Gareth Gates UK

10th February 2002

As you all know by now Gareth lost the Pop Idol title in the final against Will Young. Despite breath taking performances of Evergreen, Anything Is Possible and a reprise of his classic rendition of Unchained Melody the public voted Will their favourite by just 500,000 votes. 8.7 million phoned in for their favourite contestant, 4.1 million of those for Gareth.  The big surprise of the night was a duet by the two contestants, with Gareth on the piano they performed a beautiful version of Elton John's Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me. As Will was announced the winner of the Pop Idol title, he was lifted up by the final 50 contestants that featured in Pop Idol. Gareth although upset, put on a brave smile and gave Will a big hug. Despite losing out to Will, Simon Cowell has signed Gareth. News of Gareth's plans for a single will be announced next week and Simon has promised that there will be a surprise in there. 

Last week Gareth and Will undertook a major media campaign to gain votes and publicity. They featured on loads of television shows including So Graham Norton, GMTV, and This Morning. As well as this, they featured on the headlines of nearly every newspaper for the past five days.

The dates for the Pop Idol live shows are: