Girls Aloud

The Girls Aloud phenomenon began in the summer of 2002 when ITV launched Popstars: The Rivals in order to find a girl group and a boy band that would compete for the Christmas number one. The group was formed on November 30, 2002.


Members:

Cheryl Ann Tweedy

Birth Date: 30th June 1983
Birth Place: Newcastle, England
Siblings: 3 brothers, 1 sister
Facts: During the finals of Popstars: The Rivals, Cheryl sang “Now That I've Found You,” “You're Still The One,” “Nothing Compares To You,” and “Right Here Waiting.”
She was the first person to make it into Girls Aloud.


Kimberley Jane Walsh

Birth Date: 20th November 1981
Birth Place: Bradford, England
Siblings: 2 sisters, 1 brother
Facts: During the finals of Popstars: The Rivals, Kimberley sang “Baby Can I Hold You,” “Unbreak My Heart,” “Emotion,” and “Chain Reaction.” She was the fourth finalist to make it into Girls Aloud.
Filmography:
• Dream (2001) as Tracy
• "This Is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper" (2000 TV Series)


Nadine Elizabeth Louise Coyle

Birth Date: 15th June 1985
Birth Place: Derry, Ireland
Siblings: 2 sisters
Facts: During the finals of Popstars: The Rivals, Nadine sang “Show Me Heaven,” “Fields of Gold,” “When I Fall in Love,” and “I Wanna Dance with Somebody.”
She was the third girl to make it into Girls Aloud.


Nicola Roberts

Birth Date: 5th October 1985
Birth Place: Stanford, England
Facts: During the finals of Popstars: The Rivals, Nicola sang “River Deep,” “Mountain High,” “Shout,” “Wind Beneath My Wings,” and “I'm so Excited.” She was the second person to make it into Girls Aloud.


Sarah Harding

Birth Date: 17th November 1981
Birth Place: Manchester, England
Facts: During the finals of Popstars: The Rivals, Sarah sang “Build Me Up Buttercup,” “Anyone Who Had A Heart,” and “Holding Out For A Hero.” She was the fifth and final person to make it into Girls Aloud.

Contact:
Girls Aloud
c/o Polydor Records LTD
72 Black Lion Lane
London
W6 9BE


History of the Group

It all began in the summer of 2002. ITV launched “Popstars: The Rivals,” the search for members of an all girl group and a boy band. Thousands of young hopefuls proceeded to the audition but unfortunately, only 100 were taken to the next level of auditions. Among the judges were hit producer Pete Waterman, Westlife manager Louis Walsh and ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell. The auditions were hosted by Davina McCall.

The chosen 100 continued to impress the judges through several singing and dancing until just 10 remained. In the end is a boy band called “One True Voice” and the girl group called “Girls Aloud.” Cheryl Ann Tweedy was the first pick followed by Nicola Ward, then Nadine Elizabeth Louise Coyle, followed by a certain Hazel and Sarah Harding to complete the five. Unfortunately, Hazel was too old for the group so she was replaced by Kimberley Walsh. Another female finalist Nicola Ward backed out from the show and refused to sign the contract so she was replaced by Nicola Roberts.

The group was launched on November 30, 2002, one week after the boy band was launched. So the competition begins on who will take home the crown. “One True Voice” was quickly admired by the listening public until it was the turn of Girls Aloud. Their fresh and exciting sound easily captured the heart of every listener and managed to gain them more support and stormed straight to the chart. They debuted a number one hit in the UK and became the first female group to do such. Also, Girls Aloud was the first female group to go to Christmas number one with their carrier single “Sound of the Underground.” In fact, they also hold the record as the first band with the shortest time in completing a soundtrack and hitting a top spot in three weeks time and they only had one single.

After four months, their initial success was followed by a single “If You Wanna Roll” with Polydor Records and manager Louis Walsh but it was ditched because of some connections with a Popstar act. So it was followed by a second single “Can’t Stop Rockin” which is now Mars Attack then followed by a third one “No Good Advice” which fortunately matched the taste of a record company.

The single “No Good Advice” went number two in the charts beginning May of 2003 and became talk of e town. It is just a sign that the girls are here to stay. In a couple of weeks, “Life Got Cold” was released and became their third top three single. They found out that the group is capable of doing slower tracks besides upbeat pop songs. They gained more support as they performed in summer festivals in preparation to their coming release in November. Incidentally, Cheryl was ill from time to time because of kidney infection but made a comeback in October to record a promotional video. But before her comeback, she did a 120 hours community service for being charged of “common assault.” The group was once again faced in the brink of defamation. Girls Aloud proved them wrong by putting their single “Jump” in the number two position.

During the Christmas break in 2003, the band members moved into the same apartment in London and shared their moments together. At the beginning of the year, speculations about the group’ split up was brought out after a toilet incident involving Cheryl. There was also an incident where the scheduled tour was cancelled putting their popularity in a questionable state. But there is nothing to stop these feisty ladies from becoming Britains favorite girl group as they revealed to each other and even to the press that Polydor and each band member support each other 100%.

They got a well-deserved break over Christmas before going back into the studio beginning 2004, to start work on the second studio album. It cannot be denied that the girl group had officially become one of the most successful (also sexiest) girl bands in Britain. The group won a Disney Channel Kid's Award and in fact, their album went platinum and their singles were entering charts throughout Europe.

Fans became more excited with the release of their electric 5th single “The Show” in the fourth week of May 2004. It was a brand new look for the girl group and brought them into the limelight once more by getting it to the top two. They were given a Glamour Award for Band of The Year which the group felt proud of.

Just to ensure that the girl group is back, they continued with their tour, performing at universities and summer gigs. Towards the end of July, Nadine suffered two sudden bereavements forcing her to return home to Ireland but in just a matter of two weeks, she joine the group once more to promote their 6th single “Love Machine”.

Unlike any of the girls’ previous releases, “Love Machine” shocked the listening public and fans just like what “Sound of the Underground” and “No Good Advice” did previously. This only mean that the only the Spice Girls had done better with their first six releases, can you imagine that?

Not long after, fans awaited the release of their second album but it was revealed that they are chosen to sing the 2004 “Children in Need” single, fighting of the likes of Geri Halliwell and Busted. It was indeed a phenomenal performance as the single boomed its sales selling almost 30,000 more copies which gave score to the group as their second number one single in sales. It was a record release for that week.

After a few days, the second album was released and became the week’s highest new entry on the album charts. It actually sold twice as many copies than their first album.
It was indeed a successful year for Girls Aloud. In the opening month of 2005, the girl group was nominated for Best Pop Act at The Brit Awards. Not long after, they announce the release of their 8th single “Wake Me Up” in February.