Popstars Live was an Australian music talent show television program similar to Australian Idol that aired on the Seven Network in early 2004. It was an evolution of the original Popstars TV show which aired between 2000 and 2002 on Seven. The show spawned a single and album that made the ARIA charts in April that year.
Popstars Live premiered on the Seven Network in February 2004. It was scheduled to run for 16 weeks and was originally slated to air on Sunday and Wednesday nights. During its short run Popstars Live had a troubled history, with two key personnel, Christine Anu and John Paul Young, leaving the program in April 2004 while others have publicly expressed their own concerns about the show. The show was also a ratings failure.
Origins
Popstars Live was based on the original Popstars, a reality television program that was broadcast on the Seven Network between 2000 and 2002. The aim of that program was to select members for a group or a solo singer and follow the process of recording a single and/or album and the subsequent promotion of the record made by the artists.
The Australian TV show saw the creation of three acts which enjoyed initial success:
Bardot (2000) a girl group number one single and album; Scandal'us (2001) a mixed pop group, number one single, number two album; Scott Cain (2002) a male singer, number one single.
While the first season of Popstars was one of the most popular programs on Australian television in 2000, its popularity steadily declined in later seasons. In 2003, the Seven Network rested the concept. However, the success of Australian Idol, a show that became the most popular program on Australian television that year, soon led to the Seven Network revisiting the Popstars format.
Record sales for Idol contestants also played a role in the resurrection of Popstars with Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian releasing an album Just as I Am that went six times platinum in Australia and runner up Shannon Noll's That's What I'm Talking About striking up sales of five times platinum. Hoping to emulate the success of BMG Records, which had signed on Sebastian and Noll, Universal Music quickly signed up for the new series.
Format
The first five episodes featured the selection of the finalists by the judges. The finalists would then sing live in front of an audience with one finalist being eliminated each week until the final winner is selected. The program aimed to attract a large proportion of voters under 25, a similar as Australian Idol.
Cast
The Popstars Team consisted of:
Luke Jacobz host; Ian "Molly" Meldrum judge; Christine Anu judge; Shauna Jensen judge; Tania Doko artist mentor; John Paul Young artist mentor;
The judges initially said that they would offer constructive criticism to the contestants unlike the strong and sometimes personal criticism offered by Mark Holden and Ian "Dicko" Dickson of rival series Australian Idol.
Finalists
The finalists were (in order of elimination): Tarryn Wall Renee Simone Kiki Courtidis Don Pancho Daniel Hamill Arrnott Olssen Eleven (Luke and Nick) Sarah Gardner - who made it into the top 63 in Australian Idol 2007 - see image 10 of the top 63 at http://www.australianidol.com.au/photos.html?xmlFile=830.xml Miranda Murphy, from Perth, Western Australia. On 12 July 2004, her debut single, "That Girl" debuted at number 19 on the Australian singles charts on 22 July 2004. After an unusually lengthy hiatus from the music scene, and a general lack of activity, it is widely suspected she has been dropped by her record company, due to poor single sales, and a national declining interest in 'bubblegum pop' products of talent quest programs. She now works at "Jaanz school of singing". Kayne Taylor, from Melbourne, Victoria who won the 2004 Australian season.
Contestants Bunny and Xy were axed from the program in controversial circumstances. Kayne Taylor ended up winning altogether, defeating Miranda Murphy in the final.
Reception and controversies
The first live performance attracted disappointing ratings when broadcast, attracting only 850,000 in Australian mainland capitals, finishing behind American Idol on Network Ten and shows on the Nine Network. David Leckie, the managing director of the Seven Network, blamed the disappointing ratings on what he considered to be the bland comments of the judges and pressured the producers to ensure that the judges made stronger comments.