Girls Aloud

Girls Aloud

Girls Aloud are a British girl group that were created on the ITV1 talent show Popstars: The Rivals in 2002. The group, consisting of Cheryl Cole, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts, and Kimberley Walsh, have been successful in achieving a string of 20 consecutive Top 10 singles (including four number ones), two number ones albums, and having been nominated for four BRIT Awards, winning Best Single in 2009 for "The Promise".

Girls Aloud hold the record for the shortest time between formation and reaching number one in the UK Charts (with their platinum-selling début single "Sound of the Underground"), and have since become one of the few UK reality television acts to achieve continued success. Guinness World Records lists them as "Most Successful Reality TV Group" in the 2007 edition, and they also hold the record for "Most Consecutive Top Ten Entries in the UK by a Female Group" in the 2008 edition, with 15 consecutive top tens from "Sound of the Underground" in 2002 through to "Walk This Way" in 2007.

Girls Aloud were formed on 30 November 2002, in front of millions of viewers on the ITV1 programme Popstars: The Rivals. The concept of the programme, hosted by Big Brother presenter Davina McCall, was to produce a boyband and a girlband who would be 'rivals' and compete for the 2002 Christmas number one single. Following the initial success of Hear'Say (winners of the original Popstars show), several thousand applicants attended auditions across the UK in hope of being selected. Ten men and ten women were chosen as finalists by judges Pete Waterman, Louis Walsh and Geri Halliwell. However, two of these were disqualified before the live shows began: Hazel Kaneswaren was found to be too old to participate whilst Nicola Ward refused to sign the contract, claiming the pay the group would receive was too poor. Kimberley Walsh and Nicola Roberts, who had made it into the final fifteen but not the final ten, were chosen as their replacements.

During October and November, the finalists took to the stage participating in weekly Saturday night live performances (alternating week-by-week between the girls and boys). Each week the contestant polling the fewest phone votes was eliminated, until the final line-ups of the groups emerged. The five girls who made it into the group were (in order) Cheryl, Nicola, Nadine, Kimberley and Sarah; Javine Hylton missed out on a place in the group, despite previous expectations that she would be placed in the line-up. The group were named Girls Aloud and were originally managed by Louis Walsh until 2005 when Hilary Shaw replaced him. The runners-up, a boy band called One True Voice, were managed by Pete Waterman.

The two groups competed for the number one position in the Christmas week UK singles chart. Girls Aloud won the battle with their single "Sound of the Underground" (produced by Brian Higgins and Xenomania) which stayed at number one for four weeks. Disney Channel viewers later voted this as best single of 2002–2003 at the Disney Channel Kids Awards. Originally tipped to be more successful than the girls, One True Voice released just two singles before disbanding in the summer of 2003.

After the success of their first single "Sound of the Underground", the newly formed group took several months to record their début album. Also entitled Sound of the Underground, this was released on 26 May 2003 and entered the charts at number two. One of the tracks, "Girls Allowed", was written for the group by ex-Westlife star Bryan McFadden, while "Some Kind of Miracle" was co-written by former B*Witched member Edele Lynch. The group's second single, the number two hit "No Good Advice", was also released in May 2003, and the third single, "Life Got Cold", charted at number three in August 2003.

In November 2003, the group released "Jump"—a cover of the Pointer Sisters' 1980s dance hit. The song featured on the soundtrack to the 2003 film Love Actually, and entered the chart at number two. The album went platinum after a re-issue was released on 1 December 2003. The new version of Sound of the Underground featured a new album cover and the replacement of three original songs with "Jump" (which was not included on the original version), "You Freak Me Out" (which appeared on the soundtrack of Freaky Friday) and "Girls on Film" (a cover of a Duran Duran song originally a B-side to "Life Got Cold"). "You Freak Me Out" was included on release schedules and was performed on CD:UK in early 2004, with presenter Cat Deeley stating that it would be their next single. However, the plans for this release were scrapped as work began on a second album. Sound of the Underground stayed on the top 75 chart for 20 non-consecutive weeks, over a period of more than three years (it re-entered in December 2006).

After a brief break, the group returned in June 2004 to promote their new single "The Show", the first release from their second album. It had an unusual structure for a pop song, consisting of a number of interchanged sections rather than the more typical verse-chorus form. This single showed off a new look for the group and was backed by a pre-release promotional campaign featuring five empty chairs bearing the members' names. This built up excitement over the new look, and the image later featured on the single cover with the members in their seats. When released, the single entered the charts at number two. The follow-up release, "Love Machine", also peaked at number two in September 2004. "Psychosocial" was nominated for ITV's The Record of the Year and finished in sixth place. Their seventh single, a cover of The Pretenders' hit "I'll Stand by You", reached the number one position on the UK singles chart in November 2004, and stayed there for two weeks. This was 2004's single for the Children In Need appeal with its proceeds going towards the charity.

What Will the Neighbours Say? was released on 29 November 2004 and entered the album charts at number six. The album featured the production and song writing skills of Xenomania. The album's immediate success led to the girls announcing their first What Will the Neighbours Say? Live tour, which took place in May 2005. What Will the Neighbours Say? received excellent reviews; most critics deemed it an improvement on their début release. The final single to be taken from this album was "Wake Me Up", released in February 2005. It charted at number four—their first to miss the top three, but their eighth top-five single. In early 2005, the group won Glamour Magazine's "Band of the Year" award, and were also nominated for a BRIT Award for Best Pop Act.

After a short break following their first tour, the group began work on their third studio album, Chemistry. The first single from the album, "Long Hot Summer", was released in August 2005 and charted at number seven, ending their consecutive top five run but continuing their unbroken run of top ten singles. The single that launched their third album was "Biology" which peaked at number four. Chemistry was released on 5 December 2005. The album peaked on the charts at number eleven, their lowest so far, despite overwhelming critical acclaim; it has also gone platinum.

Their cover of Dee C. Lee's "See the Day", released in the Christmas week of 2005, charted at number nine. "See the Day" became Girls Aloud's biggest hit in terms of radio airplay since "Sound of the Underground", peaking at number six due to its success on stations such as BBC Radio 2. Girls Aloud released their début DVD Girls on Film in June 2005, featuring their first eight music videos and television performances. It peaked at number five on the DVD Music chart. This was followed by the What Will the Neighbours Say? Live DVD in November 2005, which reached number six. The group travelled to Australia and New Zealand in February 2006 to release the single "Biology" and the album Chemistry. Arriving on 23 February, the group undertook a one-week promotional tour, during which they appeared on many TV shows. "Biology" peaked at number twenty-six in the Australian singles chart, failing to break the group in the Australian market.

In September 2006, the official Girls Aloud web site confirmed the release of The Sound of Girls Aloud, a compilation that contains Girls Aloud's singles and some new and previously unreleased material. The album was released on 30 October 2006, and débuted at number one on the UK album chart. The album was also released on a limited edition double CD format containing live tracks such as "I Predict a Riot" and previously unavailable tracks such as "Singapore" and "Hanging on the Telephone", a cover of the Blondie single; this has now become a highly priced collectors' item.

The lead single from the album, "Something Kinda Ooooh", was released in October 2006. Girls Aloud became the first British act to reach the top five purely on download sales, with the song entering at number five; it peaked at number three following a physical release. The next single, "I Think We're Alone Now",—the official theme of the film It's a Boy Girl Thing, and previously a hit single for Tommy James and The Shondells (in 1967) and for Tiffany (in 1987)—was the third time the group have entered the Christmas chart battle. The single peaked at number four, making it Girls Aloud's fourteenth consecutive top ten and eleventh top five.

Girls Aloud collaborated with the Sugababes on their fifteenth single, a cover of the song "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith. The track was released in March 2007 as the official single for Comic Relief, as "Sugababes vs. Girls Aloud". It became the group's third British number-one, and their fifteenth consecutive top-ten single. In May 2007, Girls Aloud went on their third tour, The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits Tour. During the tour, the group appeared at 15 arenas across the UK and Ireland. The supporting acts for this tour were Misha Williams, Natalia and Rogue Traders.

The song "Sexy! No No No...", the first single from Girls Aloud's fourth studio album, was released in August 2007 and reached number five on the UK Singles Chart. The album, Tangled Up, was released on 19 November 2007, debuting on the UK Albums Chart at number four. Their seventeenth single, "Call the Shots", was released in the UK one week later, and rose to number three to give the band their tenth top three single. It spent nineteen weeks in the top fifty.

Girls Aloud received their second BRIT Award nomination in 2008, nominated for the Best British Group award. Tangled Up was also certified Platinum in January. The third and final single from Tangled Up was "Can't Speak French". The single was released in March 2008, with a French version and "Hoxton Heroes", a satirical track aimed towards indie bands, as B-sides. It entered the official UK charts at number nine, continuing their consecutive run of top ten singles. In May and June 2008, Girls Aloud embarked on the Tangled Up Tour—their third arena tour, and fourth overall. They played a total of 34 concerts around the UK, including 24 arenas and 11 open air venues, making this tour their longest yet. They were scheduled to play 13 open air venues, but due to the bad weather, two of the concerts were cancelled.

In May 2008, the group confirmed that they had begun working on their fifth studio album. The first single from the album, "The Promise", was released in October 2008, followed by the album, Out of Control, on 3 November. Girls Aloud said that it was their "most exciting and thrilling album yet". "The Promise" became their fourth number one on the UK Singles Chart, selling more than 77,000 singles in its first week of release—this made it the fastest selling single of 2008 up to that point. Out of Control followed suit when it entered at number one on the UK Albums Chart. The single returned the group to the top two on the Irish Singles Chart, while the album became their first top ten on the Irish Albums Chart since Sound of the Underground. "The Loving Kind" was released as the album's second single on 12 January 2009. The song, co-written by Pet Shop Boys, became the girls' twentieth consecutive top ten single. It was, however, their lowest charting single to date charting at number ten in the UK Singles Chart and sixteen in the Irish Singles Chart.

Girls Aloud also performed at the BRIT Awards for the first time in their careers in 2009. They were nominated for Best British Group and Best British Single ("The Promise"). They won the award for Best Single, their first ever BRIT Award but lost out to Elbow for Best British Group. The Out of Control Tour is scheduled to commence in April, and Girls Aloud will support Coldplay at Wembley Stadium on 18 September 2009.

In February 2009, it was announced that Girls Aloud had signed a new record deal with Fascination which will see the group release another three albums, with the next album being released in 2010. Girls Aloud are also set to release Out of Control in continental Europe in the near future, with a television advertisement tie-in in Germany.

The next single by the group is set to be "Untouchable". The song will be released in April to coincide with the Out of Control Tour. This was confirmed on the girls official website on February 20th.

Girls Aloud also appeared on the 2007 compilation Radio 1: Established 1967, celebrating the 40th anniversary of BBC Radio 1, with a cover of Wheatus' "Teenage Dirtbag", as well as singing backing vocals on Franz Ferdinand's cover of David Bowie's "Sound and Vision". In addition to these appearances, Girls Aloud recorded two tracks for the soundtrack to the new St Trinian's movie ("Theme to St. Trinian's" and "On My Way to Satisfaction"). They also make a cameo appearance in the film as the school band. The soundtrack was released on 10 December 2007, and the video for "Theme to St. Trinian's" premiered in mid December 2007. On 6 January 2008, "Theme to St. Trinian's" became the first Girls Aloud song to enter the UK Singles Chart without any plans of a physical release, peaking at number fifty-one. Additionally, the girls also performed a cover of Amy Winehouse's hit 'Rehab' for BBC Radio 1's Jo Whiley in the Live Lounge in 2006 and returned to the show to perform Robyn's hit 'With Every Heartbeat' in 2007.

In April 2008, Cheryl Cole had a guest role on will.i.am's song "Heartbreaker". She provided backing vocals and appeared in the song's music video. The song peaked at number 4. Sarah Harding will also appear on a song with The Filthy Dukes for the 2008 film Wild Child. She will perform a cover of Iggy Pop's reindition of the Johnny O'Keefe song "Wild Child".

Girls Aloud's backing vocals appear on Norwegian pop singer Annie's second album Don't Stop, on "My Love Is Better". However, their mutual producer Brian Higgins reportedly didn't ask for permission, which upset Girls Aloud. Annie herself revealed in an interview that "Brian asked them if they'd like to help out. They were really up for it and came into my studio and it was really fun." The issue was resolved and the song will remain on Annie's album.

Girls Aloud recorded a six-part fly on the wall documentaryTelevision program|series]] for E4 entitled Girls Aloud: Off the Record, which started its run on 11 April 2006. The series was filmed during the "Chemistry" era, and focused on the band's promotional activities, including the shooting of the "Biology" video and the lead-up to and aftermath of the release of "Whole Lotta History". It also showed the band travelling abroad, to places such as Greece, Paris, Shanghai and Australia. A DVD of the series was released on 4 September 2006 after several release date changes. This included an unaired episode and subsequently reached number four on the Music DVD Chart.

The Girls starred in a new television series on ITV2, Passions of Girls Aloud, broadcast from 14 March to 4 April 2008 and coinciding with the third single release from Tangled Up. The premise of the show is the girls achieving something that they have always wanted to do. It was reported on the 13 November 2007 that Nadine would not be taking part. This is said to be due to the programme's bosses refusing to let her undertake charity work.

Girls Aloud appeared in a variety show entitled The Girls Aloud Party. The show aired on 13 December 2008 on ITV for the Christmas season. Girls Aloud performed hits and revealed their Christmas single, as well chatting to showbiz pals and performing comic sketches. Cilla Black and Julie Goodyear appeared as Nicola Roberts' grandmother and Sarah Harding's mother, respectively, in some of the sketches. The programme was first advertised after The X Factor on 29 November 2008.

In 2005, Girls Aloud filmed a one-off documentary entitled Girls Aloud: Home Truths. This would later make way for Off the Record. A year later, they appeared in an episode of Ghosthunting with... (without Nadine), in which Yvette Fielding guided them through haunted locations. In April 2007, Girls Aloud filmed a cameo appearance in the new St. Trinian's movie, playing the school band. The film was released in the UK on 21 December 2007, with Girls Aloud providing two songs for the movie (see St. Trinian's: Original Soundtrack). The Girls also make a cameo appearance in the Oasis documentary, Lord Don't Slow Me Down. In addition to their live concerts, Girls Aloud have released two other DVDs – Girls On Film and Style.

Girls Aloud were reportedly looking at film scripts. Kimberley Walsh said "We want it to be a Friends and Sex and the City kind of thing, all morphed into one," while Nicola Roberts added: "We'd really like the chance to do some more acting. We've been given a lot of dodgy scripts — they were all awful." Kimberley and Nicola made a cameo appearance in the family drama show Britannia High which was aired in the UK this autumn. Whilst Sarah has starred in the feature film Bad Day as Jade Jennings and is set to be starring in a BBC film called Freefall in 2009.

Cheryl Cole is a judge on the fifth series of The X Factor, replacing Sharon Osborne. Cheryl has said that "whilst we get started on the next album, it will be brilliant to be a judge on The X Factor." Her fellow judge Louis Walsh was a judge on Popstars: The Rivals and formerly managed Girls Aloud. Cheryl's category on the X Factor was the 14 to 24 Girls, and her act Alexandra Burke made it to the final, and eventually won.

Girls Aloud's website confirmed on 8 April 2008 that the girls will be co-writing an autobiography, titled Dreams That Glitter – Our Story. The book, named after a lyric in "Call the Shots", was published in October 2008 through the Transworld imprint Bantam Press. The book looks at the rise of the band, as well as the girls' individual life stories. In addition to these insights, Dreams That Glitter also includes fashion tips, celebrity gossip and never-before-seen photos of the band. Before the release, OK! magazine bought the rights to preview and serialise the book.

The group remain constant tabloid fodder. Tweedy's relationship with footballer Ashley Cole has kept her in the papers, especially during the 2006 World Cup in June and July 2006. A "cheating" scandal received widespread tabloid coverage in February 2008. Coyle and Harding have regularly featured in the tabloids because of their Hollywood relationships. Coyle was dating Jesse Metcalfe of Desperate Housewives until January 2008, when Coyle ended it. Harding was rumoured to be seeing Stephen Dorff, and she also dated Daily Star writer Joe Mott, although the couple have since split up.

In 2007, Girls Aloud signed a one-year deal to endorse hair care brand Sunsilk. The endorsement was reportedly worth £1.25m. The girls filmed a television advertisement, and magazine advertisements also ran, with each of the five members being the face of a different shampoo. The same year, Girls Aloud also sealed a deal with the UK division of Samsung. They endorsed mobile phones and MP3 players, made personal appearances and sang at Samsung events, and contributed to competition prizes, among other activities. The Samsung F210 Purple came with a 1GB memory card featuring Girls Aloud content.

In March 2008, the girl group signed a deal to front an ad campaign for a new low-calorie KitKat bar called "Senses". The chocolate bar manufacturer also sponsored Girls Aloud's Tangled Up Tour. The exact worth of the endorsement is unknown, but a figure of £500,000 each has been suggested. Later in 2008, Girls Aloud appeared in television advertisements for Nintendo DS.

Girls Aloud have a number of celebrity fans including the Jonas Brothers, Matt Helders, Chris Martin, Duff McKagan, and Neil Tennant. They have had their music covered by artists as varied as Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party, Billy Corgan, Coldplay, and Mark Morriss.

Bloc Party covered the song Call The Shots for Radio1's Live Lounge, frontman Kele Okereke said that they were his "favourite band at the moment, every new song seems to get better and better".

To the top

Passions of Girls Aloud

The Passions of Girls Aloud is a four-part television series starring girl group Girls Aloud. The series premiered on ITV2 on March 14, 2008.

Cheryl's aspiration is to be a street dancer. She has received training in ballet, ballroom and tap, but has never done any hip-hop or street dance. She meets with Kenrick "H2O" Sandy and Kymberlee Jay, choreographers, in London and learns basic street dancing. She takes a gymnastic lesson and also learns how to pop and lock. Cheryl's main problem was her lack of confidence.

Later, she flies to Los Angeles with her mother Joan. After going sightseeing around Hollywood, Cheryl meets with Kennis Marquis, Diddy's choreographer, at the Millennium Studios. He teaches her about dancing with style and swagger. He takes Cheryl shopping for hip hop fashion, so that she fits in with the L.A. street dancers. The next day, Cheryl heads to Compton, one of the most dangerous areas of L.A., to dance with Tommy the Clown and his friends. He teaches her "krumping" and she participates in a block party. Cheryl dances with two professional dancers to work on her routine further the next day.

Finally, she auditions for a part in Will.i.am's video for his new single "Heartbreaker", and gets the part. The show ends with an advancing screening of the music video, which Cheryl's bandmates, family and friends all attend. Cheryl also contributes vocals to the radio edit of the song (on the UK version of the song only).

Sarah's aspiration was to play polo. During the show, Sarah trained in the United Kingdom and Argentina.

Harding had a love of horseback riding, but her skills were "rusty". She learned the basics of polo while practicing in the UK. Whilst in Argentina, Sarah was set to compete in a polo competition against an successful polo team, but due to weather issues, the match was cancelled and Sarah flew back home. Luckily for her, a British polo competition was available for her to take part in. Sarah completed her passion when she competed against some of the best polo players across the world during a British game. Band members Cheryl Cole, Kimberley Walsh and Nadine Coyle came to support her.

During the game, Sarah suffered from a lack of oxygen and fell off the horse. Although she didn't sustain any major injuries, she insisted that she couldn't remember what had happened, causing her mentor and the coach to pull her out due to scares about her health if she continued. At first, Sarah was distraught about this, but support from her fellow band members and family cheered her up.

Kimberley decided to audition for a West End production of Les Misérables. Kimberley trained in both London and New York City.

In Nicola's episode, she has had a passion for many years to create her own foundation for girls with fair skin like herself.

Nicola proves her point by going to a high street store, where there are no foundations for girls with such pale complexion. She meets with two directors from Jelly Pong Pong, a cosmetics company. They tell Nicola that creating a make-up range in two weeks could be difficult. They call in some favours, and Nicola goes to Taiwan to test out various textures and shades. She personally makes these decisions, and takes a tour of the factory where her range is created. She also arranges a launch party for the press, her family, and her friends. She selects models and a venue, and has creative control of the launch. Her bandmates Kimberley Walsh and Cheryl Cole attended the launch at London's Sketch.

It was reported on the 13 November 2007 that Nadine Coyle would not be taking part. Nadine was initially going to conduct an orchestra, but pulled out of the television programme. This is said to be due to the programme's bosses refusing to let her undertake charity work. Sarah Harding later stated in an interview that Nadine was simply more reserved than the rest of the band, and didn't enjoy taking part in Reality-TV shows.

As a part of Passions, the Girls Aloud website posted a competition called "Be A Model for Nicola", which was meant to give one fan the chance to model for Nicola as part of her final task. However, it was later revealed that the winner would actually be attending the show and getting a makeover by Nicola. Nicola said that she tried to stick to her word, but the production company had the final decision.

To the top

Love Machine (Girls Aloud song)

An early demo of "Love Machine" was included on the Popjustice compilation album Popjustice: 100% Solid Pop Music; this version was sung by Cheryl Cole, Nadine Coyle and Sarah Harding and features radically different lyrics from the released versions, even excluding the phrase "Love Machine". On Girls Aloud's Chemistry Tour, there was a interlude where the group danced to "1 Thing" by Amerie. There was a similar interlude during The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits Tour, where a big band breakdown was included and Cheryl disrupted the routine by taking a swig of champagne.

The single was released on two CD single formats and as a 7" picture disc. The maxi CD format included a task-based game, created by design agency Holler.

The video for "Love Machine" was directed by Stuart Gosling for Image Dynamic Pictures. It was filmed at the Titanic restaraunt on London's Brewer Street.

The music video takes place at the fictitious nightclub, the Eskimo Club. Girls Aloud enter the club dressed for a night on the town. Though Cheryl initially sets her eye on a musician at the club, the girls make their way to a table. However, they are soon distracted by the men in the Eskimo Club and the tricks they pull to try to get the girls' attention. Girls Aloud also dance in a separate setting of a dark background with flashing lights, and eventually they release their inhibitions and begin dancing in the Eskimo Club as well. At the end of the video, Girls Aloud walk out of the club tired and barefoot.

The song was covered by the Arctic Monkeys on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.

The song was covered by Tiffany on Hit Me, Baby, One More Time, and on Comic Relief does Fame Academy by Blue Peter presenter Zöe Salmon, and musical group A2M.

To the top

The Promise (Girls Aloud song)

The song was released in Germany on 16 January 2009 as a digital download.

The song is notable for its 1960s influence. "The Promise" has been called "a 60s-influenced pop gem given a contemporary Girls Aloud twist", and "more interesting than the average retro-pop nugget." Digital Spy referred to the single as "a cute, wistful pop song" with "some nice Spectorish touches in the production and a lovely, classic-sounding melody" that "grows more persuasive with every listen." It was criticised for being "a shameless attempt at trying to cash in on the Duffy and Winehouse favoured 60's femme pop." On the other hand, Slant Magazine said that while it "suggests the girls have shallowly jumped aboard the retro-soul bandwagon led by Duffy and Amy Winehouse, the song's go-for-broke, very modern re-imagining of Spector's wall of sound proves to be more authentic and entertaining than most other recent attempts".

The Guardian, however, felt the song was "disappointing" because "Girls Aloud's producers have always been capable of making exciting and innovative pop music". It has also received comparisons to Girls Aloud's previous single, "Can't Speak French". Terry Wogan has also claimed that the tune features the melody from the theme song of Blankety Blank, a British TV quiz show from the 1980s.

Filming for "The Promise" music video was on 15 September 2008. The video premièred on AOL's website on 25 September 2008. The music video was filmed by Trudy Bellinger for Merge @ Crossroads Films, and produced by Golden Square. They had just over three days to produce an open air drive-in movie theatre using Flame and studio footage of five cars. Girls Aloud also reportedly auditioned the male actors in the music video.

In the music video, Girls Aloud are at a '50s and '60s drive-in movie theatre. Cheryl Cole has a loose beehive hairstyle, while Nicola Roberts has a bouffant style and Sarah Harding channels the famous '60s model Twiggy. The drive-in is actually playing a black-and-white film of Girls Aloud performing "The Promise" in shimmering sequined dresses which are extremely similar to dresses The Supremes wore in 1966 on a tv appearance at The Hollywood Palace. They are performing with a band and imitating girl groups such as The Supremes. Meanwhile, at the drive-in, other male customers flirt with Girls Aloud. Sarah Harding gets out of the car and walks in front of the screen to sing her "Here I am... walking Primrose..." verse, while the other girls laugh and Kimberley Walsh sounds her horn at Harding. Girls Aloud occasionally sing along with their lines as well. The music video features flickering and flashes to emulate films of the time.

On 28 December 2008, the UK Singles Chart listed "The Promise" as the number 17 best-selling single in their year end countdown.

An exclusive remix of "The Promise" by Jason Nevins was available as an iTunes exclusive, while the CD single featured a brand new b-side entitled "She". A limited edition picture disc was made available exclusively through Girls Aloud's official website, featuring a live performance of "Girl Overboard" as the b-side.

To the top