2002 in British music charts hit of his, "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word". Amazingly, despite charting for 31 years, this was only Elton's 5th UK No. 1 single. "" became the new phenomenon in the world of talent shows and it produced 2 new acts, boyband One True Voice and girl group Girls Aloud. They both released their singles in Christmas week and the girls beat the boys to the top spot, claiming the Christmas number one with their debut single, "Sound of the Underground". The song topped the charts for 4 weeks, and escalated them to great fame. They have had continued
Girls Aloud was increased to £30 million the following year, following Cheryl Cole's appearance on "The X Factor". All five members were included in a 2010 list of Britain's richest stars under 30. Reviews of Girls Aloud's debut album noted the high quality of the album compared to output from other reality show contestants. In 2004, David Hooper of BBC Music exclaimed that "Girls Aloud are currently British pop royalty [...] in the ultra-fickle world of TV-generated pop, Girls Aloud have real staying power." Andrew Lynch of entertainment.ie said, "Girls Aloud really shouldn't have made it as far as a second album.