Fame Academy 1
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Fame Academy 1 was the first series of the BBC's reality talent search Fame Academy, which was first broadcast in the UK over ten weeks in October - December 2002. The live shows were presented by Cat Deeley and Patrick Kielty.
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[edit] The series
[edit] Format
Eleven previously selected contestants were showcased to the nation in the first live episode, while the first viewer vote of the series was announced in a surprise twist - three other potential finalists would be showcased to the nation - and the public could vote for who they wanted to enter the Academy, making up the final line-up of twelve contestants.
Each week, the teachers put three contestants on probation. They would have to sing for survival live on Friday night on BBC One, in order to fight for their place in the Academy. The public would then vote for who they wanted to save - the person with the most votes would be safe. However, the fate of the two other contestants on probation was decided by their fellow contestants, who had to vote for who they wanted to save. In the event of a tie in the student vote the public votes would decide who is eliminated. All four contestants were put on probation in the penultimate week, with the public saving two.
Guest teachers were brought in to "teach", this happened periodically throughout the series, the guest teachers included Lionel Richie (who also co-wrote a song on the Fame Academy album), Shania Twain and Mariah Carey and Ronan Keating.
The Friday night live shows were filmed in front of an audience at the BBC's Shepperton Studios, and were lavishly presented. They featured duets and and group performances by all the students which were choreographed by dance teacher Kevin Adams, as well as the songs by the three probation students. The guest teachers also sang on the liveshow. In the case of Lionel Richie he performed twice, returning to duet with Lemar on their co-written song "Back To You".
As well as the live shows, highlight shows aired at 7pm on Tuesday and Thursday nights on BBC One. A late night uncut show was later added to the schedules. Extra coverage was shown on BBC Choice, with round-the-clock live streaming also available on BBCi and Freeview.
[edit] The students
The public voted for Sinéad Quinn to enter the Academy, joining the pre-selected students, Ashley House, Naomi Roper, Chris Manning, Camilla Beeput, Pippa Fulton, Marli Buck, Nigel Wilson, Katie Lewis, Malachi Cush, Ainslie Henderson and Lemar Obika.[1]
The contestants' time in the Academy included singing lessons with Carrie Grant, exhausting dance and exercise classes with Kevin Adams, and song-writing lessons with Pam Sheyne who co-wrote Christina Aguilera's hit single Genie in a Bottle. Headteacher Richard Park was also never far away, and managed to keep order for most of the series.
The first drama of the series came within the first few days when problems with Naomi's voice meant that she would have to leave the Academy. She was replaced with David Sneddon, who came second in the viewer vote in the first episode of the series.
As well as the dramas of singing for survival, there were dramas among the contestants too. David and Ainslie were claimed to be rivals for most of the series. Camilla and Lemar got closer and closer, until on the night when all of the contestants returned to the house, they kissed in one of the bedrooms. Sinéad and Malachi were also very close, but a relationship failed to materialise once they left the Academy.
[edit] The final
The final was broadcast live as two separate shows. The final three contestants were David, Sinéad and Lemar. In the first half, after votes totalling over 4 million, Lemar was the first to be voted off by the public. Neither of the two remaining finalists, David and Sinéad, had been in the original group of eleven students chosen by the judges at the start of the series.
In the second half David sang I Don't Want To Talk About It and Sinéad then sang The First Cut Is The Deepest. Then David and Sinéad sang I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues. After a total of over 6.9 million votes were cast, David won with 3.5 million votes. He then sang what was to become his debut #1 single, Stop Living the Lie, to end the show.
[edit] The aftermath
David signed a £1 million record contract with Mercury Records as part of his prize. His debut single "Stop Living The Lie", entered the UK charts at #1 and remained at the top for 2 weeks. He is the only artist to date from a reality TV show to have a number one hit record with a self-written song. He had a further two top twenty hit singles and a top ten album, Seven Years Ten Weeks, (which was recorded with Elton John's band) and signed a development publishing deal with Universal Music in Ocober 2003. Lemar eventually signed a deal with Sony Records, and has since won several Brit awards as best urban act. Malachi, Ainslie, Lemar, and Sinéad also went on to release hit records.
Ratings were average, but not spectacular. Most of this was blamed on the format being too similar to Pop Idol, while fans of the reality tv element were disappointed by the awkward timings of the highlight shows [2]. Despite this, a second series, Fame Academy 2 was commissioned for the following year.
[edit] Album and tour
An 18 track album featuring songs by all the contestants was released at the end of the series. It sold over 300,000 copies in the first week and reached #2 in the uk compilation charts. Profits from this and the following nationwide tour helped to fund the Fame Academy Bursary.
Fame Academy (Mercury) December, 2002
Track Listings 1. With A Little Help From My Friends - Ainslie & David
2. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - Lemar & Sinéad
3. Fields Of Gold - Malachi & Marli
4. Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) - Ainslie & Marli
5. Lean On Me - The Fame Academy Students
6. The Tracks Of My Tears - Marli
7. Eternal Flame - Pippa
8. Brown Eyed Girl - Chris
9. I Can See Clearly Now - Ashley
10. Genie In A Bottle - Camilla
11. Perfect - Katie
12. I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Nigel
13. Vincent - Malachi
14. Goodnight Girl - David
15. Don't Speak - Sinéad
16. Back To You - Lemar feat. The Fame Academy Students
17. Keep Me A Secret - Ainslie
18. Lullaby - Ainslie & Lemar
In April 2003 all 12 students reunited for a 12 date arena tour of the UK, performing live to sell out audiences, with a final concert at Wembley Arena. A DVD of their performances, Fame Academy - Live, was released in September 2003.
