One Direction deserve to be in the top 10 tbh I'm not there biggest fans but you can't deny there success also Diana does not deserve to be in the top 10 at all she's only had one song that has done really well in her carreer . I think I can guess 8 out of the 10 in the top 10 already.

Edited April 10, 201312 yr by troylovesmusic

And so this is it. We now reach our top 10. These, according to you, the people of Buzzjack forums, are reality pop's ten ultimate stars from the last 12 years - and we start with...

 

10. CARRIE UNDERWOOD (67 points)

('American Idol' series 4, winner, 19/Arista Nashville, 2005 - present)

 

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UK top 40 hits: 0

UK top 40 albums: 1

Biggest album: 'Blown Away', UK #11, May 2012

Best known for: being reality pop's prime country girl

 

The one thing about the continued success of American Idol whilst our 'Idol' fizzled out after it's second series here was it's ability to find people from across all genres - which in essence is kind of what our X Factor does here now. And on its return for a fourth run in 2005, they were about to do just that.

 

Born and bred in Muskogee, Oklahoma, Carrie Underwood had been a local singer from a young age and had been approached aged 14 by Capitol Records to audition for them. Her contract with them was cancelled before she could sign it due to a change in personnel at the label. She happily admits now that it was a blessing in disguise, however heading off to university to study mass communication and journalism in 2001, she'd resigned herself to the fact that singing was just never gonna happen for her 'in the real world'.

 

However, by 2004, the singing bug had caught her again from performing at country shows on her summer breaks from studying, and it wasn't long before she went after the following year's series of 'American Idol'. She reached the live shows and after giving her first performance of Heart's 'Alone' in week 1, Simon Cowell prophesised that she would not only win the competition but also outsell all previous winners. And in typical Simon fashion, he was absolutely dead on the mark.

 

Her debut winner's single 'Inside Your Heaven' immediately topped the Billboard charts, selling nearly a million copies and paving the way for the success of her debut album 'Some Hearts' which also debuted atop the Billboard chart as the fastest selling debut from a country artist since SoundScan records began in 1991. With four multi platinum studio albums to her name, and over 13 million records sold since she her debut, she is without question the biggest selling country artist of the new decade - but it wasn't until last year that she finally appeared on our shores with her latest album 'Blown Away', which debuted at #11 and was promoted with a series of sold out gigs at the Royal Albert Hall in London, selling out in 90 minutes. With a renewed interest in the UK for country music with Lady Antebellum and even Taylor Swift, there is hope that Carrie can continue to replicate her huge Stateside success here in the coming year.

Edited April 11, 201312 yr by ThePensmith

9. DIANA VICKERS (74 points)

('The X Factor' UK series 5, finalist, RCA/So Recordings, 2008 - present)

 

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UK top 40 hits: 3

UK top 40 albums: 1

Biggest single: 'Once', UK #1, April 2010

Biggest album: 'Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree', UK #1, April 2010

Best known for: being reality pop's multi talented kooky kid

 

There's always seemed to be a general consensus that reality pop is thriving with the fame hungry, loud and vain. Which couldn't be further from the truth with our next star, for it was upon her first audition that Louis even described her as his 'little hippie'. Indeed, before Blackburn native Diana Vickers had entered that fifth series of X Factor she was something of a free spirit. She was just 16 and had been weighing up whether to go to drama college or to go travelling in Thailand and 'find herself'.

 

As it turns out, she ended up doing neither when Cheryl took her to the lives in the girls' category that year. She continually divided opinion with her unconventional singing style amongst the judges and the public - when Take That came onto perform with just weeks to go before the final, future judge Gary Barlow even offered to help get her signed - but her laid back and breezy nature kept her in the competition all the way until the semi final where she finished 4th.

 

And whilst her fellow class of 2008 buddies JLS and Alexandra Burke then went off to release and promote their first albums in 2009 to illustrious success, Diana signed to RCA and quietly began work on her debut album working with a roll call of pop songwriting greats like Cathy Dennis, Eg White, Nerina Pallot and even the more contemporary likes of Imogen Heap cohort Guy Sigsworth and Dev Hynes from indie favourites Lightspeed Champion.

 

After taking some time away from recording the album to star in her critically acclaimed role in the West End revival of 'The Rise and Fall of Little Voice', she returned in the spring of 2010 with her first single, 'Once', which shot straight in at #1, and the album, 'Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree' which also debuted at #1 a week later. Two more top 40 hits came her way before the end of that year in 'The Boy Who Murdered Love' and 'My Wicked Heart' as she successfully toured and played the festival circuit.

 

After leaving RCA in early 2011 over creative differences she has since signed a new deal with So Recordings - also home to Matt Cardle - and will release her first new single in three years 'Cinderella' along with her new album 'Music to Make Boys Cry' later this year, showcasing a more early 00's styled electropop sound. She'll support good friend Olly Murs on his summer tour this year (more on him a bit later) and also contributed a song to Enrique Iglesias' most recent album, and for the last two years she's also turned her attention to fashion, designing her own clothing range 'Dee V' for the mail order catalogue chain Very. She's also due to star in her first film this year, playing the role of Kim in surfer flick 'The Perfect Wave'.

Edited April 11, 201312 yr by ThePensmith

8. JORDIN SPARKS (82 points)

('American Idol' series 6, winner, 19/Jive/RCA, 2007 - present)

 

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UK top 40 hits: 5

UK top 40 albums: 2

Biggest single: 'No Air' (feat. Chris Brown), UK #3, June 2008

Biggest album: 'Jordin Sparks', UK #17, July 2008

Best known for: being American Idol's youngest victor

 

As we've seen with a lot of American Idol's most successful contestants, Phoenix, Arizona native Jordin Sparks had had her singing roots start from singing in community churches - something she is staunchly proud of as a practising Christian. After taking part in numerous unsigned talent contests in her early teens she went after 'American Idol' in late 2006 but failed to make it past the first round - until she won the local version 'Arizona Idol' which got her a 'golden ticket' pass onto the live shows.

 

Simon was even quick to admit that despite her shaky start she grew in confidence and became more polished as the competition went on - which she then eventually won when the series reached it's final in early 2007, making her the show's youngest winner in it's then six years on screen. In August that year she made her chart debut with 'Tattoo', becoming her first US top 10 hit, but it wasn't until the release of her second single that she really broke through.

 

A hit on both sides of the pond - and partially owing to his own success here pre-Rihanna controversy - her Chris Brown collaboration 'No Air' stormed not only the top 3 of the Billboard chart but also the UK top 3 in the summer of 2008 as she became the highest charting American Idol graduate in the UK after Kelly Clarkson (more on her later), also charting in Australia and New Zealand where it topped the chart. The single's sold more than 6 million copies worldwide since its release - 3 million of those in the US alone.

 

After spending time touring as support for Alicia Keys and then on a joint tour with Jesse McCartney for the rest of 2008, she then returned with her second album 'Battlefield' the following year,and after supporting Britney Spears and Jonas Brothers on the US legs of their world tours she embarked on her own major US tour in the spring of 2010. Since the tour ended she has been working on her third studio album as well as taking part in some acting roles, most notably in 'Sparkle', the very last major film release to star Whitney Houston before her death last year, with whom Sparks recorded the song 'Celebrate' for its soundtrack.

Edited April 11, 201312 yr by ThePensmith

7. WILL YOUNG (100 points)

('Pop Idol' series 1, winner, 19/Sony Music/Universal Island, 2002 - present)

 

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UK top 40 hits: 14

UK top 40 albums: 6

Biggest single: 'Evergreen/Anything is Possible', UK #1, March 2002

Biggest album: 'Friday's Child', UK #1, December 2003

Best known for: being the original 'Idol'

 

If there's one thing us Brits love in our reality pop, it's someone who's a bit of an underdog. And that's exactly what Will Young has been for the last decade and a bit. But boy did he turn out to be an underdog that did good. Having half impressed the judges on his first 'Pop Idol' audition, he seemed to quietly fit into the furniture until the final 50 heats - where he made his now career defining yet diplomatic stand to Simon Cowell's feedback on his performance ('It is your opinion, but I don't agree with it ... I don't think you could ever call that average').

 

A brave move indeed and one that could have quite easily cost him his place in the show. Thankfully it did the opposite as he ended up in the live shows and soon won himself a huge fanbase - and the heart of the nation. But in spite of all this lay his doubts in the face of the equally huge fanbase of his fellow finalist Gareth Gates. Even the winners' single, a cover of Westlife album track 'Evergreen' seemed geared towards the Bradford boy. In his own words, 'Whoever is going to vote for a gay, slightly eccentric jazz fan and Frank Spencer lookalike?'

 

In the end however, he ended up becoming Britain's first ever 'Pop Idol' winner as 4.6 million of us ensured that he beat Gareth comfortably by a small margin of 500,000 votes. And with the release of that winners' single - which he'd previously detested but has now in hindsight grown a great fondness for - he trounced the record set by Hear'Say's 'Pure & Simple' only a year previously as with over 1.2 million sales in the first week he scored the fastest selling debut chart topper ever.

 

His mark as a fully fledged artist wasn't truly solidified, however, until he released his (brilliant) second album 'Friday's Child' in 2003, which provided the song that remains his signature tune - his fourth and to date last UK chart topper 'Leave Right Now' - and over 2 million copies of that album have been sold here in the UK alone, along with three further multi platinum albums in 2005's 'Keep On', 2008's 'Let It Go' and his most recent chart topping album 'Echoes' from 2011 (released as he celebrated a decade in music), as well as his best selling 'Hits' album in 2009.

 

He's also carved out a successful acting career off screen and on when he landed a role alongside Dame Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins in the 2005 film 'Mrs Henderson Presents', as well as appearing in the Manchester revival of Noel Coward's 'The Vortex' and more recently his West End debut as 'Emcee' in 'Cabaret'. He released his autobiography 'Funny Peculiar' last autumn and has now, after a decade of being signed to Sony, moved to his new home of Universal Island where he'll release his sixth studio album with them early next year.

Edited April 11, 201312 yr by ThePensmith

With the exception of Will Young, what a dire top 10 so far!

Just missing out on your top 5 now, your second highest placed group, it's...

 

6. LITTLE MIX (108 points)

('The X Factor' UK series 8, winners, SyCo Music/Columbia, 2011 - present)

 

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UK top 40 hits: 4

UK top 40 albums: 1

Biggest single: 'Wings', UK #1, August 2012

Biggest album: 'DNA', UK #3, November 2012

Best known for: breaking X Factor's girl group curse

 

It's easy to forget now, but one thing 'The X Factor' never quite seemed to have much luck with finding at one stage was girl groups. Why was it that the boybands like JLS and One Direction prospered where the likes of Hope, Bad Lashes and Kandy Rain to name but a few failed? Well some of it was the fact of there already being some perfectly good girl groups doing well in the charts without the show's help - Girls Aloud, Sugababes, Pussycat Dolls and The Saturdays to name but a few - and there being girl groups in the live shows who were either not very good or who clearly hated each other. Or worse, both.

 

At the boot camp stages of the competition in the show's eighth series in 2011, the same process of calling back unsuccessful solo girl and boy finalists that had ultimately been the making of One Direction a year previously was once again happening, as Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Ann Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall were asked by Louis, Kelly, Tulisa and Gary if they wanted to proceed in the show as a four piece - and they said yes.

 

Mentored by Tulisa in the groups and originally called Rhythmix (a name which then had to be changed to what we know now it as due to it already being patented to a music therapy charity), her 'little muffins' were good. Very good indeed. They quickly became the talk of the series as week by week, they continued to stay in the competition, delivering blinding performances of the likes of Katy Perry's 'E.T.' and En Vogue's 'Don't Let Go (Love)'. They eventually found themselves at the final at Wembley, and beat Marcus Collins to become the show's first ever winning group, and quickly topped the charts with their winning song, the Damien Rice cover 'Cannonball'.

 

They finally launched themselves properly with their second #1, the bonkers and genuinely brilliant 'Wings' in late summer last year and have since followed it up with two more huge chart hits in 'DNA' and 'Change Your Life', off their platinum selling debut album 'DNA'. Having also charted well in Australia and Europe they've now got their sights set on recording of their second album, and on conquering the US - and with next single 'How You Doin', a collaboration with Missy Elliott due to head chartbound soon it looks like they may well achieve that.

Edited April 11, 201312 yr by ThePensmith

Happy Little Mix and Jordin Sparks are in the top 10 still don't think Diana should be as high as 9 though .

With the exception of Will Young, what a dire top 10 so far!

 

 

It was always going to be awful.

 

 

Jordin Sparks and Little Mix should have swapped places! I still adore Jordin :wub:.

So this is it - just five acts left now. And up next, your highest placed male on the list (and a particular favourite of mine), it's...

 

5. OLLY MURS (110 points)

('The X Factor' UK series 6, runner up, Epic/Columbia, 2009 - present)

 

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UK top 40 hits: 8

UK top 40 albums: 3

Biggest single: 'Dance with Me Tonight', UK #1, December 2011

Biggest album: 'In Case You Didn't Know', UK #1, December 2011

Best known for: being reality pop's loveable Essex lad turned superstar

 

Solo males that graduate from 'The X Factor' have, as we've already seen, traditionally had some success for their first two albums at least, but very few generally have anything beyond that, if at all. But as we saw with Will Young earlier, the most proseperous aren't always the most conventional. Having infamously appeared in 2007 on Noel Edmonds' teatime game show 'Deal or No Deal' (where he won a solitary tenner) and with his dreams of pursuing professional football and becoming Witham's answer to David Beckham halted by a nasty recurring leg injury, Essex lad Olly Murs had been singing in his local pub on the karaoke machine with friends from when he was 23 - and even became the regular star of a weekly night there in a covers band called the Small Town Blaggers. After chucking in his notice to a dead end call centre job in favour of backpacking in Australia for three months, it was when he returned at the end of 2008 that, having gone for it twice unsuccessfully in the past, he knew that he wanted to pursue music full time and decided to give 'The X Factor' just one last go. A bundle of nerves on his first audition, he needn't have worried when all four judges - Louis, Cheryl, Dannii and Simon - gave him a standing ovation for his version of Stevie Wonder's 'Superstition', with Simon declaring that it was 'the easiest yes I have ever given'.

 

Olly eventually worked his way to the live shows, and at first seemed to be drowned out by the overwhelming brashness of his fellow 'Overs' finalists Danyl Johnson and Jamie 'Afro' Archer. But he soon quickly developed a following as the finalist it was OK to like, as he worked his way through a diverse number of performances that showcased his white boy soul vocals and cheeky, loveable personality (and not forgetting that now infamous bulge in his tight trousers). But it was when Robbie Williams came on as a guest mentor one week that he immediately became a champion of Olly - and then a good mate - which resulted in them duetting on his hit 'Angels' in the final. And whilst Joe McElderry may have pipped him to the finishing line, as with JLS a year previously, Epic Records A&R bod Nick Raphael was immediately on the phone to Simon the day after the final to get Olly signed. After finishing the finalists' tour in spring 2010, he began work on his debut material with the likes of John Shanks, The Invisible Men, Trevor Horn and Chris Difford of the Squeeze - and then with the two men who have essentially become his equivalent of Guy Chambers, his unofficial co-writers, the Grammy award winning Claude Kelly and Take That cohort Steve Robson.

 

It was their first collaboration together on the lilting, reggae tinged debut single 'Please Don't Let Me Go' that Olly scored his first UK number one that August. With his self titled debut album just four months later, he then scored the fastest selling album by a debut act in the UK in 2010, and within six months it had achieved double platinum sales and saw him off on his first sold out UK theatre tour. Just a year later, and his chart topping second album 'In Case You Didn't Know' was released - and after going triple platinum with sales of nearly one million copies in the UK alone, and producing two more number ones with Rizzle Kicks collaboration 'Heart Skips a Beat' and 'Dance with Me Tonight' (the biggest single of his in the UK to date) he became the show's most successful male solo artist ever, as well as being the first to sell more of their second album than their first. Last year brought his first ever sold out arena tour, and then his third multi platinum album with 'Right Place Right Time' which not only also debuted atop the UK album charts again but has broken him worldwide in Europe, America and Australia with his fourth chart topper, the funky and ever so catchy Flo Rida collaboration 'Troublemaker' and his anthemic latest single 'Army of Two'.

 

In late spring 2011, he then got to add another string to his bow and became part of 'The X Factor' family again - but this time on the other side of the fence. For the last two years, he's fronted ITV2's sister show 'The Xtra Factor' with his self proclaimed 'will they, won't they' TV wife Caroline Flack and has proved himself equally at home in TV presenting, and whilst he won't be returning to the show this year owing to his already packed schedule, this combined with his continued success in music has meant he has established himself with the kind of cross pan wide appeal that not just reality pop but pop's true greats can achieve. Now having recently finished his second UK arena tour, he'll spend the rest of this year touring the world over - with some of those dates supporting Robbie on his European stadium tour - and his fourth album will be with us in 2014. He's also modelled for Robbie's clothing range Farrell, released his autobiography 'Happy Days' and is soon due to guest star for one episode in US drama 90210. And as for his love of football? Well that's remained ever strong. So strong in fact that the FA appointed him as one of their ambassadors to mark their 150th anniversary this year. Ladies love him. Guys wanna be mates with him. And Olly, it's fair to say, has only just begun.

Edited April 12, 201312 yr by ThePensmith

Glad to see Diana reach the top 10!!! :cheer: Also nice to see Carrie and Jordin sneak in too!

Yay for Diana and Carrie! Two of my favourites. :wub:

4. ALEXANDRA BURKE (153 points)

('The X Factor' UK series 5, winner, SyCo Music/Epic/RCA, 2008 - present)

 

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UK top 40 hits: 7

UK top 40 albums: 2

Biggest single: 'Hallelujah', UK #1, December 2008

Biggest album: 'Overcome', UK #1, October 2009

Best known for: one of the greatest moments of an X Factor final

 

Born and bred in north London, music was always in the blood line of the Burke household - Alexandra's mum had been in the highly popular 90's band Soul II Soul, and she was singing from the age of 5, with dance classes following not long after. She made her first public appearance on Jane McDonald's slightly ropey talent show 'Star for a Night' at the tender age of 12 - around about the same time that, due to her mum's connections in the industry, she sang down the phone to actual Stevie Wonder (I'm jealous just even writing that).

 

Her first crack at 'The X Factor' wasn't in 2008 but was, for the eagle eyed amongst us, in the show's second series in 2005 where she was got as far as Louis' judges houses. She'd taken professional singing lessons and had grown more in confidence by the time she came to audition again. And taken under Cheryl's wing, she made it into the girls' category that year and went all the way to the live shows. Her weekly performances continually won her praise from the judges, proving herself equally at home in uptempo, big productions as she was delivering soulful ballads.

 

She eventually got all the way to the series' final, where she delivered a performance which is not only a classic moment from the show's history generally but also TV gold generally, when she basically lost her cool altogether duetting with her idol, Beyonce, on 'Listen', the theme from the 'Dreamgirls' movie. Beating JLS to victory, her winner's single 'Hallelujah' managed, despite fierce protesting from unhappy Leonard Cohen fans, to become the first X Factor winner's single to sell over a million copies and was 2008's Christmas number one.

 

Just under a year later, October 2009, and having supported Beyonce for the UK leg of her 'I Am... World Tour' she returned with her platinum debut album 'Overcome' and its lead off single 'Bad Boys' featuring Flo Rida, both of which sent her soaring to the top of the charts again. After scoring another number one with 'Start Without You' and three more top 20 hits in 2010, she embarked on her first sold out UK tour in early 2011, before returning to the charts last year with her second album 'Heartbreak on Hold'. As of February this year she's said to be taking acting classes to pursue some work in musicals and theatre but will be recording and hopefully releasing her third album in the next year.

Edited April 12, 201312 yr by ThePensmith

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Edited April 24, 20169 yr by Electric Top 10

3. LEONA LEWIS (163 points)

('The X Factor' UK series 3, winner, SyCo Music/J/RCA, 2006 - present)

 

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UK top 40 hits: 9

UK top 40 albums: 4

Biggest single: 'Bleeding Love', UK #1, October 2007

Biggest album: 'Spirit', UK #1, November 2007

Best known for: taking 'The X Factor' globally

 

And from one North London native to another now, and to the woman who not only won the show two series before Alexandra did, but that put it on the map globally. Leona Lewis had been at a number of performing arts schools from a young age - Sylvia Young, Italia Conti, Ravenscourt and then the BRITs school, where she'd trained in opera whilst also having a love of jazz, blues and contemporary pop music. She'd even recorded and funded her own album of demos, but when none of them led her to any great success she was ready to give up on music and go for a university place - until her then boyfriend encouraged her to do 'The X Factor'.

 

Auditioning with her now memorable rendition of Eva Cassidy's 'Over the Rainbow', Leona was quite unlike anything the show had discovered up until that point. Her soulful diva tones were being compared to the likes of Celine Dion and Mariah Carey - and all this whilst she was still just fighting it out with the other finalists to stay in the competition each week. But she was undeniably head and shoulders above the rest. Mentored by Simon she eventually went onto win the show, with her winner's single 'A Moment Like This' becoming the Christmas number one of 2006 and setting a record as the fastest selling music download ever, shifting 50,000 copies in just thirty minutes after it was made available to buy.

 

Attracting the attention of the now legendary Clive Davis, she was not only now with her record deal that she'd won back here in the UK but had also signed a multi million dollar deal with his J Records division of Sony Music in February the following year. Upon her return to the charts in October 2007, her debut single 'Bleeding Love' spent a whopping seven weeks at the top of the UK chart whilst her debut album 'Spirit' became the fastest selling album of the year. Then she did the unthinkable early the following year, and put herself on the map globally when the single then spent a month atop the Billboard Hot 100, making her the first British female to top the charts there since Kim Wilde in 1987.

 

More top 10 success followed throughout 2008 with her Sport Relief charity single 'Better in Time/Footprints in the Sand' and the Akon produced 'Forgive Me' before a re-release of 'Spirit' as a deluxe edition sent the album back to number one, along with a studio version of her celebrated cover of Snow Patrol's 'Run', that had been popularised by her after she'd covered it for the Live Lounge on BBC Radio 1, and still remains as the UK's fastest selling download only single ever. 2009 brought her long awaited second album, 'Echo', along with her first ever national tour 'The Labyrinth' (heavily influenced by her love of the Jim Henson/David Bowie flick of the same name) which was also released as a live CD/DVD package.

 

A huge change in sound came for last year's much delayed third album, 'Glassheart', which provided her with two more top 10 hits in 'Collide', a collaboration with dance producers Avicii, and 'Trouble'. She has now left her management company of 7 years, Modest, and will be back on the road for her second UK tour this spring including several dates at London's Royal Albert Hall. Her first photobook 'Dreams' was released in the autumn of 2009. A vegetarian and keen lover of animals, she has also lent tireless support to PETA's campaigns for animal rights, and she also became a guest judge for The X Factor's ninth series last year, filling in after Kelly Rowland had left the panel.

In the end, just 12 points seperated the final two - finishing runner up now it's...

 

2. KELLY CLARKSON (247 points)

('American Idol' series 1, winner, 19/RCA, 2002 - present)

 

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UK top 40 hits: 13

UK top 40 albums: 5

Biggest single: 'My Life Would Suck Without You', UK #1, March 2009

Biggest album: 'Breakaway', UK #3, July 2005

Best known for: being the original American idol

 

A born and bred Southern state girl, Kelly Clarkson had sought music as her refuge after her parents got divorced at the age of 6. She'd actually wanted to pursue a career in marine biology (until watching 'Jaws' made her decide otherwise), and was offered several different scholarships from universities upon graduating from high school. However, her encouragement from friends and teachers who'd seen perform in school productions and talent shows persuaded her to give music a shot. In her own words, she reasoned 'I've already written so much music and wanted to try a career on my own ... you're never too old to go to college'. She was offered several development deals by major labels who'd scouted her demos but was unhappy with the direction they were trying to push her in - to the same market that Britney and Christina were already sealing up rather nicely. This, combined with a lack of success from her moving to LA to seek her fame and fortune led her to moving resignedly back to Texas at the end of 2001. And then of course, 2002 came, which is where her story really starts.

 

Having had huge success with our version of Pop Idol, Fox secured a deal for Simon Cowell to be a judge on the US version, 'American Idol', which Kelly found herself auditioning for and then getting through to the live shows of, and having never once been in the bottom two she comfortably beat fellow finalist Justin Guarini with 58% of the vote to become its first ever victor in September, and her debut single, a double-a-side of 'Before Your Love' and 'A Moment Like This' (then Leona Lewis' X Factor winner's single four years later) leapt to the top of the US chart where it became the biggest selling single of 2002. Her double platinum debut album 'Thankful' was released in spring the following year and her debut single proper, the Christina Aguilera co-written 'Miss Independent' gave her another US top 10 hit as well as breaking her into the UK top 10. However, unhappy with contractual obligations as a result of being managed by Simon Fuller including her appearance in the US box office flop 'From Justin to Kelly' saw her leave 19 Management for Jeff Kwatinetz of The Firm, from which point onwards she began to take more creative control, starting with her second album, 2004's 'Breakaway'.

 

Selling over 12 million copies worldwide, and establishing her sound of powerful, slightly rock driven stadium pop, it also produced her worldwide hit 'Since U Been Gone' which really put her on the map in the UK as well as being her biggest US hit since her debut winner's single. More hit singles from this album followed into 2006 as she embarked on a world tour, before returning with her 'difficult' third album 'My December' in 2007. Wanting to exercise more creative control, it didn't quite match the phenomenal success that 'Breakaway' had enjoyed but established her creatively as an artist in her own right. 2009 saw her return to chart glory with her fourth album, 'All I Ever Wanted', which gave her her first and so far only UK number one with the Dr. Luke produced stormer 'My Life Would Suck Without You' as well as giving her her first US chart topper in 8 years. More success has followed in recent years with 2011's 'Stronger' album becoming another Transatlantic platinum hit, and the release of her first 'best of' album entitled 'Greatest Hits: Chapter One'. This year will see her release her first ever Christmas album, produced by Greg Kurstin, followed by her sixth album in 2014.

So, 40 acts later, and we've now reached your number one. As I said it was incredibly close between this lot and Kelly Clarkson at number two, but they just pulled ahead in the end. Buzzjack forums, your ultimate reality popstars are...

 

1. GIRLS ALOUD (259 points)

('Popstars: The Rivals', winners, Polydor/Fascination, 2002 - 2013)

 

 

UK top 40 hits: 22

UK top 40 albums: 7

Biggest single: 'Sound of the Underground', UK #1, December 2002

Biggest album: 'The Sound of Girls Aloud: Greatest Hits', UK #1, November 2006

Best known for: changing the face of reality pop and pop music itself

 

It's strange with that beautiful gift of hindsight how very different things might have been not just for reality pop, but for pop music generally had our final act not been around. For it's them who changed it all for the new decade and who really are probably the reason this countdown exists. But in the autumn of 2002, when 'Popstars: The Rivals' arrived on our screens over a year after the original series, the air was a different one. The producers had been inspired, following the post show chart rivalry of Hear'Say and Liberty X, and their premise this time was a simple one - make a boyband who'd be mentored by Pete Waterman, and a girl group who'd be mentored by Louis Walsh, and watch them battle it out for the Christmas number one.

 

Girl groups had died a bit of a death by this point in 2002, with Sugababes seen as being just that bit 'too cool for school' and Atomic Kitten now in their boring cycle of cover versions and mid tempos a minute, but boybands like Westlife, Busted and Blue were thriving. And common consensus dictated that the boyband - scrap that, 'vocal harmony group', who would eventually become One True Voice, would win due to the high volume of young girls and women who watched. So as Cheryl, Nicola, Nadine, Kimberley and Sarah formed before the public's eyes as Girls Aloud, the writing seemed to be on the wall that they'd release a cheesy ballad that'd do well off the back of the show and nothing more after that - but that was before what came next. And no one was prepared for that at all.

 

Originally intended to be the comeback single of Louis' other Polydor protegee, Samantha Mumba, a song called 'Sound of the Underground' made by the up and coming production team Xenomania landed on the newly formed girl group's A&R desk. This wasn't another victory lap ballad a la 'Evergreen' that the public was getting pretty sick of by this point, and as one critic pointed out, it didn't make you want to seriously harm everyone involved in its production. It sounded like a major league debut pop single. And when the avant garde, surf guitar drum'n'bass in-yer-face stonker finally came out against One True Voice's lame Bee Gees cover 'Sacred Trust', it beat it by a country mile to the top of the charts that Christmas, staying at number one for a month and breaking records.

 

Girls Aloud had arrived and not only ended up saving pop when it had fallen on its arse, but they redefined it for the new decade. Hit after hit, album after album and tour after tour kept coming steadily over the next five years as the likes of 'Love Machine', 'No Good Advice', 'Biology', 'Something Kinda Ooooh' and 'Call The Shots' had the public salivating and the critics cheering, and with an unbroken run of 20 consecutive UK top 10 hits they became the UK's biggest and best loved girl group since the Spice Girls. And their steady growing but huge success was finally consolidated in 2009 when their fourth UK #1 and signature tune 'The Promise' won them their first ever BRIT award.

 

Their three year hiatus however, saw them still very much within the public mindframe, as Cheryl went onto her mega huge solo success, Nicola and Nadine to their respective solo albums and business ventures, and Kimberley and Sarah to their acting careers on stage and off. Which made their celebration of their 10th anniversary last year all the more anticipated. And whilst they've now gone their seperate ways after a long and successful decade together, it will be very difficult indeed to ever forget them. The mark that they've left on reality pop and pop music means they'll be the leaders of the pack for some time to come.

Edited April 12, 201312 yr by ThePensmith

This countdown was an AMAZING read Pensmith. Thank you so much for doing this!

 

I'd have preferred a Kelly Clarkson win, but if she was to lose to any of the other acts, I'm pleased it was Girls Aloud. 'Breakaway' literally changed my life when I first heard it and literally from then on it was LOVE with Kelly. Girls Aloud were always great, 'Sound Of the Underground' is surely one of the greatest pop debut singles, of all time?

 

The top 5 is epic. Olly deserved to be above Alexandra, but this is Buzzjack, and I wasn't expecting him to be top 5 so it's a great result.

Fantastic countdown and an equally-satisfying result! Thanks so much for compiling this - the top ten is a pretty accurate list too (swapping Jordin Sparks and Diana Vickers for JLS and One Direction).