Fame Academy (series 2)

Changes to format

The second series of Fame Academy incorporated some format changes from series 1. Cat Deeley and Patrick Kielty continued as lead presenters. Songwriting teacher, Pam Sheyne, did not return, and the role of dance teacher, Kevin Adams, was reduced. Headteacher, Richard Park, adopted a nasty, Simon Cowell-style persona. Carrie Grant's husband, David Grant, joined the series as an extra voice coach. Bee Gee Robin Gibb joined the show as a judge for the live shows. The judging panel held the casting vote in the event of a draw.

The live 'singing for survival' shows were moved to Saturday nights. Instead of taking place at Shepperton Studios, they took place at the Academy itself, on a tiny stage in the entrance hall to Witanhurst, with the audience of family and friends positioned on the staircases above. Highlight shows were axed from BBC One, and broadcast on BBC Three. Round-the-clock streaming was available on Freeview, as before, but without any interactive features.

For the first two weeks, the final 25 contestants performed and the public voted for 13 to enter the Academy. Six contestants performed in each of these four shows (seven in the first) with the two (three in the first show) with the most votes from the public gaining a place in the Academy and the two with the least votes being eliminated. The fate of the remaining two was decided by the students who had already qualified, with one of the two being 'saved' and given a place in the Academy.

The elimination mechanism for the rest of the series was also changed, apparently in order to compete with Pop Idol. The public were asked to vote for their favourite contestants from across the field. The three with the fewest public votes were then deemed to be "at risk". At this tense moment in the showdown each week, the judges would vote to save one, and then the students were required to vote to save one of the remaining two, and to state the reasons for their choice. This system — considered to be distasteful by many viewers — was used until the penultimate week, from which point the judges no longer had a vote. For the Final Three, the outcome was entirely in the hands of the viewing public.

As a result of this, the content of the live shows also changed. With each student singing for survival every week there was less time available to showcase the students' other performing skills. Duets and group songs, and the students' own compositions, could not be included in the show until later in the series when fewer contestants remained. The change of venue to a much smaller space also limited students to more static performances.

The students

This series' contestants were in order of elimination:

The series started controversially, as it was revealed that several of the contestants already had songwriting contracts, although none were actually signed to recording contracts.

Highlights shown on the live streaming included late-night singing sessions around the piano; Peter's outrageous behaviour on his trips outside the Academy, his rows with Kevin, and his later relationship with Carolynne; Alex and Carolynne being punished for communicating off camera; Alistair getting drunk, climbing into Louise's bed, and apologising the following day; and the finalists' last evening which culminated in a game of 'Truth or Dare' with Alistair stripping to his shirt.

The Final

Alex won the series, beating Carolynne and finally Alistair in the final showdown.

The final of the competition was shown as two separate live programmes, to allow viewers to cast their votes for the last two contestants during the interval. The first show was aired at 6.30pm. Viewers were then able to vote for their favourite and the contestant with the least votes was eliminated, with the two winners going on to the final showdown which began later the same evening at 9.30pm!

On the first showdown each of the three contestants performed two songs - one new cover and the student's favourite song that they had performed during the series. The series judges were joined by guest judge, radio and TV presenter Jonathan Ross, and gave their opinions on air.

Alistair and Alex were voted through to the final, and each performed another cover song chosen by the producers; Alex sang a John Lennon song, "Imagine"; Alistair sang "Everything I Own" by Bread. They each performed one of their own compositions, and performed two duets with each other and with guest singer Daniel Bedingfield. Paul McCartney also made an appearance to introduce Alex and Alistair's duet of the Beatles song "Let It Be".

The judges again gave their opinions of each contestant on air and guest celebrities in the invited audience were also asked to comment on the performances. The contestant who gained the most viewers' votes by the end of the programme was then declared the winner.

Problems

There were personal tensions between several contestants during the series, and producers exacerbated these tensions by showing footage of this whenever possible during the brief highlights packages on the live shows. Arguments also regularly broke out between the Fame Academy teachers during the live showdowns. David and Carrie Grant frequently disagreed with Richard Park, although Robin Gibb maintained a neutral stance, and gained respect for his evenhandedness towards all the contestants throughout the series. Regular arguments also broke out between Richard Park and the presenter Patrick Kielty. Opinions are still divided among viewers about whether these arguments were genuine or deliberately staged for ratings.

The scheduling of the live Fame Academy shows often clashed with the similar Pop Idol on ITV. The latter usually came off better in the ratings, and viewers of both series expressed resentment at this deliberate conflict.

Widespread criticism of the BBC's perceived copying of the Pop Idol format purely to achieve higher viewing figures also featured in the Parliamentary review of the BBC's charter. Many critics felt that it was a prime example of a derivative reality entertainment show which the BBC should not be funding. The programme was not re-commissioned for a third series.

The negative publicity this received caused the BBC to distance itself from the whole Fame Academy concept, and plans for a Fame Academy 2 national tour in 2004 never materialised.

The aftermath

Alex Parks and Alistair Griffin were both immediately signed to major record labels and each went on to have top 5 singles with self-penned songs. They have both subsequently released successful albums and singles.

Both artists have now split from their former record companies and are currently pursuing careers as independent singer-songwriters.

Albums

Two full-length albums featuring a selection of covers from the show were released during and after the series, Fame Academy Bee Gees Special (Polydor) August 2003 and Fame Academy - The Finalists (Polydor) October 2003:

Fame Academy Bee Gees Special

Track listing:

1. "You Should Be Dancing " - Paris Campbell-Edwards
2. "Guilty" - Carolynne Good
3. "To Love Somebody" - Alistair Griffin
4. "Words" - Alex Parks
5. "Massachusetts" - Peter Brame
6. "Too Much Heaven" - Louise Griffiths
7. "How Deep Is Your Love" - Barry McKeever
8. "More Than a Woman" - James Fox
9. "Heartbreaker" - Simone Stewart
10. "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" - Gary Phelan
11. "You Win Again" - Audley Anderson
12. "Islands in the Stream" - Lorna Grant
13. "Tragedy" - Nick Hall

Fame Academy - The Finalists

Track listing:

1. "Yellow" - Alex Parks
2. "Words" - Alex Parks
3. "I Don't Want to Talk About It" - Alex Parks
4. "Tainted Love" - Alex Parks
5. "Wherever You Will Go" - Alistair Griffin
6. "Lately" - Alistair Griffin
7. "Truly Madly Deeply" - Alistair Griffin
8. "It Must Be Love" - Alistair Griffin
9. "Underneath Your Clothes" - Carolynne Good
10. "True Colors" - Carolynne Good
11. "It Must Have Been Love" - Carolynne Good
12. "Think Twice" - Carolynne Good
13. "In My Place" - Peter Brame
14. "Somewhere in My Heart" - James Fox
15. "Misty Blue" - Paris Campbell-Edwards

Fame Academy - Class Of 2003 (DVD)

In November 2003, a DVD, Fame Academy - Class Of 2003, was also released on the Universal label, featuring footage from the programme, live concerts, and previously unreleased material.