Reborn in the USA
| Reborn in the USA | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Reality television, music |
| Directed by | Jonathan Bullen |
| Presented by | Davina McCall |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Picture format | SDTV |
| Original release | 8 March – 26 April 2003 |
Reborn in the USA was a British reality television show broadcast on ITV, in which ten British pop acts were transported to the USA, where they were supposedly not known in the hope of revitalising their music career.
Each week, the American audience voted for their favourite act. The two acts with the fewest votes would then face the vote from the British public, where the following week the act with the fewest votes was eliminated from the contest and sent back to Britain. The series was presented by Davina McCall and the eventual winner was ex Spandau Ballet lead singer Tony Hadley, who was awarded with the prize of a recording contract.
The competitors were: Tony Hadley, Michelle Gayle, Gina G, Elkie Brooks, Dollar, Leee John (of Imagination), Haydon Eshun (of Ultimate Kaos), Sonia and Mark Shaw of Then Jerico. Controversy hit the show early on when Shaw quit the show in the first week after being criticised by other participants for his drunken behaviour prior to the recording of the first concert. Quickly, Peter Cox (of Go West) was flown in as a replacement. Contrary to the rules, Hadley, Cox, and Gina G all had at least 1 Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 singles in the US, while Sonia's debut single peaked at number 10 on Billboard's Dance/Club Play Songs chart in 1990. Further controversy arose in the second week when acts Dollar and Sonia had received the least votes and were both up for the public vote. Sonia elected to leave the tour due to stress, but then decided to return to face the vote. Dollar (David Van Day and Thereza Bazar) accused her of pulling a publicity stunt to gain votes, resulting in a heated argument between the two acts, where Sonia ultimately told Van Day he was "a nasty piece of work". In the end, Dollar were voted off and Sonia continued in the show for a few more weeks.
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