Popstars on DVD

• Cert:
• Cat.no: GVD 014
• Running time: 120 minutes
• Year: 2001
• Pressing: 2001
• Region(s): 2 (UK PAL)
• Chapters: 28
• Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround)
• Languages: English
• Subtitles: None
• Widescreen: 16:9
• 16:9-enhanced: Yes
• Macrovision: Yes
• Disc Format: DVD 5
• Price: £14.99
• Extras: TV Trailers

  Producer/Directors :

  James Breen, Tim Quicke and David O’Neill

  Narrator :

  Daniel Hill

Popstars is this year’s Big Brother,a show which actually gets the nation talking, despite whatever Eastenderspretends to declare on an incessant, regular basis.

I missed the first episode but was glued to the series afterwards. It becamelike a soap opera as the band members were eventually picked and we saw whathappened to them as they got to grips with stardom, culminating in the finaleon Sunday March 18th 2001, when, live, Suzanne, Myleene, Kym, Noel and Dannywere announced as hitting the top slot with their debut single Pure andSimple.

It was obvious that they would because these days the singles releases are carefullyscheduled so that the big, or the hyped, names don’t have to try too hard toget there. Their only real competition was the previous week’s No.1, Westlife‘sdire cover of Uptown Girl which was released in aid of Comic Relief,but they eclipsed them to sell over half-a-million copies in the first week,getting the fastest-selling single in the UK and heading for the thirdbiggest seller of all time, after Band Aid and Princess Diana‘s1997 cover of the Sugarcubes album track, Motorcrash… orsomething like that.

I know two hours can’t summarise an entire series in full that ran for countlessweeks, but this DVD release (also out on video at the same time) has been markeddown because it misses out the highlights since the band were revealed, bar afew moments as they get together in the house, although it is slightlycompensated at the start in the first ten minutes as they, individually, talkabout each other to camera. However, it means we do miss out on scenes suchas their Brits performance and the time when “Nasty” Nigel Lythgoe calledDracula’s daughter, Kym, fat and she told him to fuck off. I can understand,though, the need to get this DVD out quick-smart in case the popularity ofthe band wanes earlier than expected.

There are also highlights which feature the entrants that didn’t makethe final cut including the other five from the last ten which were signedup for an, as yet unnamed, band, Claire who the papers felt wasousted because her large frame wasn’t in keeping with the media’s desire foranoxeric teenagers, the ginger tosser who lost his shirt while living lavida loca and the loony who reckons he *will* havea triple platinum album by the time he’s 35, Darius.

For those who thought the band should’ve been called Popstars, notHear’Say, it was alleged that wasn’t possible because it was the titleof the programme itself which has been a hit around the world in the respectiveincarnations. Since then, The Priory‘s Jamie Theakston hasregistered the name “Popstars” for himself so not even the show can use itfor a second series, although they’re preparing a similar show, Pop Idolinstead in the search for a solo star. Will we get Darius again?!

I know of at least one section of the public who won’t have enjoyed this series:the girl-band Girl Thing. They maintain that Pure and Simple waswritten for them originally. They kicked off even more when their failingsingles sales led to them being dumped by their record company – and that’ssomething occuring more and more these days. If an artist, even high-profileones like Martine McCutcheon and Simply Red, has low albumand/or singles sales, they’re dropped quicker than a hot potato, so how longcan our latest teen-band stay at the top for?

Suzanne – my favourite 😉

As per the TV broadcasts, the presentation is in anamorphic 16:9 widescreenand it frequently utilises the full width of the frame. For such a recentshow you’d expect crystal clear quality with zero artifacts and, thankfully,Granada have turned up with the goods.The average bitrate is a steady 5.56Mb/s.

Sound quality is perfectly fine as well telling the tale for all of thosewith perfect pitch and those who sing like a seal, although many moments arejust dialogue.

There are a decent number of chapters here with 28 over the two hours.No subtitles are to be found though and the only extras are 3½ minutesof trailers (10 in total) as used on TV, starting with a main one and includingindividual highlights for Darius and Suzanne.

DVD high-point: Suzanne’s pneumatic chest.

DVD low-point: Shameless plugging of the show’s sponsors, T&T Beverages.Leave it in the broadcast, not on the DVD!

Noel, Danny, Myleene, Kym and Suzanne
audition for the Colgate advert

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