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Speaker 1: Episode one, Becoming a pop Star. In the late nineties,

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Speaker 1: the hunt was on for Australia's answer to the Spice Girls.

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Speaker 2: We don't just want a group for the television show,

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Speaker 2: We're looking for a career act.

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Speaker 1: A call out was published a new Idea magazine, offering

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Speaker 1: the opportunity of a lifetime, or so they thought. Warner

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Speaker 1: Music was set to plug five girls from obscurity and

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Speaker 1: turn them into household names, offering up a three album

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Speaker 1: recording contract and a place in a girl band. The

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Speaker 1: twel's definitely out there.

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Speaker 2: It's our job, naga and find it.

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Speaker 1: Australia strapped in for the ride, with Channel seven bringing

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Speaker 1: a new show called pop Stars to our screens. Millions

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Speaker 1: tuned in to watch the auditions, and it wasn't long

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Speaker 1: until we were heavily invested. Don't you Treat Me back?

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Speaker 1: Don't You make Me Sad? But behind the scenes, fame

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Speaker 1: wasn't as they expected. Whilst the TV execs were raking

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Speaker 1: in millions from the band, the five girls weren't making

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Speaker 1: a cent. Their mental health was also struggling as they

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Speaker 1: buckled under the intense media pressure to stay thin. So

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Speaker 1: was life as a pop star really worth it. We

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Speaker 1: are journalist Sophie Kate and Amy Torbert, and this is

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Speaker 1: our new series Unspoken, where we bring you the unspoken

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Speaker 1: stories behind the biggest pop culture headlines to rock the

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Speaker 1: nineties and early naughties. Welcome to the first installment of

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Speaker 1: our deep dive series on pop stars. Now. We were

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Speaker 1: just eleven when the show came out and I remember

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Speaker 1: at the time being so infatuated by Bardo. I remember

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Speaker 1: having to beg our mum to take us down to

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Speaker 1: their instore appearance in Adelaide and it was absolutely packed. Oh,

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Speaker 1: these in store appearances were unprecedented. They had thousands of

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Speaker 1: young girls lining up for hours to see them. I

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Speaker 1: think the show was even shocked by how big the

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Speaker 1: crowds got. And everyone had their favorite. I don't know

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Speaker 1: who were your favorites. Kane so oh like any other kid.

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Speaker 1: My favorite Sophie Monk. Watching the show back, it's quite

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Speaker 1: clear that she was the standout favorite. I also had

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Speaker 1: a soft spot for Belinda Chapel as well. Yeah, they

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Speaker 1: were my two favorites, along with Sally because she was

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Speaker 1: an Adelaide girl. I want to take you back to

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Speaker 1: September nineteen ninety nine. That is when Channel seven announced

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Speaker 1: it was set to bring out a new show called

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Speaker 1: Pop Stars, and at the time, the term reality TV

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Speaker 1: didn't really exist, with the show instead described as a

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Speaker 1: thirteen part doc u soap which followed the creation of

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Speaker 1: an all female pop group. Now, this was at a

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Speaker 1: time when the Spice Girls were still top of the

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Speaker 1: charts and Aussie music producers were desperate to create their

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Speaker 1: own homegrown supergroup. Now, while the format of the show

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Speaker 1: was unlike anything we'd seen on our screens before, the

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Speaker 1: concept actually originated from New Zealand. So in nineteen ninety nine,

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Speaker 1: the show followed the journey of a girl group called

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Speaker 1: True Bliss. Now, there was a lot of publicity around

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Speaker 1: True Bliss, but they didn't have the success of Bardo

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Speaker 1: or the longevity, and this was because the show failed

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Speaker 1: to select the girls and they failed to actually place

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Speaker 1: them in the right market. So it seemed like Channel

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Speaker 1: seven were able to see where this show failed and

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Speaker 1: when they brought out Pop Stars, it was so important

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Speaker 1: for the producers to actually select the right group of girls,

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Speaker 1: which they obviously did so well, and the show really

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Speaker 1: did act as a blueprint for singing competitions going forward,

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Speaker 1: because after that we saw Australian Idol launch, We've seen

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Speaker 1: the Voice. There's been so many singing competitions. It's pretty

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Speaker 1: interesting because Channel seven decided to buy the rights to

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Speaker 1: this show and have it screen just before the Sydney Olympics,

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Speaker 1: so it started screening in February two thousand and I

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Speaker 1: loved seeing all of the signage for the Olympics in

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Speaker 1: the background of the additions. It made me feel extra

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Speaker 1: nostalgic watching this bag. Well, they really wanted a show

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Speaker 1: that was going to draw in ratings so that people

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Speaker 1: stayed on Channel seven, and this is exactly what they got.

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Speaker 1: Because the show was a huge success. They ended up

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Speaker 1: buying the franchise from New Zealand for a really small sum.

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Speaker 1: So I wonder how the original creators of Pop Stars

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Speaker 1: felt about it. They'd be so pissed off now. Auditions

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Speaker 1: were held across the country in July nineteen ninety nine,

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Speaker 1: with a three person judging panel made up of Warner

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Speaker 1: Music executive Chris Moss, band manager Michael Naphthali and radio

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Speaker 1: host Jackie O. Henderson. Is crazy to think Jackieo was

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Speaker 1: only twenty four at the time that she was appointed

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Speaker 1: as judge, so she was the same age as many

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Speaker 1: of the band members. She went on to select I

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Speaker 1: feel like this is the reason why she just never

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Speaker 1: seems to age, because I didn't realize she was so

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Speaker 1: young at the time of being on Pop Stars. The

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Speaker 1: craziest thing was she wasn't even paid for being part

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Speaker 1: of the judging panel, which blew my mind because, as

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Speaker 1: we said, this was the biggest show on television at

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Speaker 1: the time. Yeah. Well, it's kind of a theme that

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Speaker 1: we'll see throughout this whole process that the young women

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Speaker 1: on the show really weren't compensated for their efforts. Yeah. So,

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Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen, JACKIEO told Kiss listeners that she did

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Speaker 1: Pop Stars for free. She said, no one mentioned anything

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Speaker 1: about money, so I didn't mention money. I remember we

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Speaker 1: were in Adelaide doing auditions, and you know how they

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Speaker 1: hand out per dims, which is like sixty dollars. They

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Speaker 1: handed me this envelope and I didn't know what appear was.

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Speaker 1: So I opened it and I saw sixty seven dollars

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Speaker 1: in there, and I went up to the executive director

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Speaker 1: and gave him a big hug and said thank you

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Speaker 1: so much. I was stoked I was getting cash. I

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Speaker 1: would love to know if the mail judges were also

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Speaker 1: paid in per deems or if they actually got a

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Speaker 1: proper salary. Well, I would hazard a guess that Michael

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Speaker 1: Naphthaalaie didn't actually get paid too much because he was

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Speaker 1: a ringing at the last hour because his boss, Grant Thomas,

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Speaker 1: who owned Grant Thomas Management, declined from being filmed, so

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Speaker 1: he was their first pick and he suddenly goes, no,

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Speaker 1: I don't want to do it. So they brought in

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Speaker 1: Michael and he was really popular with the girls. Belinda

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Speaker 1: Chappele actually said in her book that he was the

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Speaker 1: least intimidating judge of them all. He was really qualified

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Speaker 1: at the time because he was an entertainment lawyer and also,

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Speaker 1: as you say, okay, he worked at this management company

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Speaker 1: and they managed the likes of the Finn Brothers, Split

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Speaker 1: Ends and Crowded House. So this was a huge opportunity

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Speaker 1: for five unknowns to get managed by a huge company

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Speaker 1: like this. Yeah, but I suppose it's an opportunity for

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Speaker 1: Michael himself because you see Jackie O also jumped at

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Speaker 1: the chance to be on primetime TV. And nowadays we've

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Speaker 1: got social media where everyone's got an opportunity to get

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Speaker 1: their face out there. But at the time, being on

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Speaker 1: TV was such a massive thing and so many people

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Speaker 1: would do it for free. It's ironic because, as you

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Speaker 1: touched on Kate Grant, Thomas didn't want to actually appear

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Speaker 1: on camera. But Belinda said in her book that there

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Speaker 1: was a judging panel for the cameras and there was

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Speaker 1: also a judging panel behind the scenes, so although he

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Speaker 1: wasn't on camera, he was there every step of the

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Speaker 1: way through the audition process helping them make the decisions. Well,

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Speaker 1: Michael would go up and ask his opinions, so it

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Speaker 1: was kind of like a group vote yeah, and Belinda

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Speaker 1: described this as the first taste of reception that was

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Speaker 1: going to unfold behind the scenes of pop stars Now.

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Speaker 1: The last judge was Chris Moss, who was the managing

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Speaker 1: director of Warner Music and he was set to sign

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Speaker 1: the group to a three album deal. You'll probably remember

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Speaker 1: him because he used to wear these really bold, wacky

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Speaker 1: T shirts. He also looks a lot like Ian Hewitson,

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Speaker 1: who was a TV chef at the time. He was

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Speaker 1: described by Belinda as being very kind and genuine with

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Speaker 1: a good high but my perception of him on the

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Speaker 1: show was really different because I always remember he would

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Speaker 1: oggle at the young women who were auditioning, and in

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Speaker 1: a bonus episode, he was actually caught out staring at

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Speaker 1: a number of the girl's boobs or either gushing over

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Speaker 1: them behind the scenes. Yeah, it's interesting that the TV

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Speaker 1: stations decided to portray him like that when Belinda actually

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Speaker 1: said he was so genuinely kind. It was clear from

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Speaker 1: the start of this show that the TV network and

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Speaker 1: music bosses really wanted this to be big. They seemed

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Speaker 1: to throw everything at it. They enlisted the help of

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Speaker 1: a lot of Australia's top music professionals and dancers to

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Speaker 1: act as coaches for the girls. There were some huge

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Speaker 1: names that they selected. Now as we touched on, the

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Speaker 1: first episode did air in February two thousand and Who

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Speaker 1: could forget this iconic theme song. This song has been

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Speaker 1: in my head ever since we decided to do this

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Speaker 1: deep dive and it really does take me back. It

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Speaker 1: really takes me back to Sunday night during summer. That feeling.

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Speaker 1: I still that feeling when I hear that song, And

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Speaker 1: it was a really positive feeling that you got when

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Speaker 1: you watch this show because you think about talent competitions

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Speaker 1: now and it's very cutthroat and negative and people are

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Speaker 1: pitted against each other. But it didn't have that vibe

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Speaker 1: at all. It was a bit more wholesome, it really was.

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Speaker 1: And when you go back and you watch the show,

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Speaker 1: it was really shot so differently to say how Maths

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Speaker 1: is shot now, because it was that doco style filming.

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Speaker 1: There was no sensationalized music which set the tone like

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Speaker 1: we see now on reality shows, and there weren't those

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Speaker 1: quick edits which made people look really bad. It was

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Speaker 1: sort of more a really genuine fly on the wall experience.

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Speaker 1: Belinda Chapple mentioned in her book that the girls had

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Speaker 1: no idea what the TV series was going to look like.

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Speaker 1: She did say that everything was being filmed, but because

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Speaker 1: they didn't have a template for what this show looked

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Speaker 1: like on TV, they're like, how are they going to

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Speaker 1: make this interesting? But it was interesting. It drew you

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Speaker 1: in straight away. We've obviously watched it back, yeah, and

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Speaker 1: I couldn't stop watching like it was really good. It

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Speaker 1: was just so raw and authentic because no one knew

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Speaker 1: how they were actually going to come across on TV.

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Speaker 1: So people haven't tried to create these personas and if

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Speaker 1: it couldn't get any more nineties. In order to actually

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Speaker 1: audition for pop stars, you had to buy New Idea

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Speaker 1: magazine which had the audition form inside. Yeah, it was

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Speaker 1: quite funny because Belinda said that the headline on the

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Speaker 1: magazine was Australia's answer to the Spy Skirls, and the

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Speaker 1: premise was that every girl who filled out the form

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Speaker 1: would get a shot at being signed to Warner Music.

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Speaker 1: And in the first episode we see all these girls

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Speaker 1: with the magazine in the line filling it out, so

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Speaker 1: it was great promotion for the magazine. Well, that magazine

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Speaker 1: ends up being quite a contentious topic. We will get

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Speaker 1: into all of the scandals later down the track, but

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Speaker 1: one of the contestants that actually made the band was

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Speaker 1: accused of stealing the magazine and twist. Now, there was

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Speaker 1: such a huge response to the auditions, with thousands showing

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Speaker 1: up to get their chance, and the show kept reminding

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Speaker 1: us that the judges were plucking five unknowns off the

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Speaker 1: street and turning them into pop stars. The concept of

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Speaker 1: being plucked from obscurity and then receiving this instant fame,

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Speaker 1: it was completely new to all of and it led

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Speaker 1: to a lot of intense media scrutiny and think pieces

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Speaker 1: at the time about whether the band members were worthy

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Speaker 1: of the fame that they were receiving. And I think

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Speaker 1: the popularity of this show really came down to the

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Speaker 1: timing because it was the first time we'd seen anything

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Speaker 1: like this before, and we weren't jaded or cynical about

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Speaker 1: the concept. We were really rooting for the girls in

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Speaker 1: the group. We wanted them to be successful. We were

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Speaker 1: out there supporting them, buying their CDs. Now, in what

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Speaker 1: they called a cattle call, the girls were shepherded into

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Speaker 1: a conference room and asked us seeing three lines from

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Speaker 1: one of four songs and this really takes me back

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Speaker 1: to the late nineties. They could choose from Wanna Be Respect,

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Speaker 1: My Heart Will Go On for Ain't No Sunshine, and

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Speaker 1: they auditioned in a line of five girls and they

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Speaker 1: had a couple of seconds to impress the judges, and

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Speaker 1: if they made it through the first round, they'd come

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Speaker 1: back for the second day of auditions, where the judges

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Speaker 1: would then make a short list of twenty five to

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Speaker 1: go to Sydney for a week of what they called

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Speaker 1: very intense auditions. What I noticed about these auditions whether

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Speaker 1: the judges weren't act like you're so used to seeing,

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Speaker 1: you know, Ian Dicko Dixon just absolutely tearing someone to shreds.

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Speaker 1: But they were all kind of positive about it, like yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's enough. There seemed to be a lot more care

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Speaker 1: and almost dignity given to the girls that were auditioning,

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Speaker 1: because they seemed to gloss over a lot of the

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Speaker 1: bad auditions. And also the judges were shown being quite

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Speaker 1: supportive of the girls. I mean in one of the episodes,

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Speaker 1: we see a girl visibly shaking and they're given a

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Speaker 1: lot of support instead of being made fun of. Their

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Speaker 1: faces were quite hilariously, like you could tell instantly if

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Speaker 1: Jackie O was a bit like yeah. I loved the

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Speaker 1: shot from behind the contestants and it was you know,

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Speaker 1: you can see the contestants singing and just the judges'

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Speaker 1: faces and they were classic. It's almost that trying not

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Speaker 1: to laugh. And I did love how Chris Moss would

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Speaker 1: have this certain hand movement that he would do when

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Speaker 1: he'd heard enough. Yeah, sometimes it was quite quick. One

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Speaker 1: thing that I couldn't get over was the eyebrows. I

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Speaker 1: just can't believe it because they were plucked within an

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Speaker 1: inch of their life. Like every girl had pencils in eyebrows.

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Speaker 1: Everyone was so thin, like thin you forget that diet culture.

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Speaker 1: Back in the nineties, it was the Kate Moss era.

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Speaker 1: I did love the fashion though, because we are seeing

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Speaker 1: the nineties come back in a big way. Everyone was

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Speaker 1: trying to emulate the spice perse. Now in the first episode,

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Speaker 1: we meet the five girls who do eventually go on

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Speaker 1: to join Bardo, and from the start, Sophie Monk was

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Speaker 1: a fan favorite. As you touched on. She was only

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Speaker 1: nineteen at the time, and she'd driven nine hours through

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Speaker 1: the night to make the auditions, and at the time

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Speaker 1: she was working on the Gold Coast performing as a

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Speaker 1: Marilyn Monroe impersonator. And I feel like he can really

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Speaker 1: pick that up in her audition. Let's throw to it

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Speaker 1: that the hardly goal. You could just tell that Sophie

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Speaker 1: Monk had that instant star quality when she performs. I

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Speaker 1: still can't believe she was only nineteen. It really blows

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Speaker 1: my mind. Now. The next girl was Katie Underwood, and

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Speaker 1: the judges weren't really sure about her. She clearly had

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Speaker 1: the X factor, but there were concerns that her voice

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Speaker 1: wasn't strong enough. What love got to do got to

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Speaker 1: do with it. She made quite the impression because I

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Speaker 1: still have a vivid memory of what she wore to

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Speaker 1: this first audition. So she had this silver reflective top

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Speaker 1: on that looked a bit like a metal shield. And

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Speaker 1: while it made hers stand out to the judges, they

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Speaker 1: actually ended up asking her to change her outfit. Let's

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Speaker 1: throw to what they said, we're.

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Speaker 2: Going to ask you to come back, given that you've

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Speaker 2: gone to so much trouble and it looks absolutely fantastic.

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Speaker 2: Is there a chance that you can change your attire

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Speaker 2: by one o'clock? I want you to rush out and

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Speaker 2: like spend. That's not what we're some looking for problem.

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Speaker 2: Thank you.

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Speaker 1: I love how polite they were. You know, if you

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Speaker 1: can go out and buy something, it'd be great. I

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Speaker 1: do recall when I saw Katie, I thought, oh, she's

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Speaker 1: going to be one of those people like that everyone

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Speaker 1: laughs at, you know, like the person. Well really, I

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Speaker 1: actually had the opposite opinion. I thought that she looked

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Speaker 1: like a star because she had a really unusual look

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Speaker 1: and a striking look. Yeah, but I thought it came

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Speaker 1: across that she was trying too hard and you know

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Speaker 1: those people that go for that shock factor, they end

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Speaker 1: up being the center of the show for five minutes

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Speaker 1: and then they get kicked off. Well, when Belinda Chappel auditioned,

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Speaker 1: she made a big impression. She was actually working as

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Speaker 1: a model at the time and her agent had actually

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Speaker 1: booked it in for three catwalk shows that day, so

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Speaker 1: she knew in order to be seen by the judges

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Speaker 1: she had to talk her way in to getting into

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Speaker 1: one of those early audition groups. They must have known

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Speaker 1: she had star quality then, because we did see a

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Speaker 1: lot of duds performing and she did bring along her

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Speaker 1: CV to show, look, I actually am a performer. They

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Speaker 1: would have taken one look at her and gone, yeah,

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Speaker 1: you can go to the front. Ye go straight through,

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Speaker 1: because we know that so much of it was about

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Speaker 1: the look and having that right pop star look. Definitely

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Speaker 1: in her book, I found it quite interesting because she

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Speaker 1: said that she'd always dreamt of being a pop star

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Speaker 1: and when she saw it advertised a new idea, she

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Speaker 1: just had this feeling that she was going to land

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Speaker 1: the job. It seems to be this gut feeling that

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Speaker 1: a lot of people get for something like Sadly, there

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Speaker 1: are a lot of people that have no chance also

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Speaker 1: a cut feeling, which we saw on the show. I

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Speaker 1: do recall when Michael was saying, there are some people

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Speaker 1: that really thought they had a good chance. And I

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Speaker 1: suppose it's because, again, they'd never done big auditions like

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Speaker 1: that in the past, because Belinda Chappele in her book

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Speaker 1: talks about the fact that she used to go to

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Speaker 1: auditions all the time, but these were professional auditions where

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Speaker 1: they just don't let anyone in. But with pop stars,

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Speaker 1: anyone who bought a new idea could audition. Now, Belinda

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Speaker 1: did opt to sing respect, and in the book she

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Speaker 1: said that it was a fairly average rendition of the song,

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Speaker 1: and she explained that she was so nervous that she

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Speaker 1: felt like her heart was going to jump out of

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Speaker 1: her chest. So she made this very impromptu dance move

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Speaker 1: actioning her pounding heart. And I always remember watching this thinking,

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Speaker 1: what's that about? Yeah, I never knew what it was about,

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Speaker 1: but I thought it was kind of like she was

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Speaker 1: showing that she was fun and creative. Let's throw to

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Speaker 1: her audition, Ah that scared. It's for their respect when

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Speaker 1: you come home, hey, baby, when you get home, mister.

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Speaker 1: It's so funny watching this show back more than twenty

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Speaker 1: years on, because there are so many things that just

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Speaker 1: wouldn't fly now. One of them that really stood out

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Speaker 1: was the ageism. So in the first episode, they make

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Speaker 1: fun of a group of women in their late thirties

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Speaker 1: to early forties auditioning for the show. Let's throw to

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Speaker 1: the clip.

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Speaker 2: The auditions are open to any girl who was eighteen.

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Speaker 1: My boyfriend's wife rang up and told me about it.

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Speaker 2: Actually, Oh love her. She's a lovely lady.

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Speaker 1: I'm shame.

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Speaker 2: No, so what you reckon?

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Speaker 1: You're gonna need chicky babes end today. If anything, were

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Speaker 1: just going to help those young ladies out every night.

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Speaker 1: Oh my dreams, I see I see you. The funniest

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Speaker 1: thing about this was that these women actually seemed a

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Speaker 1: lot more talented than some that actually made it through.

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Speaker 1: They actually had good voices, yeah, but you could tell

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Speaker 1: they just weren't what they were looking for. Maybe if

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Speaker 1: it was the voice and they're particularly looking for a voice,

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Speaker 1: but it's clear they were looking to manufacture a pop

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Speaker 1: group of five twenty something. Something that was also really

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Speaker 1: evident was the lack of diversity, because this show claimed

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Speaker 1: that it wanted five different girls, that girls at home

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Speaker 1: could relate to. However, the five women that they ended

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Speaker 1: up choosing were all white and straight sized women. In

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Speaker 1: saying that when watching the auditions, there were quite a

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Speaker 1: few different nationalities that were actually put through the process,

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Speaker 1: but they just went picked at the end. I also

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Speaker 1: found it really uncomfortable because the judges would use someone's

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Speaker 1: dancing ability as this thinly veiled excuse to reject plus

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Speaker 1: size contestants. So in the first episode, we see an

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Speaker 1: eighteen year old girl called Beth Huddle get through the

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Speaker 1: first stage of the audition process and at the time

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Speaker 1: she was working as a hairstylist and a cake decorator.

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Speaker 1: For some reason, I loved the inclusion that she was

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Speaker 1: a cake decorator and apparently she'd had five years singing experience,

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Speaker 1: and the narrator explained that she'd been to many auditions

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Speaker 1: before and during this one on one audition she did,

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Speaker 1: Jackie O said to her, could you move around a

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Speaker 1: bit because we want to see some of your dancing,

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Speaker 1: And during this audition, Beth stuffed up the lyrics a

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Speaker 1: couple of times, and she asks if she can get

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Speaker 1: the lyrics to the song, let's play the exchange. Shall

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Speaker 1: your hand Tato makes my upholstery. Oh my god, a couple. So,

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Speaker 1: I know this looks really bad. It looks like I'm nervous,

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Speaker 1: but I've just forgot my ways. I only let the

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Speaker 1: song this morning. Is it okay if I get some lyrics? Sure?

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Speaker 2: Well, no, it's not. Actually, to be honest, it's not.

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Speaker 1: Since this show, it seems like Jackie O has continued

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Speaker 1: to be cast in the role of the good cop

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Speaker 1: woman that asked the girls to do something and kind

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Speaker 1: of sets them up for failure and critique from a male. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's so true. Now, following this scolding, Beth then sings

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Speaker 1: the chorus and she sounds really great, and the judges

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Speaker 1: basically deliberate and in front of her, and they say

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Speaker 1: her voice is really strong, but they didn't see any movement,

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Speaker 1: and despite the fact that she really did have one

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Speaker 1: of the strongest voices in this competition, they chose to

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Speaker 1: cut her. Here's what they said, what love.

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Speaker 2: Got to do?

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Speaker 1: Got to do that? Why love the second handed bullshit?

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Speaker 2: fIF We know everyone gets radiled with the nerves and

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Speaker 2: it makes it really difficult and everything else, but it

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Speaker 2: was a second callback and we see you come in

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Speaker 2: and be very confident with the song at least the

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Speaker 2: other point, because it wasn't just that movement and dance

400
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Speaker 2: is also important to us as well, and we don't

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00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:39,399
Speaker 2: feel that we saw enough animation from that point. Ye,

402
00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:43,159
Speaker 2: that's cool, So on that basis, we won't go for

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Speaker 2: a callback from here.

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00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:47,160
Speaker 1: Thanks very much for your time. Anyway, you can see

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Speaker 1: that poor Beth was really shaken by this experience. She

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Speaker 1: did mutter under her breath that it was such a

407
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Speaker 1: joke and said that she'd never heard of anyone not

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Speaker 1: getting a callback because they couldn't dance, And she ended

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Speaker 1: up breaking down in tears when she left, and all

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Speaker 1: of the contestants asking her what was wrong. This is

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Speaker 1: what she said, you know what, It's all about the

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Speaker 1: image And oh darly, I got offered a contract with

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Speaker 1: PolyGram in London and they told me I had to

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Speaker 1: lose teen heroes, I had to get hair extensions and

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Speaker 1: bleash it. It's all about the image. It was so

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Speaker 1: obvious that the judges were just using Beth dancing as

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Speaker 1: an excuse not to take her on because her image

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Speaker 1: didn't suit the band. Yeah, which I'm surprised about because

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Speaker 1: I would have thought in the early two thousands. They

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Speaker 1: didn't really care about hurting people's feelings. Yeah, but everyone

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Speaker 1: could see through it. They were even more avert as

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Speaker 1: it went on because there was another contestant called Kara Holdham.

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Speaker 1: Here's what they said about her, like.

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Speaker 2: He had a real bit of character about her, and

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Speaker 2: then got into the group tried to overplayed. I think

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Speaker 2: it's rd to go and you feel comfortable in yourself

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Speaker 2: and you should just be able to jump in the image.

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Speaker 2: So I think that the fact that she was putting

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Speaker 2: it down to the whole process I found that she

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Speaker 2: had governed. I don't think we need to see anymore.

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Speaker 1: It's hard to listen to that back because it's pretty

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Speaker 1: clear the judges already had a very strict mold of

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Speaker 1: what they wanted the girls to be. And I think

434
00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:13,359
Speaker 1: this sort of fat phobic rhetoric and lack of diversity

435
00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:16,160
Speaker 1: shows just how far we've come in twenty twenty three,

436
00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:19,639
Speaker 1: like this would not be allowed now. Watching this series back,

437
00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:23,480
Speaker 1: the entire audition process is really quite quick because by

438
00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:26,960
Speaker 1: the second episode, the judges are already forming the final

439
00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:28,960
Speaker 1: twenty five who will go to Sydney for the last

440
00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:32,160
Speaker 1: round of auditions before the final five are then announced,

441
00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:33,760
Speaker 1: and I think it was really good to do it

442
00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:36,359
Speaker 1: this way because a lot of current singing competitions I

443
00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:38,960
Speaker 1: feel like they really drag out the audition process and

444
00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:41,040
Speaker 1: they sort of just use it as an opportunity to

445
00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:44,080
Speaker 1: make fun of everyone. Australian Idle were the worst at that.

446
00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:46,320
Speaker 1: The auditions went for so long, you like just get

447
00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:48,560
Speaker 1: to the good bit, and I think because they wanted

448
00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:51,119
Speaker 1: to drag it out, that's why they always humiliated people

449
00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:52,800
Speaker 1: so much, because you can't just show all of the

450
00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:56,240
Speaker 1: good scenes. Yes, now, in this episode, it's really nostalgic

451
00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:59,240
Speaker 1: because the judges sit around watching the auditions back on

452
00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:02,520
Speaker 1: a VHS player and then they use landline phones to

453
00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:05,080
Speaker 1: ring the contestants to tell them whether they're going through

454
00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:07,520
Speaker 1: to the Sydney auditions. And I love it because the

455
00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:09,840
Speaker 1: girls are either living at home with their parents in

456
00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:13,040
Speaker 1: a very suburban setup, or they're living in very small,

457
00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:15,760
Speaker 1: one bedroom apartment and it's just wild to me how

458
00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:18,200
Speaker 1: we operated without mobile phones. Then, like the fact that

459
00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:20,719
Speaker 1: you're having to wait by a landline phone to hear

460
00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:22,719
Speaker 1: the biggest news of your life. It's fairly obviously. This

461
00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:25,359
Speaker 1: is set up firstly because the TV cameras are filming

462
00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:28,119
Speaker 1: the girl's reactions. But if you didn't have a mobile

463
00:22:28,119 --> 00:22:30,199
Speaker 1: phone back in the day, you have to let that

464
00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:33,200
Speaker 1: phone call go to the answering machine. Imagine wait getting

465
00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:35,080
Speaker 1: that when you got here. Well, they had TV crews

466
00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:36,879
Speaker 1: set up at the girl's family homes, and it was

467
00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:38,920
Speaker 1: really awkward to see the ones who didn't get through

468
00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:41,080
Speaker 1: because basically they'd asked them to gather all of their

469
00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:44,080
Speaker 1: family and friends over years. But I just couldn't get

470
00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:47,000
Speaker 1: over the early two thousands decore and some of the

471
00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:50,240
Speaker 1: homes because there were so many fake gerbras, which I

472
00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:52,560
Speaker 1: remember we had them in our house. They also had

473
00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:56,399
Speaker 1: so much dark wood like as furniture, and one girl

474
00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:00,000
Speaker 1: she had this turquoise couch that had little swirls on it.

475
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:03,400
Speaker 1: Anyone have blow up furniture? No, I mean maybe more

476
00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:05,080
Speaker 1: in the girl's bedrooms. I feel like that was more

477
00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:08,119
Speaker 1: of a teenage thing. There was one contestant who was

478
00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:11,560
Speaker 1: issued an ultimatum by the judges. Her name was Cherry

479
00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,000
Speaker 1: Western Pearce, and she was told if she wanted to

480
00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:16,879
Speaker 1: move through to the next round, she had to remove

481
00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:19,920
Speaker 1: her tongue ring. Now they claimed it's because it made

482
00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:22,960
Speaker 1: her have a lisp when she sung, but I think

483
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:25,080
Speaker 1: it's just that they didn't like the look of it.

484
00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:29,040
Speaker 1: Now this line really cracked me up. Cherry's got to

485
00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:30,480
Speaker 1: prove she wants it bad enough.

486
00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:34,240
Speaker 2: If she wants to go to Sydney, a man covered

487
00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:36,080
Speaker 2: in tattoos is her only solution.

488
00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:39,600
Speaker 1: Now, this man with tattoos was the guy that was

489
00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:42,359
Speaker 1: going to remove the tongue ring for Cherry. The way

490
00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:45,720
Speaker 1: that the voiceover said tattoos was so funny, and I

491
00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:48,360
Speaker 1: love the way they acted, like going to a tattoo

492
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,840
Speaker 1: shop was so scandalous and edgy at the time. Following this,

493
00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:54,320
Speaker 1: the top twenty five are flown to Sydney and this

494
00:23:54,359 --> 00:23:57,159
Speaker 1: is for their intense week of auditions where some of

495
00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:00,600
Speaker 1: the top choreographers in Australia and vocal coach put them

496
00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:03,639
Speaker 1: through their paces. It's pretty classic because when the girls

497
00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:06,680
Speaker 1: arrive at Sydney Airport, we see Sophie Monk have this

498
00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:10,840
Speaker 1: really awkward exchange with Ossie TV icon Barry Crocker. So

499
00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:14,359
Speaker 1: Barry approaches Sophie and another contestant and he tells them

500
00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:17,639
Speaker 1: that his granddaughter auditioned but she didn't get through, so

501
00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:20,439
Speaker 1: they must be pretty great. When he departs, he then

502
00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:22,480
Speaker 1: says to them, I'll see you on the stages of

503
00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:26,080
Speaker 1: the world. Now, Sophie Monk had no idea who Barry

504
00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:28,000
Speaker 1: Krocker was. And for those who might be in the

505
00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:30,560
Speaker 1: same boat, he is a Gold Logi winning actor and

506
00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:33,800
Speaker 1: he's also a singer. And there's also a saying that

507
00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:36,280
Speaker 1: if you're having a Barry Crocker, it means that you're

508
00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:38,680
Speaker 1: having a bad day or a shocker. So Sophie Monk

509
00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:40,800
Speaker 1: seemed to be having a Barry Croker that day. Is

510
00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:44,520
Speaker 1: it bad? All I can think of is Betty Crocker. Yeah. Now,

511
00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:47,240
Speaker 1: the girls end up being taken to the Noverteale Hotel

512
00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:49,720
Speaker 1: in the heart of Sydney, where the show puts on

513
00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:52,520
Speaker 1: a thank you party. Now, the voiceover says, the girls

514
00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:54,280
Speaker 1: are dressed up for a night on the town as

515
00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:56,560
Speaker 1: they meet with the judges at the social event in

516
00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:59,520
Speaker 1: the hotel bar. And you can really tell at this

517
00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:02,280
Speaker 1: point how low budget the show is because there's just

518
00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:04,520
Speaker 1: a couple of counterpas and a glass of wine for

519
00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:07,520
Speaker 1: the girls. Yeah. And in her book, Belinda references this

520
00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:09,960
Speaker 1: event and she said that at this time she became

521
00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:12,879
Speaker 1: really aware of the cameras, and she noticed that a

522
00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:15,960
Speaker 1: lot of the camera men were inappropriately zooming up on

523
00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:18,600
Speaker 1: the women's bodies, and she knew that she had to

524
00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:21,000
Speaker 1: use the cameras to her advantage, but she said she

525
00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:22,800
Speaker 1: felt really nervous around them.

526
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:23,119
Speaker 2: Now.

527
00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:25,760
Speaker 1: The next day, the auditions were held at George Hall

528
00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:29,119
Speaker 1: and a leading choreographer took the girls through their paces. Now,

529
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:32,280
Speaker 1: whilst the judges did use dancing ability as an excuse

530
00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:34,760
Speaker 1: to send some girls home, it is apparent in this

531
00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:37,840
Speaker 1: episode that the girl's ability to dance is actually a

532
00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:40,560
Speaker 1: big deal and it looked like hard work. The girls

533
00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:43,080
Speaker 1: are taught a dance routine so the judges can see

534
00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:46,280
Speaker 1: who can pick up the moves quickly. Now, Sally Polaronos

535
00:25:46,359 --> 00:25:49,480
Speaker 1: completely stands out from the pack, which isn't really surprising

536
00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:53,159
Speaker 1: because it's revealed that she previously trained in dance, tap, jazz,

537
00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:55,720
Speaker 1: and ballet, and as a child, she was also part

538
00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:58,680
Speaker 1: of the Johnny Young Talent School. In a bonus episode

539
00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:02,560
Speaker 1: of Pop Stars, the judges actually admitted that when Sally auditioned,

540
00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:06,080
Speaker 1: they thought that she was a stripper. It's really awkward

541
00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:19,320
Speaker 1: to listen to. Here's what they said to her.

542
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:16,840
Speaker 2: That they're getting it from because all these journos kept saying, like,

543
00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:18,480
Speaker 2: you know, the rumor that one of us was a stripper.

544
00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:21,879
Speaker 1: Now this is in reference to the media reports that

545
00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:24,520
Speaker 1: were circulating around the time that Bardo was formed that

546
00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:26,800
Speaker 1: one of the band members was a stripper, and the

547
00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:29,479
Speaker 1: slight shaming nature of these comments was really gross. And

548
00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:31,879
Speaker 1: I just think it's so ironic to think now that

549
00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:35,040
Speaker 1: Anna Paul is a role model for young girls and

550
00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:38,080
Speaker 1: also one of Australia's biggest influences, and people don't seem

551
00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:40,080
Speaker 1: to bat an eyelid at the fact that she's also

552
00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:43,159
Speaker 1: a sex worker. But people seem so appalled that one

553
00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:45,680
Speaker 1: of the pop stars could have previously worked as a stripper.

554
00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:48,280
Speaker 1: It's pretty funny that they thought Sally was a stripper

555
00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:51,399
Speaker 1: because in Belinda's book, she spoke about how she shared

556
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:53,720
Speaker 1: a room with Sally to begin with, and she was

557
00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:56,600
Speaker 1: quite taken aback when Sally got out a picture of

558
00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:59,960
Speaker 1: Jesus and Rosary beads and put them by her bed. Yes, Sally,

559
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,440
Speaker 1: he was actually one of the most conservative members of

560
00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:05,760
Speaker 1: the band. Now back to the auditions, and ironically, Marsha

561
00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:08,679
Speaker 1: Heines drops past the auditions to speak to the girls

562
00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:12,040
Speaker 1: and discusses the complexities of stardom, and she tells the

563
00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:14,919
Speaker 1: cameras that pop stars is such a great initiative and

564
00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:17,919
Speaker 1: something Australia should do more of, which is quite funny

565
00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:21,520
Speaker 1: because years later she then went on to judge Australian Idol. Now,

566
00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:25,119
Speaker 1: during the auditions, we also meet vocal coach Mark Williams,

567
00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:27,600
Speaker 1: who was there to assess the girl's voices, and we

568
00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:29,800
Speaker 1: hear that they don't want to pick girls with the

569
00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:33,000
Speaker 1: same voice, they want a range of voices which compliment

570
00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:35,840
Speaker 1: each other. It's pretty funny because by the end of

571
00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:38,600
Speaker 1: the day Tiffany Wood had lost her voice and she

572
00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:40,879
Speaker 1: told the judges her voice had gone due to the

573
00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:43,800
Speaker 1: six glasses of champagne she had at the welcome party

574
00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:47,400
Speaker 1: the night before. Now, the group slowly gets whittled down

575
00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:50,040
Speaker 1: until there's fifteen girls who are put into the groups

576
00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:53,159
Speaker 1: for the final performance. Now, these girls are given a

577
00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:55,960
Speaker 1: bit of a makeover and styled to look like pop stars,

578
00:27:56,240 --> 00:28:00,399
Speaker 1: so think crimped hair, pedal pushes, upper arm brace, flirts,

579
00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,359
Speaker 1: butterfly clips and there's also a lot of fake leather

580
00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:06,680
Speaker 1: going on. Now, Interestingly, the judges were supposed to pick

581
00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:09,080
Speaker 1: the final five from there, but they bring it down

582
00:28:09,119 --> 00:28:11,720
Speaker 1: to ten girls and they say to the cameras that

583
00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:13,920
Speaker 1: they're going to send the girls home with the promise

584
00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:16,680
Speaker 1: that they'll make their final decision within a week now.

585
00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:19,560
Speaker 1: When the final ten were announced, the producers told them

586
00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:22,920
Speaker 1: to celebrate with an afternoon at Bondai Beach, and Belinda

587
00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:26,160
Speaker 1: recalled hearing one of the camera guys say to the others, okay,

588
00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:28,879
Speaker 1: ready for the TNA shots. Mate now. Belinda said she

589
00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:32,000
Speaker 1: was in disbelief and questioned if she'd really heard him

590
00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:34,760
Speaker 1: say tits and ass shots. I felt really sorry for

591
00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:37,840
Speaker 1: Belinda in this moment, because it would be pretty confronting

592
00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:40,200
Speaker 1: being a young woman who is trying to win a

593
00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:43,480
Speaker 1: singing competition and then you've got these camera guys wanting

594
00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:46,200
Speaker 1: to take shots of your ars and tits. She did

595
00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:48,200
Speaker 1: end up grabbing a shirt and a T shirt to

596
00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:51,360
Speaker 1: throw over her bathers, and the camera guy said, no, honey,

597
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:54,480
Speaker 1: this is a bikini shot. Close off. Yeah. Now. To

598
00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:57,560
Speaker 1: celebrate making it through to the final ten, the producers

599
00:28:57,560 --> 00:28:59,840
Speaker 1: told the girls that they had something special planned for

600
00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:02,120
Speaker 1: them them that evening, and they picked them up at

601
00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:05,000
Speaker 1: the harbor at seven pm. They also told them to

602
00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:07,880
Speaker 1: throw on their sexiest frocks and look camera ready. I

603
00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:10,920
Speaker 1: wanted to include the word frocks because I didn't know this,

604
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,440
Speaker 1: but that was actually one of the name suggestions for

605
00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:16,680
Speaker 1: the band Frocks. Really it was a terrible name suggestion,

606
00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:19,120
Speaker 1: but it shows that that word must have really been

607
00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:22,200
Speaker 1: used highly around two thousand. I remember when we were younger,

608
00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:24,840
Speaker 1: were like, why don't they just call the band popstars?

609
00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:27,280
Speaker 1: That's what it is. The girls were taken to dinner

610
00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:29,920
Speaker 1: to meet the company's execs for the first time, and

611
00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:33,200
Speaker 1: Belinda refers to them in the book as the Gray Suits,

612
00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:36,240
Speaker 1: and they own the production company, and she was wondering,

613
00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:39,080
Speaker 1: why are we only meeting them now this far into

614
00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:41,200
Speaker 1: the audition process. And I think this was one of

615
00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:45,240
Speaker 1: the pivotal parts when she realized that the composition wasn't

616
00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:48,720
Speaker 1: quite what they thought it was. It felt a bit wrong. Yeah.

617
00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:51,280
Speaker 1: So the next morning, the ten girls were instructed to

618
00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:53,960
Speaker 1: report to the conference room, but this time there were

619
00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:57,280
Speaker 1: no camera crews or judges there, just the two TV

620
00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:00,160
Speaker 1: executives that they'd met the night before. Now they they

621
00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:03,640
Speaker 1: walked in and introduced the girls to their lawyers. Blinda

622
00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:06,080
Speaker 1: said that the room suddenly felt colder, and that the

623
00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:09,800
Speaker 1: tone of the journey completely changed. She also wondered why

624
00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:13,360
Speaker 1: there were still ten contestants there now. The execs told

625
00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:15,640
Speaker 1: the group that they were through to the final stage

626
00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:18,360
Speaker 1: of the selection process and that they'd liked to give

627
00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:21,840
Speaker 1: them a contract, so they gave each woman five days

628
00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:24,240
Speaker 1: and fifteen hundred dollars to get a lawyer to look

629
00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:27,360
Speaker 1: over the documents. It's quite clear they didn't want to

630
00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:30,440
Speaker 1: whittle it down to five contestants because they wanted to

631
00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:33,840
Speaker 1: use these contracts as a bargaining tool, because if they

632
00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:37,480
Speaker 1: had selected five girls, these girls would have felt wanted

633
00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:40,479
Speaker 1: and maybe got together and said no, let's all agree

634
00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:44,000
Speaker 1: to these terms. However, they ended up feeling pretty replaceable

635
00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:46,280
Speaker 1: because if one didn't sign the contract, they had others

636
00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:48,840
Speaker 1: waiting in the wing. This part of Blinda's book made

637
00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:52,360
Speaker 1: me really angry because the production company was acting like

638
00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:54,680
Speaker 1: they were so lovely giving them money to go and

639
00:30:54,680 --> 00:30:58,320
Speaker 1: seek out legal advice, but in reality they probably did that.

640
00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:00,719
Speaker 1: So then if later the girls suit and said, oh,

641
00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:03,560
Speaker 1: you know, we won't given enough information, they could go, well,

642
00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:06,200
Speaker 1: you went to a lawyer. Well, the exacts actually told

643
00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:08,360
Speaker 1: the girls that if they don't sign it, they won't

644
00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:10,360
Speaker 1: be in contention for a place in the band. That's

645
00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:13,280
Speaker 1: how serious it was. These girls were so young at

646
00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:16,320
Speaker 1: the time as well. Now, after the meeting, the girls

647
00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:18,600
Speaker 1: were thrown into another meeting, and this time it was

648
00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:21,320
Speaker 1: with the judges and the camera crew. So Chris Moss

649
00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:24,040
Speaker 1: from Warner Music was there and he was telling them

650
00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:26,560
Speaker 1: that as their management company, they will give them a

651
00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:29,880
Speaker 1: daily schedule of what they're required to do as pop stars,

652
00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:32,640
Speaker 1: and he explained that there's a fine line between work

653
00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:35,200
Speaker 1: and entertainment and that's where a lot of people in

654
00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:38,760
Speaker 1: the industry fall down in terms of relationships. So he

655
00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:40,840
Speaker 1: told them that they won't be able to juggle what

656
00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:43,280
Speaker 1: their life is like now and that they'll need to

657
00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:46,640
Speaker 1: push themselves through it otherwise they'll buckle and break now.

658
00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:49,400
Speaker 1: Belinda detailed in her book that after this meeting, they

659
00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:52,720
Speaker 1: also had a subsequent meeting with a publicist from Channel

660
00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:55,960
Speaker 1: seven in a private room without cameras, and they were

661
00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:59,040
Speaker 1: basically told that if they're selected in the band, they'll

662
00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:02,360
Speaker 1: have to sacrifice their family time, their friendship time, and

663
00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:06,080
Speaker 1: also every waking hour will have to be alligated to

664
00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:09,080
Speaker 1: the band. And this essentially meant that all of the

665
00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:12,400
Speaker 1: girls that had boyfriends were expected to dump them. Now,

666
00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:15,760
Speaker 1: this didn't happen, but it did end up ruining all

667
00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:18,240
Speaker 1: of the relationships further down the track with the girls

668
00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:20,360
Speaker 1: because they were told that they wouldn't be able to

669
00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:22,560
Speaker 1: stay living with their partners and they had to move

670
00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:25,479
Speaker 1: into a sharehouse with the other girls, and also that

671
00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:27,680
Speaker 1: they would be traveling so much that it would be

672
00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:30,360
Speaker 1: really hard to maintain a relationship. We spoke at the

673
00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:32,959
Speaker 1: start of the episode about how Channel seven were so

674
00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:35,600
Speaker 1: eager to choose the right girls to ensure that this

675
00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:38,360
Speaker 1: group was popular. But do you also think they tried

676
00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:41,120
Speaker 1: to select girls that they thought, well, we can control you.

677
00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:42,760
Speaker 1: You know, they have to be young, so they're going

678
00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:44,160
Speaker 1: to listen to what we say. They have to be

679
00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:47,560
Speaker 1: young enough to just sign this contract. I definitely think so.

680
00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:49,840
Speaker 1: I mean, as we've touched on, Sophie Monk was only

681
00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:53,600
Speaker 1: nineteen years old. She was highly impressionable, but also highly

682
00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:55,840
Speaker 1: mouldable to what they wanted. She seemed to be a

683
00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:59,040
Speaker 1: yes person. I think at this time anyone would have

684
00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:01,960
Speaker 1: signed this contract because it was a promise of fame

685
00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:04,640
Speaker 1: and also to live out their dreams. Back to the

686
00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:08,640
Speaker 1: conversation regarding their relationships, A big part of Belinda's book

687
00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:11,520
Speaker 1: was her relationship with her then boyfriend Nate. It was

688
00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:14,000
Speaker 1: a bit of an undertone throughout the story because they

689
00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:16,680
Speaker 1: did stay together for a bulk of the time while

690
00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:20,120
Speaker 1: she was in bar dough, but it seemed like it

691
00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:23,960
Speaker 1: really did put a strain on the relationship. Do you

692
00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:26,080
Speaker 1: think they actually wanted them to split up from their

693
00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:28,720
Speaker 1: partners so they were sort of seen as accessible to

694
00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:31,640
Speaker 1: the general problem. I think for marketability purposes, they probably

695
00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:33,960
Speaker 1: wanted them to appear single and as if they were

696
00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:37,200
Speaker 1: open to other options for any male consumers. And I

697
00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:39,200
Speaker 1: think that's also why they made them all live in

698
00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:42,080
Speaker 1: the same house, because they're taking them away from their boyfriends,

699
00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:45,080
Speaker 1: but they're also taking them away from the environment that

700
00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:47,640
Speaker 1: they know, so that makes them feel even more out

701
00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:50,680
Speaker 1: of control and mouldable to do whatever they want, and

702
00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:53,200
Speaker 1: that they're not listening to their boyfriends who might be saying,

703
00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:55,280
Speaker 1: wait a second, why aren't they paying you promptly? And

704
00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:57,960
Speaker 1: during this episode where there's still ten girls, we see

705
00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:00,640
Speaker 1: the huge medium machine that was a on this show.

706
00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:03,920
Speaker 1: They were already paparazzi following the final ten and they're

707
00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:05,640
Speaker 1: trying to scope out who was going to make it

708
00:34:05,680 --> 00:34:07,400
Speaker 1: into the band, and I think that would have also

709
00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:10,439
Speaker 1: played into the girl's decision to sign on. At the time,

710
00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:13,520
Speaker 1: a New Idea who published the audition form had exclusive

711
00:34:13,600 --> 00:34:16,240
Speaker 1: access to the band and they were used to build

712
00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:20,000
Speaker 1: the ongoing hype around them. And Osterio was also enlisted

713
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:22,560
Speaker 1: in the project because it ensured that they got a

714
00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:24,520
Speaker 1: lot of radio time. And I didn't know about those

715
00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:27,839
Speaker 1: past connections and collaborations before. What that makes sense why

716
00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:29,759
Speaker 1: Jackie Oh was one of the judges. It seems like

717
00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:32,960
Speaker 1: everybody had these fingers in this pie and it was

718
00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:35,200
Speaker 1: all part of the money making machining en sure that

719
00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:39,440
Speaker 1: this band was successful. Now, after receiving the contract, Belinda

720
00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:41,960
Speaker 1: and her dad visited a top law firm and her

721
00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:45,160
Speaker 1: lawyer basically told her that if you sign this contract,

722
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:48,000
Speaker 1: you will not make a cent in three years, and

723
00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:50,799
Speaker 1: he explained that one of the clauses meant that any

724
00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:54,000
Speaker 1: income made from the band, meaning all the moneies from

725
00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:57,279
Speaker 1: the income streams, will go straight back into paying all

726
00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:00,279
Speaker 1: of the costs. So basically the girls were paying the

727
00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:03,719
Speaker 1: costs of making the album and going on to it. Now.

728
00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:07,800
Speaker 1: Another clause which is so disgusting is that the contract

729
00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:11,440
Speaker 1: stated that the band member's weight or appearance could not

730
00:35:11,719 --> 00:35:15,759
Speaker 1: change in any significant way or they would terminate the contract.

731
00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:18,120
Speaker 1: What if one of them got pregnant or something, well,

732
00:35:18,239 --> 00:35:21,719
Speaker 1: contract gone. I just still can't believe that this was

733
00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:24,480
Speaker 1: allowed to happen. Now, clearly it was a very one

734
00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:27,440
Speaker 1: sided contract, and Belinda's lawyer told her that she was

735
00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:31,440
Speaker 1: essentially handing over her life and every waking moment to

736
00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:34,279
Speaker 1: the company that these two men ran, which was the

737
00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:37,480
Speaker 1: Gray Suits. The clincher was that if they were selected

738
00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:39,719
Speaker 1: in the band, they would have to survive on just

739
00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:42,759
Speaker 1: thirty five dollars a day in the form of a

740
00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:45,160
Speaker 1: per dim. So, for those who don't know, a per

741
00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:48,839
Speaker 1: dem is money given to you to pay for breakfast, lunch,

742
00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:51,880
Speaker 1: and dinner in this instance, so they weren't paid a salary.

743
00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:54,920
Speaker 1: They were literally just fed. Yeah, because their salary was

744
00:35:54,960 --> 00:35:57,120
Speaker 1: going in to paying off all these costs that they'd

745
00:35:57,120 --> 00:35:59,440
Speaker 1: accrued by being picked by this TV company to be

746
00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:01,960
Speaker 1: in the Bear. And as any good lawyer would do,

747
00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:05,880
Speaker 1: Blinda's lawyer said, don't sign this contract. However, he knew

748
00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:07,839
Speaker 1: how much she wanted it, and she said, it's really

749
00:36:07,920 --> 00:36:10,439
Speaker 1: difficult for me because I don't even know if I've

750
00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:12,960
Speaker 1: made the band. So he actually ended up making a

751
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:15,760
Speaker 1: phone call to a contact he had and he confirmed

752
00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:18,000
Speaker 1: that she had in fact made it to the final five,

753
00:36:18,080 --> 00:36:21,000
Speaker 1: and after a lot of deliberation, she did decide to

754
00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:23,600
Speaker 1: sign the contract because she knew that if she did,

755
00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:25,960
Speaker 1: and others would and she would lose her spot in

756
00:36:26,040 --> 00:36:29,279
Speaker 1: the band. Do you guys think you would sign that contract? Yeah,

757
00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:32,120
Speaker 1: I would at the age of nineteen or twenty four,

758
00:36:32,200 --> 00:36:34,879
Speaker 1: I'd be signing it so far. The sad reality now

759
00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:37,560
Speaker 1: is if this contract was in place, you probably would

760
00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:40,439
Speaker 1: sign it because you'd be able to build off maybe

761
00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:44,239
Speaker 1: an influencing career or something in social media. But the

762
00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:47,680
Speaker 1: girls didn't have that ability to be able to do that. Now,

763
00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:51,520
Speaker 1: by episode five, we finally find out who our pop

764
00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:54,239
Speaker 1: stars are, and it felt so old school because the

765
00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:57,680
Speaker 1: judges had these printed at Kodak photos of the girls

766
00:36:57,680 --> 00:36:59,400
Speaker 1: and they set them out on a coffee table and

767
00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:01,680
Speaker 1: they used them to move around and work out different

768
00:37:01,719 --> 00:37:05,640
Speaker 1: combinations of girls for the potential group, and after assessing

769
00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:08,719
Speaker 1: all of the various possible lineups, they finally decide on

770
00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:12,040
Speaker 1: their final five. Now again, the camera crews appeared back

771
00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:14,439
Speaker 1: at the girls' houses to tell them whether they'd made

772
00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:17,480
Speaker 1: it or not. The first stop was Sally polar Onus

773
00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:20,759
Speaker 1: from Adelaide's house. JACKIEO arrives to tell her the good news,

774
00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:22,839
Speaker 1: and it's such a blast from the past because they

775
00:37:22,880 --> 00:37:25,560
Speaker 1: asked Sally if she's ever had a real job, and

776
00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:29,480
Speaker 1: she explains she's currently working in the retail store. A spree.

777
00:37:30,160 --> 00:37:32,319
Speaker 1: Is a spree still a thing? Now? No, I don't

778
00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:34,560
Speaker 1: think it is. It was funny because they made Sally

779
00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:36,640
Speaker 1: go back and tell her colleagues in a spree that

780
00:37:36,719 --> 00:37:39,560
Speaker 1: she was joining the band. And I had totally forgotten

781
00:37:39,560 --> 00:37:41,520
Speaker 1: about a spree. It's all I used to wear in

782
00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:43,920
Speaker 1: the late nineties and early noughties. I loved in a

783
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:46,880
Speaker 1: spree top. How awkward was it watching them break the

784
00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:49,320
Speaker 1: news to the girls who didn't make it, Yeah, especially

785
00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:51,919
Speaker 1: when they had their family around. And also it kind

786
00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:56,040
Speaker 1: of drummed into me how polite girls are more so

787
00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:58,560
Speaker 1: back then, because they're all like, yeah, that's cool. That's

788
00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:01,680
Speaker 1: kind of like on The Simpsons, Ralph Wiggans's heartbreaks, Like

789
00:38:01,719 --> 00:38:05,120
Speaker 1: you could actually see the moment they were just absolutely shattered. Yeah,

790
00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:07,279
Speaker 1: and one of the girls who didn't originally get through

791
00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:10,400
Speaker 1: was Tiffany Wood. So Chris Moss rocked up to her

792
00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:13,239
Speaker 1: really tiny apartment with the camera crew, and it didn't

793
00:38:13,280 --> 00:38:15,400
Speaker 1: look like she knew that he was coming, because she

794
00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:18,279
Speaker 1: opened the door in a nighty and quickly slammed that

795
00:38:18,320 --> 00:38:20,440
Speaker 1: she was shocked that he was there. And they tell

796
00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:22,680
Speaker 1: us that during the day Tiffany works at the Hilton

797
00:38:22,719 --> 00:38:25,360
Speaker 1: Hotel and by night she's the lead singer in a band,

798
00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:28,359
Speaker 1: so she had a really strong voice. I think it

799
00:38:28,400 --> 00:38:30,480
Speaker 1: was a really bad move that they didn't put her

800
00:38:30,520 --> 00:38:33,160
Speaker 1: in the band to begin with. And it was interesting

801
00:38:33,200 --> 00:38:36,440
Speaker 1: to see her apartment because begrudgingly after getting changed, she

802
00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:40,040
Speaker 1: opened the door and the apartment was an absolute shit hole.

803
00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:43,040
Speaker 1: She even said, welcome to my little hole of a place.

804
00:38:44,200 --> 00:38:46,640
Speaker 1: Well as you touched on, Sophie. Some listeners might be

805
00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:49,279
Speaker 1: surprised to hear that Tiffany would didn't actually make it

806
00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:52,960
Speaker 1: into the band originally, So she did take the rejection

807
00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:55,560
Speaker 1: really well and told Chris that she didn't think she'd

808
00:38:55,560 --> 00:38:58,160
Speaker 1: get in because she was sick during the audition process.

809
00:38:58,239 --> 00:39:00,480
Speaker 1: It's kind of ironic that she didn't make it because

810
00:39:00,520 --> 00:39:04,280
Speaker 1: their first single she was basically the main singer in it. Yeah,

811
00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:06,120
Speaker 1: she was such a huge part of it. We then

812
00:39:06,200 --> 00:39:08,960
Speaker 1: see fan favorite Sophie Munk make the cut and she

813
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:11,520
Speaker 1: shows Michael her baby videos and her dad tells a

814
00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:14,359
Speaker 1: camera that she's very comfortable around strangers and can talk

815
00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:17,799
Speaker 1: to anyone. Next is the infamous Chantel Barry, who is

816
00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:21,000
Speaker 1: only nineteen at the time, and she's told by Jackie

817
00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:24,840
Speaker 1: Oh that she's in now. Chantell was very confident. Here's

818
00:39:24,840 --> 00:39:28,080
Speaker 1: what she said during her first audition, what do you

819
00:39:28,080 --> 00:39:28,839
Speaker 1: think we're looking for.

820
00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:30,440
Speaker 2: Me?

821
00:39:31,520 --> 00:39:34,320
Speaker 1: Yeah, she really seemed sure of herself because she'd actually

822
00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:36,480
Speaker 1: moved to Sydney a couple of weeks before to break

823
00:39:36,480 --> 00:39:39,640
Speaker 1: into the industry, and she didn't really seem that shocked

824
00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:41,600
Speaker 1: when it was announced that she was in the band. Well,

825
00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:43,800
Speaker 1: I'm guessing there are a lot of whispers going around

826
00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:46,319
Speaker 1: with all these conversations the lawyers were having with the

827
00:39:46,320 --> 00:39:49,120
Speaker 1: production team over the contracts. And I mean that was

828
00:39:49,200 --> 00:39:52,520
Speaker 1: very evident when you read Belinda's book, because she already

829
00:39:52,520 --> 00:39:54,239
Speaker 1: had been given the heads up that she was in

830
00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:57,439
Speaker 1: the band, and she had been asked by the producers

831
00:39:57,440 --> 00:39:59,760
Speaker 1: to get her mum and her sister around the house,

832
00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:03,359
Speaker 1: and all her family declined being in the video. Even

833
00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:06,719
Speaker 1: her boyfriend declined. He was hiding behind a curtain while

834
00:40:06,760 --> 00:40:08,680
Speaker 1: she was told she made it. I got the feeling

835
00:40:08,680 --> 00:40:10,640
Speaker 1: that they didn't want any of the boyfriends in any

836
00:40:10,640 --> 00:40:13,240
Speaker 1: of the shots. But yeah, she had to basically fake

837
00:40:13,360 --> 00:40:16,359
Speaker 1: that she was surprised, and she really wanted to ham

838
00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:18,200
Speaker 1: it up because she didn't want any of the production

839
00:40:18,280 --> 00:40:20,440
Speaker 1: crew to know that she'd found out either. She did

840
00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:23,640
Speaker 1: a pretty good job of item genuine. Now, Katie Underwood

841
00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:26,240
Speaker 1: was the final member to find out that she was through,

842
00:40:26,280 --> 00:40:28,520
Speaker 1: and Jackie O broke the news by giving her a

843
00:40:28,560 --> 00:40:30,759
Speaker 1: boarding pass. Now, this is where we're going to leave

844
00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:33,640
Speaker 1: you for today. In next week's show, we discuss the

845
00:40:33,680 --> 00:40:36,600
Speaker 1: fallout as a final five are forced to move into

846
00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:39,840
Speaker 1: a new house together and start a grueling fitness regime.

847
00:40:40,160 --> 00:40:43,400
Speaker 1: A storm is brewing, a scandal so juicy. Channel seven

848
00:40:43,480 --> 00:40:47,160
Speaker 1: couldn't have scripted it better themselves, as band member Shantel

849
00:40:47,239 --> 00:40:51,120
Speaker 1: Barry leaves a group under suspicious circumstances. We really hope

850
00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:53,600
Speaker 1: you have enjoyed today's episode. If you have, could you

851
00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:56,359
Speaker 1: please make sure you are subscribed on Apple podcast and

852
00:40:56,440 --> 00:40:59,200
Speaker 1: also Spotify and if you can leave us a five

853
00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:01,879
Speaker 1: star review and if you want extra content from us,

854
00:41:01,920 --> 00:41:05,239
Speaker 1: don't forget to sign up to Outspoken Plus. This episode

855
00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:07,800
Speaker 1: was recorded on the traditional land of the Ghana people

856
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:10,520
Speaker 1: of the Adelaide Plaines. We pay respect to elders past

857
00:41:10,600 --> 00:41:13,960
Speaker 1: and present, and don't forget to follow Outspoken on TikTok

858
00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:18,080
Speaker 1: and on Instagram. We're at Outspoken Underscore d Underscored podcast.

859
00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:21,279
Speaker 1: We'll be sharing lots of reels and iconic moments from

860
00:41:21,280 --> 00:41:21,960
Speaker 1: pop stars