Clea

The quartet of aspiring performers who came up short among the live-show contestants on ITV's Popstars: The Rivals created the pure pop outfit Clea, though the group never matched the critical praise or sales figures posted by the program's eventual victors, Girls Aloud. Lynsey Brown, Chloe Staines, Emma Beard, and Aimee Kearsley each tried out for the 2002 series; after advancing to the live stages, they finished in 10th, 9th, 8th, and 7th place. Sixth-place finalist Javine opted for a solo path, leaving the remaining four to band together under the name Clea, an acronym drawn from the initial letters of their first names. Following a contract with the Warner subsidiary 1967 Records, the act issued its first single, "Download It," which peaked at number 21; the follow-up, "Stuck in the Middle," reached only number 23 and therefore fell outside the Top 20, prompting the label to shelve the planned debut album Identity Crisis. The project later surfaced in Eastern Europe and Japan, yet the girls were soon released from their deal. That same year Chloe departed amid personal differences, after which the remaining trio aligned with Upside Management. Adopting a fresh Europop direction, they offered "Clothes Off," a Da Playaz collaboration that reworked the 1980s Jermaine Stewart hit and climbed to number 35. The next release, "Lucky Like That," managed only number 55 and missed the Top 40 entirely, while the album Trinity—assembled from tracks intended for the earlier shelved project alongside newer recordings—stalled at number 258 on the charts. Lynsey became the second member to exit in 2007, prompting Emma and Aimee to launch the dance-pop project LoveShy. The pair advanced to the final six of the BBC contest Eurovision: Your Decision, whose purpose was to select the United Kingdom's Eurovision Song Contest entry, but their song "Mr Gorgeous" did not prevail, leading the duo to disband.