This is our first update of the new year. There wasn’t any update yesterday as I wasn’t in the right state of mind after the party the previous night! As you may have noticed we are back to version three of the site. This is because we are having navigation problems with version four when using the Netscape browser, so we are having to re-design certain elements so that Netscape users can view the site correctly. We should have a solution soon and version for shouldn’t be too far behind that! Did anyone see Pete Waterman on the TOTP History Program yesterday? He seemed to tell everyone why STEPS haven’t been singing live on television. Pete was saying that he doesn’t see why his acts should be singing live on TV and that fans should just be happy seeing their acts …… Today I brought the new single. Observations at my local HMV store in Croydon where pretty good as only a few where left on the shelf, the only point that I will make is that the Rui Da Sliva single was also selling well and if anything was a few copies ahead in my HMV in Croydon, obviously this doesn’t show the national sales of course and it could be a totally different story where you live! Thanks to many US people who have noticed this that STEPS appear in the US magazine “Backstage Pass”. There is a picture of STEPS backstage on tour. The only not-good thing for STEPS was that there was a two page special on Westlife! Now onto the news that I have recieved over the past few days: This is taken from Dotmusic: Steps have charted at an abysmal number 72 with their new single, after almost 1,000 copies were sold across the country a week before the actual release, dotmusic has learnt. ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’ was due in the shops on January 1, 2001, but was put on-sale by some bungling stores who had been issued with the CD early to ensure stock was available. A spokesman for the band’s record label Jive today confirmed the cock-up, but suggested there would be no action of behalf of the band, despite the long-term impact on the single’s chart placing. “About 980 have been sold over the counter,” the spokesman said. “We’re looking at it as a nice early New Year present for some Steps fans who got hold of it early. “We’ve not seen the midweeks yet, but if the figures prove significant then it will be a bit of a disappointment, but we don’t plan on grumbling about it.” James Masterton, dotmusic’s official chart spokesman, commented on the situation: “Despite being plastered with huge labels saying ‘do not sell until January 1st 2001’, some copies did find their way onto shelves and subsequently into the hands of the paying public. “The charts do not discriminate between leaked and officially released tracks and so the sales have registered and the single has been given a chart position”. It is not the first time such an error has occurred. In January 1992, The Prodigy’s ‘Everybody In The Place’ was made available prematurely and charted at number 48, before rising to number 10 the following week, on general release. If Steps climb to Number One this week, it will signify that biggest ever leap to the top spot. This takes me on to a news item which was sent in by Dave who’s article is similar to the one above but has more on the last comment, it says: “Steps could therefore make history next week by having the biggest ever climb to number 1 (71 places if successful). Regardless, even if it fails to hit the top spot, it will probably register one of the biggest ever climbs within the UK singles chart.” It’ll be interesting to see if STEPS do miss out on the top spot by less than the 980 sold if Jive do take any action, and if you did mistaking brought it last week and they do miss out on the number one spot by a few hundred copies you better keep it quiet from your STEPS mates :o) A lot of people have been asking about the Steps Dolls for non UK residents. I’ll continue looking at online stores BUT if you have brought them online please e-mail me at [email protected] with the store details as there are a lot of non UK residents interesting in buying them. The Toys R Us website has them listed but you can’t choose which one you want the link is here ITV program Popstars are looking for the new STEPS according to Worldpop: The winners of ITV’s forthcoming talent search show, Popstars, will be given a one album deal by record label Polydor, worldpop has learned. The UK show, which begins on 10 January, will follow the fortunes of 3,000 hopefuls as they are whittled down to just five people to create a ready-made pop band. Each episode will follow a different aspect of the band’s progress – from auditions to media training and right up to the moment the band discover how well their first single has fared in the charts. The show’s formula has already proved a success in Australia and spawned the all-girl group Bardot whose debut single Poison went straight to the top of the charts. By the time the first show airs next week, the final line-up will have been decided although ITV have refused to release their names. LWT’s controller of entertainment Nigel Lythgoe insists that the chosen band must be able to sing. ‘We don’t want to put them in the studio and tweak their voices,’ says Lythgoe who says that many who auditioned just felt they had to ‘stand there and look good’ rather than be able to sing. ‘We were looking for people with a great voice, personality, a great look and charisma,’ says Lythgoe. ‘Robbie Williams has got it. You want to talk to him, to find out about him. You enjoy being in his presence but you don’t know what it is.’ Polydor’s A&R director Paul Adam has contacted songwriter Elliott (Spice Girls) Kennedy with a view to writing a song for the chosen group. ‘For me, this is an album project,’ says Adam. ‘We’re involved because we think we can get an act out of it.’ Adam says he wants the group – who will choose their own name – to have a broad rather than just a teenage appeal. ‘I don’t want the first single to be another bland pop song,’ he says. You can find out more about Popstars on their official website and even catch a glimpse behind the scenes at the auditions plus find out how not to become a popstar.