Girls Aloud: It's 20 years since pop greats were born on Popstars The Rivals

Cast your caput backmost to 2002. The state was celebrating the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, the Commonwealth Games were held successful Manchester, and Davina McCall was unrecorded connected ITV1 with immoderate important news.

"Here is the line-up that you person chosen for your miss band," she told viewers of Popstars: The Rivals.

It was 30 November, and a set was astir to beryllium formed connected world TV.

The radical would beryllium called Girls Aloud, and the nationalist decided it wanted Cheryl Tweedy, Nicola Roberts, Nadine Coyle, Kimberley Walsh and Sarah Harding to capable the spread successful the euphony manufacture near by the Spice Girls, and "to instrumentality connected the boys" - One True Voice.

It was a elemental TV endowment amusement concept: wannabe singers hoping to beryllium portion of 2 rival groups (the boys and the girls), with judges whittling auditionees down to 10 contenders for each radical earlier letting the nationalist destruct a performer each Saturday until determination were 2 bands of 5 near battling it retired for 2002's Christmas fig one.

What the nationalist didn't cognize then: it had chosen 5 women who would interruption the popular mould and people much deed singles than immoderate different miss radical successful UK illustration history.

To people the 20th day of their debut, Sound of the Underground, the radical are releasing it connected vinyl, on with an alternate vocal arrangement. The profits volition beryllium donated to The Sarah Harding Breast Cancer entreaty - successful representation of the 39-year-old set subordinate who died from the illness past year.

In a reappraisal 20 years ago, the BBC claimed the opus promised "a pleasantly astonishing antidote to each the worst post-office enactment hangovers, with capable oomph to stroke those cobwebs away".

For years, Saturday greeting children's TV was dominated by the set arsenic they performed deed aft infectious deed - similar No Good Advice, Wake Me Up, Biology and Something Kinda Ooooh.

But it was an improbable prime by the Arctic Monkeys, 4 days earlier their debut medium was released, to screen the group's azygous Love Machine successful 2006 that brought a full caller assemblage to Girls Aloud.

"It captured everybody's imagination," Jo Whiley, who hosted BBC Radio 1's greeting slot astatine the time, said successful 2018. "Listen up for Alex's laugh. It's my favourite infinitesimal successful immoderate Live Lounge."

Frontman Alex Turner told the BBC past period he couldn't retrieve however it came about - but the 2 genres of euphony could beryllium person than you think. Xenomania, the producers who worked connected astir of Girls Aloud's hits, told the BBC past twelvemonth "pop euphony was connected its knees" successful the aboriginal '00's, but the radical became "part of wherefore the satellite sounds the mode it is now".

"Pop groups similar Girls Aloud paved the mode for guitar sounds to beryllium much mainstream backmost then," Joynes believes. "The much you perceive to them, the much you realise however antithetic they sounded to newer miss groups similar Little Mix and Fifth Harmony."

Girls Aloud blurred the lines of what was chill and what popular euphony should dependable like. Nobody would person thought Coldplay would invitation immoderate world amusement winners to enactment them connected tour. But, on with Jay-Z, Girls Aloud got the assemblage successful the temper astatine Wembley Stadium successful 2009, with Chris Martin declaring they were "the eventual signifier of life".

Away from the riffs, lyrics and choreography, determination was thing astir the radical that simply represented the mid-noughties successful pop, erstwhile everything was a spot freer: an epoch of polyphonic ringtones, foundation bracelets and gel pens.

E4 bid Girls Aloud: Off The Record followed the set astir the UK and successful Australia. In the property of cancel culture, it's present hard to ideate immoderate chart-topping enactment daring to fto cameras movie arsenic they argued with wardrobe staff, dealt with hangovers and complained astir the deficiency of manufacture recognition.

It's 1 of the reasons clips from the fly-on-the-wall bid bash truthful good connected TikTok now. People aren't utilized to popular stars being truthful honest. Chunks of the documentary are besides utilized successful the Gals Aloud resistance show.

"They truly formed and shaped maine to beryllium the creator I americium today," Drag Race prima Cheryl Hole says. "For a batch of us, Girls Aloud volition ne'er not beryllium a happening successful our lives. It's the soundtrack to our puerility and I volition marque definite the adjacent procreation cognize each the choreography to The Promise."

Seeing Gals Aloud is apt to beryllium the closest a instrumentality tin get to seeing the Biology, Can't Speak French and Untouchable singers connected stage, due to the fact that the set divided successful 2013.

A 20th day circuit was successful the works but, pursuing Sarah's decease past year, the different 4 members person made wide they don't consciousness comfy performing without her. Instead, they person been hosting events to rise wealth for crab treatment, including a Race For Life this summer.

Last year, Little Mix thanked Girls Aloud (as good arsenic the Spice Girls, All Saints and Sugababes) erstwhile they became the archetypal all-female enactment to triumph champion British radical astatine the Brit Awards.

It was thing Nicola, Nadine, Kimberley, Cheryl and Sarah had been nominated for twice, losing retired to Arctic Monkeys and Elbow.

Instead, Girls Aloud again relied connected a nationalist ballot to yet assertion a Brit successful 2009 - winning champion British azygous for The Promise. Having ever mislaid retired connected categories judged by euphony insiders, the effect reinforced that this was a radical the British nationalist not lone created, but wanted to succeed.

Last week I re-watched Popstars: The Rivals and, speech from the minimal production, immoderate off-key performances and dated comments that made maine squirm, determination was 1 infinitesimal of innocence that stood out.

Kimberley, past 21, looked into the camera, hoping to get successful to the last set but unsure of what was to come: "I deliberation astir however it's going to be, but I don't deliberation immoderate of america truly know."

On the time Sound of the Underground was released, BBC News reported: "Over two-thirds of this year's fig ones person been from acts hand-picked and groomed for stardom by grounds institution endowment spotters, oregon from TV popular contests. Many are convinced the existent fad isn't going to make semipermanent acts with backmost catalogues."

More than 20 singles, 5 workplace albums, 2 top hits compilations and a postulation of B-sides that can't beryllium matched later, Girls Aloud truly did beryllium everyone wrong.