Will the young pretender steal the show?
25/10/02
IT WAS Robbie Williams, with chum Jonathan Wilkes hanging on to his coat-tails,
who recorded Me And My Shadow for his big band album Swing When You’re Winning,
but for months now there has been some shameless chart shadowing of a more
tangible kind as a certain oppressively nice pop idol with massive chops is
commercially stalked by a certain ex-choirboy pop idol with a debilitating
stammer.
Will Young and Gareth Gates have been joined by an invisible cord since their
paths - and fates and careers - crossed on Pop Idol at the turn of the year.
Wherever Will goes, the little lamb is sure to follow, usually into the charts,
usually three weeks later and usually to greater advantage.
As far back as May, eagle-eyed Declan Donnelly, co-host of Pop Idol, spotted
the trend and told Heat : "We stood up there for 21 weeks and were led to
believe there would only be one winner of Pop Idol. I don’t believe the guy
that won it has been treated like the winner."
To clear up any confusion, that "guy" is Will.
Even grouchy website Pop Idols ... The Culling Fields, a self-styled
"lobbying group that believes in artistry over accountancy", came out
in favour of Will, with one of its "keep music real" message board
contributors huffing, "Will won. The organisers hadn’t planned this so
they set about signing Gareth, printing posters, selling Easter eggs, all with
the loser’s face on it - why?"
Why? "To appease both groups of fans," according to scheming Simon
Cowell, whose masterplan for Gareth’s chart hegemony went thus: In March, the
victorious Will basked at the top of the hit parade with his debut single
before cordially "passing the crown" (his words) after a mere three
weeks to Gareth. The release of their second singles was separated by six
weeks, but by the third single Gareth had caught up and was actually sharing
the hit with Will, staring sincerely and longingly into his eyes while singing
The Long And Winding Road.
Their debut albums are separate ventures, allegedly. But even then Gareth
infiltrates Will’s From Now On, via said Long And Winding Road. Will does not
get to return the favour on the young pretender’s What My Heart Wants To Say.
Instead, he has tolerated these infringements of his right to revel in his Pop
Idol victory, but that will not stop fans looking for signs of rivalry beneath
the surface of their relationship when the two are joined again on tour.
Will, Gareth & Zoe play the SECC, Glasgow on 28, 29 and 30 October. What My
Heart Wants To Say is released by RCA on Monday.
FIONA SHEPHERD
The Scotsman