In 2002 they were discovered on the British television channel IVT1’s reality show Popstars. The concept of the program was to produce a new boy band and a new girl band who would be rivals and go head to head to compete for the Christmas #1 single in 2002. The program was a spin-off from the original Pop Idol show brought to both British and American television by Simon Cowell.
Competing with the boy band who were created on the same show, One True Voice, resulted in the girls getting to the #1 position in Christmas 2002. The five girls who finally won the competition formed the group who were then named Girls Aloud. The group comprised of Cheryl Cole, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts, and Kimberley Walsh.
Once established, the group went on to win the affections of the British public, the rock music press and even the broadsheet newspapers.
The group became one of the most successful pop groups of the decade, with a record breaking fifteen consecutive top 10 singles (including three #1 singles), four platinum albums (including a #1), and record sales in excess of 4 million in the UK alone, as well as #1 singles in Greece, Ireland, and some success overseas. Girls Aloud holds the record for the shortest time between forming and reaching the #1 position in the UK charts with their platinum debut hit, "Sound Of The Underground."
Their record of fifteen consecutive top 10 singles is also unmatched by any other girl group beating even the Spice Girls' previous record of ten. After the huge success of Sound of the Underground the girl’s next big hit, "No Good Advice," went to #2 and the accompanying video was deemed one of the sexiest videos of the year.
Girls Aloud’s debut album, Sound of the Underground, was released on May 26, 2003 and went straight to #2, behind Justin Timberlake's album Justified.
In November of 2003 the girls released their next hit single "Jump," a cover version of a Pointer Sisters song. The song was featured on the soundtrack to the 2003 film Love Actually, which starred Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Alan Rickman, Bill Nighy, Keira Knightley, Emma Thompson, Laura Linney, and Rowan Atkinson.
In late 2003 band member Cheryl Tweedy was convicted of assaulting part-time law student Sophie Amogbokpa, who was working as a toilet attendant at The Drink nightclub in Guildford. Amogbokpa claimed the attack was racially motivated, but the singer was acquitted of this charge.
Girls Aloud hits include, "Sound of the Underground," "Jump," "The Show," "Love Machine," "I’ll Stand by You" ( a cover of The Pretender’s hit), "Wake Me Up," "Long Hot Summer," "Biology," "See the Day," "Whole Lotta History," "Something Kinda Oooooh," "I think we’re Alone Now," and "Walk this Way." The girls continue to enjoy success both in their music ventures and their private lives. Sarah Harding has tried her hand as a model and all the girls have appeared on the covers of FHM magazine.
Sarah and Cheryl have recently been in the tabloids because of their Hollywood relationships. Cheryl is dating Jesse Metcalfe of Desperate Housewives and Sarah was rumored to be seeing Stephen Dorff.
YUDDY
