Will Young, Gareth Gates & Pop Idol Live
This is definitely a guilty pleasure.
The first series of British reality TV pop music show Pop Idol was broadcast over the winter months of 2001 and 2002. The show was a competition open to singers between 16 and 26 years old, with the winner receiving a £1 million recording contract. The whole family watched the show which came to its climax in a singing duel between the two finalists Will Young and Gareth Gates. We were all cheering for team Will, even though Gareth was the favourite. The outcome was not quite what was expected with the jazzier Will coming first, ahead of the poppier teen idol Gareth. The ten finalists then went out on tour and we (me, Marie, Laura) trooped off to Newcastle Arena to relive the excitement of the show.
The concert was presented by judge Nicki Chapman with video clips of the TV show’s other judges. Korben, the first finalist to be voted off, opened the night. Other finalists were former train driver Aaron Bayley, 16-year-old Zoe and Darius Danesh. Darius gave a great hip swivelling performance of It’s Not Unusual which Tom Jones would have been proud of. The other finalists performing were Jessica Garlick, Laura Doherty, Rosie Ribbons and Hayley Evetts. 
But the big cheers were reserved for Gareth and Will. Gareth sang his version of Unchained Melody, which was soon released as a single. Will performed his version of the Doors’ Light My Fire, which had been a big hit in the show, and his Christmas single Evergreen. The second half of the concert had a big band theme. Highlights were Gareth singing Mack The Knife and Will doing Beyond The Sea, both of which had featured in the TV show. For a finale all the contestants sang the Sinatra Classic My Way. All good clean harmless pop fun.
Laura became a massive Will Young fan from then on, so I was treated to the Will and Gareth tour at the Arena later that year, and then Will on his own tour, again at the same venue, four years later in 2006.
That concludes my coverage of letter “Y”.
Archive for the ‘Gareth Gates’ Category
18 Mar
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