That was years ago..people improve

I think she's made a HUGE mistake sending home Hannah over the weaker Alexandra.

Am I the only one who doesn't get Alex?

I am about 95% sure you're wrong, unless you have video to back up that claim? I remember them all going through in one batch VERY clearly, because I was an avid Nadine fan at the time. I'm sure it all happened in one go, leaving just Javine and Sarah last. At the time me and my mum were annoyed that Cheryl got announced first, but we were convincing ourselves that it didn't mean she had the most votes. Just checked with my mum and she remembers it the same way.

I wanted Cheryl out because I thought she was useless, and both Javine and Sarah in (actually, I wanted Aimee in more than either of those girls, lol)

I never knew she was so bad.

At the time, I thought "wow" and thought Cheryl was one of the best though she wasn't my favourite, but seeing this again, she was so crap. However, it has been 6 years now. She was 19 then, remember, so her voice probably didn't mature enough and I'm sure she has improved a lot.

No James. I don't get Alex either. I think she's really hopeless as a singer - just shout shout screeeeeeeech.

I feel the opposite. Hannah's mid range is strong but the moment she tries to belt, she falls apart like glass-throat Ben Mills.

She wasn't just off key in her audition the majority of her live performances on the show were terrible .. if I remember righrly she was flat and off key through out most of the songs.

Actually looking at this video the others weren't much better .. Kimberly was dreadful.

.. and this video also shows that the band were announced one straight after the other ... so I doubt they were still taking votes and counting them after Cheryl was announced as the first member ..... also there was no mention of who got the most votes.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3X1T2UY4qYs

I think Alex is a good singer- just totally "heard it all before"! Hannah was something different.

Cheryl's improved massively since then,she was fantastic on the recent tour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec0L6MOcyPU

Davina explains it in the first 20 seconds of this video.

Shes not an awful singer, she has said herself that she wasn't good when she auditioned for Popstars but GA sing live ALOT now, alot more than most acts & they can all sing, they've all majorly improved since the Popstars days.

As for Cheryls acts being better than her, Cheryls got a job to do, shes been asked to be a judge/mentor, shes doing that, if she was going around saying shes better than her acts then fair enough, slate the girl, but she isn't saying that, & she never would.

As someone said in here, at least Cheryl is spending time MENTORING her acts, shes been in their shoes, she knows the score, & shes more in touch with music today than the other 3 judges put together

I don't *get* ger. Great voice, seems like a nice girl, but I dunno what it is. I can't connect with her at all.

That was 6 years ago. Cheryl has improved greatly since then - plus she's said herself she isn't the most fantastic singer. To be part of a girl group you don't need to be vocally that strong anyway.

I think that proves what a con the voting thing is .... if the lines were still open for the other girls after Cheryl was announced, when did they actually freeze the lines to count the votes to find the second girl through.

I get the feeling that they the first time they froze the lines they took the top 5 girls names as those through then just conned people into thinking that their votes after that would make a difference and counted.

Perhaps I'm a bit thick but what Davina said followed by the way the girls were announced makes no sense .. they would have to close the lines sometime in order to make an accurate readig at a certain point, but it appears that this didn't happen.

In fact, you need to be quite the opposite. Can you imagine a group full of Christina Aguileras, Mariah Careys, Whitney Houstons, all caterwauling, ad-libbing all over the shop, trying out-do each other with vocal gymnastics...it'd be utter torture.

Yeah, it's definitely shifty -- especially with text voting, which sometimes took a whole day to process. But there was an ad-break after it was down to Javine versus Sarah, so we can at least have some confidence that Javine was rightly voted off (and that Cheryl did have the most votes ).

You made me choke on my drink

Very average I must say. But a stunner she is.

I wish I had the youth back then!!

The talent on these shows has increased so massively since 2002 so Cheryl was very lucky to get in while she did as she'd stand no chance these days. Of course her looks were the main factor in her choosing as there was more mention of how gorgeous she was than how her voice was in that clip!

I agree that she isnt the strongest singer. She was off pitch in places in the popstars clip, but she has a nice even tone and the kind of voice that blends well with others.
She likely did get as far as she did largely because of her looks, but the thing is, she has the looks, and that is a factor weather we all think it should be or not.
She must have been a good choice for the band, because they havent exactly failed.

Cheryl's voice has improved a lot though. What she has, which many good singers don't, is pure star quality. Loads of pop stars who can't sing have star quality. Kylie has it.

Omg I'm watching the other 4 performances and they are all terrible apart from Nadine!

Regardless of what she said, that actually didn't happen. The girls were announced within seconds of each other. There wasn't time for people to pick up the phone and dial, let alone for them to close the line, count and verify the votes, announce it to the studio, then tell Davina what to say, and have Davina announce it.

I seriously cant get over how bad they were! damn my ears are full of blood