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Girls Aloud from the beginning - Popstars the Rivals

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(Because there are so many Popstars the Rivals videos on this page, it may take a few minutes to load - patience. )

Girls Aloud are the girl band formed by the show Popstars The Rivals, which in 2002 featured a TV contest where 10 boys and 10 girls under 25 were selected for a live show, and the audience voted to choose the final five boys and five girls who would form two bands. The winner of the show was the band who could get a Christmas number 1, and they would then be awarded a contract with Polydor to continue making records.

Girls Aloud famously won, and Cheryl Cole one of the band members, is now a judge on X-Factor, which has a similar format, except people of all ages are allowed to join, soloists as well as groups, and the winner is the person who gets the most votes in the show's final, not the person who gets a number 1 record (Popstars the Rivals was rather a tougher contest as it required real records to be sold before you were declared the winner).

For those who missed Popstars the Rivals, here is the show, in the form of YouTube videos - it's obviously not the entire thing, it's been edited by annysugar on YouTube, and cut with interviews of the contestants on the follow-on show on ITV2. It's quite a trip down memory lane. Louis Walsh was a judge along with Pete Waterman and Geri Halliwell (of the Spice Girls). Davina McCall was the show presenter. The girls look so young - Cheryl Cole was just 19 and Nicola Roberts was just 16. 

Enjoy!

Popstars the Rivals- chapter 1

The ten boys and ten girls are introduced to the public
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Popstars the Rivals - chapter 2

this bit introduces the judges and looks at some of the awful auditions they had
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Popstars the Rivals - chapter 3

Some more auditions - this one notable for the Cheeky Girls turning up to audition with their Cheeky Song (written by their mother), Geri Halliwell tells them they are unforgetable. Obviously they weren't suitable for a girl band of five, so they were let go. But a producer watching as the show went on air on ITV was struck by their potential, got in contact with them and signed them up. Their Cheeky Song with it's memorable lines "touch my bum, don't be shy" went to Number 2.
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Pop stars the Rivals Chapter 4 part 1

This one features a big argument at the audition of one of the boys who makes it through
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Popstars the Rivals - Chapter 4 part 2

In this episode we see the auditions of Kimberly Walsh, Sarah Harding and Nadine Coyle.
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Popstars the Rivals - Chapter 5 part 1

This episode is at bootcamp in London. They were not only judged on whether they could sing at bootcamp, but whether they could dance as well (a requirement for bands in the early part of this decade)
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Popstars the Rivals - Chapter 5 - part 2

More bootcamp - we spot members of Girls aloud being put through their paces singing as a group and dancing
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Popstars the Rivals - Chapter 5 - part 3

Bootcamp, they start to pick those they will put through
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Cheryl and Emma go head-to-head in the dance studio

Another revealing clip that shows how much looks and dancing ability played in who was chosen to go through to the live finals. In the end both Cheryl and Emma made it through to the final ten.
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Popstars the Rivals - chapter 6 - part 1

The first live shows featuring the boys
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Popstars the Rivals - Chapter 6 - part 2

More live finals, with boys being evicted.

I'm struck by how different the live finals were from the current X-Factor. There is no big production accompanying the contestant, often they are singing to a piano, and they certainly haven't been styled to within an inch of their lives - they are singing in high street clothes.
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Chapter 7 - part 1

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Popstars the rivals - Chapter 7 - part 2

Shock as one of the male contestants disqualifies himself on air saying he is too old for the show (he was over 25 by 2 months)
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Popstars the Rivals - chapter 7 part 3

More live finals where the boys get evicted
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Popstars the Rivals - chapter 7 - part 4

Boys finals and evictions
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Popstars the Rivals - chapter 8 - part 1

At last we come to the Girls!!!

Nicola Roberts and Kimberly Walsh hadn't made it past bootcamp to the final ten. But then they got a lucky break: one of the girls, Hazel, was discovered to be over age (she'd fibbed about being under 25) - she was replaced by Kimberly. Another contestant withdrew - she wouldn't sign the contract, saying they were being paid too little - she was replaced with Nicola.
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Popstars the Rivals - chapter 8 - part 2

We see Nadine, Sarah, Cheryl and Kimberly singing live
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Popstars the Rivals - chapter 9 - part 1

We see Nicola sing Lulu's "shout". Louis calls her Miss Dynamite
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Popstars the Rivals - Chapter 9 - part 2

We see Cheryl crying (she was a watering pot even back then!). "Why are you crying", Louis asks. "I just feel emotional", she says.

We also see Cheryl and Kimberly take it in turns in the bottom two, and survive to sing another week.
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Popstars the Rivals - Chapter 9 - part 3

Cheryl is in the bottom two again, along with Aimee. The viewers vote to keep Cheryl in. Louis and Geri look utterly shocked. Back then judges didn't have any input into evictions, it was done entirely on viewers votes. Cheryl survived because viewers liked her.
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Popstars the Rivals - Chapter 10 - part 1

It's nearly time to announce the five boys who make up the boy band. We see clips of the final six boys singing in this episode
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Popstars the Rivals - Chapter 10 - part 2

Davina announces the five boys who will make up th Boy Band.
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Popstars the Rivals - Chapter 11 - part 1

It's time to pick the girls for the Girl Band. We see clips of the final six singing in this episode
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Popstars the Rivals - chapter 11 - part 2

Davina announces the five girls who will make up the Girl Band
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Behind the Scenes in the Girls House - Part 1

We see footage of Kimberly and Nicola arriving at the house well after the others (they replaced other contestants)
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Behind the scenes in the Girls House - part 2

We see the girls rehearsing for their live performances, with comments from the voice coaches.
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Behind the scenes in the girls house - part 3

We see the girls getting ready for a Westlife premiere and discussing each other (Kimberly thinks Cheryl is "quirky")
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Behind the Scenes - the making of Sounds of the Underground

We see footage of the video shoot, plus comments from the girls and Louis Walsh (their manager)
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Popstars the Rivals - Finale

The girls and the boys await teh countdown to the Christmas Number 1 to see who has won the show
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Girls Aloud sing their single live on Popstars the Rivals

Here they are singing "sounds of the Underground" live in one of their very first performances as a group
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