BRITAIN VOTE’S TO BRING BACK THE BOYBAND

Amazingly for budding boys out there, talent is more important than good looks to secure you a place in a manufactured boy band according to the British public, although one high profile boy band manager disagrees.

Over two thousand people were asked about their top boy bands to coincide with an ITV documentary The Truth About Boy Bands.

Asked about what someone most needs to have in order to make the band, the public voted talent most important with 25% but closely followed by looks with 24%, however Nigel Martin Smith, ex manager of Take That, disagrees.

In an ITV documentary, The Truth About Boy Bands, Nigel says: “When I put Take That together Gary was the only one that could sing at the time. Robbie was ok but it was a bit theatrical. What’s (singing bars in tune) got to do with finding the next big thing. I mean most people can sing to a degree and there’s this button in studios that says auto-tune so the most important thing is star quality.”

In the poll, the public regarded the Beatles as being a boy band and revealed that their popularity is still enduring. The Beatles were voted the boys that the public would most like to see performing again as a group if they could bring back just one boy band, followed by The Monkee’s and The Jackson Five, proving that the legend of the classic band still lives on today.

Recent bands such as the hugely popular McFly and Busted missed out on the top ten greatest boy bands, in a list dominated by bands from the past.

Asked who is the best boy band of all time, the public responded:

* The Beatles (41%)
* Take That (11%)
* Westlife (7%)
* The Jackson Five (5%)
* The Monkees (3%)
* The Osmonds (2%)
* Backstreet Boys (2%)
* Boyzone (1%)
* Blue (1%)
* Five (1%)

Asked which boy band would you like to have a revival, the public responded:

* The Beatles (34%)
* The Monkees (16%)
* The Jackson Five (11%)
* Westlife (10%)
* Boyzone (9%)
* Blue (7%)
* The Osmonds (7%)
* The Backstreet Boys (5%)
* Five (5%)
* Busted (4%)

East 17 who have recently tried to reform, New Kids on the Block, N*Sync and Bros missed out on the top ten in all categories.

However, many have faith that the phenomenon of the boy band lives on, with 44% convinced that the era of the boy band is not dead compared to 32% who think their era has gone.

Survey conducted by ITV Vision panel: 2100 people surveyed

The Truth About Boy Band’s: Saturday 9.40pm on ITV1.