Girls Aloud are silenced

Their tears, tantrums and eventually their triumph enthralled millions of television viewers.

But apparently few can be bothered to get off the sofa to see the latest stars of reality television in real life. All of which leaves the careers of the two bands who won ITV's Popstars: The Rivals hanging in the balance.

Ticket sales for a joint concert tour by Girls Aloud and One True Voice have been so poor that the 11 dates they were supposed to play have been cancelled, leaving "devastated" the five boys and five girls who overcame weeks of harsh judgements by a panel which included Geri Halliwell, stage fright and a nationwide vote to achieve their dream of stardom.

And the dream may now turn even more sour, with the boys, One True Voice, given twin ultimatums: sell 500,000 albums and get their next single into the top three or they will be dropped by their record label.

The cancellation of the concerts also threatens to spark legal action between AAA, which was promoting the 11-date UK tour, and Granada, which made the original show.

A TV insider said: "Granada are furious that this has happened. They had asked AAA to organise the tour and now they've pulled out at the 11th hour without any warning. The matter is now in the hands of their legal department.

"Both bands have a huge following and there are going to be a lot of disappointed kids."

The rival boy and girl bands were due to play London as well as cities including Cardiff, Glasgow and Manchester. But Girls Aloud manager Louis Walsh said: "We were only told on Monday, but we're not too disappointed. The tour was organised as part of the TV deal with Granada rather than with the record companies.

"We are very happy as we want to start work on a new video."

Mr Walsh said Girls Aloud were planning their own tour at the end of the year and added: "I don't know why it's been called off, but if it's down to poor sales, blame the boys."

One True Voice - Daniel Pearce, Keith Semple, Matt Johnson, Anton Gordon and Jamie Shaw - came second in the race for the Christmas number one, with their debut single, Sacred Trust.

They were beaten by Sound Of The Underground, the single from Girls Aloud - Nadine Coyle, Cheryl Tweedy,

Nicola Roberts, Kimberley Walsh and Sarah Harding.

A source close to both bands said: "The tour has been cancelled because they were having real trouble selling tickets. They thought that the popularity of the TV show would mean they would sell like hot cakes, but that simply hasn't been the case. There just isn't enough interest in them.

"The band members are devastated - they really feel like they haven't been given a chance.

"They had such high hopes when they won the TV show and now it looks like their careers could be over."

Record company chiefs hoped they would be as popular as Pop Idol winners Gareth Gates and Will Young, whose joint tour was a huge success, with fans buying all the tickets within hours of them going on sale.

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