WB's new 'Popstars': Girls chase stardom and we get to watch

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Few artistically inclined youngsters dream of just being actors or singers anymore. Brought up in a celebrity culture, they can all imagine themselves as stars.

The latest TV series to tap into this commonly spoken language is "Popstars," premiering tonight (9 p.m., KTWB) on The WB, the baby network known for turning unknown babes into celebrities.

A female counterpart to ABC's boy-group show "Making the Band," "Popstars" - which moves to 8:30 p.m. after tonight - follows the construction of a girl vocal group from the audition stage to, the producers pray, stardom.

It starts with three music-industry judges traveling to six major U.S. cities, where hundreds of young (and a few older) women lined up for open calls.

The first amazing thing is how little talent it takes to persuade yourself to try out. I'm not sure what it says about the evolution of the sexes, but at the "Making the Band" auditions it was rare for a young man to embarrass himself. Not the case with "Popstars."

In a bit of comic relief, one segment in the premiere features a montage of these tuneless a cappella performances set to the girl-group En Vogue's hit "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)."

In this and other ways, "Popstars" is less heavy-handedly melodramatic than its predecessor, though a few tears are shed in the first episode.

The show moves deliberately through the auditions, mostly resisting the temptation to manufacture pathos before we've even gotten to know the hopefuls. The viewer has time to notice how Christina Aguilera's "What a Girl Wants" has surpassed "I Will Always Love You" as the audition song of choice as well as how subjective the star-making machinery can be.

Vocal ability is only one of the criteria, and sometimes it seems to hardly matter. For instance, one young woman in Los Angeles who can't sing all that well is so attractive and charming, she seems to turn the judges tone-deaf. In other cases, strong pipes can't overcome physical awkwardness or a lack of charisma.

Size becomes a source of tension among the judges - choreographer Travis Payne, record label executive Jaymes Foster-Levy and manager Jennifer Greig-Costin - when one overweight candidate clearly has the chops.

"Come on," says Foster-Levy, whose brother, big-time music producer and songwriter David Foster - the man who discovered Celine Dion - heads the team putting the group together. "She can't sing that great."

In other words, in a world where a personal trainer is as crucial as a vocal coach, no plus sizes, please, no matter how talented they are.

The woman makes it to the next round, though by all accounts she doesn't survive the final cut. Kudos to the "Popstars" producers for at least raising the issue.

The long hard road traveled by some of these star-wannabes will become a bigger part of the show as the field is narrowed to 26 semi-finalists and then 10 finalists. There are already hints in the first episode, including the beginnings of a back story for Nikki McKibbin, a single mom who would have to leave her 2-year-old son with relatives if she makes the band.

Like the other criteria that have nothing to do with singing ability, biography is a factor when you're creating a narrative TV series along with a musical group.

In six weeks, after the 10 finalists are profiled in more detail, five will be picked to move into a house together, record a CD (for 143 Records, a corporate sister of The WB) and make a music video. Dance moves will be choreographed, and a style and look for the group will be designed in preparation for a climactic first concert.

"Girls everywhere dream of being pop stars," the narrator says.

And like tourists at a sausage factory, we get to watch the manufacturing process.