User:Girls Aloud (B)/sandbox

Girls Aloud are a British pop girl group, formed in 2011, consisting of members Cheryl Tweedy, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh formed in November 2011 by Jayne Collins, responsible for launching the careers of The Saturdays and The Wanted.

The group was formed through auditions held from March 2011 until October 2011 which initially saw Coyle, Harding and Roberts joined by Javine Hylton and Aimee Kersley. Tweedy and Walsh were later drafted in to replace Hylton and Kersley. They began making small appearances in December 2011 and between February and March 2012, the group supported management team mates The Wanted on their arena tour. Their debut single "Sound Of The Underground" was released in May 2012 and debuted at #1 in the UK whilst second single "No Good Advice" was released on August 27th and hit #2. Their debut album, "Sound Of The Underground" is due for release on September 3rd.

Formation (2011)
Auditions began when Jayne Collins, who formed successful groups such as The Saturdays and The Wanted, placed an advert in a number of newspapers and music magazines. The first auditions were held in March 2011 to which over 1500 girls aged 16-20 attended. These were cut down by half within the first two days and the following month a further 250 girls were dropped following a dance audition. Nadine Coyle was originally dropped from the auditions but brought back by Collins just days later.

In June 2011, 5 groups of 100 were created and 10 from each were dropped each day over 5 consecutive days leaving 250 girls. In July 2011, the groups were re-established to create 5 groups of 50. They were put through vocal and dance training throughout the month before in August 2011 three groups were dropped leaving 100 girls. These were put into 10 groups of 10 with 5 from each being dropped throughout August leaving 50 girls. In September 2011, 10 groups of 5 were formed with just 2 from each remaining at the end of the month. In October 2011, the final audition was held which led to Nadine Coyle (17), Nicola Roberts (16), Javine Hylton (18), Aimee Kersley (19) and Sarah Harding (20) being named Girls Aloud.

In late October 2011, Kersley was dropped from the group and replaced by Cheryl Tweedy (19) and Hylton quit due to Kersley's axing and was replaced by Kimberley Walsh (20).