Popstars Live was an Australian talent quest program similar to Australian Idol that aired on the Seven Network in early 2004. It also spawned a spinoff single and album that made the ARIA charts in April that year. Australian Idol is the Logie Award winning Australian version of the hit British TV show Pop Idol. ... The Seven Network is an Australian television network, owned by the Seven Media Group. ... The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry. ...

During its short run Popstars Live had a troubled history, with two key personnel, Christine Anu and John Paul Young, leaving the program in April 2004 while others have publicly expressed their own concerns about the show. The show was a ratings failure. Christine Anu (born 1970) is an Australian pop singer from Cairns, Queensland. ... John Paul Young John Paul Young (June 21, 1950–) is an Australian singer. ...

Television Program

Popstars Live first appeared on the Seven Network in February 2004 and was scheduled to run for 16 weeks. The program was originally slated to air on Sunday and Wednesday nights.

Popstars

Popstars Live was based on the original Popstars, a reality television program that was broadcast on the Seven Network between 2000 and 2002. The aim of that program was to select members for a pop group or a pop singer and follow the process of recording a single and/or album and the subsequent promotion of the record made by the artists. Countries which had a version of Popstars Popstars is an international reality television program and a precursor to the Idol series. ... Reality television is a genre of television programming which presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and features ordinary people instead of professional actors. ... For popular forms of music in general, see Popular music. ... In music, a band is a company of musicians, or musical ensemble, usually popular or folk, playing parts of or improvising a musical arrangement on different musical instruments. ... In music a singer or vocalist is a type of musician who sings, i. ...

The Australian series saw the creation of three acts which enjoyed initial success:

• Bardot (2000) a girl group number one single and album;
• Scandal'us (2001) a mixed pop group, number one single, number two album;
• Scott Cain (2002) a male singer, number one single.

While the 2000 series of Popstars was one of the most popular programs on Australian television in that year, its popularity steadily declined in later seasons. In 2003, the Seven Network rested the concept. However, the success of Australian Idol, a show that became the most popular program on Australian television that year, soon led to the Seven Network revisiting the Popstars format. For the 1982 UK Eurovision entry, see Bardo (band). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Scandalus (or ScandalUs) are the winners of the Australian Popstars 2 in 2001 (successors of Bardot, the winners of the first Australian Popstars in 2000). ... For popular forms of music in general, see Popular music. ... In music, a band is a company of musicians, or musical ensemble, usually popular or folk, playing parts of or improvising a musical arrangement on different musical instruments. ... Scott Maxwell Cain, or Scott Cain is the winner of the third Australian Popstars competition in 2002. ...

Record sales for Idol contestants also played a role in the resurrection of Popstars with Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian releasing an album Just As I Am that went six times platinum in Australia and runner up Shannon Noll's That's What I'm Talking About striking up sales of five times platinum. Hoping to emulate the success of BMG Records, which had signed on Sebastian and Noll, Universal Music quickly signed up for the new series. Guy Theodore Sebastian (born October 26, 1981) is an Australian singer-songwriter and winner of the first Australian Idol TV talent competition quest in 2003. ... Just As I Am is a 1971 album by Bill Withers, produced by Sussex Records. ... Shannon Noll (born 16 September 1975) is an Australian singer-songwriter. ... Thats What Im Talking About (Catalogue: BMG 82876594852) is the debut pop music album by Australian singer and Australian Idol finalist Shannon Noll, released on February 8, 2004 (see 2004 in music). ... Universal Music Group (UMG) is the largest major label in the record industry, with a 23% market share. ...

Original Program

The first five programs featured the selection of the finalists by the judges. The finalists would then sing live in front of an audience with one finalist being eliminated each week until the final winner is selected. The program aimed to attract a large proportion of voters under 25, a similar as Australian Idol.

The Popstars Team were:

• Luke Jacobz host;
• Ian "Molly" Meldrum judge;
• Christine Anu judge;
• Shauna Jensen judge;
• Tania Doko artist mentor;
• John Paul Young artist mentor;

The judges initially said that they would offer constructive criticism to the contestants unlike the strong and sometimes personal criticism offered by Mark Holden and Ian "Dicko" Dickson. Luke Jacobz (born 14th February 1981) is an Australian actor and television presenter. ... From video The Ultimate Kylie 2004 Ian Alexander Molly Meldrum OAM (born January 29, 1946 in Orbost, Victoria) is a popular Australian popular music critic, journalist, record producer, and musical entrepreneur, best known as talent co-ordinator, on-air interviewer and music news presenter on the seminal popular music program... Christine Anu (born 1970) is an Australian pop singer from Cairns, Queensland. ... John Paul Young John Paul Young (June 21, 1950–) is an Australian singer. ... Mark Touchdown Holden (born 27 April 1954) is an Australian singer and television personality. ... Ian Dicko Dickson (born 28 March 1955 as Ian Ross Perrygrove in Birmingham, England) is a music industry and television personality in Australia. ...

The finalists were (in order of elimination):

• Tarryn Wall
• Renee Simone
• Kiki Courtidis
• Don Pancho
• Daniel Hamill
• Arrnott Olssen
• Sarah Gardner - who made it into the top 63 in Australian Idol 2007 - see image 10 of the top 63 at http://www.australianidol.com.au/photos.html?xmlFile=830.xml
• Eleven (Luke and Nick)
• Miranda Murphy, from Perth, Western Australia. On 12 July 2004, her debut single debuted at number 19 on the Australian singles charts on 22 July 2004. After an unusually lengthy hiatus from the music scene, and a general lack of activity, it is widely suspected she has been dropped by her record company, due to poor single sales, and a national declining interest in 'bubblegum pop' products of talent quest programs.
• Kayne Taylor, from Melbourne, Victoria who won the 2004 Australian series.

Contestants Bunny and Xy were axed from the program in controversial circumstances. Kayne Taylor ended up winning the series defeating Miranda Murphy in the final. Australian Idol is the Logie Award winning Australian version of the hit British TV show Pop Idol. ... The Perth skyline viewed from the Swan River This article is about the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia. ... Kayne Taylor is a pop music singer from Melbourne who won the 2004 series of Popstars Live. ... Melbourne (pronounced ) is the second most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 3. ... Slogan or Nickname: Garden State, The Place to Be Motto(s): Peace and Prosperity Other Australian states and territories Capital Melbourne Government Constitutional monarchy Governor David de Kretser Premier Steve Bracks (resigning effective 30th July 2007) (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 37  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Problems

The first live performance attracted disappointing ratings when broadcast, attracting only 850,000 in Australian mainland capitals, finishing behind American Idol on Network Ten and shows on the Nine Network. David Leckie, the managing director of the Seven Network, blamed the disappointing ratings on what he considered to be the bland comments of the judges and pressured the producers to ensure that the judges made stronger comments. AMERICAN IDOL HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO DEATH OF SIMON ... Network Ten, or Channel Ten, is one of Australias three commercial television networks, available in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth in Australia. ... The Nine Network, or Channel Nine, is an Australian television network based in Willoughby, a suburb on the North Shore of Sydney. ... David Leckie (b. ...

Christine Anu refused to offer harsh criticism of the contestants resigning in April 2004. In a statement issued on her departure, she said: "I chose to play a positive role model and wanted to encourage these young people in their endeavours, rather than criticise them. Although leaving Popstars Live was a difficult decision for me to make, I do feel somewhat relieved that I can now focus on my music." John Paul Young was sacked although the producers claimed that his contract had finished.

Ian "Molly" Meldrum and Tania Doko were also criticising elements of the program in the media in early April. Trevor Steel, a UK record producer and the former lead singer of eighties pop group The Escape Club, was brought in by Universal Music as a replacement judge to offer stronger criticism of contestants. The Escape Club was an English rock band, based in London, and formed in 1983. ... Universal Music Group (UMG) is the largest major label in the record industry, with a 23% market share. ...

Ratings for Popstars Live continued to decline for the next episode. With 2003 Australian ratings blockbuster The Block due to commence its 2004 season on the Nine Network and American Idol performing well on Network Ten, the Seven Network executives shifted the program from Sunday night to Saturday night and scheduled wildlife documentaries to fill the slot. As Saturday night is the night of the week when the fewest people watch television in Australia and when members of the target audience for Popstars Live are most likely to go out, this shift was widely perceived as an admission of defeat by network executives. The Saturday night program was dropped altogether a few episodes later, leaving only the Wednesday program. The Block was an Australian reality television show broadcast on the Nine Network. ...

Album

Universal Music released an album Popstars Live: The Finalists featuring the finalists singing versions of well-known songs. The first single "Stand Up Next To Me" features the finalists singing on the track.

Sales Performance

In their first week of sales from 5 April 2004, the single barely made the Australian Top 50 and the album could only debut at number 61. Although Universal Music shipped enough copies of both the single and the album to stores to achieve gold status in Australia (35,000 copies), the single and the album only sold one thousand copies. The single eventually reached #29 on the charts and the album reached the ARIA Top 50. Kayne Taylor's debut single Heartbreaker debuted in the top 10 of the Australian charts at the end of June 2004. Runner-up Miranda Murphy also had a debut single That Girl released, and it debuted in the top 20 a few weeks after. However, this didn't seem to boost the success of Popstars Live nor its contestants, with no others releasing singles, nor have Kayne or Miranda released a second single as of November 2004. is the 95th day of the year (96th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

This contrasts with the sales success of artists appearing on Australian Idol and to a lesser extent the original Popstars. With the television program being moved to a different timeslot less likely to catch the eyes of potential record buyers and the single failing to attract support of radio, it seems as though the album will disappoint the hopes of Universal Music who would have been hoping to match the success of BMG Records from Australian Idol contestants.

Track listing

The track listing for the album is:

1. "Stand Up Next To Me" (all finalists)
2. "Don't Dream It's Over" - Kiki (hit for Crowded House)
3. "Jealous Guy" - Kayne Taylor (hit for John Lennon and later Roxy Music)
4. "Killing Me Softly With His Song" - Miranda Murphy (hit for Roberta Flack and later The Fugees)
5. "Tainted Love" - Don Pancho (hit for Gloria Jones and later Soft Cell)
6. "Truly Madly Deeply" - Tarryn (originally a hit for Savage Garden)
7. "Beautiful" - Arrnott Olssen (hit for Christina Aguilera)
8. "Nothing Compares 2 U" - Renee Simone (originally by Prince, hit for Sinéad O'Connor)
9. "The Air That I Breathe" - Daniel Hamill (originally a hit for The Hollies)
10. "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" - Luke Parry and Nick de Silwa (originally a hit for Tears for Fears)
11. "Everlasting Love" - Sarah Gardner
12. "You Will Always Shine" - Bunny and Xy written by Willie Allen

Crowded House was an Australian/New Zealand rock group; two original members were from Australia and one was from New Zealand. ... Crowded House is a rock group formed in Melbourne, Australia, and led by New Zealand musician and singer-songwriter Neil Finn. ... Jealous Guy is a song written and performed by John Lennon which first appeared on his 1971 album Imagine. ... John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980), (born John Winston Lennon, known as John Ono Lennon) was an iconic English 20th century rock and roll songwriter and singer, best known as the founding member of The Beatles. ... Roxy Music are an English art rock group founded in the early 1970s by art school graduate Bryan Ferry (vocals and keyboards). ... The single cover of Killing Me Softly with His Song Killing Me Softly with His Song is a 1971 song composed by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel, which has become a pop standard. ... Roberta Flack Roberta Flack (born February 10, 1937 in Asheville, North Carolina) is an American singer. ... The Fugees are a critically acclaimed music band from the United States, popular during the mid-1990s, whose repertoire includes primarily hip hop, with elements of soul, and Caribbean music (particularly reggae). ... Tainted Love is a song composed by Ed Cobb, formerly of The Four Preps. ... Gloria R. Jones (born 19 October 1937) is an American singer and songwriter. ... Soft Cell was an English synthesizer duo during the early 1980s (currently re-formed). ... Truly Madly Deeply is a 1997 hit song by Australian rock band Savage Garden. ... For the album by The 69 Eyes, see Savage Garden (69 Eyes album). ... Stripped is the second full-length English album (fourth official album) by American pop singer Christina Aguilera, released in 2002. ... Christina María Aguilera, born December 18, 1980, is an American pop singer and songwriter. ... Nothing Compares 2 U is a song written around 1984 or 1985 by Prince for The Family. ... Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... Sinéad Marie Bernadette OConnor (born December 8, 1966) is a Grammy Award winning Irish singer and songwriter. ... The Air That I Breathe is a song written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazelwood, initially recorded by Phil Everly of the famed Everly Brothers. ... The Hollies are an English Beat group formed in the early 1960s. ... Everybody wants to rule the world is a song by Tears for Fears from their 1984 album Songs From The Big Chair. ... Tears for Fears (abbreviated TFF) are a popular English pop band formed in the early 1980s by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, which emerged after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate. ... Everlasting Love is a song first made famous by Love Affair, an English pop group. ...

See also

• List of Australian music television shows

This is a list of Australian produced music television shows. ...

External links

• Popstar Live webpage
• Popstars Live at the Internet Movie Database