We see it time and time again, don’t we? We see people who are in positions of power that can offer you “opportunities” and maybe abuse that for entertainment value, and I wasn’t going to have that. Because none of the powers that be knew how successful it would be, they couldn’t manipulate it – they just let it run. It was a new format so no one knew what was going to happen – I think it started with something like 300,000 viewers and ended up with 16 million.
I’m not going to say I was fortunate because I think that’s the way it should be, but it was a really good experience. What was your experience like behind the scenes – was Pop Idol a good experience? And I suppose I had more faith in the public than in record companies at that time. But I had a sense that if I could just get on television and sing, people wouldn’t be caught up by all the other stuff.
If there’s a show for one singer, I think I could win it.” As an openly gay politics student who at that time didn’t write his own music, I thought, no one’s going to sign me. They had Popstars the show on before Pop Idol and I remember saying to a friend: “I just need a show for one singer.
