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This TV talent show lark has left cherub-faced youngsters (and Steve Brookstein) scattered around the gutter like yesterday's chip papers. One minute Simon Cowell's your wealthy, egomaniacal father figure. The next, you're back flipping burgers at McDonalds.
Thought this was the case with Gareth Gates? Think again. The recent ITV1 documentary focusing on his comeback trail showed him lounging around in a preposterously luxurious flat with a beautiful girlfriend. Any sense of jealousy on our part, however, was tempered by the sight of a paranoid young man afraid to go to the supermarket, obviously affected by the onslaught of fame at such a tender age, and its sudden disappearance from his life. As a stuttering 18 year old, it fucked him up, so who could begrudge him another crack at the big time four years on?
The new grown-up, serious image could be just as calculated as the spiky-haired heartthrob routine (he is, after all, still under Simon Fuller's 19 Management), but his appearance on last week's Friday Night With Jonathan Ross showed him to be relaxed, stutter-free and happy to poke fun at his past. Apparently, we're now seeing the real Gareth Gates.
It's a shame, then, that he's returned with a maudlin, soporific piano-based ballad. Sure, it's the best thing he's ever done. With a back catalogue as appalling as his, though, that's not saying much. There's a more organic sound, real instruments, etc, but Take That are doing this sort of thing much better at the moment. Nice try, but it ain't gonna make him a superstar again.
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