The first Popstars series launched in New Zealand. It was won by an all-girl group called TrueBliss, which included a South African born contestant Maggie Alatini. Since then it's been produced in over 50 countries.
Popstars 2010 tuned into e.tv on Saturday (at 18h05) with a special episode featuring a look at the global phenomenon of the series and what we can expect from the new season.
The premiere chords of it were a combo of fresh and nostalgic as the show reflected on past South African winners, starting with 101's vid. for Who's It Gonna Be.
As the opening notes began and the video's signature Jack Russell shuffled across the screen in newspaper we were struck by a moment of longing for 2002 when 101 first debut'd.
Do you also remember the JR in the video? It was the series' producers dog. His task (the JR's): to highlight how 101 where grabbing newspaper headlines.
At the time the group really had such a winning formula: the individuality of the five'some, the contrast in their voices, their first-time winner status and the catchiness of the track. The video was a reminder of how everything was set up for max success -
except their desire to stay together.
While watching we wondered whether Pam Andrews wishes they'd stuck together instead of each going solo. Even though she's had a successful acting career it's very possible - which is best: an acting career or screaming fans at a live concert? We'll ask her when we find ourselves face-to-boobs with her.
In between the past winners, the footage covered the global status of the show with clips from round the world, including other African countries. The footage was cool but there were too few captions with it which made it difficult to work out who everyone was and where they were from.
Host Martin Phike pulled off his presenting gig with pizzazz, despite his fashion crimes which warrant jail time for being too preppy. He wore a pink jersey with a purple T-shirt underneath - too McNerdy in contrast to his Ghetto Lingo dreads we thought.
Speaking of image problems and changes - turns out 101's Kurt is the choreographer for the show and now believes he's Michael Jackson:
We've tried to work out if he's had surgery but haven't been able to spot anything specific -
yet. He was always quite chiseled wasn't he? Expect to see him wearing a glove soon.
Also, expect for the winning group and single to have an R&B vibe. EMI bigwig Irving Schlossberg and e.tv's Group Head Monde Twala were interviewed and said that the group who emerge will have an R&B style, infused with African rhythms and that they want to promote the group internationally too.
The Popstars house was also revealed and seems glam enough for the making of stars - the only problem is the geysers seem to be on the outside, right at the front:
Those oddball barrel things - geysers? Eco water-catchers?
While the episode unfolded on TV, the judges were doing their thang and wrapping their day at the
auditions in Jozi, which move to Pretoria this coming weekend for the fourth and final audition stint.
In next week's episode: coverage of the Durbs, Cape Town and Jozi auditions a.k.a. da search begins.