For his second trick, he reappeared later that year, looking like a matinee idol and singing like Elvis to finish third on Pop Idol and later reach a UK No.1 single with Colourblind. Reality TV is about narratives and often they can be created around people and solidified like cement. somehow, through a tantalizing mix of naivete, sensitivity and genuine talent, Darius was able to rewrite his own. Such was his impact on the nascent television talent show genre that all subsequent spin-offs sought to find their own Darius Campbell Danesh. Someone who was faintly funny, disarmingly good-looking, with enough self-awareness to make it work. The problem, though, is that all the elements have to be perfectly balanced, and often oversized characters, the kind that ironically make great pop stars, aren’t meant to be money-making, tentpole TV shows. Pop Idol 2002 finalists: left to right Gareth Gates, Zoe Birkett, Darius Danesh, Hayley Evetts and Will Young. Photo: Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy “If I won it would be my biggest nightmare,” Darius told the Guardian in 2002, shortly after losing out to Gareth Gates and eventual Pop Idol winner Will Young. “I would not have placed the mold. If I won, either the Pop Idol logo or I would have run away. I have to be the person I am.” While Will Young was singled out for talking to Simon Cowell during the show, it was Darius who turned down Cowell’s post-Pop Idol offer of a record deal with BMG, which came with the caveat that he had to record various cover versions . Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. “Imagine, I could have done a cover of Gareth Robson and Jerome’s Righteous Brothers cover,” he said. “How great! You know, that doesn’t inspire me.” Instead, he signed to Mercury Records and co-wrote his 2002 debut album, Dive In, with Steve Lillywhite (The La’s, Travis) and The Matrix (Avril Lavigne, Ronan Keating). .On two major label albums, Darius scored five UK top 10 singles without ever releasing a cover. Jill Paice (Scarlett O’Hara) and Darius Danesh (Rhett Butler) in Gone With The Wind at the New London Theater in April 2008. Photo: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian Born in Glasgow to a Scottish mother and Iranian father, Darius eschewed the stage school route in favor of high-class performances in avant-garde operas (he would later return to opera after winning 2010’s Popstar to Operastar). His subsequent jump to a restrictive TV talent show format often meant he couldn’t hold back, his post-rejection monologue with Popstars rivals juxtaposed against a backdrop-chewing, gloriously impassioned sermon. “It’s just not our time, this is it,” he thought, surrounded by tearful faces. “We all have talent. How much love is there in this room? I feel so much energy from your children. There is nothing to lose from this.” Knowing, perhaps, that his 15 minutes of fame was approaching, Darius relished his status as the nation’s most famous tight end, appearing on several Heat magazine covers. But, more importantly, there was always a sense that he knew the game he was playing. As Lucie Cave, editor-in-chief of Heat magazine and the Heat brand on Instagram, said: “He really got the joke and always had a wry smile whenever he answered questions about being a serious musician.” A key part of Darius’ story arrived during Popstars through a promise he made to judge “Nasty” Nigel Lythgoe. As he exited the show, the then 21-year-old calmly announced that he would have a platinum album by the time he was 35. That it wouldn’t be the last Lythgoe would hear. Years later, that kind of thumbs up at the shows that followed would ring hollower than a Louis Walsh compliment. But for Darius, it was something he was going to accomplish. Even Lythgoe felt it. “Darius is a survivor in life,” she said on the show. “And Darius will do what Darius has to do to survive. And it wouldn’t surprise me if Darius gets a platinum record in the next five years.” By the end of 2002, Darius had scored a UK No.1 with the Radio 2 classic Colourblind, had a top 10 album and briefly rivaled the established soft-pop dominance of Ronan Keating and Robbie Williams. That he then went on to write a Sunday Times bestseller (the 2004 memoir Sink or Swim), appear in several West End productions (including Chicago and Gone with the Wind) and become a Hollywood producer is testament to a journey from tester to the survivor. established success story quite unlike any we’ve seen in the history of television talent.
