop Idol winner Will Young came on stage to an ecstatic welcome from the 11,000 strong crowd. He opened with The Doors' classic Light My Fire, then a rendition of his number one hit, Evergreen. Will, 23, admitted last week that he was gay but judging by the screams from the predominantly female audience the disclosure has done nothing to dent his popularity. His single, a double A-side with Anything Is Possible, looks set to hold on to the number one spot for a third week and has shifted more than 1.5 million copies so far.
The crowd at the sellout show ranged from the very young to the middle aged and the banner-waving fans looked evenly split between Gareth and Will.
Guardian
Watching the immaculate style and gleaming smiles of the 10 Pop Idol finalists as they sway to the over-familiar strains of My Way is a strange and unsettling experience. Gone is the naivety and Top Shop finery that made their utter desperation charming. Now it is lashings of hairspray and emoting over bygone hits. It's like watching your child leave for their first day of school and having them return as Su Pollard.
Keeping tabs on the sunken shoulders and topped-up tans of the 10 wannabes grew to be a guilty but compulsive TV habit. But just in case we missed a fix, Nicky Chapman is on hand to guide us, boos echoing at the mention of Simon Cowell in true pantomime style. "This is la crème de la crème," Neil Fox tells us in a video clip. "Good-looking, talented and witty people." There's not much evidence of the wit - their speaking parts are reduced to scripted interviews with Chapman - but the Pop Idols are easy on the eyes and the ears. They appear in the order in which they were kicked off the show, so Korben is first. With a new blonde mohican and questionable dancing, he bounces around to Wham's Freedom and proves that all the enthusiasm in the world can't create charisma.
It's a pattern that's repeated throughout the night. Although Jessica Garlick, Laura Doherty and Rosie Ribbons hit the right notes and make sultry moves, they never seem more than they are: nice girls given a big break. Aaron Bayley and Hayley Evetts have more presence, being comfortable with both their songs and themselves. "Reckon I scrub up all right for a train driver?" asks Bayley ruefully.
It's only with the arrival of Gareth Gates and Will Young that some star-quality appears. As Gates begins Unchained Melody, his soft voice is overwhelmed by ear-splitting screams and his doe-eyed innocence makes Cliff Richard look like Jim Morrison. Young appears genuinely surprised by his ecstatic reception as he tears through Light My Fire. He is perfectly suited to the big band style that takes up the second half of the show, but the giddy atmosphere evaporates once the standards begin.
The voices get bigger but there's an inescapable sense of watching Butlins Red Coats doing an end-of-season show as they perform songs from the upcoming Pop Idol - The Big Band Album. Zoe Birkett is just 16 but drapes herself over a piano for I Got You Under My Skin and Darius Danesh is smug but playful on Let There Be Love. "Nat would be drinking whisky," he tells us, studying a glass of water, "but it's bad for you."
Independent
There's a strange shimmer on the streets of Wembley. Is Empire Way paved with gold? On closer examination, it's the fallen glitter from a thousand plastic stetsons. Such party paraphernalia is only to be expected: the Pop Idol tour is a magnet for people who don't get out much.
They're also the people who don't buy records much. I'd wager that the last one most of them purchased was made by Hear'Say, and the one before that was "Candle In The Wind '97". The billboards advertising Gareth Gates' single urge us to "Be part of pop history", but in every sense that matters, this is the end of history. No amount of stats about Will Young's single being the biggest seller of all time can mask the fact that, with what amounts to a free six-month campaign of hour-long adverts on prime time ITV, he could have released a recording of his own bowel movements and still achieved the same.
All the millions who phoned in to vote for one or the other were defrauded of their pennies. The winner, nominally, was Young – the fat-tongued, canoe-chinned toff who kept quiet about his sexuality until the counting was done. But there are no losers. Each of the final 10 gets to perform on the arena tour, and gets a five-year contract. What more could they want?
Tonight's show starts with the supposed also-rans: Korben Nosurname ("Freedom"), Jessica Garlick ("Papa Don't Preach"), and Aaron Bailey, the Geordie train driver who seems to be a genuinely nice bloke. He sings "Walking In Memphis". You pray that he doesn't let his ASLEF membership lapse.
Laura Doherty performs "Son Of A Preacher Man". It's so unremarkable that, as only an occasional viewer, I wonder what the other 39,990 contestants must have been like. Even with a radio mic clamped to her face and a PA system the size of two bungalows, she's nigh inaudible. Rosie Ribbons sings "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)" in a voice that's flatter and deader than hedgehog roadkill, but she does have a great porn star name (and, y'know, give it five years or so). Hayley Evetts ("Made For Lovin' You"), at least, is already making other career moves: she tells us she's going to interview Britney on telly.
Presenter/judge Nikki Chapman, wearing a tight black leather Dress (which feels every bit as wrong as seeing your mum in... well, a tight black leather dress) introduces Zoe Birkett as "the most famous 16-year-old in the world". It's an odd concept of what "world" means, but Zoe is the first singer who can actually sing, the first performer who can actually perform, belting out "I Say A Little Prayer" with much gusto and character.
Darius Danesh is a very British kind of celebrity: the loser who doesn't know when he's beaten, the Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards of pop. He's pure cheese: cut his wrists and he'd bleed mozzarella. Nevertheless, as his intro film begins, the hysteria clicks up a notch. Yes, you can "feel the love in the room". If nothing else, Darius – now clean-shaven and short-haired – can work a crowd, gyrating through "It's Not Unusual" with a microphone stuck saucily into his waistband. At the end, paid Wembley workers throw underwear.
Then the hysteria really goes off the scale. Doctor Fox is drowned out by screams while introducing Gareth Gates. It's been said before, but Gates's story is almost too picaresquely perfect, a screenplay waiting to happen: the beautiful boy who can't speak, but can sing like an angel. He's as nervous as hell, (the anti-Darius) as he goes through the motions of "Unchained Melody", but no one cares: "Marry Me Gareth" banners are everywhere.
The response to the winner is muted: Will Young's rendition of "Light My Fire" gets the big budget pyros, but there are no "Marry Me Will" banners. "Thanks for making this song Number One" he says introducing "Evergreen", before the Top 40 has been officially announced. He may be stating the obvious, but it's also ungracious.
After an interval, the 10 return with a big band for a set of Rat Pack covers (where have we heard that idea recently?). Zoe, giving it plenty of Fabulous Baker Boys piano-writhing for "I've Got You Under My Skin", looks born to do it. By contrast, Gareth, swinging his arm like a dead branch through "Mack The Knife", could scarcely look less comfortable. Darius, rocking the Connery in a white tux for "Let There Be Love", breaks off to reminisce. "Six months ago," he says, tears welling up, I'd never have thought I'd be here doing this." Didn't anyone copy him the schedule?
This Is London (London Evening Standard) - Source
The T-shirts boasting "I voted for Will", the giant polystyrene hands, those comedy light-up ears - it could only be a fab night out with the top ten Pop Idol contestants in Wembley Arena, Venue of Legends. Or maybe that should be Venue of Wannabes. Still, the Pop Idols 2002 tour is a triumph for everyday people, and Simon Fuller's marketing expertise. If Big Brother proved that the British public delight in being nosey parkers, Pop Idol reinforces our love of a good old-fashioned talent contest, one where everyone gets a prize. PI 2002 celebrates high street, chain store, arm chair culture.
The extravaganza opened with a video reminder of the show that gained a multi-million phone vote at crunch time. Idol judge Nicki Chapman emerged in a rubber creation, think a downmarket Davina McCall, to reintroduce us to those we had loved - ooh, all of four weeks ago. And a month is a long time in the pop business. That's all it took for Will "Posh Idol" Young to pip Gareth "Cute Idol" Gates at the post, race to number one with his zillion seller Evergreen, and then announce his sexuality - like we really care.
Following forgettable turns from Korben, Jessica Garlick and Aaron the train driver (they all seem to have landed jobs as TV presenters now), the nitty gritty arrived with the lovely Rosie Ribbons, a bit of Welsh class, singing Bryan Adams's Everything I Do. Marvellous. Chapman didn't need to up the "wow, cool" factor; the audience frothed over the lot, regardless. Darius was his smooth, chillingly professional self during It's Not Unusual - pants, basically - but young Gaz Gates, every boy band rolled into one perfect package, won the screamathon with a version of Unchained Melody you'll be hearing a lot of in weeks to come. Will Young sang Light My Fire and Evergreen. Oddly enough he was the only one who looked slightly embarrassed by it all.
In the second half, big band Big Blue backed a selection of older numbers. My Way? Mack The Knife? Didn't Robbie Williams do this a few months ago? He did, but this was more Club Reps meets Come Dancing than Ocean's Eleven. One day this slick, manufactured pop bubble will burst. At the moment it just gets bigger. Real life becomes real life TV and it's all sold back to you. How spooky is that, Nicki?
NME (Peter Robinson)
7.29pm Saturday night. No Pop Idol on the telly any more but, as per the great British misconception that Everyone Is A Winner, the final ten Pop Idol contestants will be providing an evening's entertainment here at Wembley.
7.34pm Look! It's Kate Thornton's mum!
7.35pm Oh. It's Nicki Chapman, tonight's host. In a leather dress.
7.37pm Korben, who made the fatal error of being gay before the Pop Idol final, bursts in and does Wham!'s 'Freedom'. His dancers have the seven deadly sins painted on their backsides.
7.44pm Jessica performs 'Papa Don't Preach' on a chair. It's a black chair, like in that Britney video. Except Jessica's not Britney.
7.48pm "Let's have a look at our favourite train driver!" yells Chapman. It's Aaron, who shouts 'Walking In Memphis' and doesn't get any dancers. When Pop Idol goes on tour, all losers are equal. It's just some are more equal than others.
7.57pm After 'Son Of A Preacher Man', Laura reveals herself to be "a TV presenter back home", the Pop Idol equivalent of that dinner party staple, "I'm writing a novel".
8.04pm In the absence of an eighth pair of dancer's cheeks. Hayley warns us against another deadly sin - over-singing - by example. Fittingly she does this with an Anastacia song, blowing Rosie's dull-as-you-like performances off the stage.
8.09pm Zoë - who, we are led to believe, is 'At it' with Gareth - appears wearing a hat, a bit like Alicia Keys. Or a scarecrow. She has no dancers, but does 'Say A Little Prayer' anyway.
8.14pm It's Darius! 'It's Not Unusual' is fantastic, and Dairus is the first loser not to look totally lost on this huge stage.
8.18pm Gareth Gates, not so much steals the show as is given a getaway car and airtight alibi by Simons Fuller and Cowell. He appears from behind the screen swathed in dry ice, sings 'Unchained Melody' and duets with Zoe.
8.22pm Nicki witters something about having one of the best jobs in the world, because she gets to stand next to Gareth. Nicki should understand that there's a difference between standing next to somebody and having their co** in your mouth.
8.27pm Will Young - talented and naturally funny, and therefore not a proper star at all - does 'Evergreen'. Things explode. Will thanks us on behalf of himself and tonight's other stars. Thanks, and goodnight!
8.31pm Hang on. It's an interval. We're only half-way through!
9.00-10.00pm Time loses all meaning as each of the finalists hurl themselves into an abyss of songs so lacking in pop sensibility that NME wonders whether Slint have been recruited as tonight's musical directors. As he and the losers climax with 'My Way', Will looks forward to a career led by Simon Fuller, svengali behind the Spice Girls and S Club 7. He should remember that Fuller was also the genius behind 21st Century Girls, Jimmy Ray and Next of Kin. Who? Well, that's pop. A place where not everybody can be a winner.
The Sun - Source
Thousands of screaming Pop Idol fans last night proved they still adore Will Young even though he came out as gay this week. They went wild for the 23-year-old winner of TV’s star-making series as its live tour kicked off with a spectacular show at London’s Wembley Arena.
Will and 17-year-old runner-up Gareth Gates performed a string of hits. Gareth belted out his soon-to-be-released single Unchained Melody. And he followed it up by taking to the piano for a slushy duet with Zoe Birkett who had been voted off the telly show amid rumours, denied by both, that they had a fling.
Last night’s gig was presented by Nicki Chapman with video clips of the TV show’s other judges. Regular plays of the telly theme music made it all feel familiar, and the audience of all generations loved it. Korben, the first finalist to be voted off, opened the night.
Sporting a Mohican haircut and backed by a bevy of skimpily-dressed dancers, he sang George Michael classic Freedom. Until the arrival of Will and Gareth, the biggest cheers of the night were reserved for former train driver Aaron Bayley, 16-year-old Zoe and Darius Danesh. Darius had the crowd in a frenzy with his hip swivelling performance of It’s Not Unusual. The other finalists performing were Jessica Garlick, Laura Doherty, Rosie Ribbons and Hayley Evetts.
As the show went on the crowd got noisier and noisier until it reached fever pitch for Gareth and Will who performed Light My Fire and Evergreen.
The second half had a big band theme with dressier costumes and bigger sounds. Highlights, as in the telly show, were Gareth singing Mack The Knife and Will doing Beyond The Sea. The finale saw all the contestants doing a version of the Sinatra Classic My Way.