''Reborn in the USA'' is a British reality television show broadcast 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 ...

, in which ten British pop acts were transported to the US, where they were supposedly not known in the hope of revitalising their music career. Each week, the American audience voted for their favourite act. The two acts with the fewest votes would then face the vote from the British public, where the following week the act with the fewest votes was eliminated from the contest and sent back to Britain. The series was presented by

Davina McCall Davina Lucy Pascale McCall (born 16 October 1967) is an English television presenter. She was the presenter of the reality show ''Big Brother (UK), Big Brother'' during its run on Channel 4 between 2000 and 2010. She also hosted Channel 4's '' ...

and the eventual winner was ex

Spandau Ballet Spandau Ballet () were an English new wave band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids, playing "European Da ...

lead singer

Tony Hadley Anthony Patrick Hadley (born 2 June 1960) is an English pop singer. He rose to fame in the 1980s as the lead singer of the new wave band Spandau Ballet and launched a solo career following the group's split in 1990. Hadley returned to the ban ...

, who was awarded with the prize of a recording contract.

Overview

The competitors were:

Michelle Gayle Michelle Patricia Gayle (born 2 February 1971) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and writer. Gayle had success as a soul and R&B singer in the 1990s, having achieved seven top 40 singles in the UK Singles Chart. These include "Sweetness" ...

Gina G Gina G (born Gina Mary Gardiner, 3 August 1970) is an Australian singer who represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1996, with the song " Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit", which reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart. The ...

Elkie Brooks Elkie Brooks (born Elaine Bookbinder; 25 February 1946) is an English rock, blues and jazz singer. She was a vocalist with the bands Dada and Vinegar Joe, and later became a solo artist. She gained her biggest success in the late 1970s and 1980 ...

Dollar Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, U ...

Leee John Leslie McGregor "Leee" John (born 23 June 1957) is a British musician, singer, and actor of St Lucian descent. He was born in Hackney, London, and educated in New York City, later studying drama at the Anna Scher Theatre School. He is perhaps b ...

(of

Imagination Imagination is the production or simulation of novel objects, sensations, and ideas in the mind without any immediate input of the senses. Stefan Szczelkun characterises it as the forming of experiences in one's mind, which can be re-creations ...

), Haydon Eshun (of

Ultimate Kaos Ultimate Kaos (stylised as Ultimate KAOS) were a British boyband from the 1990s, who were formed by Simon Cowell. Its original members comprised Jomo Baxter, Jayde Spence, Ryan Elliott, Nick Grant and the then 9 years old Haydon Eshun. Career ...

Sonia Sonia, Sonja or Sonya, a name of Greek origin meaning wisdom, may refer to: People * Sonia (name), a feminine given name (lists people named, Sonia, Sonja and Sonya) :* Sonia (actress), Indian film actress in Malayalam and Tamil films :* Sonia ...

and Mark Shaw of

Then Jerico Then Jerico are an English rock band. They scored four top 40 hits in the UK during the 1980s. Career The band's early line-up included singer Mark Shaw, bassist Jasper Stainthorpe, drummer Steve Wren, and guitarist Scott Taylor. The band pl ...

. Controversy hit the show early on when Shaw quit the show in the first week after being criticised by other participants for his drunken behaviour prior to the recording of the first concert. Quickly, Peter Cox (of Go West) was flown in as a replacement. Contrary to the rules, Hadley, Cox, and Gina G all had at least 1 Top 40 hit (and in the case of Dollar had their only US single, "Shooting Star," peaked at No. 74 in 1978) on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles in the US, while Sonia's debut single peaked at number 10 on Billboard's

Dance/Club Play Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart in 1990; Gina G, Cox (as part of Go West), and John's group also placed singles on the latter. Further controversy arose in the second week when acts Dollar and Sonia had received the fewest votes and were both up for the public vote. Sonia elected to leave the tour due to stress, but then decided to return to face the vote. Dollar (

David Van Day David Van Day (born David Paul Day, 28 November 1956) is an English singer, songwriter and politician who was formerly a member of the pop music, pop vocal duet (music), duo Dollar (group), Dollar. He was also a member of the 1970s vocal group Gu ...

and

Thereza Bazar Theresa Lorraine Bazar (born 23 May 1955) is a Canadian-born singer, best known as one half of the pop duo Dollar. Career Bazar met with success in her late teens as a member of 1970s group Guys 'n' Dolls, who scored a 1975 hit with "There's ...

) accused her of pulling a publicity stunt to gain votes, resulting in a heated argument between the two acts, where Sonia ultimately told Van Day he was "a nasty piece of work". In the end, Dollar were voted off and Sonia continued in the show for a few more weeks. The format for the show had the artists travelling on a tour bus to a new venue each week. Each would perform one song which would relate to the city they were performing in (e.g. the concert in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

would have each perform a well-known song about New Orleans). All songs performed were cover versions, until the final show where the final two (Hadley and Gayle) each sang one of their own hits. Despite his late entry to the show, Peter Cox was the favourite to win, but he finished in third place after forgetting the words to the song he was performing. The show's theme music was composed and produced by

Stuart Hancock Stuart Hancock (born 5 August 1975) is a British composer of film, TV and concert music. Hancock is known for having composed the original soundtracks to series 2 of the BBC fantasy series Atlantis, the animated TV adaptation of We're Going ...

for London-based music production company Mcasso Music, and variations of this theme music were used to accompany the on-screen action between song performances. Following the show's transmission, a book and an album was released. The album contained studio recordings of various cover versions by the acts, comprising 17 songs.

Results

*Winner:

*2nd:

*3rd: Peter Cox from Go West *4th: Haydon Eshun from

*5th:

(from

) *6th:

*7th:

*8th:

*9th: Dollar (

and

) *10th: Mark Shaw (quit after one day)

Album

''Reborn in the USA – 17 Unforgettable Songs as Performed on the hit ITV1 Show'' # Tony Hadley – "

Walking in Memphis "Walking in Memphis" is a song composed and originally recorded by American singer-songwriter Marc Cohn, for whom it remains his signature song. It received a Song of the Year nomination at the 34th Grammy Awards in 1992, the same year that the ...

" # Peter Cox – "

Me and Mrs Jones "Me and Mrs. Jones" is a 1972 soul song written by Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, and Cary Gilbert, and originally recorded by Billy Paul. It describes an extramarital affair between a man and his lover, Mrs. Jones. In the song, the two meet in sec ...

" # Haydon Eshun – "

Misty Blue Misty may refer to: Music * ''Misty'' (Ray Stevens album), an album by Ray Stevens featuring the above song * ''Misty'' (Richard "Groove" Holmes album), an album by Richard "Groove" Holmes featuring the above song * ''Misty'' (Eddie "Lockjaw" ...

" # Michelle Gayle – "

Until You Come Back to Me "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" is a song written by Morris Broadnax, Clarence Paul, and Stevie Wonder. The song was originally recorded by Stevie Wonder in 1967, but his version was not released as a single and did not appe ...

" # Elkie Brooks – "

Love Letters A love letter is an expression of love in written form. However delivered, the letter may be anything from a short and simple message of love to a lengthy explanation and description of feelings. History One of the oldest references to a l ...

" # Leee John – " Betcha By Golly Wow" # Gina G – "

I Can't Make You Love Me "I Can't Make You Love Me" is a song written by Mike Reid and Allen Shamblin and recorded by American singer Bonnie Raitt for her eleventh studio album, '' Luck of the Draw'' (1991). Released as the album's second single in 1991, "I Can't Make ...

" # Sonia – "

Evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

" # Haydon Eshun – "

Wonderful Tonight "Wonderful Tonight" is a ballad written by Eric Clapton. It was included on Clapton's 1977 album ''Slowhand''. Clapton wrote the song about Pattie Boyd. "the hard-rock pioneer and guitar god also become a soft-rock star in the mid-1970s. He cel ...

" # Tony Hadley – " To Love Somebody" # Elkie Brooks – " The Rose" # Peter Cox – " Nick of Time" # Michelle Gayle – " Love Me Tender" # Leee John – "

A Little Bit More "A Little Bit More" is a song written and performed by Bobby Gosh, released on his 1973 album ''Sitting in the Quiet''. The first hit version was recorded by the band Dr. Hook; their version was released as a single in 1976. It charted at numbe ...

" # Gina G – "

Don't Leave Me This Way "Don't Leave Me This Way" is a song written by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, and Cary Gilbert. It was originally released in 1975 by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes featuring Teddy Pendergrass, an act signed to Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia Internat ...

" # Dollar – "

Somethin' Stupid "Somethin' Stupid", or "Something Stupid", is a song written by C. Carson Parks. It was originally recorded in 1966 by Parks and his wife Gaile Foote, as Carson and Gaile. A 1967 version by Frank Sinatra and his daughter Nancy Sinatra became ...

" # Tony Hadley – "I Can't Make You Love Me"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reborn In The Usa 2003 British television series debuts 2003 British television series endings ITV reality television shows Television series based on singers and musicians