Ahhh, that's so lovely!

Sarah would've been 43 years old today. Rest in peace, Sarah. :cry:

 

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Happy birthday Sarah :wub:

With all the talk about Sarah lately, if Javine had beaten her to the last place in Girls Aloud, would Sarah have been part of Clea instead or do you think she would started an immediate solo career? She would have ended up a footnote either way.

Edited November 18, 2024Nov 18 by zenon

Random... what were Clea? A spin off girl band?

 

I assume she would have done of course, who wouldn't take the opportunity? Either way I am delighted Sarah made it into the band, I don't have the feeling they would have lasted as long as they did without the formation we got.

Yeah, Clea were basically the leftovers that formed a shortlived girlband that had like a couple of top 40 hits. Although I think "Clea" was named after the first letters of each member's name so would've been called something entirely different too!

Download it! I mean, stream it x

 

 

 

It's really hard to imagine the alternate reality where Sarah missed out on Girls Aloud. I lean towards thinking she'd have joined Chloe, Lynsey, Emma and Aimée to make up a 5 piece girl group (as Aly said, with a different name!).

 

During Popstars The Rivals, a lot of the hype and praise was focused on Javine over pretty much any of the other girls (bar Nadine) - which I'd say is the main reason Javine went solo instead of choosing Clea. There was a narative that Javine was an obvious star. Comparatively, Sarah wasn't given the level of attention Javine had... so I'm not sure a solo career would have felt like a good option over getting to be in a girl group. All of the boys who didn't make it into One True Voice were in a band called Phixx, and from memory I don't think any of them were really lauded like Javine was.

 

Thank goodness Sarah ended up making Girls Aloud. I always remember how sombre and awkward it was when Sarah was revealed over Javine, and how the energy of the rest of the programme was more to be shocked/disappointed at Javine not making it, rather than celebrating Sarah. I'd go as far as to say it was a cruel decision of the programme makers to put Sarah in the position of a "final two, which one makes it?". But of course, this is ancient history, and it became clear so quickly that Sarah was a vital choice. :wub: A somewhat rare moment of the British public getting it right!

Oh the British public 100% got it right! I remember being so shocked that Javine missed out when watching it, but I do think all this "star" of the show hype lauded on her would have caused her to leave the group sooner to go solo, meaning Girls Aloud wouldn't have lasted as long. Plus Sarah brought such chemistry (pun intended) to the band, she was the "wild child" "rocky" "cooler" one, a bit like Mel B was to Spice Girls. Cannot imagine a Girls Aloud without her in it period.

Yeah if Javine had got that last spot over Sarah, CLEA would have become something like LACES or SCALE. :lol:

 

Thank God she did make it through and, yes, totally remember the awkward reception to Sarah getting in over Javine! It almost made it seem like she was the runt of the litter. :( Javine would have 100% left Girls Aloud within a year, probably around the time they were on the verge of being dropped (between Jump and The Show was it?) and GA probably would have crumbled from then on. In retrospect, I wonder if the underdog (Sarah) getting the place over the hyped (Javine) actually contributed to Girls Aloud's momentum/crushing the boys in the chart battle? Obviously SOTU being a banger was a main factor but let's be real, this was the early 00s when crap boybands often outsold quality pop songs. :kink: