Gloucestershire Echo – 23rd June 2003

Studio lands record Pop Idol contract
We’re mixed up with new game by James Costley-White

After launching Will Young and Gareth Gates to worldwide fame, Pop Idol is set to make a star of a Cheltenham recording studio.

For the past three months staff at The Promenade firm Yellow Shark, have been hard at work recording tracks for a Pop Idol computer game.

It will be released in the autumn to coincide with the second series of the massively popular TV show – and is tipped to be the hottest must-have Christmas present since Buzz Lightyear.

Studio spokesman Andy Lewis said: “We’ve been working on a major new computer game, Pop Idol, which will be released in November.

“ The production team, Hothouse Creations, have been sending people down to record songs, including Natalie Powers, who used to be in the band Scooch.

“ There are three male singers and three female singers and they’ve recorded 240 songs.”

Players of the Pop Idol game will create, style and train a wannabe star to compete as a singer right to the finals.

Each virtual contestant will be able to choose from 40 hits, including Baby One More Time by Britney Spears, I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor and Let Me Entertain You, by Robbie Williams, to perform for the judges.

Whether they sing sweetly or caterwaul will depend on the dexterity of the player, who has to match button-presses to on-screen commands.

They will receive comments on their performances from the TV show’s judges, including a computer-generated Simon Cowell. It is aimed at seven to 17-year olds and will be available on Playstation 2.

John Broomhall, head of audio development for the Pop Idol game project, said he chose Yellow Shark because of its acoustics, style and relaxing ambience.

A spokesman for the game’s publishers, Codemasters said it was on course to be the video game of the year. He said: “It will be our biggest video game launch in our 17-year history.”

Landing the project was a coup for the fledgling recording studio, which opened earlier this year:
He said: “It’s a great achievement for us. It’s testament to the studio’s superb facilities and its fast-growing reputation as one of the most promising new studios to open in the UK this year.”

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