Fame Academy (series 1)
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The first series of ''
Fame Academy ''Fame Academy'' was a British television talent competition to search for and educate new musical talents. The winner would receive a chance to become a successful music artist and part of the international franchise ''Star Academy'' known un ...
'', a
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
reality talent search, was first broadcast in the United Kingdom over ten weeks in October - December 2002. It was won by
David Sneddon David Sneddon (born 15 September 1978) is a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician and music producer of contemporary pop music. He began his career performing on stage and television, singing lead roles in stage musicals in Glasgow. In 2002, ...
. The live shows were presented by
Cat Deeley Catherine Elizabeth Deeley (born 23 October 1976) is an English television presenter. She is currently the main co-presenter for ITV's '' This Morning'', alongside Ben Shephard. Deeley began her career as a co-presenter of the ITV children' ...
and
Patrick Kielty Patrick Kielty (born 31 January 1971) is a comedian, presenter and actor from Northern Ireland. He is the host of '' The Late Late Show'' on RTÉ One and presents a Saturday morning programme on BBC Radio 5 Live. His television credits include ...
.


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 whom they wanted to enter the Academy, making up the final line-up of twelve contestants. On the Tuesday of each week, the teachers would gather the contestants, and inform them of their progress. The contestant who had impressed the judges the most over the previous week would be named the "Grade A student," and would be guaranteed a solo performance at the following live show. The three contestants who the judges felt were performing the worst would be put on probation, and would have to sing for survival live on Friday night on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
, in order to fight for their place in the Academy. When applicable, the contestants who were neither on probation, or the Grade A students would team up for the live show, performing as groups, or on occasion in duets. Although they were safe from elimination, their performances in their groups weighed heavily on the teachers decision on whom to put up for probation in the following week. Following all of the performances on the Friday live show, the public would vote for the student up for probation 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 Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of the Motown group Commodores; writing and recor ...
(who also co-wrote a song on the Fame Academy album),
Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( ; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time and the best-sel ...
,
Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...
and
Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer, songwriter, actor and presenter. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop g ...
. The Friday night live shows were filmed in front of an audience at the BBC's
Shepperton Studios Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of Pinewood Group, the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not ...
, and were lavishly presented. They featured duets 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
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, with round-the-clock live streaming also available on BBCi and
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.


Students

Eleven of these contestants were pre-selected and then the public voted in the twelfth,
Sinéad Quinn Sinéad Quinn (; born 24 March 1980) is a Northern Irish singer, best known as a contestant in the first series of the UK BBC TV series ''Fame Academy'' in 2002. She later went on to sign a recording contract, released an album, and had a #2 UK ...
. This made the final line-up, until Naomi fell ill and was forced to withdraw from the competition, she was replaced by eventual winner
David Sneddon David Sneddon (born 15 September 1978) is a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician and music producer of contemporary pop music. He began his career performing on stage and television, singing lead roles in stage musicals in Glasgow. In 2002, ...
who had received the second highest number of votes to enter the academy after Sinéad. The contestants' time in the Academy included singing lessons with Carrie Grant, exhausting dance and exercise classes with
Kevin Adams Kevin Adams (born June 26, 1962) is an American theatrical lighting designer. He has earned four Tony Awards for lighting design. Biography Adams grew up in Texas and attended the University of Texas where he received a B.F.A. in scenery desig ...
, and song-writing lessons with
Pam Sheyne Pamela Sheyne is a New Zealand born songwriter, producer, mentor and singer best known for co-writing Christina Aguilera’s global smash debut single " Genie in a Bottle". She has achieved 50+ million record sales and over 100 RIAA Platinum, Go ...
who co-wrote
Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...
's hit single ''
Genie in a Bottle "Genie in a Bottle" is a song by the American singer Christina Aguilera from her debut studio album, ''Christina Aguilera'' (1999). Pam Sheyne, Steve Kipner, and David Frank wrote the track; the latter two produced it. The singer herself also ...
'', and Grammy nominated
Steve DuBerry Steve DuBerry is a British Grammy Award nominated songwriter and record producer, co-writer of Tina Turner's "I Don't Wanna Fight" (along with Lulu and her brother Billy Lawrie). DuBerry has also written and produced songs for Tylah Yaweh, Blue ...
who wrote
Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...
's hit "
I Don't Wanna Fight "I Don't Wanna Fight" is a song by American singer and actress Tina Turner, released in April 1993, by Parlophone. The track was co-written by British singer Lulu, her brother Billy Lawrie, and Steve DuBerry. The song was first offered to sing ...
" (plus hits for
Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances featuring expressive body movements. Most of his best-known singles, such as "Feelin' Alright ...
,
Simon Webbe Simon Solomon Webbe (born 30 March 1978) is an English singer, rapper and actor. He is best known as a member of the boy band Blue, selling over 15 million records. Webbe released three solo studio albums in 2005, 2006 and 2017 and had five UK ...
,
Liberty X Liberty X (originally called Liberty) are a British girl group consisting of Michelle Heaton, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young. The group's best-known line-up also included Tony Lundon and Kevin Simm. The group was formed by the five finalists of ...
) Music coach Jo Noel (Jo Carter) assisted with Musical knowledge and accompaniment on the piano. Headteacher Richard Park was also never far away, and managed to keep order for most 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. Katie almost got thrown out of the Academy as a punishment for damaging equipment during a water fight she instigated. 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. Each week, the teachers were given the task of putting three of the students on 'probation,' where they would be forced to sing for their survival the following Friday, with one of the 3 being saved by the public. The final 2 performers fate was then left to the other students, who would decide who stayed and who left the Academy for good.


Results summary

: Indicates the winning contestant : Indicates the contestant who was eliminated from the competition : Indicates the contestant who was the Grade A student for the week : Indicates a contestant who was safe, and was neither the Grade A student or facing probation : Indicates a contestant who faced probation, but was saved by the public vote. : Indicates a contestant who faced probation, but was saved by their fellow students : Indicates a contestant who did not perform at the live show : Indicates a contestant who was not eliminated from the show, but had to withdraw due to illness : Indicates that the contestant had been eliminated from the show, and was no longer competing at the academy. Notes: * Note 1: In the launch show, the public were given the chance to choose the 12th finalist from David Sneddon, Paul MacDonald and Sinéad Quinn. Sinéad won the vote and joined the academy. * Note 2: Naomi was suffering from illness, and was awarded a one-week bye to recover, so did not perform at the first live show. * Note 3: With Naomi's condition showing no sign of improving, she was forced to leave the Academy midweek. She was replaced by David, who had finished runner-up in the initial public vote. To replace David as a further alternate contingency should one be required later in the show, contestant Dave Martin was invited back following his initial auditions performance. Dave was not required during the live shows but maintained an active presence in the west Cumbrian music scene before fulfilling his childhood ambition in working for the Emergency Services in Cumbria. * Note 4: The Week 6 live show was postponed to Sunday night due to the
Children In Need ''BBC Children in Need'' is the BBC's UK Charitable organization, charity dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people across the country. Established in 1980, the organisation has raised over £1 billion by 2023 through its ...
broadcast that aired in the shows usual Friday slot. * Note 5: The judges allowed the public to choose the final Grade A student from Ainslie, Lemar and Sinéad. Listeners to
The Chris Moyles Show ''The Chris Moyles Show'' is the title given to two differing versions of a radio programme hosted by Chris Moyles, originally broadcast as '' Radio 1 Breakfast'' from 5 January 2004 to 14 September 2012, before transferring three years later ...
were encouraged to vote for their favourite, who would also earn a special solo performance on the Children In Need broadcast. Sinéad was revealed as the winner, and performed live at the event. * Note 6: Ainslie and Sinéad were both saved by the public. The students had no vote to save this week. * Note 7: For the first time, all the remaining students faced probation. Lemar was saved over Ainslie by David and Sinead. * Note 8: In the final, the public vote alone decided who would win the competition. At the first voting freeze, Lemar had the fewest votes, and was sent home. David and Sinéad then competed for the title.


Final (6 December)

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.
David Sneddon David Sneddon (born 15 September 1978) is a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician and music producer of contemporary pop music. He began his career performing on stage and television, singing lead roles in stage musicals in Glasgow. In 2002, ...
signed a £1 million record contract with
Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...
as part of his prize. His debut single " Stop Living the Lie", entered the UK charts at #1 and remained at the top for two weeks. He is one of only a few artists from reality TV shows 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 Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...
's band) and signed a development publishing deal with
Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...
in October 2003. Sneddon signed to major music publisher
Sony/ATV Music Publishing Sony Music Publishing LLC (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is an American music publisher. Responsible for publishing the largest quantity of music, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021, it is part of Sony ...
in 2009 as a
songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...
. Lemar signed a deal with
Sony Records Sony Records was a record label founded by R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner in 1963. It was not affiliated with Sony Group Corporation. Ike Turner produced singles by members of the Kings of Rhythm and the Ikettes on Sony Records. Records on the la ...
, and has since won several BRIT Awards as best urban act. Malachi, Ainslie, Lemar, and Sinéad also went on to release hit records. Ratings of the show were average, but not fantastic. Most of this was blamed on the format being too similar to
Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and pa ...
, while fans of the
Reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 199 ...
element were disappointed by the awkward timings of the highlight show

Despite this, a Fame Academy (series 2), second series was commissioned for the following year.


Album and tour


Album

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) 3 December 2002 Track Listings # "''With a Little Help From My Friends''" - Ainslie & David # "''I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For''" - Lemar & Sinéad # "''Fields Of Gold''" - Malachi & Marli # "''(Come Up and See Me) Make Me Smile''" - Ainslie & Marli # "''Lean On Me''" - The Fame Academy Students # "''The Tracks Of My Tears''" - Marli # "''Eternal Flame''" - Pippa # "''Brown Eyed Girl''" - Chris # "''I Can See Clearly Now''" - Ashley # "''Genie In A Bottle''" - Camilla # "''Perfect''" - Katie # "''I Heard It Through The Grapevine''" - Nigel # "''Vincent''" - Malachi # "''Goodnight Girl''" - David # "''Don't Speak''" - Sinéad # "''Back To You''" - Lemar feat. The Fame Academy Students # "''Keep Me A Secret''" - Ainslie # "''Lullaby''" - Ainslie, David & Lemar


Live tour

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 Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...
. A DVD of their performances, Fame Academy - Live, was released in September 2003.


External links


BBC press releaseDavid wins Fame Academy, BBC News
{{Fame Academy Fame Academy 2002 British television seasons