2002 saw the first reality tv singers claim the Christmas number one spot.
A tv show called Popstars: The Rivals selected the auditionees to form a girl group and boy band, with both releasing a single in the run up to Christmas. The ‘winner’ of the tv show would be the group who charted highest for Christmas. One True Voice, the boy band, landed at number two, while Girls Aloud claimed the number one spot.
The song was clearly pop, although influenced by drum n bass with surf rock guitars, and saw Girls Aloud become the most successful girl group of the 21st century in the UK, before being eclipsed by Little Mix, who were themselves a product of The X Factor. Never ground breaking in originality but they did a decent job of being pop stars for about 10 years, and continued with work as solo artists, on tv or on stage.
Sadly, one of the members of the group passed away from breast cancer about 3 years ago at the age of just 39.