Popstars Extra - HearSay (Wide Screen) DVD

Popstars Extra offers a documentary adjunct to the horrendously compelling TV series about the whittling process that eventually resulted in the group HearSay. This concentrates on the five members who made the final cut, which is a shame, really, as much of the real fun from the series came in the early stages, scoffing till you were purple at some of the early audition casualties who were as deluded as they were talentless. Nonetheless, here we have Kym, Myleen, Danny, Noel and Suzannes individual paths to pop glory, having proved their ability to render pop standards... as diverse as "Bridge Over Troubled Water" to "Living La Vida Loca" in the same constipated cod-soulful tremor that seems compulsory for boy/girl bands nowadays. Its hard not to be infected by their delirious joy as theyre informed that they "made it" but the scope of their artistic ambitions beyond merely "making it" is depressing. When asked at a press conference how she feels about the legalisation of cannabis, Myleen answers with studied, professional blandness, "I dont think thats something I can say anything about". These are Stage magazine devotees, not mavericks-in-waiting. They hold up well together in their big house and under camera but the mood of bonhomie is too infrequently pierced--just the once actually when Svengali Nasty Nigel informs Kym she needs to lose some weight and she flounces out of the living room. A sadly truthful study in the mores of manufactured pop. --David Stubbs [show more]

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