Scandal'us split
2 August 2002
From Sydney Confidential

AT least it wasn't as embarrassing as Bardot's final tear-filled, groupie-friendly performance. Scandal'us officially announced their demise with a whimper rather than a bang in Sydney yesterday.
While Tamara Jaber and Simon Ditcham accepted an ARIA No. 1 Chart Award for Scandal'us's chart-topper Me, Myself & I, host Richard Wilkins facetiously asked if they had split. Er, yes, was the response.

"We're officially doing our own thing but we've had a great time," said Jaber, who thought we all knew, before adding, sadly, "I didn't notice any headlines."

"I honestly didn't think it was a shock," Jaber told showbiz editor Michael Bodey. Tell that to her record label exec who admitted it was news to him.

"We took it as far as we could possibly go and I think we all have such a different type of thing we want to do and we couldn't agree on the one thing we wanted to do," Jaber said.

Ditcham wasn't as rosy. "We had a lot of troubles trying to get out of contracts and getting new managers and then the record label letting us go and trying to get a new label," he said.

"Just a lot of decisions went the wrong way at the wrong time, I think. We had this big peak and then it seriously went into a big trough and everything was just too much for us.

"You don't go into the music industry just to be stuck in a legal wrangles," a now wiser Ditcham said.

It is believed Jaber is the only member to have secured a solo contract thus far.

Scandal'us joined Kasey Chambers, Holly Valance, Silverchair, George, Billy Birmingham, Scott Cain and Kylie Minogue as inaugural recipients of the ARIA No. 1 Chart Awards. Minogue and Valance were the only artists not to show, Valance being interstate and Minogue down the street.

The Daily Telegraph

Scandal'us takes a break
28 JUN 2002
By Luke Dennehy, Herald Sun

POP group Scandal'us will take an indefinite break after the production of Hair ends on Saturday night.
The group was a product of the second series of Popstars, and had the best-selling single by an Australian artist last year with Me Myself and I. After the first hit, all other releases failed to chart strongly. Group member Tamara Jaber said the group would concentrate on solo projects in the next year.

"The whole band is working on different things," she said. "Jason's doing some producing, Dannii's writing an unplugged album, Anna's doing some recording so we're just taking time out."

Jaber said it is important for the group to move on from the Popstars series to shake off misconceptions of who they are in the public.

"Doing things (like Hair) gives you credibility because it's just you on stage," she said. "You are seen for what you are."

After being part of a totally manufactured group that has struggled, Jaber said she would now choose carefully before she made decisions regarding her career.

"Being the first year in the industry you are very naive and just go along with it, but now you have more idea," she said. "I'm waiting for the exact right thing rather than taking the first little jump.

"I've done that and I've seen how far it gets met."

Jaber said it would be important to just be herself with her next career move.

"I think the big international stars are the ones who take what they've got and be individual and just go with it," she said.

http://entertainment.news.com.au/

Which is harder for the marketing director of a record company: selling a country music singer to pop fans, or launching a manufactured pop music act to sceptical consumers? The answer? Neither is easy, as two recent examples demonstrate.

Manufactured pop acts have rarely been successful in Australia. But Seven Network's making-of-a-pop-star series, Popstars, has been a big hit in the past two years. The first series produced the group Bardot, which made respectable sales for the record company Warner Music in Australia, Asia and Europe.

The second Popstars series, which was screened in 2001, produced Scandal'us, which was signed to Festival Mushroom Records (FMR). Unlike Bardot, the Scandal'us contract was a pressing and distribution deal. It was a curious decision. A deal like this means that the record company's duty is to merely make the record and get it to the shops, and its commitment to pushing the act depends on the demands of the acts it has directly signed. In this case, either the show's producer, Showtime, and the act's manager, Les Gock (a judge on Popstars), wanted control of the music and the advertising, or FMR did not want to commit itself to the $500,000 needed to launch an act such as Scandal'us and was happy just to take a percentage of the gross.

FMR's director of international marketing, Wendy Aldridge, says: "The branding of the show was already strong, and we just had to get their strong and approachable personalities across." To achieve that, Scandal'us performed and met fans in shopping centres, drawing big crowds of girls aged four to 19.

The group's first single, Me, Myself and I, sold 140,000 copies. But a national concert tour to promote the May 2001 release of its album, Startin' Something, was cancelled because the band decided to tour Britain instead. Away from Australia for three months, Scandal'us lost momentum. The album sold a modest 70,000 copies, and the group's efforts to secure a deal with a British record company failed.

In December last year, FMR parted with the band. Gock returned to his jingles company Song Zu and handed the group to the music and sports manager Geoffrey Schukraft. Schukraft says he has had offers of new contracts from record companies in Japan and Europe, and Scandal'us will tour Asia in July. "Unlike a lot of these pop bands, Scandal'us has strong personalities and talent," he says. "What they need to do is to work out who they are and want to be, rather than what has been decided for them by others."

From Australia's BRW Thursday, 11 April 2002.

Scandal'us split with label
27 DEC 2001
From the Daily Telegraph's Sydney Confidential, Daily Telegraph


SECOND-GENERATION Popstars band Scandal'us have left their record label only months after they were formed. Scandal'us have struggled to follow up their No.1 hit Me Myself and I -- the 15th highest selling single of 2001. They have as yet failed to release a third single, and a national headline tour, postponed in July when they toured the UK, has yet to be rescheduled through lack of demand.

The act have also followed the lead of original Popstars, Bardot, by departing from the management team which helped compile the band during the hit TV series.

Seventies rocker and now TV jingle maker Les Gock (ex-Hush) is out, with industry veteran Geoffrey Schuhkraft, who has handled Tina Arena, LRB and Real Life in the past, taking over.
"It wouldn't take a brain surgeon to know there's been some bad decisions made surrounding the group in the past," Schuhkraft said this week. Schuhkraft highlighted the selection of Make Me Crazy as their second single as a mistake. The single stalled in the charts and led to the unlikely situation of the band having no more singles released from their debut album.

Schuhkraft also said their lip-synching on TV and reliance on backing tapes at live shows was also a mistake. He said, however, there was firm interest from other record companies in Scandal'us, who left Festival Mushroom Records after playing the Rumba pop event in November.

"It's a little early to say anything, but we're currently sorting out their recording future, and recording company future.
"There'll be a big push in the new year and a more defined focus to the group a la past acts.
"I do believe in them," Schuhkraft continued. "Everyone has given me 101 reasons why I shouldn't work with them, but they're an incredibly talented group of kids.

"A lot of people are quick to pan them, but you can't deny the talent."
Schuhkraft, who also secured an overseas deal for Melbourne band CrashPalace, said the fivesome are "totally committed, more determined than ever" and are even writing some of their new material. Scandal'us fans can see the band on a national tour of mainly regional areas, starting in mid-February and running through May.

Access All Areas!
Smash Hits July

We watched for weeks as Scandal'us were formed, but the true test came with their first concert. Smash Hits helped the group prepare for show time!

8:30am
Early morning at Popstars Central. The guys and girls of Scandal'us jump out of bed to prepare for their first ever live performance for the public. They've already sung for the media a few weeks ago, but this time its much more important because its for the fans. So how are they feeling?
Anna: I've just woken up and I've got butterflies galore. I feel sick!
Tamara: I'm a little bit nervous because I have so many expectations of myself. I just want to do my best.
Jason: I feel like we don't have anything to prove this time. The fans who will be there have gone to the trouble of winning this competition and have come from all over the country.
Simon: I am very nervous. Actually, I was more nervous for the media launch but I'm still really nervous.

10:40am
The band get to Wonderland for a final rehearsal or five. Although the venue is empty, Scandal'us imagine what it's going to look like filled with hordes of fans and 50 members of Anna's family.
Daniela: I love Wonderland. It's so colourful and I love rides. I'm glad our concert is here.
Tamara: The stage is massive! This a full-on production. I'm trying to picture what it will be like tonight with the crowd here, the loud music and the lights.
Anna: You can see all the seats and you think the venue isn't really that big. There's a lot of choreography and this stage is big so we have to work a lot.
Jason: We've been rehearing at the dance studios for ages. There has been so much preparation for such a short period of time onstage, but it will be worth it. It's a big night!

1:55pm
Rehearsals are finally over and the band think they're ready.
Jason: We've only done about five full run-throughs but it seems like everything is going quite smoothly.
Daniela: It's really hot today and we just rehearsed over and over 'til we got it prefect. You find things that you don't do properly and watch the others.
Anna: I was thinking it will be so different tonight and was trying to give 110 percent.
Tamara: We've actually rehearsed heaps already but just getting on the stage was a completely different ball game. The amount of breath it took to run up all those ramps was crazy.

2:12pm
You can't go to Wonderland without having a go on some of the rides so before the band leave to get ready, they run riot on some on the scariest attractions - The Space Probe and The Demon.
Jason: I love rides. I get a real kick out of being scared for some reason.
Simon: I wasn't feeling well this morning but I think the adrenaline of the rides helped me. We took (choreographer) Kelley Abbey on The Demon and she was shaking, then we took her on another which was ten times scarier.
Tamara: The funniest thing was seeing Kelley and Jack Howard. We told them it would be fine then as soon as they were strapped in we said, "This is the scariest ride!" and they started screaming.
Anna: I refused to go on a ride. I went on some earlier in the week but I thought I'd get sick if I went on now.

5:09pm
A helicopter takes the band back to Wonderland. It's a very popstar way to travel, but not all the group are happy about the experience!
Anna: I'd never been in a helicopter and it was so cool. Tamara was really scared.
Tamara: I was freaking out! I went on the The Space Probe but the helicopter was another thing altogether!
Daniela: It wasn't that scary!
Anna: I thought it was OK but it started to vibrate and it sounds like its going to fall apart.
Jason: I've always wanted to go in a helicopter. I wanted to sit in the front but they wouldn't let me.
Simon: I've never been in a helicopter before and now I want to buy one.

5:35pm
Getting their hair and make-up done is an experience Scandal'us must be pretty used to by now. For some it's a lengthy process but for other's, it's over in a flash!
Jason: Fortunately Simon and I don't spend much time in hair and make-up. I do my own hair and Simon doesn't have any hair so we're fine. There's nothing worse than having to sit down calmly before you're about to go onstage.
Simon: (laughs) They spend ages with the girls. Jason and I get in, they throw some powder on us and they're like, "Right, you're done!"
Tamara: It's very time consuming but I love getting make-up done. It's very relaxing.
Anna: It's best when you've got two hairdressers doing your hair - then you feel really special.

6:30pm
With an hour to go, the support acts hit the stage. Scandal'us have lined up some old friends to warm up the crowd for them - fellow Popstars finalists Arnott, Anthony and Atalana.
Jason: We've stayed such good friends with all three of them. Atalana lives with us, Anthony was over last night watching videos and we've sung with Arnott.
Daniela: All three of them rock and they're so different - you can't compare them at all.
Tamara: My sister is one of Arnott's backing singers. They're all continuing in their careers and I wish them the best of luck.
Anna: Atalana is the most amazing person, songwriter, everything. I'm her hugest fan. Anthony has the most charisma and is so funny. Arnott is a diva, no seriously, did you hear his last note?
Simon: The whole Popstars process actually unearthed a lot more Australian talent that just one group. They got a lot more than they bargained for.

7:30pm
The time has come. After a day of anticipation and final preparations, it's time for Scandal'us to blow the crowd away!
Jason: We walked onstage with our heads down and all we could hear was screaming. As soon as I put my head up and saw all those people, that just lifted me all the way up.
Daniela: It's not like you can look out and say, "Oh, there's so many people, I don't think I'll do it today."
Simon: As soon as you get there you go, "Where's my family?" and I couldn't see mine. I was looking for them thinking, "Oh, I'd better get this dance move right."
Daniela: It was pretty embarrassing at first because we missed our cue!
Jason: Yeah, we were a bit late with our prompt from the music which wasn't the best way to start the show.v Simon: They told us that there will be some sound in our headphones from the crowd, but we couldn't even hear the music.

8:30pm
The show's over and the huge sea of fans have been well and truly entertained. What do the group think of their concert debut?
Tamara: You can't even put it into words! I've never experienced anything like it. It was like going on the scariest roller-coaster and not being sure if you're going to fall off or it'll break or what.
Simon: Yeah, it was being like strapped into a ride and not being able to get out - you had to go through with the whole thing.
Jason: It was the most buzzing feeling, being up there. All I remember is having an absolute ball but it's a blur now. It all happened to quickly.
Anna: We had so much fun. I love being onstage. I'm still on a high!
Daniela: We're so well connected as a group and we all performed off each other really well.


A couple of nights later when Channel 7 aired the highlights of the Scandal'us concert, it was clear there'd been some tweaking of the band's vocals. We grabbed Anna and Tamara to give us the real deal on whether they actually performed live!
Tamara: We were singing 100 percent live but what happens in post-production is they can tweak the sound or choose not to use it and replace it with another mix. What they do is not in our control. They definitely used a mix on the broadcast - I'm not sure to what degree but it did look a bit odd.
Anna: We were a bit disappointed. It didn't look and sound really good on TV. It most definitely looked like we were miming. That's what we're disappointed about. I know if I was a viewer, that's what I would be thinking . We watched and were a bit upset but at the end of the day, we know we did it live and if you were at the concert, you'd know.

Inside Sport Profile
Popstars

They've done the hard yards in the pre-season and impressed the selectors. Now Scandal'us, the creation of the TV show Popstars, has hit the big league. Let's play. Tamara At first glance, it's hard to imagine Tamara as an aggressive type. But when it comes to fitness, body contact is an essential part of her regime. "I love any type of body combat," says the 18-year-old. "I've always been a full-on gym fanatic. I love aerobics and weights . . . but I mostly love boxing." Tamara's two sisters represented NSW in soccer, but her on-field sporting love extends only as far as her beloved Bulldogs rugby league team.

Anna
Anna, 21, hails from Adelaide so it's no surprise that the object of her sporting affection is the Adelaide Crows. "One of the biggest thrills in my life was being at the MCG to see them win the AFL grand final (in 1998)," she says. "We were getting worried because they were down at half-time but when they won my family celebrated all night."

Simon
Simon seemed destined for a career in sport before his musical talents took him further than he ever anticipated. He represented Tasmania as a youngster in tennis, and then hockey from under 16s to 21s. "Hockey and tennis have always been my passions," he says. "I never thought I'd become a part of the entertainment industry."

Jason
Jason spent much of his young life in England so his love for soccer and Manchester United doesn't surprise. Neither does his obsession with personal fitness - he's been dancing for most of his life. "I like to work every inch of my body," says the 21-year-old from Perth. "It sounds silly, but you have a much better day if you start with a really heavy workout."

Daniela
Daniela's sporting links begin and end with the round-ball game. She played soccer for seven years before performing in Australia's newest band became her priority. "My Dad and sisters are huge soccer fanatics," the 19-year-old says. "I used to play centre-midfield because I'd run all day."

Pop critics hit sour note
25 MAY 2001
By CAMERON ADAMS, music reporter, Herald Sun


TV POP creation Scandal'us has hit back at increasing doubt over their singing talents. This month, the Herald Sun revealed their vocals had been "sweetened" for a pre-recorded live concert aired on Popstars. And this week compared their patchy singing at Sydney's Moulin Rouge premiere to an amateur rock eisteddfod.

"We're not into miming," Scandal'us member Anna Belperio said.
"But when you're doing a really heavy dance routine, it's only natural you'll hit a bung note here and there.
"It shows that we are live and we are human.
"If we sang it perfect, people would say we're miming and we'd get criticism for that."
Fellow singer Simon Ditcham added: "No concerts are perfect the whole time."
The five-piece admitted they were disappointed with the sweetening of their vocals before their TV concert went to air.
"We sang live on the night," Tamara Jaber said. "What they do in TV post-production we have no control over."

Scandal'us
Reviewer: KAREN TYE
14 May 01

Startin' Somethin' Scandal'us
(FMR)

THE second season of Channel Seven's Popstars has certainly been greeted with less enthusiasm after the demise of the first all-girl group, Bardot.

In order to prevent Scandal'us from vanishing as quickly as their predecessors, the producers have appealed to adolescent girls' hormones by including two males in the group - the goateed Jason and cute-faced Simon, who was originally cut from the competition in the finals. The three girls, Anna, Tamara and Daniela, make up the rest of Scandal'us.

Although the Popstars phenomenon has taken off in the United States and England, the novelty that ordinary wannabes can surge to Spice Girls status has worn off in Australia. These popstars will need to rely on their talent and music instead.

The chart-topping, annoyingly catchy release, Me, Myself and I, has a formulated balance of syncopated pop beats and vocoder. Startin' Somethin' is more promising and classy than the first single suggests.

The album title track and Hand On Your Heart are the few mellow ballads that are maturely executed, although most of the album sticks close to up-tempo, overworked studio tracks. Yet, in the fickle world of pop, Scandal'us may need more than just startin' somethin'.

The Awesome Fivesome
Who Weekly 30 APR 01

Scandal'us - Anna Belperio, Daniela Scala, Tamara Jaber, Simon Ditcham and Jason Bird - were in the middle of being made-up for Who Weekly's April 12 photo shoot at Sydney's Pioneer Studios when the band's manager, Les Gock, burst in brandishing the first five copies of their just-pressed CD. It was party time. Bird popped the disk into the sound system and as the funky debut single, "Me, Myself and I" blasted away in the dressing room, he gyrated Elvis-style. Gock, too, even though he'd heard the track many times, couldn't help tapping his toes. "I don't think we're kidding ourselves," says the hard-headed showbiz veteran. "These guys really do sound fantastic."

Scandal'us hope the Australian record-buying public agree with their mentor. "Me, Myself and I", which was released on April 16, is the acid test for the group formed from the winners of the second series of the Seven's Network's Popstars talent search TV show. Now, after besting 4,000 other contestants in seven nerve-racking elimination rounds, each watched by an average 2.1 million viewers, for the successful quintet "it all comes down to [one thing]," says David Champion, label manager, for the group's record company, Festival Mushroom. "Will kids open their wallets and spend their limited funds on the album?" Should they do so when "Starting Something" is released on May 7, the fledgling outfit could reap a succession of smash hits, be signed for clothing endorsements, tour the world, and get used to seeing their faces on magazine covers. If "Me, Myself and I", which has already sold 70,000 copies and gone platinum, is any indication, Scandal'us have what it takes. Says Champion, "Simon and Jason are going to find themselves plastered on bedroom walls around Australia." To Bird, 21, the band's breakthrough "is the biggest rush I've ever had."

And sweet revenge on the cynics who declared that Popstars lightning couldn't strike twice, that the show would be unable to spawn another hit-machine like first-series winners Bardot. That all-girl group, who wished Scandal'us well on episode of Popstars aired on April 15, have sold more than 140,000 copies of their eponymous debut album, which includes the No.1 single "Poison." Even Des Monaghan, whose company, Screentime, owns the rights to Popstars, doubted the follow-up series' ability to repeat the success of the original. "At first," he says, "I thought we should have waited a little longer." No more.

In spite of having to weather the "skepticism and cynicism" of industry peers who called Scandal'us a "manufactured" band, Festival Mushroom's Champion agreed to promote and distribute the group's new single and album after an early meeting with them, in January. "I admit I had a preconception," says Champion of the five performers chosen by Popstars judges Gock, Jason Coleman, Jacqui Howard and Jackie O. "I thought they were going to be a sort of Steps act. I was expecting five blonds with tight little bodies who perhaps could carry a tune. What I didn't expect were five brunettes who looked like kids who would work in a record store." And whose talent impressed him deeply. On hearing Scandal'us sing together he decided, he says, that "these kids have it. The X factor, like Kylie, like Madonna. We have something unique."

Certainly Scandal'us are not Bardot clones. The new band is younger - average age 20 - and comprises girls and guys. "What we set out was not just produce a TV show but a successful pop act that would have longevity when the TV show finishes," says Popstars executive producer Andrew Blackwell. "We got feedback saying there are female pop groups like Bardot, boy bands like Human Nature and Backstreet Boys, but there was really no big mixed pop group. So we set up that format this time."

That suited Jason Bird. Scandal'us' self-appointed style guru says he was "furious last year when they would only let girls on. But I had a feeling there would be a second one, so I was hanging out for it and as soon as the ads appeared for the auditions I got an entry form." Unlike Bird, seafood-loving Jaber, 18, who has had a guest spot on Home and Away, was too young to audition in 2000. "I was sitting their thinking they [Bardot] are so lucky. I wished I could have been doing what they were doing," Daniela Scala, 19, keen jogger and sunbather, was another whose youth meant she had to put her ambition on hold. "I cried last year because I wasn't old enough." Anna Belperio, 21, missed out, too, but for a different reason. The self-described ferocious reader turned up too late at the Adelaide "cattle call" for the first series and was denied entry. "I was so disappointed," she says. "But look, I'm here now!" Simon Ditcham, 23, however, "didn't even watch the show last year. I have no idea why I audition this year - but it was the best leap of faith I have ever made."

At the second-series try-outs in October, says Blackwell, 4,000 hopefuls, "four times more people" than had fronted for the first, flocked to auditions held in each capital city to strut their stuff. Les Gock was also surprised by the big roll-up. "I didn't think many guys would turn up because Australian males tend to be pretty shy." The guitarist of '70s rockers Hush was expecting only 25% of the wannabes to be male, "but we ended up 50:50 ... We did extract some extraordinary talent"

And the hardest part about selecting the right performers for Scandal'us? "We had no point of reference," explains Gock. While the judges in the first serious (Jackie O was the only one to return for series II) had the Spice Girls as a blueprint, "We knew what we didn't want. We didn't want to be S Club 7, we didn't want to be Vengaboys, we didn't want to be Steps. What we wanted was a mixed-gender group who members were like pop diva Pink - more street, more legit, more today - definitely not Disney On Parade."

Jaber was the first to be anointed from a shortlist of 12. When making the their final decision, says Gock, all judges agreed "that we had to have Tamara in the group because she's just an extraordinary talent. It started from there." In turn, Scala, Belperio and Bird, who throughout the auditions had teamed with his older brother Simon were given the nod. "Simon Bird didn't quite make the standard," says Gock. But Ditcham, Jackie O's favourite who had earlier been eliminated but was recalled, did. "I was the one who needed the most convincing on that one," admits Gock, who feared Ditcham wouldn't fit into the group. "Simon's talent was absolutely unquestionable from day one and he's a sensational singer, but he wasn't what you'd call in the Pink mode."

Hobart-born Ditcham wouldn't disagree, for he prefers harder-edged music such as that of the late rocker Jeff Buckley. On matriculating from Taroona High School at 17, he joined the army which, he says, was "a huge mistake." Within a month he had persuaded his newsagent parents, Michael, 50, and Phillipa 49, to withdraw their parental consent so he could leave the service. The tennis-playing former Tasmanian hockey representative enrolled at the University of Tasmania and studied architecture. Graduating last year, he joined a firm of architects in Hobart but quit after three months because when moonlighting in a pub rock band, he realized that "I really loved songwriting and I thought it was now or never." Muses Ditcham today of his selection in Scandal'us, "Life takes funny twists. I have always wanted to be a musician and everybody dreams of being famous, so I don't really care that the music isn't what I'm into,"

As a Michael Jackson fan, Jason Bird has no qualms about his new band's musical style, but one thing he shares with Ditcham is a dream of being a celebrity. Indeed, he has wanted to be famous "since he was born," quips his mother, Priscilla, 48, who emigrated to Perth from Middlesex, England, with husband Jerry, 58, a patient care assistant, and their four other children in 1987. Jason would spend the Saturday mornings of his youth glued to Network Ten's Video Hits, taping the performers and spending the next week mastering their dance moves. "When they came back on TV the following Saturday I would perform the whole routine in my lounge room."

Daniela Scala is another who has been a trouper from her early years. "She was always the little performer," says her mother, opera singer Cathy, 45. (Daniela's handyman father, Enzo, 48, is the odd one out in the family, being, she laughs, "tone deaf.") Growing up in Adelaide, part of a "huge Italian family," Daniela can remember her mum singing at such festivals as Adelaide's Carnevale feast. While she sat munching stogliatelle - orange custard-filled pastries - "I would be watching Mum sing and the look on the faces of the people just staring at her and, for them, she was a star. I knew that one day I would want that attention as well."

Now, she has it, and sports-mad Scala - "I love basketball and athletics" - vows to do more than just perform with Scandal'us. "This is really going to hit me when I've written a song and it gets put on an album." She, alone of her band-mates, has a steady date - Johan Gongsater, 21, one of a set of blond twins who also made it through to Popstars' final 12 but missed the last cut. "I don't care who knows," laughs Scala, who Gock says can do anything from "cooking meals to changing car tyres." ("My nickname is Tetley," she hoots, "because I'm the all-rounder.")

Tamara Jaber is the only group member who was raised in Sydney - where the five now share a terrace house in inner-city Paddington. "I was born in Paddington," she says. After attending Newtown's School of Performing Arts, Jaber sang for the 2000 Olympics organising committee, travelling Australia, performing at corporate functions promoting the Games. But she has wanted to be a professional entertainer since she saw her first MTV Music Awards show at age 15 and thought, "I'd love to do that."

Even though Jaber has been a standout in singing competitions and starred in school musicians since childhood, her father, Harry, 48, a sunglasses wholesaler, and mother, Janessa, 45, a make-up artist, were never stage parents. "I don't know where my passion comes from," she says, "but it pretty much consumes my life."

Anna Belperio has no hesitation in crediting her mother, Rose, 43, and father, Don, 46, for her success. "I have the most supportive parents in the world," she says. "Because my dad loves music, if I said I wanted a guitar he'd go out and buy one for me." Knowing the fickleness of show business, Belperio, on graduating from St Dominics Priory College in Adelaide, studied teaching at the University of South Australia and majored in music. "I was meant to be teaching music at the beginning of this year but [because of Popstars commitments] I had to resign before I had even started."

Today, on the cusp of stardom, she is glad she did. "We're all focused on one goal," says Belperio of the group's desire to make the big-time. And despite being both workmates and housemates since January, the five have remained firm friends. "We don't want to move into separate apartments," Belperio says. "We'd be happy living together for as long as you can imagine."

The secret to their domestic harmony? In their terrace, each has a defined role. Scala, says Jaber, is endlessly helpful to the others, Belperio is resident mother hen and medic - "she's always looking after everyone" - and Ditcham is a steadying influence. "If he wasn't a pop star he'd be a chef," says Scala, while Bird, she adds, "keeps everyone laughing," which means he can get away with not doing the cooking or washing up. "Jason just likes to watch."

But for Scala, as for the others, the best thing about being Scandal'us is "waking up with these guys knowing that they're loving this as much as I do. That's the biggest thrill."

Les Gock says he still can't believe his 'luck' at choosing the final five. "I love them to pieces," he says. "They exude health and fitness, they don't smoke, they are very much anti-drugs - although they do drink - and they're talented. Basically, they are a bunch of kids plucked out of the suburbs who seriously have their eye on the prize. They all really, really want to be pop stars."

Scandal'us
29 APR 2001
By KATHY McCABE, Sunday Telegraph


CAN lightning strike twice in the ferociously fickle world of television-generated pop music? Bardot's debut single Poison hit the top of the charts in the first week of release; so did Popstars Mark II Scandal'us with Me, Myself And I. Bardot's self-titled album also created Australian chart history last year by hitting No.1 first week out.

Festival Mushroom Records, which will distribute the Scandal'us album Startin' Somethin', has geared to ship more than 35,000 copies to stores for its May 7 release, guaranteeing it a gold status debut. Song Zu, who manage the group and produced the album, have sourced songs from established hitmakers who have worked with the likes of Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys. The timing of the release is significant in that Scandal'us will be able to ride the tailend of the pop rollercoaster that could run out of steam later this year.

But FMR spokesman David Champion, who has been involved in developing the group, said they were not looking for a No.1 album debut. "It's about the second single; we are not going to load up our marketing on the front end of release but let the fans find out about it themselves," he said. "It's a very solid pop record, with no fillers, and we believe it's got a very long life."


More hits than misses

1 Me, Myself And I: The chart-topping debut single follows the hugely successful staccato R&B formula devised by Destiny's Child. The album version is a little more Space Invaders than the revamped track played on radio, but it showcases the group's vocals well.

2 History: The guys got more of a vocal stretch on this mid-tempo slice of pure pop. The girls' harmonies grate on the high end, but the song is saved by the infectious chorus.

3 Think Again: More mature pop, again in the mid-tempo range. Themandolin-style hook (think REM's Losing My Religion) adds something different.

4 Make Me Crazy: A hit. Using the Spanish guitar-driven Latin feel that has dominated the pop scene forever, you can just imagine the clip: Simon playing acoustic guitar as they sit around a fire on a beach.

5 Be That Way: Very Europop. Production is similar to the offerings from the current crop of British boy and girl groups. Simon gets to stretch his voice to good effect.

6 You Bring Me Love: Straight out of Britney's territory (baby, baby, baby) and they do it very, very well. The vocals are the sexiest on the record, and the chorus is punchy as hell.

7 Startin' Somethin': The acoustically driven power ballad crossover smash. You can just hear this being played at weddings for the next 12 months.

8 High On Your Love: The band kick it up again on this one, but those high-end harmonies and background blips set the nerves on edge. All in all, it has a fun feel.

9 Love You To (Be My Baby): Back to the pop/R&B world with a delicate production that doesn't pile unnecessary sounds on top of their voices. A more sophisticated track.

10 Hand On Your Heart: Nothing offensive about this quiet little ballad, but there's nothing particularly special about it, either. Popby numbers.

11 I'm Not Gonna Cry (Na Na Na): This track uses the guys' vocals to answer the girls' to good effect, although rhythmically it just tends to plod along. More La La La than Na Na Na.

12 Now That You're Gone: Solid attempt at American-style R&B and it almost works, but there's not enough happening in there to stick it in your head.

Platinum burst for Popstars II
The Sun-Herald 15 APR 01

WHEN Scandal'us (better known as Popstars II) release their first single Me, Myself and I tomorrow, it will be the first real test of their new-found celebrity status.

It is uncertain whether sales of the single will match the phenomenal popularity of original Popstars Bardot, after their single Poison debuted at No 1 on the music charts last year. But more than 70,000 copies of Me, Myself and I have already been sold in pre-orders, giving the single platinum status before it is released.

Scandal'us have adopted a raunchy look for the song's video clip with outfits including black leather, studded dog collars and even fingerless gloves. Michael Jackson eat your heart out! The clip will be revealed on tonight's episode of Popstars on Channel 7 at 7pm.

Popstars Hope For Disgrace
Daily Telegraph 9 APR 01

THERE was a strange sense of deja vu last night. A pre-fab pop group, discovered and formed by a top-rating TV show, were unleashed into the big, cruel world of record deals, in-store appearances and magazine cover shoots. Scandal'us, the five-member group chosen from thousands of hopefuls in the latest series of Popstars, made its debut in front of celebrities, music industry heavyweights and 300 contest winners at Planet Hollywood.

Band manager and Popstars judge Les Gock told The Daily Telegraph's media writer Brooke Williamson the band could make it globally. "I seriously and genuinely believe they could be world-beaters," he said, sounding like a modern-day Colonel Tom Parker. "What they are doing is totally unique in the world, but at the same time totally popular and very, very contemporary."
Totally unique? Totally popular? Hmmm, time will tell, Mr Gock, time will tell.

The group, which has a harder-edged, urban R&B feel, performed three songs including History, Make Me Crazy and the first single Me, Myself & I, which is released today. Gock said it was inevitable the group would be compared with Bardot, the five girls who graduated from the first Popstars series.

"They are miles and miles away from Bardot and it will only take one listen and one look to work out this is a totally different ballgame," he said. Gock said the five youngsters -- Daniela Scala, Anna Belperio, Tamara Jaber, Jason Bird and Simon Ditcham -- had been given a lot of freedom in their look and repertoire.

"I was never happy about the name, or their choice of single," Gock said. "But they absolutely loved the name, and the song and the look and all I'm interested in is their passion and whatever makes them passionate is the right thing to do."
Gock said considering the band had an average age of 20, they were perfectly placed to know what the market wanted.
"They know exactly what people their age are after," Gock said. "They're making the music that they love, they're not trying to make music that's too old for them, or too young for them. "And all we want them to be, is to be themselves."

Scandal'us
Sydney Morning Herald 9 APR 01

Yes, they can sing, and no, they won't fold when Popstars, the talent search program that unearthed them, finishes its run. The five members of latest teen band Scandal'us were in a defiant mood yesterday as they faced the sceptics at the launch of their new single.

They write many of their own songs, have "plenty of input" into the music and play "a bit of Latino, a bit R'n'B". And they agree that at the moment they are famous simply for being famous - or part of a television show that attracted 2.5 million viewers, outrating even the Oscars. But band members Daniela Scala, Anna Belperio, Tamara Jaber, Jason Bird and Simon Ditcham say that also have talent, youth and cultural diversity on their side.

"We represent the real Australia, and we're different," Jason said. "We've all got different backgrounds and a [different] sound."
Sensitive perhaps to accusations of manufactured fame, they were guarded about comparisons with the original Popstars, Bardot.
Jaber said the band had their own musical style, had been rehearsing "for hours" and were more than ready to perform their new single Me, Myself and I.

Were Scandal'us worried that the television series would keep spawning an endless series of ready-made bands? Not at all, they said; the more competition the better. Was it talent or looks which had been a defining factor in their selection? Definitely talent - plus songwriting skills, musical experience and sheer persistence.

Yesterday, in front of hundreds of screaming fans at Planet Hollywood, they went out to prove they could indeed perform. They played their new single -- a seamless radio-friendly pop tune - and showed their new video, an MTV-style montage. The audience loved it all: the hype, their retro acid-washed jeans, the carefully styled glam. Scandal'us beamed proudly, newly anointed popstars.

For the fans who queued for hours outside, it was worthwhile. Most had no concerns about whether the band could actually sing, suggesting that for them it was good enough simply to witness celebrity in the making. Swaine McDonough, 16, of Canley Vale, said: "They're better than Survivor, it's the whole reality TV thing. You just want to see the real emotions, whether they will win." For Vanessa Thorp, 14, the appeal lay in the "fairytale" ending. "It was good just watching the process, seeing how they auditioned and made it. It seemed - I don't know - like it could happen to anyone."

Inside The Secret World Of Popstars
The Sunday Telegraph 8 APR 01

THE members of Australia's new pop act, Scandal'us, were prefect strangers just 12 weeks ago. Brought together by Australia's highest rating program, Popstars, the three girls and two guys now share two common goals in their Paddington terrace home: establish a musical career, and sleep. Daniela Scala, Anna Belperio, Tamara Jaber, Jason Bird and Simon Ditcham all agree the first thing on their minds when they walk in the front door is hitting the pillow.

"We've been averaging about five hours sleep a night," Daniela said. Anna added, laughing: "You have no idea how I feel about seeing my bed." Their youthful enthusiasm and astonishment that they are actually doing exactly what they always wanted occasionally gets them into trouble with tour manager and "den mother" Kirsty McLean. "I've only had to yell at them once - when they were giggling all night after being told the ratings for the reveal episode," she laughed.

Sydneysider Tamara is always first up every morning and Jason is always last. Tamara has scored a room to herself in the three-bedroom standard terrace house which she has to share with visiting family or friends, with the boys sharing one and Daniela and Anna in the other. While they are supposed to have separate bathrooms, Jason complained that the three girls had moved into his and Simon's territory. "I went in there one morning and in the corner where my toothbrush was supposed to be was all this make-up," he said. Tamara: "The light is better in their bathroom."

Home cooked meals are rare because of their relentless schedules which include gym and dancing training, recording, media interviews and constant meetings. But it is health food they grab on the go and thanks to their manager and Popstar judge Les Gock. Gock, who describes himself as their diet dictator, said the group had embarked on a training regime similar to that adopted by professional athletes. "I told them if they wanted to be rock stars they could go out and party all night, wake up late, drink and do whatever but if they want to be pop stars, they had to work hard and they had to look after themselves," he said.

Simon said he was fitter than ever before. "I used to do triathlons at school but this is definitely harder work," the group's joker and master of moral, Simon Ditchman said. "We've spent about 100 hours in the gym with dancing training on top of that"

There is no doubt the five aspiring pop stars have become incredibly close. They enjoy an easy camaraderie and genuine affection but speculation there is a pop star romance within the group is wrong, although one of the female members is "very close friends" with one of the finalists.

Polishing their act at a Crows Nest studio last Friday for their launch at Planet Hollywood tonight, Scandal'us look and sound like a group who have already enjoyed their first No. 1 hit. While Bardot struggled with choreography and harmonies before they made their public debut, the second Popstars group is more than ready to showcase their first single, Me Myself and I . When you consider Jason doubted his singing ability and Simon had never danced, it is remarkable they have all stepped up to the level of Tamara Jaber, who has been performing since she was three-years-old.

The band also incorporates Simon's guitar playing and Daniela's electronic organ skills, which won her prestigious Yamaha International Festival contests. Simon's guitar has become a focal point for the group, prompting jam sessions at home on weekends and after a long day recording their debut album. "These are four of the most talented and beautiful people I have ever met and I get to perform with them all the time - I love that," Anna said. Daniela added: "Everyone is always smiling and loving what they are doing, no matter how hard it is.

"We have made a big commitment to each other, to perform and have this band and make it work." Whether it works will be judged by a star-studded mix of music and film heavyweights at tonight's launch.

Billy Zane, Jodie Packer, Pia Miranda, Brooke Satchwell, Marcus Graham, Rose Byrne, Alex Dimitriades, Sophie Lee, Susie Maroney and Kristy Hinze are all expected to the party at which Scandal'us will perform two new songs, History and Make Me Crazy.