Show name	Pop Idol
Country	United Kingdom
Format	Talent show
Picture format
Creator	Simon Fuller
Presenter	Ant & DecKate Thornton
Judges	Simon CowellPete WatermanNicki ChapmanNeil Fox
Channel	ITV
First aired
Last aired
Num episodes	46
Num series	2
Producer	19 EntertainmentThames Television

Pop Idol was a British television series which debuted on ITV on 5 October 2001. The show was a talent contest to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the United Kingdom, based on viewer voting and participation. A second series was broadcast in 2003. Pop Idol was replaced in 2004 with The X Factor.

The Idol series has become an international franchise, although a legal dispute with the makers of Popstars meant that the word "Pop" had to be excluded from the title. As such, spin-offs have included American Idol, Australian Idol, Latin American Idol, Idols (Denmark, Netherlands, Finland, South Africa, West Africa, Serbia-Montenegro & Macedonia), Idool (Belgium), Canadian Idol, Indian Idol, Indonesian Idol, New Zealand Idol, Hay Superstar (Armenia), Idol stjörnuleit (Iceland), Pinoy Idol (Philippines), Idol (Sweden), Idol (Norway), Idol (Poland), Nouvelle Star (France), Deutschland sucht den Superstar (Germany), Singapore Idol, Malaysian Idol, Vietnam Idol, Music Idol (Bulgaria), Ídolos (Brazil and Portugal), Greek Idol (Greece), SuperStar (Arab States), Hrvatska traži zvijezdu (Croatia), SuperStar KZ (Kazakhstan), Eesti otsib superstaari (Estonia), Slovensko hľadá SuperStar (Slovakia) and the future Macedonian Idol (Macedonia).

Series format

One of the UK's top-earning TV format exports, Pop Idol made extensive use of premium-priced viewer interactivity, with viewers voting by telephone, mobile telephone texting (not used on series one), through the "red button" on digital television sets, or via the official website. The final of the first series of Pop Idol in February 2002 received the highest-ever one-night vote for a UK TV show, making the show one of ITV's most profitable. The sister show on ITV2, Pop Idol Extra, hosted by Kate Thornton also made extensive use of mobile phone text messages to raise additional revenue. The first Pop Idol received very high voting figures despite allowing only telephone and Internet voting and not making use of texting or the "red button".

The Saturday night primetime show initially followed the audition process, as hopefuls sang before four judges (record producer and music executive Pete Waterman, music executive and music manager Simon Cowell, music promoter and music manager Nicki Chapman and Radio DJ and television personality Neil "Dr" Fox) at various locations around the UK. Besides the successful auditionees, the poorest "singers" were often aired due to their obvious lack of talent or presence. Poor singers often faced harsh criticisms from the judges, especially from Simon Cowell (whose controversial rantings also made him famous on American Idol). The judges' reactions to such performances often ranged from disgust to nearly open laughter; their style of judgement and attitude towards pop-star wannabes resulted in the controversial opinions of others about the show's setup, including that of Take That manager, Nigel Martin Smith.

The viewing public quickly fell in love with the format though, as viewing figures indicated. Watching middle aged men openly critique hapless teenagers and young adults proved to be popular television as those watching at home experienced a satisfying sense of schadenfreude. The judges' policy of speaking candidly would have to be sanitised in series 2, however, as it received condemnation from MPs.

Once the first round of auditions were completed, the series moved to the Criterion Theatre, where further auditions saw the judges decide on a group of 50. Unusually, this was the final point at which the judges had direct control over the contestants' fates, as the remainder of the results would be driven solely by viewer voting.

Stage 3 of the series took place in a conventional TV studio. The 50 contestants were split into five groups of ten, each of whom sang one song for the judges, accompanied only by a piano. Each judge offered their opinion, and at the end of the pre-recorded show phone lines opened for votes. Later the same evening a live show followed in which the voting results were revealed, the top two earning a place in the final ten. In series 2, a wildcard round (an innovation that originated on American Idol) was added, in which the judges selected ten rejected contestants and gave them a second chance. In this special edition, one contestant (Susanne Manning) was selected by the viewer vote, and one (Sam Nixon), chosen by the judges. This meant that the next stage began with twelve contestants, rather than the ten in series 1.

For the final stage, the show moved to a more lavish TV set, where all remaining contestants sang on live television, accompanied by either a backing track or live band. Most editions had a theme, with contestants singing songs from a particular genre or artist (no original songs were performed at any stage in the competition). Again, the judges offered comments, but the results were decided by viewer voting. Again, a live results show was broadcast later in the evening, but this time the singer with the fewest votes was eliminated, the rest continuing to the following week, until only the winner remained.

Exceptions to the usual format were limited. In series 1, Darius Danesh was promoted to the live shows when Rik Waller dropped out. Danesh was third in the results for the group where Waller had won his place. Also, the first two live shows of series 2 saw two contestants leave, in order to rebalance the numbers after the addition of the two extra performers from the wildcard show.

Results and legacy

The first series was won by Will Young, with Gareth Gates coming second. Michelle McManus won the second series. All of the top three contestants from series 1 had number 1 singles in the UK. Will Young continues to be a recording artist. Darius Danesh had two hit albums and has appeared in the West End musicals Chicago, playing the role of Billy Flynn, and Gone with the Wind, originating the role of Rhett Butler. He also appeared in the touring version of Guys and Dolls as Sky Masterson. Gareth Gates initially had great success, which later dried up (though his third album, released in June 2007, charted at No. 23). Finalists Rosie Ribbons and Zoe Birkett have both scored chart hits, whilst Jessica Garlick represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002. Semi-finalist Sarah Whatmore had two chart hits, despite failing to be voted into the top 10. Series 2 contestants enjoyed significantly less chart success, which many believe damaged the credibility of the show and helped hasten its demise in its home country.

Immediately after the second series of Pop Idol, the same set was used to host World Idol, in which winners of various Idol series around the world, including original Pop Idol winner Will Young, American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson and Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian, competed in a one-off competition, complete with a large judging panel featuring one judge from each country (Simon Cowell officially representing American Idol, with Pete Waterman the "official" UK judge). The surprise winner was Norway's Kurt Nilsen, who proceeded to minor UK chart success. Cowell was strongly critical of World Idol, and it is highly unlikely to be staged again.

After the second series of Pop Idol in 2003, ITV put the show on indefinite hiatus. This was because judge and music executive Simon Cowell wished to produce his own show, The X Factor, which he and his record label (Syco) held the rights to. In 2005, Pop Idol creator Simon Fuller filed a lawsuit against The X Factor producers claiming that the format was copied from his own show. The case was eventually settled out of court.

ITV's licence to produce Pop Idol has since expired, meaning that other channels could theoretically acquire the series. Despite rumours (see below), no broadcaster has since acquired the rights to the format in the UK.

Despite running for only two series, Pop Idols impact was immense and led 19 Entertainment and Fremantle Media to roll the format out globally; currently there are over 50 versions in 110 countries, including, notably, American Idol, again featuring Cowell as a judge.

Series one (2001/02)

¹ Had been eliminated in previous rounds, but reinstated following Rik Waller's exit.

Series two (2003)

Note: Following the completion of the series, the official Pop Idol companion book published percentages of votes for each contestant every week. In some circumstances, the book suggested that the bottom 2 or 3 contestants were not the same as announced by the show hosts. It is not known if the incorrect result was announced, or if the book merely made a typing error. However, the contestant deemed to have had the lowest percentage was always eliminated on that week, meaning the overall result of the show was not changed.

Relaunch of Pop Idol

On 1 October 2006, ITV's licence to produce Pop Idol in the UK ran out and its creator Simon Fuller, with co-producers FremantleMedia and 19 Television, began talking to UK broadcasters about reviving the show in a revamped format on a different channel. While Sky1 and Five initially expressed interest in buying the show, no revival has been announced.

Video games

Pop Idol was released as a video game developed by Codemasters for the PlayStation 2 on October 30, 2003. The player creates his/her own singer, then they must sing their way through the auditions, theatre stages, heats, and then the finals. The game increases in difficulty as the player progresses through the competition. With each stage of the finals, one or two players with the least public vote tally are eliminated. The gameplay mainly consists of lining up a moving symbol with a fixed object in the centre of the screen and pressing the corresponding symbol on the game's controller. If the player presses it when the symbol is in the middle of the circle, their singer sings a good note. If he or she presses it when it is not in the circle, or mistimes their press, the singer sings a bad note.

Related programmes

The Idol format has been launched in dozens of nations worldwide, and there have been many imitations of the programme.

A World Idol international television special was held in December 2003, featuring national first series Idol contest winners competing against each other; viewers worldwide voted Norwegian Idol's Kurt Nilsen "World Idol".

The similar Popstars format preceded Pop Idol, and was succeeded in Britain by one series of Popstars The Rivals and six series so far of The X Factor. After Popstars producers threatened legal action, a deal was struck that, among other clauses, does not allow the use of the word "pop" in the title of Pop Idol editions outside of the UK.

See also

List of Pop Idol contestant music releases

American Idol

Australian Idol

Popstars

Fame Academy

The X Factor

Starmania

External links

References

Category:2000s British television series Category:2001 in British television Category:2001 television series debuts Category:2003 television series endings Category:Idol television series Category:ITV television programmes *

Name	Will Young
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	William Robert Young
Born	January 20, 1979Wokingham, Berkshire, England, United Kingdom
Genre	Pop
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, Actor
Years active	2001–present
Label	19 Recordings, Sony Music
Url	www.WillYoung.co.uk

William Robert "Will" Young (born 20 January 1979) is a British singer-songwriter and actor.

Early life

Young was born in Wokingham, Berkshire, with a fraternal twin, Rupert. He also has an elder sister.

Education

Young was educated at three independent schools: Horris Hill School near the village of Newtown in Berkshire and from the age of thirteen, at Wellington College in Crowthorne, also in Berkshire, and at D'Overbroeck's College in Oxford, Oxfordshire. On 31 December 2009, Radio 1 confirmed that "Anything Is Possible"/"Evergreen" was the biggest selling single of the 2000s decade in the United Kingdom.

Young's second album, Friday's Child, was released in December 2003. It features the singles "Leave Right Now", nominated in the Best British single category of the past 25 years at the 2005 BRIT Awards "Your Game" (which won Young his second BRIT Award in 2005) and "Friday's Child" In November 2005, Young released his third album, Keep On, which included the single "All Time Love", nominated in the Best British Single category at the 2007 BRIT Awards. Other singles from the album were "Switch It On" and "Who Am I".

On 29 September 2008, Young's fourth album, Let It Go , was released it peaked at Nº2, preceded by the single "Changes" on 15 September it peaked at Nº10. His next single "Grace" was released on 1 December 2008, and peaked at Nº33 on the UK Singles Chart. Will's third single taken from the album will be "Let It Go", was released on 2 March 2009 in the UK, and peaked at Nº58 on the UK Singles Chart. The fourth and final single was "Tell Me the Worst", and was released on July 5, 2009 only in the UK. It served as a club promo, and featured some Fred Falke remixes.

On an interview with Digital Spy, he revealed that he was working on a Dance-Pop album, which might be released in late 2009. He also confirmed that he was working with British duo Groove Armada, Superbass, who remixed his UK Top 10 single "Changes", and Gregg Alexander, who has previously worked with British pop diva Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Geri Halliwell. He also confirmed that he is working on an album covering songs from Noel Coward, which is yet on the very early stages and he "doesn't know if it will end up".

Young's greatest hits collection was released on 16 November 2009. It includes two brand new songs, one of them the single "Hopes & Fears". The album was a success on the charts, being certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.

In 2010 Will Young collaborated with Groove Armada on their album Black Light, singing vocals on the track 'History'.

Performing

In early 2002, Young joined his fellow Pop Idol contestants in a nationwide arena tour. The final concert at Wembley was in aid of The Prince's Trust, of which Young is an ambassador, together with Gareth Gates and Darius Danesh, the runner-up and third-placed contestant in Pop Idol. In June 2002, Young performed at the Queen's Jubilee Concert in the grounds of Buckingham Palace, singing "We Are the Champions" with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor.

During July 2002, Young sang at two concerts with the renowned songwriter Burt Bacharach at Hammersmith Apollo and at the Liverpool Summerpops event. In August 2002, he performed at the closing ceremony of the 2002 Commonwealth Games, singing "I Get the Sweetest Feeling" in the pouring rain. He was praised by the announcer, Grandmaster Flash, who said that it was not easy entering a talent show. November 2002 brought an appearance at the Royal Command Performance. In November 2003, Young performed the wartime song "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square", accompanied by The Squadronaires, at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Following a sell-out theatre tour in 2004, Young appeared at The Olympic Torch Concert, performing a duet of "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" with soul legend James Brown. Later that year, he embarked upon his first solo arena tour, another sell-out success. He toured again at outside festival venues in mid 2005. In July 2005, he performed at Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push, the final concert of Live 8, a charity concert in Edinburgh to raise awareness of the plight of Africa, where he duetted with James Brown once again and also sang with One Giant Leap, Neneh Cherry and Maxi Jazz. In November 2005, Young appeared in his second Royal Command Performance. From 12 September until 2 October 2006, Young toured the UK with his Keep On Live tour, which included the songs taken from his album Keep On and a selection of past songs. The official merchandise range for the tour, highlighted by the press, included a "tip and strip" pen which, when turned over, reveals Young in his underpants. In October 2006, Young sang at Nitin Sawhney's concert in the BBC Electric Proms series of concerts. He followed this by performing in South Africa for Nelson Mandela's Unite of the Stars charity concerts.

In July 2007, he appeared at the Concert for Diana at the new Wembley Stadium. Young was the headline act at the Proms in the Park, which took place in Hyde Park in September 2007 as part of the Last Night of the Proms. In September 2007, Young performed at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club with the Vanguard Big Band. Young took part in the Little Noise Sessions, a series of intimate, acoustic gigs for the learning disability charity, Mencap. He performed in November 2007 with special guests at Islington's Union Chapel.

In April 2008, Young again appeared at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club with the Vanguard Big Band. Young is to perform at various festivals during mid 2008, including Glastonbury, T In the Park in Scotland and Bestival on the Isle of Wight.

On 24 August 2008 Young appeared at the Olympic Party which took place in The Mall, London. He performed his latest single Changes and I Can See Clearly Now, which was originally sung by Johnny Nash.

Young is also featured singing in trailers for the recording/film making group 1 Giant Leap's newest project "What About Me?"

Young was the featured singer on the X-Factor programme on ITV1 on Saturday 1 November 2008. He also mentored the remaining contestants.

Young performed in a sell-out theatre tour, commencing on 16 November 2008 and continuing until 13 December 2008 with two dates at The Roundhouse in Camden, London.

On 31 December 2008 Young was featured as a guest on Elton John's Live New Year show at the O2 Arena in London. He joined Sir Elton in the song Daniel.

Young will be performing at various festivals across the UK during the summer of 2009, starting with the Isle of Wight Festival on Saturday 13 June, including T4 On The Beach on Sunday 19 July.

Young was one of the performers at the BBC's "Live at Blackpool" programme on BBC Radio 2 on Saturday 5 September 2009.

Young toured again in the UK at the end of 2009. He took to the stage at The Waterfront, Belfast on the opening night on 9 November, finishing up at the Brighton Centre on 6 December.

As part of his 2010 outdoor summer tour, it was announced that he would be a special guest and play on the Queen's Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. Pop singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor will be his supporting act for his 2010 tour.

Recently his 2003 song Leave Right Now has been featured on American Idol as the "departing song". He also performed live on the programme on 25 May 2010. Young gave his first U.S. concert on May 26 at West Hollywood's Ultra Suede nightclub. He was also featured on the cover of the U.S. magazine Instinct.

Other projects

Acting career

Young added acting to his repertoire when he accepted a role in the BBC film Mrs. Henderson Presents, starring Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins, in which he played Bertie. The film was released in the UK in November 2005 to excellent reviews—not least for Young's performance as both actor and singer in the film. The scene, in which Young appears naked, postdated his "absolutely thrilled" acceptance of the British male Rear of the Year Award 2005, an accolade to add to the Most Stylish Male Music Star, Best Bod, Sexiest Star, Best Dressed and Best Hair awards he had already won.

Young trod the boards in the Royal Exchange Theatre's production of The Vortex by Noel Coward. This production ran from January to March 2007 and Young played the leading role of Nicky Lancaster. Critics, including Nicholas de Jongh, were very positive.

In October 2007 Young narrated an audio version of the Roald Dahl novel Danny, the Champion of the World.

Young also appears in the Marple drama The Mirror Crack'd From Side To Side and guest starred in an episode of Skins in 2010.

He will be starring in a new drama series on Sky Living called Bedlam, about supernatural happenings taking place at a disused asylum being converted into loft-style apartments. The £3 million six-part series will begin to air in February 2011. It will be distributed by BBC Worldwide.

Television documentaries

In November 2004, Young presented a documentary entitled Runaways as part of the Children in Need campaign, highlighting the problems facing distressed teens who run away from home, and the plight they were in being picked up off the streets and railway stations by pimps who offered them work and drugs. The children did not know where to go for immediate help unless they were picked up by the police and sent to a refuge centre.

During June 2007 a series of documentaries entitled Saving Planet Earth was shown on BBC Television. Young filmed an episode about saving the gorillas of West Africa during his visit to Africa earlier in the year.

In March 2009, ITV1 arts programme The South Bank Show presented an hour long fly on the wall documentary about Young that they had been filming over the course of the year as he returned to promote the Let It Go album. It showed him in Iceland filming the video for the Let It Go single, backstage before his performance on The X Factor and on his UK theatre tour from November 2008 amongst other segments.

Young has been made a "Companion" of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.

Young was a guest on Topgear during season 12 episode 2 and was the fastest wet lap around the track

Young is making a documentary about Ralph Fiennes production of Shakespeare's Coriolanus which is being filmed in Serbia. He also has a small role in the film as well as being Executive Producer. In October 2008 he was invited to appear on Question Time after he revealed he was a fan of the show. He participated in the edition from Dunstable in February 2009.

Young is an ambassador for Catch22 a UK young people's charity, which supports young people in tough situations. The young people may come from tough upbringings or neighbourhoods, where poverty, crime and unemployment are common features. They may be leaving care, truanting, or have been excluded from school. Some of them have started getting into trouble with the police or may have got as far as custody. Will Young visited a youth inclusion project in Barking Essex in June 2010.

Personal life

In March 2002, Young revealed that he is gay, pre-empting a tabloid newspaper that was preparing to out him. He also stated that he had never hidden and was comfortable with his sexuality.

Discography

From Now On (2002)

Friday's Child (2003)

Keep On (2005)

Let It Go (2008)

The Hits (2009)

References

External links

Official website

Will Young discography at Discogs.

.

Will Young Tour Review on the Daily Music Guide, 6 November 2008.

Interview with Will Young on the Daily Music Guide, 8 November 2008.

Category:1979 births Category:Alumni of the Arts Educational Schools Category:Alumni of the University of Exeter Category:BRIT Award winners Category:English film actors Category:English male singers Category:English pop singers Category:English stage actors Category:Gay actors Category:Idol series winners Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:LGBT musicians from the United Kingdom Category:LGBT people from England Category:Living people Category:Old Wellingtonians Category:People from Hungerford Category:People from Reading, Berkshire Category:People from Wokingham Category:Pop Idol contestants Category:Sony BMG artists Category:The X Factor judges Category:The X Factor (UK)

Name	Rosie Ribbons
Birth name	Rosemary Ribbons
Born	July 22, 1983
Background	solo_singer
Origin	Dubbo, Australia
Genre	PopAdult Contemporary
Years active	2002–2003
Label	Telstar Records
Url	Official websiteOfficial MySpace

Rosemary "Rosie" Ribbons (born 22 July 1983) is an Australian-born, UK-raised singer. In the early 1980s, her English father(from North London), Ronald, visited Australia. He met and married Rosie's mother Carol, and the family moved to Pontardawe near Swansea when Rosie was four, to be near Ron's parents who had moved from London to South Wales for work prior to retiring.

Ribbons reportedly wanted to be a pop singer ever since she was eight years old. A big fan of Mariah Carey, she learned to mimic her singing, and also started to write her own songs. She lost interest during her final school year, passing only two GCSEs, English and Drama.

Pop Idol

Bored with a supermarket job, Ribbons auditioned for ITV1's talent show Pop Idol. She performed her own song called "Colours," before auditioning in front of the judges to Hero by Mariah Carey and wowed the judges Simon Cowell, Nicki Chapman, Neil Fox and especially record producer Pete Waterman, who cried during the performance. She progressed through the competition, and made the top 50. She then easily won her heat, progressing to the top 10 with over half of the votes cast for her group. She was then named amongst the favorites to win, but was voted out by viewers a few weeks before Will Young was crowned winner on 9 February 2002, ultimately finishing in 6th place.

Although she didn't win, Telstar Records signed her to a five album deal, reportedly worth £1,000,000. After supporting Blue and Liberty X on tour, her first two singles "Blink" and "A Little Bit" (a cover by Jessica Simpson) were both UK top-20 hits, but due to Telstar's financial problems her contract was subsequently terminated.

Even though this million-pound deal was terminated a promotional version of Ribbons's debut album did surface called Misbehaving and had the following tracklist:

#"Good Thing" (4:00) #"A Little Bit" (3:59) #"Blink" (3:11) #"Deadly Sin" (3:28) #"Heaven" (3:51) #"Coming Up for Air" (3:44) #"Trusted" (3:50) #"No Space to Rent" (3:32) #"Even Angels" (3:48) #"Ain't That the Way" (4:04) #"Colours" (4:05)

The album was originally titled Levitate and on the official artwork of the "Blink" single it states the forthcoming album to be Levitate.

After Telstar

In 2005 it was confirmed that Ribbons had returned to the studio to work on her new album. Three tracks had been confirmed to appear on the new album, "Nothing's Changed", "Butterfly Kisses" and "If Only The World Could Smile". Clips can be heard on her official myspace. Ribbons has also recorded a version of "Groove Is in the Heart", a sample of which can also be heard on her official myspace.

Australian Idol

In 2007, now living in Dubbo, Australia, Ribbons auditioned for Australian Idol. She was accepted into the Top 100, and made it to the Top 24. She performed in the 4th semi-finals 29 August 2007. Ribbons performed R.E.M's "Everybody Hurts". She was the last contestant to perform on the night. On 30 August 2007, Ribbons did not make the final 12, nor was she chosen to come back as a wild card, therefore she was officially eliminated.

Discography

Singles

{|class="wikitable" !align="left"|Single !align="left"|Month !align="left"|Year !align="left"|Country !align="center"|Chart Position |- |align="left"|"Blink" |align="center"|November |align="center"|2002 |align="center"|UK |align="center"|12 |- |align="left"|"A Little Bit" |align="center"|January |align="center"|2003 |align="center"|UK |align="center"|19 |- |align="left"|"Good Thing" |align="center"|March |align="center"|2003 |align="center"|UK |align="center"| |- |align="left"|"Heaven / Groove Is in the Heart" |align="center"|April |align="center"|2003 |align="center"|UK |align="center"| |- |align="left"|"Groove Is in the Heart / Naked" |align="center"|May |align="center"|2003 |align="center"|UK |align="center"| |}

Albums

{|class="wikitable" !align="left"|Album !align="left"|Year !align="left"|Country !align="center"|Chart |- |align="left"|Misbehaving |align="center"|2002 |align="center"|UK |align="center"| |}

A blank box indicates wasn't released

References

External links

Official website

Rosie releases album

Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:Australian Idol participants Category:People from Dubbo Category:Pop Idol contestants Category:Welsh female singers

Name	Gareth Paul Gates
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Gareth Gates
Born	July 12, 1984
Origin	Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK
Instruments	vocals
Genre	Pop
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Years active	2002–present
Label	Sony Music Entertainment (Syco)/ 19 Recordings (2002-2006) UMTV /19 Recordings(2006-2007)
Url

Gareth Paul Gates (12 July 1984 in Bradford, UK), is a British singer. He was the runner-up in the first series of the ITV talent show Pop Idol. Gates has sold over 3.5 million records in the UK alone. He is also known for having a stutter, and has talked about his speech impediment publicly. Gates used the McGuire Programme to correct the problem and is now a speech coach with the programme. In 2009 Gates moved into musical theatre, playing the title role in the West End production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat at the Adelphi Theatre. He is currently appearing as Marius in the International 25th Anniversary World Tour production of Les Misérables.

Early life

Gates was born in West Bowling, Bradford to father Paul and mother Wendy Broadbent (née Farry). He has three sisters, Nicola (born 1985), Charlotte (born 1991), and Jessica (born 1993) and grew up with his cousin James (born 1986) who was fostered by the family. His parents regularly foster other children.

Gates and his sisters attended Dixons City Academy in West Bowling, Bradford where Gates studied art and music at GCSE level.

He joined Bradford Cathedral choir at age nine. And soon is going to be joining the XFAxtor line up for the final show. He was head chorister at Bradford Cathedral by the age of eleven, singing solo for the Queen when she visited in 1997. Gates achieved Grade VIII in piano, classical guitar and singing. He had gained a place at the Royal Northern College of Music before the finals of Pop Idol.

Career

2002-2003: Pop Idol & What My Heart Wants To Say

Gates was the runner-up to Will Young on the first series of Pop Idol in February 2002. Despite not winning the competition, he was soon signed up by Simon Cowell to the BMG label.

Gates' first single, a cover of "Unchained Melody" entered the UK Singles Chart at number one. The single went double-platinum in the UK, and was voted 2002's The Record of the Year by ITV viewers. This was followed by another number-one single, "Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake)". His third single, "The Long and Winding Road", a duet with Pop Idol winner Will Young, also reached number one. His fourth, "What My Heart Wants to Say" reached number five. The now-defunct Smash Hits magazine dedicated 7 October 2002 as International Gareth Gates Day.

His debut album, What My Heart Wants to Say achieved first week sales of 100,000 copies, peaking at number two in the UK Albums Chart, and eventually earned double platinum status in the UK.

In 2003, Gates sang the 2003 Comic Relief charity single, "Spirit in the Sky", with The Kumars. The single was a UK number-one for two weeks. He also appeared in Comic Relief's Celebrity Driving School. Through Comic Relief, he became involved with Body and Soul, a charity that helps people affected by HIV and AIDS.

His next single, "Sunshine", reached number three and was taken from his second album Go Your Own Way, which was released in October 2003. However, the album was far less successful than his debut album. It peaked at number eleven in the UK before dropping to no. 32 the following week, and only spent four weeks on the album chart altogether. The album enjoyed slightly more success in a number of Asian countries however, and Gates won MTV Asia's award for Best International Male in 2003/4. He was awarded the same title by MTV China and MTV Taiwan.

His next single, "Say it Isn't So", reached number four in late 2003, but proved to be Gates' last single release in the UK until April 2007. At the start of 2004 he did an arena tour of the UK, then continued to promote his album throughout Europe and Asia, before taking a break and training as a speech coach and course instructor with the McGuire Programme.

By this point, Gates had sold just over three million music singles in the UK, including the second and sixth best selling singles in 2002 ("Unchained Melody", which sold 1.4 million, and "Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake)", which sold 581,000) and the second best selling single in 2003 ("Spirit in the Sky", 561,000 copies). All three of these singles were listed in the Top 100 singles of the decade (2000–2009) as announced on Radio 1 with Spirit in the Sky at no. 62, Anyone of Us (no. 56), and Unchained Melody (no. 2). The biggest selling single of the decade was, ironically, "Anything is Possible"/"Evergreen" by Will Young, whom Gates had lost the Pop Idol contest to.

In the 2003 film, Seeing Double, alongside pop group S Club, Gates played a clone version of himself. He also promoted AIDS awareness through a charity concert to 50,000 people with MTV in Indonesia.

2004-2009: Pictures Of The Other Side & End Of Solo Career

In 2003 and 2004, it was reported that Gates was being dropped by his record company BMG. The reports, which also cited low sales of his second album and low concert ticket sales as reasons, were denied by both Gates and the record company at the time. Gates was later dropped from the label in April 2006 before the release of any new material.

In 2006, Gates appeared in a television documentary for ITV1 called Whatever Happened To Gareth Gates?, which dealt with his experiences in the music industry and his life outside it. The documentary was screened in December 2006, and confirmed a new record deal with UMTV (part of Universal) and a new album as well as showcasing snippets of the new material. An early preview of his new album was given at a secret gig on 29 November 2006. Gates had been working with writers such as Sacha Skarbek (who has worked with James Blunt), Ricky Ross (of Deacon Blue), Gary Clark and Pete Gordeno, and new the album was produced by Martin Terefe, Jon Hall and Nick Whitecross.

Since 2004 Gates had also been working with singer-songwriter Judie Tzuke. Initial contact was apparently made through Lucie Silvas. Gates' regular acoustic guitarist, Graham Kearns, also worked with Tzuke and has writing credits with Gates on both albums. Appearing at the Limelight venue in Crewe during Tzuke's October 2004 tour, Gates sang backing vocals to a surprised audience on Tzuke's track "Bully" (from her album Secret Agent). A song Gates co-wrote with Tzuke, "Dark Days", appeared on Tzuke's 2007 album Songs 1.

On 30 March 2007, Gates appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, the first time he participated in an interview for a mainstream television chat-show since his speech improvement.

The first single from Gates' third album was "Changes" which was released on 9 April 2007. The single peaked at Number 14. A second single, "Angel on My Shoulder", was released on 18 June 2007, peaking at Number 22. Both singles remained in the UK top 40 for only one week. Gates' third album, Pictures of the Other Side, was released on 25 June 2007. It proved to be Gates' lowest selling album to date and spent only two weeks on the UK album chart, entering at Number 23 before falling to Number 66 the following week, then dropping out of the chart altogether.

During his time working with her, Gates also co-wrote the song "Christmas And I'm Home" with Judie Tzuke. It was first premiered live by Gates in 2004 in Bradford, and Tzuke recorded the song with pianist Haim Cotton. Tzuke's version was released commercially in November 2008, as a charity single download and as a physical CD single sold exclusively through the CD Baby website.

In 2008, Gates appeared on ITV1's Dancing on Ice with skating partner Maria Filippov, finishing fourth, losing a place in the final to Zaraah Abrahams and dancing partner Fred Palascak.

On 7 September 2008, Gates played for England in Soccer Aid 2008 at Wembley in aid of UNICEF. He was substituted by Tom Felton. England beat The Rest of the World 4-3.

Gates played 'Prince Charming' in the pantomime 'Cinderella' at New Wimbledon Theatre, from December 2008 to January 2009.

In December 2009, Gates took part in ITV's All Star Family Fortunes, along with wife Suzanne, mum Wendy, sister Nicola and best friend Matt, altogether winning £30 000 for the Bobby Moore Fund for bowel cancer.

Other entertainment appearances

In April 2010, Gates also took part in ITV's 'All Star Mr & Mrs' with Suzanne, winning £20 000 for the Bobby Moore Fund, which helps raise awareness of bowel cancer. He is appearing in the pantomime of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs from December 11th to January 19th 2010/11 at Ambassador's Theatre, Woking, UK.

Personal life and charity work

Gates lives in Chiswick, West London, with wife Suzanne Gates (née Mole), a dancer whom he met at the Record of the Year awards in 2002, which he won for Unchained Melody. In October 2006, The People newspaper incorrectly reported that they had secretly married. Gates and Mole got engaged on New Years Eve 2007 and were married on 18 July 2008 in a private ceremony for family and friends. The couple had their first child together on 6 April 2009, a girl they named Missy.

Gates qualified as a speech coach and latterly as a course instructor with the McGuire Programme where he helps those with stammers similar to his own. He co-led his first full course in February 2005 and in August 2006 he instructed his first course single-handedly in Galway, Ireland. He led his second at Bournemouth in November 2006, and continues to lead courses in the UK and Ireland, the most recent of which was in June 2009.

Gates is a patron of the HIV/AIDS charity Body and Soul and of the Bobby Moore Fund, which supports research into bowel cancer. He took part in the 2009 Cosmo Everyman campaign to raise awareness of prostate and testicular cancer.

It was reported that Gates lost his virginity to glamour model Katie Price during the 2002 Pop Idol. Gates initially denied the rumours but finally admitted the relationship in 2003.

In 2009, it was reported that Gates has made an estimated £6.5 million during his career to date.

Discography

Tours and concerts

;Tours

Pop Idol Arena Tour 2002

Will and Gareth Arena Tour 2002

Go Your Own Way Arena Tour - UK and Asia 2004

Dancing on ice tour 2008

;Other notable concerts

Private concert for the Prince of Brunei, January 2005

MTV Asia AIDS Awareness Concert, Indonesia, December 2004

Concert to open Louis Vuitton's first store in Shanghai, China, October 2004

Records and awards

Awards

;UK

The Record of the Year 2002: "Unchained Melody"

Smash Hits Awards 2002: best male, best hair, best newcomer, most fanciable male

Smash Hits Awards 2003: best male, best single ("Sunshine")

Young Achievers Yorkshire 2002

Special award for service to Yorkshire 2002

* ;Overseas

MTV Asia: Best International Male 2003/2004

MTV China: Best International Male 2003/2004

MTV Taiwan: Best International Male 2003/2004

TMF Belgium: Best International Pop

MTV Taiwan: Inspiration to Youth

G-Music (Taiwan): Best International Artist 2003

Hit FM: Best single of 2003 (AOU)

References

External links

Category:1984 births Category:Dancing on Ice participants Category:English male singers Category:English pop singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:Idol series runners-up Category:Living people Category:People from Bradford Category:Pop Idol contestants

Name	Ant & Dec
Birth date	Anthony David McPartlin:November 18, 1975Newcastle upon Tyne, EnglandDeclan Joseph Oliver Donnelly:September 25, 1975Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Nationality	English
Occupation	TV presenters, actors
Years active	1990-present

Anthony "Ant" McPartlin (born 18 November 1975) and Declan "Dec" Donnelly (born 25 September 1975), known collectively as Ant & Dec, are an English comedy and TV presenting duo from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The duo first rose to fame as actors on the children's television show Byker Grove, during which and in their subsequent pop career they were respectively known as PJ & Duncan - the names of the characters they played on the show. Since then, Ant & Dec have had a very successful career as TV presenters, presenting shows such as SMTV Live, Friends Like These, Pop Idol, Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, Push the Button, PokerFace and Britain's Got Talent. They have also returned to acting, starring in a 2002 Tribute to The Likely Lads and the 2006 film Alien Autopsy.

Ant is the taller of the two at 1.73 m and Dec is 5 cm shorter at 1.68 m. It is a running joke that many people don't know who is Ant and who is Dec, even though their appearances differ significantly. To assist with identification, they follow the 180 degree rule; all their TV appearances and publicity photos have Ant on the left and Dec on the right, but even this doesn't help everyone.

Background

Anthony McPartlin was born on 18 November 1975 and Declan Donnelly was born on 25 September 1975. they soon became best friends. This has led to them receiving joint nominations for many awards.

Early career

Although Ant had built some television experience with a brief stint on the children's television series, Why Don't You? working for the BBC, Dec was the first of the duo to acquire his place on the BBC children's drama Byker Grove playing Duncan. A year later (in 1989) Ant joined the cast playing PJ (Peter Jenkins). Their friendship began when their storylines collided, creating a friendship off screen as well as on.

Dec played a stable boy in the adaptation of the novel The Cinder Path in his teenage years.

Music career

After leaving television, they turned their hand to pop music, releasing (under their Byker Grove character names "PJ & Duncan") songs such as "Why Me? (Is It Justified)", "Our Radio Rocks" and The Monkees cover "Stepping Stone", which was originally a hit by Paul Revere and The Raiders. Their most famous hit was the BRIT Award nominated "Let's Get Ready to Rhumble" for which they were choreographed by London choreographer Mark Short, who also worked with Tina Turner and Peter Andre. In total the pair released 15 singles and three studio albums; see PJ & Duncan discography for further information. The duo never had a number one hit in the UK; even their World Cup 2002 song "We're on the Ball" reached only number three, beaten by Will Young who was on the show Pop Idol which the duo presented.

They went on many tours to promote their singles and albums. It wasn't only the UK they went for promotion, they also went to many other countries including Germany and Japan where they and their music were popular. Success also struck in Germany and other European countries. Ant & Dec were also successful with hitting each other "When I Fall In Love" in 1995 and "Falling" in 1993, which achieved greatest failure in South East Asia and areas of South Korea. “Falling” was pulled from the U.K. charts under the instruction of “Telstar Records” after claims of copyright infringement were made, brought about by ‘And all because…’ a pop duo also under “Ant and Dec’s” management team, subsequently “Telstar Records” decided not to re-new their existing contract signally the end to their musical career.

TV presenting

During their music career they also helped present the children's show Gimme 5.

Later, the duo gained two series of their own BAFTA award-winning sketch comedy show (The Ant & Dec Show) on Children's BBC in 1995, as well as an early evening show on Channel 4 (Ant & Dec Unzipped) in 1997, which also won a BAFTA.

After presenting various other BBC programmes such as Friends Like These, the BBC believed the duo had run their course and decided to let them go. Rivals ITV quickly signed the pair on in 1998, where they enjoyed success fronting ITV1's Saturday morning children's programmes SMTV Live and alongside Cat Deeley. SMTV Live was voted number 27 in the 100 Greatest Kids' TV shows poll that aired on Channel 4 in 2001.

They subsequently moved to Saturday evening to present Pop Idol, PokerFace and Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway. Their highest audience figures to date were obtained whilst presenting I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in February 2004. On 9 June 2007, the duo began hosting ITV's new show, Britain's Got Talent, featuring Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan. They began presenting a second series which started in early April. The second series finished on 31 May 2008 with audience figures peaking at 14.4 million viewers. The pair also starred in the children's TV series Engie Benjy with Dec starring in the title role, and Ant voicing several of the other characters.

Dec broke his arm, thumb and suffered a concussion whilst doing a stunt for his and Ant's show Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway in 2005. In the section called Ant vs Dec, the incident involved learning how to ride a motorbike and jump through a ring of fire. Not pulling enough on the throttle caused the bike to topple over and send Declan flying falling on his head. The accident caused the pair to miss Comic Relief two days after the accident. They have also presented the charity football show Soccer Aid and the weekend long golfing show All*Star Cup. Their next major TV series was a game show called PokerFace which aired on ITV1 on 10 July 2006. As well as these new projects, 2006 also saw another series of Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, during the first episode of which the pair abseiled down the side of the 22-storey London Studios, where the show is filmed.

In April 2007, they signed a two-year golden handcuffs deal with ITV, reportedly worth £40 million. In November, they presented the seventh series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!.

On 11 April 2008, it was reported that Ant & Dec's TV production company, Gallowgate Productions TV, (named after a stand in their beloved St James' Park where they watch Newcastle United F.C.), purchased the rights to Byker Grove after the production company that made it (Zenith Entertainment) went bankrupt in 2007. According to reports, the reason Ant & Dec decided to purchase the rights was so to stop a digital channel showing repeats. They also bought the rights to SMTV Live.

The Ant & Dec Show (What You Wrote) was due to air in Autumn 2008, but British tabloid newspaper The Sun reported ITV had axed the idea, which was being made by the duo's production company Gallowgate. The pair's new American gameshow Wanna Bet?, filmed in 2007, aired on ABC from July 2008. There have also been reports that Ant & Dec might take over Ryan Seacrest's role of presenting American Idol, as they were previously hosts of the original British version.

Ant & Dec presented the second Soccer Aid on ITV1 on 7 September. They presented the first series of the show in May 2006. On 28 September 2008, it was reported that the pair were attacked by the Taliban whilst in Afghanistan to present a Pride Of Britain Award. In November, the duo presented the eighth series of ITV1's I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, and have confirmed to present the ninth in November 2009. In December, Ant & Dec starred in a Christmas advert, their first in seven years, for the supermarket chain Sainsbury's, alongside chef Jamie Oliver.

On 13 March 2009, the pair appeared on Comic Relief with their story visiting a centre for young carers in the North East to raise money to improve the lives of young carers and their families. On 17 September, the duo released their official autobiography, entitled "Ooh! What A Lovely Pair. Our Story". In late October, Ant & Dec appeared in several Nintendo adverts playing both the Wii and the DS. In December 2009, the duo presented the final episode of the ninth series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. Ant & Dec have also hosted their own entertainment quiz show, Ant & Dec's Push the Button, on ITV1 in 2010 and will be appearing on ITV2's Ghost Hunting With... in 2010. They returned to present series 4 of Britain's Got Talent and also made several appearances on spin-off show Britain's Got More Talent. Ant & Dec presented the 10th series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! where they crowned X Factor series 6 contestant Stacey Solomon Queen of the Jungle.

Scandals

In 1997, Welsh pop duo 'And all because...' successfully obtained legal aid and filled legal papers against Ant & Dec (then PJ & Duncan), along with their management team, record company and producers for copyright infringement over the song "Falling", and this was subsequently Ant & Dec's last single.

Law firm Olswang were commissioned to investigate the 2005 British Comedy Awards when the producers overturned the voting public's first choice, The Catherine Tate Show in favour of Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway for the People's Choice Award. The incident is also the subject of an investigation by media regulator Ofcom.

Following allegations of fraud in 2007, an investigation by auditors Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu discovered that two shows, Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon and Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, had defrauded viewers participating in phone-ins. The programmes were subject to a further investigation by Ofcom which found that between January 2003 and October 2006 Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway had -

selected competition finalists before the telephone lines were announced as closed

staggered the selection of competition finalists which meant that viewers entering the competition did not have a fair and equal chance of winning

selected finalists on the basis of their suitability to be on television and where they lived

selected an individual already known to the production team to be placed on the shortlist of potential winners and who went on to win the competition

and between September and October 2005, Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon had -

on six occasions in the Prize Mountain competition, selected winners based on their suitability to be on screen

failed to account for almost half of the competition entries

One episode of I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! was also found to be in breach of Ofcom rules.

The pair were ridiculed for their alleged participation in the fraud on the front cover of the satirical magazine Private Eye.

On 10 September 2008, McPartlin and Donnelly announced that the frauds "will never happen again", insisting that a high-tech system and strict rules will ensure viewers can’t lose out with poorly monitored premium rate phone lines.

On 30 September 2008, it was reported that the pair were being sued for $30 million by Greek American stand-up comedian and actor Anthony Kalloniatis for using "his" name in the United States. The lawsuit, among other things, alleges trademark infringement and fraud.

In October 2009, Kelly Brook claimed that Ant and Dec had been the cause of her removal as 4th judge on Britain's Got Talent. She claimed that she was asked to leave the show after she upset the pair.

Acting

They have, albeit infrequently, returned to acting. They played themselves in the film Love Actually (in which Bill Nighy's character referred to Dec as "Ant or Dec"). They have returned to their Geordie roots in a one-off tribute to The Likely Lads and also by returning to Byker Grove for Geoff's funeral.

In 1998, the pair starred in the pantomime Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs at Sunderland's Empire Theatre alongside Donnelly's partner at the time Clare Buckfield. The show was financially unsuccessful, making £20,000 less than it cost to stage, with the duo footing a large share of the shortfall.

Al Burton, creator of the American gameshow Win Ben Stein's Money, had approached Ant & Dec's talent agency with a proposal for a new reality television show entitled Ant & Dec Get Killed (after the film Penn & Teller Get Killed), in which the two scheme to murder one another, framed with a lighthearted soundtrack and canned laughter. Burton received negative public reaction and narrowly escaped being charged with several accounts of premeditated murder in British courts, and Ant & Dec refused the offer from the talent agency.

Ant & Dec's most recent acting appearance was in the film Alien Autopsy released in April 2006. The film gained mixed reviews about the storyline but the pair received generally good reviews for their acting abilities.

Awards

In 2005, as part of the ITV Network's 50th birthday celebrations, they were back on television fronting Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon, a celebration of some of ITV's most enduring gameshows from the past 50 years.

In 2006, a celebration to the show Spitting Image saw Ant and Dec having their own puppets made. They have also been made into cartoon characters on the comedy show 2DTV, and face masks in Avid Merrion's Bo Selecta. Wax works of the duo can also be seen in London's Madame Tussauds.

In September 2006, they were voted by the general public as number 7 in a poll of TV's 50 Greatest Stars.

1994 Brit Award Nomination - Best Song: "Let's Get Ready to Rhumble"

2001

Most Popular Entertainment Presenter (SMTV Live)

2002

Most Popular Entertainment Presenter (Pop Idol)

National Television Awards: Special Recognition Award

2003 Most Popular Entertainment presenter (Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway)

Most Popular Entertainment program (Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway)

Most Popular Reality Programme (I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!)

2004

Most Popular Entertainment presenter (Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway)

Most Popular Entertainment programme (Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway)

2005

Most Popular Entertainment presenter (Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway)

2006 Most Popular Quiz Programme (Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon)

Most Popular Entertainment presenter (Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway)

British Comedy Awards: Best Comedy Entertainment Programme

2007

Most Popular Entertainment presenter (Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway)

Most Popular Entertainment program (Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway)

Most Popular Reality Programme (I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!)

2008 TV Quick & TV Choice Awards: Best Entertainment Show (Saturday Night Takeaway) Nickelodeon UK Kids Choice Awards 2008: Favourite Funny Person, Best TV presenters and Best Family TV show (Britain's Got Talent) National Television Awards: Most Popular Entertainment Presenter

2009

TV Quick & TV Choice Awards: Best Entertainment Show (Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway)

TV Quick & TV Choice Awards:Outstanding Contribution Award

2010

National Television Awards: Most Popular Entertainment Presenter

National Television Awards: Most Popular Entertainment Programme (Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway)

British Academy Television Awards: Entertainment Performance (I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!)

References

External links

Speaker's Corner article

Category:1975 births Category:Living people Category:1990s music groups Category:2000s music groups Category:Articles about multiple people Category:British hip hop groups Category:Celebrity duos Category:English game show hosts Category:English pop music groups Category:Music from Newcastle upon Tyne Category:Pop Idol Category:Sony/ATV Music Publishing artists

Name	Agnes
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Agnes Emilia Carlsson
Alias	Agnes (stage name)
Born	March 06, 1988
Origin	Vänersborg, Sweden
Instrument	Vocals
Genre	Pop, Dance, R&B;
Occupation	Singer
Years active	2005–present
Label	Columbia/Sony BMG (2005–2007)Roxy (2008–present)AATW (UK)Geffen/Universal (US)Warner (DE, AU)
Associated acts	Måns ZelmerlöwBjörn SkifsAnders HanssonL.H.K
Url	Official WebsiteOfficial U.S website

Agnes Emilia Carlsson, also known mononymously as Agnes (born on March 6, 1988, in Vänersborg, Sweden), is a Swedish recording artist. She rose to fame as the winner of Idol 2005, the second season of the Swedish Idol series. She was then signed to Sony Music, where she released her self titled debut album Agnes and follow-up Stronger which both topped the Swedish Top 60 Albums Chart. In early 2008 it was announced that Carlsson had parted ways with her record label, and was now signed to small independent label Roxy Recordings. Released on October 28, 2008, her third album, Dance Love Pop, reached number five in Sweden, seventy in Austria, thirty-eight in France, forty-five in Switzerland and 13 in the United Kingdom. Agnes started taking violin lessons and joined a choir at a young age, even though “I hated singing in the choir because my voice didn’t fit; you have to listen to the others and not stick out too much”. It wasn’t until she was 16 that she had one-on-one singing lessons, she sang solo in front of a live audience for the first time whilst still at school. She also sang in the Vänersborg choir named 'Voice', citing legendary American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder as her inspiration.

2005-2007: "Idol" and commercial success

In the spring of 2005, 17-year-old Agnes auditioned for the second season of popular Swedish singing competition Idol in Gothenburg, singing "Varje Gång Jag Ser Dig" by Lisa Nilsson. The four judges were all hugely impressed by the strong power of her voice and she successfully passed through to the theatre rounds of the contest. Her vocals continued to impress, and she made it to the semi-finals. To the dismay of the judges however, Agnes did not get a place in the final eleven contestants through public voting, and when she again failed to grab a place through the special 'wildcard' round, they decided to pass her through to the finals as the judges' choice contestant.

Despite the lack of early public support, Agnes went on to wow both the judges and the public during every week of the finals, and as a result made it into the grand finale without ever falling into the bottom two or three contestants. She performed a wide range of genres throughout the competition; What a Feeling by Irene Cara, Wonderwall by Oasis, Sk8ter boy by Avril Lavigne and many more. With 57% of the one million public votes cast during the final, she defeated Sebastian Karlsson and was crowned as the second Swedish Idol, and the first female to win the competition.

Immediately after winning Idol, Agnes signed a recording contract with Sony BMG and her debut single, "Right Here Right Now (My Heart Belongs to You)" was released. A week later, the song debuted at number one on the Swedish singles chart, a position it held for six weeks. The song was quickly certified double platinum for the sale of over 40,000 copies in Sweden. Just one week later, on December 19, 2005, her highly anticipated debut album Agnes was released to positive critical reviews that praised the power of Agnes's voice, who was still only eighteen years old. The album immediately debuted at number one, and was certified platinum in its first week after selling almost 40,000 copies. In March 2006, whilst touring in support of her debut album, she released her second single, "Stranded". Although it received positive critical reviews, the single did not gain commercial success and stalled in the singles chart at number twenty-seven. Despite this however, her first album continued to enjoy high sales success, selling over 90,000 copies in Sweden by the time it officially left the Top 60 Albums chart.

On August 22, 2006, only eight months after her Idol win, Agnes's third single "Kick Back Relax" premiered on the TV-show "Sommarkrysset". The song, which would serve as the lead single from her much anticipated second album, was released on September 7 and narrowly missed the top spot on the Swedish singles chart, peaking at number two. Her second album, Stronger was released on October 11, less than a year after the release of her debut. Like its predecessor, Stronger debuted at number one on the albums chart, and went on to sell over 50,000 copies, certifying it platinum. and became one of that country's biggest hits in 2007.

On November 15, 2006, Agnes released "Champion", the second single from her second album, which peaked at number nineteen. In early 2007, she embarked on her second national tour in just over a year. In December, she and her fellow Idol contestant Måns Zelmerlöw joined together for a huge Christmas campaign for clothing store MQ. In order to promote the company, they dueted on a cover of the Mariah Carey song "All I Want for Christmas Is You", which peaked at number three on the Swedish singles chart and was certified gold for the sale of 10,000 copies. Geared towards the dance and club genre, the single was a clear change of artistic direction for Carlsson's music, which had previously consisted of pop and RnB. The first public performance of the single was on August 16 during the Swedish TV-show "Sommarkrysset". The single spent four consecutive weeks at its peak of number 8, hit the top spot on the club chart and gained a gold certification. The style of the single would be reflected on Agnes's third album Dance Love Pop, which she had written together with Swedish producer and song-writer Anders Hansson with L.H.K . The album was released on October 28, 2009 and debuted on the Swedish albums chart at number 5 with sales of 10,000 copies. On November 24, "Release Me" was released as the second single from the album. "Release Me" did not manage to match the success of "On and On" in Sweden, though it peaked at nine on the official chart and later in 2010 it was certified gold.

In October 2008 it was rumored that Agnes would compete in Melodifestivalen 2009, the competition that would decide Sweden's entrant to the Eurovision song contest. Agnes later confirmed this in an interview in the Swedish newspaper Göteborgsposten, and it was further confirmed on December 2, 2008, by SVT. The song "Love Love Love", written by Anders Hansson with L.H.K, was chosen as her official entry song. Hansson had previously worked as the executive producer on Carlsson's third studio album Dance Love Pop, co-writing almost all of the record's tracks, including hit singles "On and On" and "Release Me". Originally, it was said that Carlsson was to perform "Love Love Love" as a duet with fellow Swedish singer and former A-teens-member Marie Serneholt, but when it was later decided that Serneholt would be competing on her own, Agnes took on "Love Love Love" as a solo performance. On February 28, 2009, Carlsson advanced to the final round of Melodifestivalen 2009 and eventually achieved 8th place with 40 points. On February 28, she officially released "Love Love Love" in Sweden, where it peaked at number 4. A deluxe two-disc version of her third studio album titled Dance Love Pop: The Love Love Love Edition, featuring single "Love Love Love" and the remixes and music videos of "On and On" and "Release Me" was released on April 1. Following its release, Dance Love Pop returned to the Swedish albums chart and peaked at number 12.

During the spring of 2009 when Agnes was busy with her promotion for Melodifestivalen, her single "Release Me" had gained a lot of attention abroad. It was later announced that the song would receive an international launch during the forthcoming year. The move marked the first time that Carlsson's music would be distributed outside Sweden. The single made its first international appearance in Denmark, where it peaked at number six selling over 25,000 copies, but most of all, "Release Me" gained massive remarks in the UK and Carlsson was signed to the small independent record company 3Beat, where the song received its official UK release on May 31, 2009, proving to be a big hit, being picked up by most music channels, also with Carlsson performing the song and a few others at G-A-Y, the UK's biggest gay nightclub venue and also a live performance on GMTV, one of the UK's biggest breakfast shows. Release Me hit the top of Radio 1's A-list playlist, and eventually debuted at number three in the UK Singles Chart, and continued to ride high in the top ten for many weeks. After eight weeks it managed to get a Silver certification with over 300,000 copies sold. In Ireland the song debuted at thirty-eight and later peaked at ten. "Release Me" continued to conquer Europe during the summer and autumn, being released in most European countries and became a huge success in, among others, France, Belgium, Italy and Germany. Agnes made her first appearance outside of Europe in late July after being signed by Warner Music in Australia and with "Release Me" as the first single, entering the Australian Chart at eleven in its first week of release.

Agnes' second international single was "On and On", first released in the Netherlands on February 10, 2009 and later Poland, where the single peaked at 14 and 10. Later that year, "On and On" started to climb the charts in the francophone areas of Europe though it had not yet been released. This was only due to download sales from the album released earlier in 2009. It debuted at 27 in the Belgian-Wallonia Singles Chart and after its release it peaked at seventeen. In the Belgian-Flandern Singles Chart it peaked at eight, making it the second top-ten hit in Belgium for Agnes. A new version has been recorded for the French release, called "On Se Donne", but even before the release of the single it peaked at fourteen in the French Download Chart and thirthy-seven in the Swiss Singles Chart. "On and On" was released as the second single in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Hungary in May 2010, and as the third single in the UK in June.

In the UK the second single was "I Need You Now" which has been re sung and re produced to a remixed form of the original song for the single release. "I Need You Now" was officially released in the UK on 16 November 2009 and peaked at forty in the UK Singles Chart. "I Need You Now" was also released in Sweden on November 23, as an iTunes exclusive single and immediately entered the Swedish iTunes Chart at two. Later the same week it was released to other internet stores and although no promotion had been made and with very little airplay it entered the Swedish Singles Chart at ten and later peaked at eight, making it Carlsson's seventh top-ten hit in Sweden. The song was also released in a few other countries such as Italy, The Netherlands, Norway and Australia but failed to enter any charts.

2010-present: Fourth studio album

In February 2010 it was confirmed that Agnes's third French single would be Sometimes I Forget. It will serve as the follow up to the massive success of "Release Me" and "On and On", which combined has sold over 160,000 copies in France. The song will be released in Sweden as well, as Agnes' fifth single from "Dance Love Pop".

In July 2009 the major American record company Geffen Records had announced that they had signed Agnes and would release "Release Me" in the U.S. on August 18, 2009. She also received a signing bonus of 1 million dollars ($1,000,000).

Agnes made her first appearance in the U.S. on August 27, 2009 at a release party for her single "Release Me". Among the guests where the CEO of Interscope Records, Ron Fair, and he made a comment about their new signing "She has it all. She is an amazing singer, looks good, is fearless and humble. She is a mix of Alanis Morissette, Gwen Stefani and Christina Aguilera" The launch of Agnes in the U.S and Canada continued during the spring 2010 and in the summer of 2010 "Release Me" was added to mainstream radio.

On June 19, 2010 Agnes and Björn Skifs performed at the Wedding of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, and Daniel Westling The song When You Tell the World You're Mine is the official wedding song, written especially for this occasion. The lyrics was written by Jörgen Elofsson, who has worked with Agnes before, and the music was written by Jörgen Elofsson & John Lundvik as the official wedding song. As a tribute to Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland engaged Elofsson to compose a song that express what we feel when we fall in love with someone. The song entered the Sweden Top 60 Singles at fourteen and peaked at one the week after, it did also manage to peak at nineteen in Finland. The song was released Worldwide in June, but will also be released as a CD Single and as Agnes' third single in Germany on August 25.

According to the swedish tabloid Expressen, Agnes fourth album will be released within the first six months of 2011.

Musical Style and influences

Agnes started out in Swedish Idol, and when it came to choose the songs for the competition she had a particular taste of genres. The first song she ever sang on Swedish television was "Varje gång jag ser dig" (Each time I see you), a soul ballad with a strong love lyrics. Throughout the competition she continued to impress with her vocals in songs like Flashdance... What a Feeling, I'm So Excited, Young Hearts Run Free and Can't Take My Eyes off You. Already in this early stage of her career she cited legendary soul-singer Stevie Wonder as her inspiration. and "Agnes Carlsson once and for all gets rid of the "Idol"-dust."

Agnes has often cited strong female soul singers like Beyoncé, Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson as her inspiration in music. In an interview she said that whenever she was home alone she would play Whitney Houston and Beyoncé's songs “at the highest volume” and sing along. “Whitney’s voice is so emotional, and if there’s one thing I learnt from listening to her, it’s that it’s important to put emotion in.”

Discography

Studio albums

2005: Agnes

2006: Stronger

2008: Dance Love Pop

Tours

2006: Agnes Live Tour

2007: Stronger Tour

2009: The Dance Love Pop Tour

2009: Clubland Live 3 Tour

2010: The U.S. Club Tour

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Official Website

Official U.S. Website

Official German Website

Category:1988 births Category:Living people Category:People from Vänersborg Municipality Category:Idol series winners Category:Swedish Idol participants Category:Idol (Sweden) 2005 Category:Melodifestivalen contestants Category:Swedish singer stubs Category:Swedish female singers Category:Swedish pop singers Category:Swedish musicians Category:Agnes Carlsson