The second and most recent series of British reality television show ''

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 par ...

'' aired on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

on from 13 September to 20 December 2003.

Michelle McManus Michelle McManus (born 8 May 1980) is a Scottish singer, columnist, and television presenter who won the second and final series of the UK talent show ''Pop Idol'' in 2003. McManus's debut single, " All This Time", entered the UK Singles Cha ...

was announced as the winner and received a £1 million recording contract to release her debut album.

Ant & Dec Ant & Dec are a British television presenter, television presenting duo, consisting of Anthony McPartlin (born 18 November 1975) and Declan Donnelly (born 25 September 1975), from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Formed after their meeting as chil ...

returned to present the show on ITV, whilst

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...

, Neil Fox,

Nicki Chapman Nicola Chapman, known professionally as Nicki Chapman (born 14 January 1967) is an English television & radio presenter, talent show judge and public relations agent who previously worked in the British pop music industry. Chapman was a judg ...

and

Pete Waterman Peter Alan Waterman, (born 15 January 1947) is an English record producer, songwriter, radio and club DJ, television presenter, president of Coventry Bears rugby league club and a keen railway enthusiast. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterm ...

all returned as judges. The second series was not as successful as the

first series First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

, and the viewing figures for the finale were much lower. Waterman considered McManus an unworthy winner. In 2004, ''Pop Idol'' was axed and ITV announced a new show created by Cowell, with no involvement from ''Pop Idol'' creator

Simon Fuller Simon Fuller (born 17 May 1960) is a British entrepreneur, artist manager, and film and television producer renowned for nurturing and inspiring world class entertainment talent. He is the creator of the ''Idols'' TV format, including the UK s ...

—''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

''. The perceived similarity between the two shows later became the subject of a

legal dispute A legal case is in a general sense a dispute between opposing parties which may be resolved by a court, or by some equivalent legal process. A legal case is typically based on either civil or criminal law. In most legal cases there are one or mor ...

Live shows

The live shows began on 25 October, and continued through to the live final on 20 December.

Finalists

* as of the start of the series

Heats and live shows

Results summary

;Colour key * In week 1 of the finals, Chris and Marc received the same vote percentage as did Roxanne and Brian. In week 2, Mark and Chris received the same vote percentage.

Live show details

Heat 1 (13 September- Recorded on 10 September 2003)

;Notes; *The hosts revealed the contestants who received the top five numbers of votes in reverse order. Michelle McManus and Chris Hide advanced to the top 12 of the competition. The other eight contestants were eliminated. *Jason Brock and Rebecca Hayes returned for a second chance at the top 12 in the Wildcard Round.

Heat 2 (20 September-Recorded on 17 September 2003)

;Notes *The hosts revealed the contestants who received the top five numbers of votes in reverse order. Kirsty Crawford and Brian Ormond advanced to the top 12 of the competition. The other 8 contestants were eliminated. *Jodie Connor and Susanne Manning returned for a second chance at the top 12 in the Wildcard Round.

Heat 3 (27 September- Recorded on 24 September 2003)

;Notes *The hosts revealed the contestants who received the top five numbers of votes in reverse order. Marc Dillon and Roxanne Cooper advanced to the top 12 of the competition. The other 8 contestants were eliminated. *Kieran McDonald and Sam Nixon returned for a second chance at the top 12 in the Wildcard Round.

Heat 4 (4 October- Recorded on 1 October 2003)

;Notes *The hosts revealed the contestants who received the top five numbers of votes in reverse order. Leon McPherson and Kim Gee advanced to the top 12 of the competition. The other 8 contestants were eliminated. *None of the contestants from this round made it into the Wildcard Round, making it the only group to not be represented at that stage.

Heat 5 (11 October- Recorded on 8 October 2003)

;Notes * The hosts revealed the contestants who received the top five numbers of votes in reverse order. Andy Scott-Lee and Mark Rhodes advanced to the top 12 of the competition. The other 8 contestants were eliminated. * Glen Harvey and Danielle Tedford returned for a second chance at the top 12 in the Wildcard Round. * Craig Chalmers later went on to make the live finals of '' Any Dream Will Do'' in 2007.

Wildcard round (18 October)

For the first time (and only time) on the UK version of Pop Idol, there was a Wildcard Round where previously eliminated contestants returned for a second chance at making it through to the live finals. As a result, the final 10 was to become a final twelve. The judges announced which eight contestants would earn a Wildcard place at the end of the 11 October results show, and that after they perform the public would choose one contestant to go through, and the judges would pick another. The eight contestants who contested the Wildcard Round were Jason Brock, Jodie Connor, Glen Harvey, Rebecca Hayes, Susanne Manning, Kieran McDonald, Sam Nixon and Danielle Tedford. ;Notes *The judges selected Sam to move on into the Top 12 of the competition, before the hosts revealed the Top 3 vote getters. Susanne received the most votes, and completed the top 12. It was not made clear whether or not Sam was actually in the top 3, as the hosts stated that it was the top 3 of the remaining 7 contestants. Danielle missed out on the finals by one place for the second time. *In 2010, Jodie Connor's vocals were featured on the UK number-one single "

Good Times ''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was television's first African ...

" by London grime collective,

Roll Deep Roll Deep (formerly Roll Deep Entourage) are a British grime crew. They were founded in 2001 by Wiley shortly before the disbandment of UK garage crew Pay As U Go Cartel. The group have had two UK No. 1 singles, " Good Times" and " Green Ligh ...

, and she later went onto launch a solo career.

Live show 1 (25 October)

Theme: Songs by contestant's 'Pop Idol' Due to the addition of two extra contestants through the Wildcard Round, it was announced that for the first two weeks of the finals, two contestants would be eliminated instead of the standard one. *Judges Prediction of who will leave *Neil Fox: Leon McPherson and Mark Rhodes *Nicky Chapman: Leon McPherson and Michelle McManus *Pete Waterman: Leon McPherson and Kirsty Crawford *Simon Cowell: Leon McPherson and Kirsty Crawford ;Notes: * Just 80 votes separated Chris Hide and Marc Dillon in week one.

Live show 2 (1 November)

Theme: Songs from contestant's birth year *Judges Prediction of who will leave *Neil Fox: Mark Rhodes & Brian Ormond *Nicky Chapman: Marc Dillon & Brian Ormond *Pete Waterman: Brian Ormond & Kim Gee *Simon Cowell: Mark Rhodes & Brian Ormond

Live show 3 (8 November)

Theme:

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

songs A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

*Judges Prediction of who will leave *Neil Fox: Chris Hide *Nicky Chapman: Chris Hide *Pete Waterman: Kim Gee *Simon Cowell: Kim Gee

Live show 4 (15 November)

Theme: Disco songs *Judges Prediction of who will leave *Neil Fox: Chris Hide *Nicky Chapman: Chris Hide *Pete Waterman: Roxanne Cooper *Simon Cowell: Roxanne Cooper ;Notes * Just 697 votes separated Mark Rhodes and Chris Hide in week four. * Although Hide was second from bottom, he was announced as safe, leading viewers to assume that Suzanne had come second from bottom.

Live show 5 (22 November)

Theme:

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

*Judges Prediction of who will leave *Neil Fox: Mark Rhodes *Nicky Chapman: Mark Rhodes *Pete Waterman: Mark Rhodes *Simon Cowell: Mark Rhodes

Live show 6 (29 November)

Theme: Big band *Judges Prediction of who will leave *Neil Fox: Susanne Manning *Nicky Chapman: Susanne Manning *Pete Waterman: Susanne Manning *Simon Cowell: Susanne Manning

Live show 7 (6 December)

Theme:

Christmas songs Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

*Judges Prediction of who will leave *Neil Fox: Mark Rhodes *Nicky Chapman: Mark Rhodes *Pete Waterman: Mark Rhodes *Simon Cowell: Mark Rhodes

Live show 8 (13 December)

Theme: Judges' song choice *Judges Prediction of who will leave *Neil Fox: Mark Rhodes *Nicky Chapman: Mark Rhodes *Pete Waterman: Michelle McManus *Simon Cowell: Refused to vote

Final (20 December)

Reception

Ratings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pop Idol (Series 2) Series 02 2003 British television seasons 2003 in British music 2003 in British television