Guess who I'm listening to? http://bestsmileys.com/music2/9.gif

Guess who I'm listening to? http://bestsmileys.com/music2/9.gif

 

Have no idea ....give us a clue :heehee:

 

Little gap in his front teeth help? :naughty:

Little gap in his front teeth help? :naughty:

 

I know Will' s been off the music scene for a while but that's bordering on desperate...... Whose next Mr Cheese!!!!! :naughty:

Edited August 25, 200717 yr by truly talented

Hi maggiemags :hi:

 

Welcome to our lovely buzzjack Will forum. :welcome:

Hiya........thanks for nice welcome. I'd put in a smiley emoticon here if I could work out which little face is smiling...they all look a bit tipsy and cross eyed to me!!

Maybe that's a requirement of posting here lol!! :w00t:

Looking forward to regular visits....... Suggy looks familiar for starters :cheer:

I'm hopelessly DEVOTED too :D

Welcome to buzzjack maggiemags, :hi: I think you'll enjoy visiting here and it's a nice little place to come to.

This is the smile emoticon :) maggiemags & this one very happy :D

 

Hope you enjoy it here. We are a very devoted little family. :D The rest of the site ain't half bad either.

Edited August 25, 200717 yr by truly talented

Here is the first part of the book, as promised.

 

Page 135

On the final day in London, one of the producers came in and told us that we had a bit of a problem. Evidently, we had more girls than guys. “If you’re on the borderline with a singer,” this producer said, “and it’s a guy, try to put them through.” That very first season had many of these situations, we were learning as we went along. So the very last person of the entire audition process walked in – a boy wearing a funny old jumper with a stain on it and baggy jeans.

 

“What’s your name?” I said.

“Will,” he said. “Will Young.”

“What are you going to sing, Will?”

“Blame It on the Boogie” by the Jackson Five,” he said. It was a dance song, of course, and Will wasn’t a great dancer, but he had a good enough voice. I looked over to Nigel Lythgoe, who was standing off to the side, and he nodded tome. We put him through; to be honest, even a few days later I didn’t even remember him. I did remember thinking he reminded me of Howard from Take That.

 

 

Page 137

It was obvious that there was one clear favourite: Gareth. The other front runners were Rosie Ribbons (who made Pete cry at the auditions), Rik Waller (who made Pete go mental because he didn’t think a fat person could be a Pop Idol), Zoe Birkett, who had been very good in the last audition, and, of course, Darius, our dark horse. When we were deliberating from100 to 70, we created a ‘maybe’ room. This was for people we couldn’t really decide on. One of the occupants was a certain Will Young. Will hadn’t entered out radar. I remember the deliberations when we had to agree on the final 50 and Will’s name came up. Nobody had championed him because at this stage he hadn’t shone. I really thought at this point the competition would be between Gareth, Zoe, Rosie and Rik Waller.

 

 

Page 152

The third live show contained what, for the most people watching Pop Idol, was one of the show’s defining moments. It wasn’t that Chris Niblett, a decent singer who we put through, began to perform under the name Korben. No, it had to do with Will Young, and how he responded to my criticism. No-one had championed him. No-one was picking him to win. He was just a nice-looking boy with a nice attitude and a good voice. During one of those middle heats he came on and sang the Doors’ ‘Light My Fire’. Now remember that the performances the viewers see on television take place in a radically different context from the one they did while we were filming. The judges only see a singer. The audience at home sees a profile piece on video, then the singing and then the recap in the Green Room with Ant and Dec. In many ways, that additional content can determine whether a singer gets through. Will’s performance was a perfect example of this principle. His video was a very nicely edited piece that showed him quietly writing his diary, hoping I wasn’t going to criticise him. He spoke very eloquently. I didn’t see that, of course, and I didn’t care. For some reason that day I was in a bad mood. As a result, when Will stood in front of me and sang this song, the first thing that went through my mind was that I had heard this a million times. It reminded me of somebody at a family gathering singing round the piano and receiving a polite round of applause. I told him that, and Nicki Chapman encouraged him to say something back to me. This was probably the most important piece of advice Nicki had ever given anyone in her life. Will looked at me, took a deep breath and then responded. “I don’t think you could ever call that average.” He carried on and very methodically told me I was wrong. He was calm and eloquent.

 

(Simon goes on to say…..)

 

When I watched the show back that Saturday night I went pale. It suddenly dawned on me how strong and charming his personality was; even his song sounded better on the TV than it did in the room. In other words, I had got it spectacularly wrong!

 

I will continue with the bits about Will later on.

Edited August 26, 200717 yr by Pearl

Here is the first part of the book, as promised.

 

QUOTE

Page 135

On the final day in London, one of the producers came in and told us that we had a bit of a problem. Evidently, we had more girls than guys. “If you’re on the borderline with a singer,” this producer said, “and it’s a guy, try to put them through.” That very first season had many of these situations, we were learning as we went along. So the very last person of the entire audition process walked in – a boy wearing a funny old jumper with a stain on it and baggy jeans.

 

“What’s your name?” I said.

“Will,” he said. “Will Young.”

“What are you going to sing, Will?”

“Blame It on the Boogie” by the Jackson Five,” he said. It was a dance song, of course, and Will wasn’t a great dancer, but he had a good enough voice. I looked over to Nigel Lythgoe, who was standing off to the side, and he nodded tome. We put him through; to be honest, even a few days later I didn’t even remember him. I did remember thinking he reminded me of Howard from Take That.

 

 

Page 137

It was obvious that there was one clear favourite: Gareth. The other front runners were Rosie Ribbons (who made Pete cry at the auditions), Rik Waller (who made Pete go mental because he didn’t think a fat person could be a Pop Idol), Zoe Birkett, who had been very good in the last audition, and, of course, Darius, our dark horse. When we were deliberating from100 to 70, we created a ‘maybe’ room. This was for people we couldn’t really decide on. One of the occupants was a certain Will Young. Will hadn’t entered out radar. I remember the deliberations when we had to agree on the final 50 and Will’s name came up. Nobody had championed him because at this stage he hadn’t shone. I really thought at this point the competition would be between Gareth, Zoe, Rosie and Rik Waller.

 

 

Page 152

The third live show contained what, for the most people watching Pop Idol, was one of the show’s defining moments. It wasn’t that Chris Niblett, a decent singer who we put through, began to perform under the name Korben. No, it had to do with Will Young, and how he responded to my criticism. No-one had championed him. No-one was picking him to win. He was just a nice-looking boy with a nice attitude and a good voice. During one of those middle heats he came on and sang the Doors’ ‘Light My Fire’. Now remember that the performances the viewers see on television take place in a radically different context from the one they did while we were filming. The judges only see a singer. The audience at home sees a profile piece on video, then the singing and then the recap in the Green Room with Ant and Dec. In many ways, that additional content can determine whether a singer gets through. Will’s performance was a perfect example of this principle. His video was a very nicely edited piece that showed him quietly writing his diary, hoping I wasn’t going to criticise him. He spoke very eloquently. I didn’t see that, of course, and I didn’t care. For some reason that day I was in a bad mood. As a result, when Will stood in front of me and sang this song, the first thing that went through my mind was that I had heard this a million times. It reminded me of somebody at a family gathering singing round the piano and receiving a polite round of applause. I told him that, and Nicki Chapman encouraged him to say something back to me. This was probably the most important piece of advice Nicki had ever given anyone in her life. Will looked at me, took a deep breath and then responded. “I don’t think you could ever call that average.” He carried on and very methodically told me I was wrong. He was calm and eloquent.

 

(Simon goes on to say…..)

 

When I watched the show back that Saturday night I went pale. It suddenly dawned on me how strong and charming his personality was; even his song sounded better on the TV than it did in the room. In other words, I had got it spectacularly wrong!

I will continue with the bits about Will later on.

 

 

This is all very enlightening Pearl and it makes you wonder just how much of what happens in life is down to "Kismet", I also think that while it suddenly dawned on Simon "how strong and charming Will's personality was" he still failed to realise how strong Will's strength of charactor was and is, but I bet he soon realised after the show that Will would be no pushover and would be just as stubborn as himself at wanting to do his own thing. I honestly think that's why Will was offloaded to Simon Fuller so early and Cowell pushed on with Gareth who was younger and more easily manageable than Will.

Here is the next bit. There is not much more about Will. Simon mentions Will's version of Ain't No Sunshine as being one of the best performances (after Gareth's Unchained Melody!

 

Page 155

Within a few days, I realised that Will had made a bigger impact than I had thought. Pete Waterman told me that he believed Will would win, and Simon fuller, too, phoned me to tell me that he thought Will was the one to watch. I still sensed that it was a one-horse race; that Gareth Gates was going to walk away with the title.

 

Page 170

(Simon talking about Gareth)

There were a number of things that didn’t help his (Gareth’s) chances of winning the show. Firstly, technically Will is a better singer than Gareth. Secondly, everyone thought Gareth was winning every one of the live shows. He wasn’t, will was. The week before the final it was reported that there was a tiny difference separating Will and Gareth, but Gareth was winning. It gave the impression that Gareth was more popular and therefore Will needed help. This was reflected in the bookmakers’ odds that had Gareth as the clear favourite. I don’t think it helped Gareth’s cause. I was probably too sycophantic over him and this may have put people off voting for him. Anyway, I was a fan and , like everyone else on the night, I had a favourite.

 

Page 171

(Simon talking about Will)

People say that the confrontation between myself and Will in the early round caused a barrier. The truth is simpler; he knew that I wanted his main rival to win. I hardly spoke to Will at all throughout the competition. I complimented him many times on the show, but I was never able to get passionate about his performances in the same way as Idid about Gareth’s. Looking back, I can appreciate Will’s position more. The only time we really got to talk was when I recorded the single ‘Evergreen’ with him because we had to have the three finalists record at the same time. Gareth and Darius had already record it, and Will came down to the studio and told me he didn’t like the record. I asked him why, and he said, “It’s a po record and it’s not the sort of song I like.”

 

Page 174

The media were absolutely convinced Gareth was going to walk it, but I had a feeling in the back of my mind that Will would win. In fact, despite my personal preference, if I had had £1,000 to but at the time I would have put it on Will a week before the final.

 

(Simon thinks Will has lost his spark in the rehearsals…..)

When Will walked on for his first song, he was a different person from the one I’d seen in rehearsals and the excitement from the audience was incredible. That’s when I turned to Pete again and said, “I was wrong earlier, Will is going to walk it.”

When I watched the show back that Saturday night I went pale. It suddenly dawned on me how strong and charming his personality was; even his song sounded better on the TV than it did in the room. In other words, I had got it spectacularly wrong!

 

Didn't you just :yahoo:

 

Simon continued to be horrible about Will a long time after the show. I'm sure I've got a clip from, was it 'Liquid News' where Simone had said something about Will then later made a public apology?

 

Can someone help me out with the details?

 

Thanks for typing that up Pearl

Edited August 26, 200717 yr by Filthy/Gorgeous

Thanks for taking the time to type all that up Pearl. It's great to see Simon admitting in print that Will is a better singer than Gareth. His favouritism towards Gareth blinded him to Will's immense talent. I'm pleased they never built any kind of relationship during the show & Simon continued to support Gareth afterwards (though I didn't feel that way at the time). Thank goodness on final night the public got it right & weren't taken in by Simon's hype. The way Will conducted himself during Pop Idol is very much the same dignified & determined way he has handled his career & why he has the admiration & respect of his fans & those who work with him.

Thanks Pearl, so many inaccuracies put out by the show and printed by the media, even I fell for it but I hoped people would vote for Will's vocals and not for the sob story and hype, while I've never liked Darius, even I knew he'd been given c**p songs to sing by Cowell and both Will and Darius were seriously wronged, by being expected to record and inject any life and soul into such an insipid Westlife song like Evergreen, Will's version on final night wiped the floor with Gareth's though imo. I was quite disappointed when that version wasn't the recorded one but I still bought a copy, just the one. :D

Didn't you just :yahoo:

 

Simon continued to be horrible about Will a long time after the show. I'm sure I've got a clip from, was it 'Liquid News' where Simone had said something about Will then later made a public apology?

 

Can someone help me out with the details?

 

Thanks for typing that up Pearl

 

Didn't he publicly say in the states that Will didn't want to work with him so he was putting all his energies into Gareth & that the wrong man had won. I remember Nigel Lythgoe being interviewed & saying Simon had completely overstepped the mark. Simon was then shown apologising blaming it on the alcohol but by then the damage was done. Will displayed a dignified silence throughout but I'm sure this gave him his get out clause from working with Cowell. I also remember the Liquid News presenters being sympathetic with Will & saying Cowell was killing his cash cow. They gave Will's career 6 months. How wrong were they! : :yahoo:

 

 

I've always thought that Simon would admit to anything but the real reason why he didn't want Will to win, and that was his sexuality.

 

Although Will hadn't come out to the public, according to one well known journalist, who has since written a book on all things pop, Will's sexuality was common knowledge in the industry and obviously with those connected to the show.

 

I'm not accusing Simon of being prejudiced, just that I think having a gay man as the UKs very first PI didn't fit into Simon's plans in any shape or form. He might even have been routed in that 50's mind set of Larry Parnes when all of the stars in his management stable had to keep stum about their sexual preferences.

 

In the end, that Will is Gay hasn't mattered a jot in the UK (I still think that this is probably the reason for not attempting to break into the US though) but Simon couldn't forsee that, no one could, so it was far safer to go with someone who was the epitome of a young, pretty, girl attracting pop star.

 

Whatever, Simon has moved on to his next projects of the moment, Will's been the success PI promised it's winner would be and it all worked out very well in the end. :D

I've always thought that Simon would admit to anything but the real reason why he didn't want Will to win, and that was his sexuality.

 

Although Will hadn't come out to the public, according to one well known journalist, who has since written a book on all things pop, Will's sexuality was common knowledge in the industry and obviously with those connected to the show.

 

I'm not accusing Simon of being prejudiced, just that I think having a gay man as the UKs very first PI didn't fit into Simon's plans in any shape or form. He might even have been routed in that 50's mind set of Larry Parnes when all of the stars in his management stable had to keep stum about their sexual preferences.

 

In the end, that Will is Gay hasn't mattered a jot in the UK (I still think that this is probably the reason for not attempting to break into the US though) but Simon couldn't forsee that, no one could, so it was far safer to go with someone who was the epitome of a young, pretty, girl attracting pop star.

 

Whatever, Simon has moved on to his next projects of the moment, Will's been the success PI promised it's winner would be and it all worked out very well in the end. :D

 

I'm sure your right Marguerite. That and the fact from very early on he sensed Will wouldn't be his puppet. Will said in 'Anything is Possible' that he discussed the question of revealing his sexuality with someone connected to the show so it was obviously common knowledge.

 

I'm also sure Max Clifford pushed Will into his early public outing ( although I'm sure he would have done so himself in his own time) probably hoping this would clear the way for Simon's blue eyed boy. :arrr: I know it's all water under the bridge now but it still rankles how Will was treated. :(

Edited August 26, 200717 yr by truly talented

 

 

I'm sure you're right about Max Clifford TT, a man I despise more than Louis Walsh, odious little scrote.

Although Will hadn't come out to the public, according to one well known journalist, who has since written a book on all things pop, Will's sexuality was common knowledge in the industry and obviously with those connected to the show.

 

When he was criticised later for not coming out before or during the show he said "I went on to try and convince people I could sing - not that I could shag 'em" and "If anyone had asked me I would have told them". Jessica did ask him and he told her "Yes, you funny little Welsh girl, I am gay". Attitude magazine picked up on this too saying "There was never a direct declaration of his proclivities during his PI triumph but crucially there were no denials, either".

 

In other words, as far as Will was concerned, his private life was his business and had no relevance to his efforts to break into the industry. He wanted to be judged on his singing abilities not who he slept with.In the end it was Will who sold himself.

 

As you say Marguerite it only mattered to Cowell because he just didn't know how he was going to 'sell' him to the public if he won. There always has to be a 'hook' for Cowell. Gareth's stammer, Michelle's weight, Leona's similarity to Mariah and now with this latest XFactor he has a soldier who doesn't want to go back to Iraq.

 

 

When Darius brought out his book claiming he was going to tell all about his time on PI I bought it thinking it was going to tell all the backstage secrets. It didn't - how disappointed was I! :P

Edited August 26, 200717 yr by munchkin

Thanks pearl for taking the time to post all that info ... i still get goose bumps when thinking about the final :w00t: