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Popstars (UK) was a British reality television show produced for ITV that aired for two series. The first series, Popstars, aimed to find five singers to form a new pop group. During the second series, Popstars: The Rivals, two music groups were formed to compete for the Christmas number-one single in the United Kingdom.
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The five winning contestants from the first series formed the group Hear'Say. Their first two singles, "Pure and Simple" and "The Way to Your Love", became number-one hits on the UK Singles Chart. Two other single releases, "Everybody" and "Lovin' Is Easy", reached the top ten. Hear'Say released their first album Popstars in May 2001; this was followed by a second album, Everybody. After a line-up change, the group split a year after formation.
In the second series, two new groups, Girls Aloud and One True Voice, were formed. They competed for the Christmas number-one in 2002 with their debut singles "Sound of the Underground" and "Sacred Trust / After You're Gone" respectively; Girls Aloud finished on top and debuted at number one, and One True Voice debuted at number two. One True Voice released another single, "Shakespeare's (Way with) Words" before splitting in June 2003. Girls Aloud, in contrast, have become one of the most successful female groups in the United Kingdom, with 17 successive top-ten singles, four number-ones singles and six top-ten albums. During the group's three-year hiatus, Cheryl Cole, Nadine Coyle, and Nicola Roberts also went on to release solo material. Girls Aloud reunited to celebrate their tenth anniversary in 2012.
In addition to the winners of the show, several other participants have achieved careers in music. Liberty X (originally known as Liberty before a legal dispute) has had eight top ten singles in the UK charts, including the number-one hit "Just a Little" in 2002. Kym Marsh released a solo album and two singles after leaving Hear'Say, and Darius Danesh, who did not advance past the audition stage, released material after appearing on Pop Idol. Javine Hylton, the singer who missed out on a place in Girls Aloud, debuted at number four with "Real Things and released several other singles. She was selected as the United Kingdom's entry for the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest, singing "Touch My Fire". The four other female finalists formed the band Clea, and the five losing male finalists experienced success in their band Phixx. The Cheeky Girls, a Romanian duo who did not make the live finals, were given a record contract, and debuted at number three behind the two winning bands.
Albums
Only albums that charted in the Top 100 of the UK albums chart are included in this list.