Pop Idol

The viewing audience is introduced to this brilliant new series, where hopefuls from around the country audition to be Britain's newest Pop Idol. We are also introduced to the hosts, the irrepresable Ant and Dec, and the judges, music moguls Simon Cowell, Pete Waterman, Nikki Chapman and Dr Fox, and get to see some of the very first auditions from Manchester, London and Glasgow. Among these is the woman that decides to do 'YMCA' for her audition piece, the gorgeous Gareth Gates, who overcomes his stutter to perform, and the hilarious 'Sexual' Sharman, whose reaction at getting rejected is classic. (Throwing things around and regularly collapsing to his knees to cry).

More footage from the nation-wide Open Auditions. The judges are delighted when they discover finalist Zoe Birkett.

More footage from the nation-wide Open Auditions.

More footage from the nation-wide Open Auditions. Jessica Garlick is discovered in an open audition. She is a big fan of judge Pete Waterman and is overcome with emotion when she meets him, but she still manages to make a great performance.

More footage from the nation-wide Open Auditions. Simon Cowell tells hopeful Aaron Bailey that he is 'the people's choice' and all four judges put him through to the second phase.

The competition gets serious when footage from the re-calls of the final 100 is shown. The judges are dissapointed with the majority of the performers, but things eventually pick up. Simon predicts some of the Final 10, but will he be proved correct?

Another chance to see new footage of the Final 100 auditions, in the Nation's capital - London. The judges comment and how the standard has improved considerably. Zoe Birkett blows the judges away with a killer performance.

We're down to the final 50, and tonight the first group of 10 perform a song of their choice to the judges and the viewing audience in the Pop Idol studios. After a week of intense vocal training, the 10 contestants took to the stage. Haifa, Jayne, Errol, Chris, Andy, Gareth, Monica, Sarah, Zoe and Chloe all sang their hearts out, but only two could get through to the Finals. The public finally got the chance to vote, and in the end, Zoe Birkett and Gareth Gates were selected to be the first two Pop Idol finalists.

The second of five Live Audition shows. After the judges approval, the public agree and vote Laurha Dogherty and Hayley Evetts.

The Live Audition show's continue, with the third programme coming live from London's Granada Television Studios. After recieving some strong criticism from Simon Cowell, Wik Waller is voted into the Top 10. Sixth place in the final's goes to Aaron Bailey, while Popstars reject Darius Danesh is sent home, having come 3rd in the public vote.

Its the Semi-Final Audition Show, and aware that the positions in the Final 10 are going fast tonights ten are the strongest group yet. Jessica Garlick earns herself a place in the Final Ten. The second position tonight goes to bubbly welsh wannabe Rosie Ribbons.

Its the final Audition show, and only two places are left for the Pop Idol finalists. Eight more people will be going home, but two will be in the final stage of the series. First contestant voted in tonight is Rik Waller, second is Aaron Bailey.

As Pop Idol prepares to enter its final stages and the live format kicks off, we look back at the past two months, from the early auditions (we get a chance to see all ten's first auditions in some previous unseen footage) right through to the selection of final ten.

The 10 Pop Idol finalists performed in front of a live audience for the final time as the show entered its final stage. Gareth, Zoe, Hayley, Laura, Rosie, Jessica, William, Korben and Aaron all took to the stage to perform songs sung by their own Pop Idols, but 'Roly Poly' Rick's throat infection stopped him from competing. 2 hours after the final nine sang their hearts out, the show returned with the results show. The public had voted and Korben Niblett, the gay George Michael fan, was ejected from the competition.

'Roly Poly' Rick Waller is forced out of the competition through illness, and is replaced by the person who came third in his heat, Darius himself! Darius joins Zoe, Hayley, Rosie, Gareth, Aaron, William, Jessica and Laura as they perform their favourite Christmas songs to the live studio audience. 2 hours after their performances, Ant and Dec returned with the voting results. Jessica Garlik, the 23-year-old Welsh beauty, was eliminated from the contest, leaving behind the final eight.

We're down to the last eight, and Gareth, Darius, Aaron, William, Rosie, Laura, Zoe and Hayley each performed Burt Bacharach songs for the live and viewing audience, but also took part in a photo shoot for OK magazine during the course of the week. 2 hours after they performed, Ant and Dec announced the results of the public vote. With the majority of the votes, Aaron Bailey, the 26-year-old train driver, was eliminated from the competition, leaving behind the final seven.

We're down to the final seven, and tonight Zoe, Hayley, Laura, Rosie, Gareth, Darius and William perform songs of their choices from the movies (everything is sung from James Bond to Titanic), and we also get a glimpse of them spending some quality time together. 2 hours after their performances, Ant and Dec return with the results of the public vote. Laura Doherty, the Irish lovely who has consistently had one of the lowest votes of the show, was finally eliminated from the competition.

We're down to the final six, and tonight Zoe, William, Rosie, Gareth, Hayley and Darius perform their favourite ABBA songs (these include 'The Winner Takes It All' from Rosie and 'Gimme Gimme Gimme' from Hayley) to the live audience, and we get a glimpse of the six of them spending some time in a luxury health resort. 2 hours later, the usual occurs, and Ant and Dec return with the results of the public vote. Rosie Ribbons, the 23-year-old Welsh shop assistant, is eliminated from the competition, leaving behind the final five contestants.

As Pop Idol prepares to wind down to a close, Gareth, Darius, Zoe, Hayley and William perform big band numbers (songs sung with a big brass band playing behind them), which is the biggest test in their time in the competition. Some rise to the occassion (Darius, William), but other's fall at the wayside (Hayley, Gareth). 2 hours later, Ant and Dec announce the results of the public vote, and Hayley Evetts, the 23-year-old Brummie babe, was elimination from the competition.

With only two weeks of the competition left, the final four Pop Idols (Gareth, Zoe, William and Darius) appear at the film premiere of 'Moulin Rouge' and then perform their hearts out with two songs chosen for them by the judges. As Darius swung his hips to Tom Jones' 'It's Not Unusual,' Zoe went for a more subdued romantic mood. But it did her no good. 2 hours after the performances were done, the public had voted and Ant and Dec revealed that Zoe Birkett, the 16-year-old schoolgirl and only female still in the contest, had been eliminated, leaving behind just the three guys.

With only one week until the winning Pop Idol is announced, the final three guys give it their all to make it to the last stage. William, Darius and Gareth perform two songs each chosen by themselves, and they all give spectacular performances (a thing reiterated by the judges), but one must go. 2 hours after their performances, the show returns with the results. As the bookies predicted, Darius Danesh, the 23-year-old lone Scot in the contest, was eliminated, leaving behind the Final Two - William and Gareth. Who will win?

Its the most talked about Television event of the year, and the highest rated one too. Over 19 Million viewers tuned in to see performances from Will Young and Gareth Gates, but only one could be the ultimate Pop Idol. In this specially extended episode, all of the final ten our present. Pop Idol's rejects return to discuss thier experiences as contestans and living in constant public attention. And, of course, Britian's two remaining Pop Idol's perform the two songs, that for one of them, will be thier debut Double-A single - 'Evergreen' and 'Anything Is Possible'. Hosts Ant and Dec are on hand to perform skits and sketches, along with the four judges. Footage of Nicki Chapman, Neil Fox, Simon Cowell and Pete Waterman hitting the streets of London to drum up support for thier favourite is also shown. And the queen of bad auditions - Caroline Buckley (a.k.a YMCA Girl) made a special one-time only performance! When the show returned for the results, the atmosphere was electric. After mo

A special documentary based on Will Young, winner of Pop Idol. Camera's follow him as he adjusts to life in the public gaze and prepares for the release of his debut single 'Evergreen'. Contains bonus footage of Gareth Gates performing a duet with Rachel Stevens, of S Club fame.