The female band Sugar Jones consists of Mirella Dell'Aquila and Julie Crochetiere, both from Montreal, Andrea Henry from Hamilton, Ontario, and Sahara MacDonald and Maiko Watson, both from Winnipeg.
They range in age from 20 to 24 and each had extensive performance and vocal experience before they were chosen to be in the group. Sugar Jones is a fabrication spawned by the television show Popstars, produced by Universal Music Canada and Global TV.
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The show was created by Michael Geddes who, along with three other judges, held auditions for no less than 4,000 young women in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver. The judges pared the list down and selected 145 women from the general auditions before chopping that group down to 25 candidates who were flown to Toronto for two weeks of intense rehearsal and scrutiny.
The process of choosing five suitable females was recorded in detail for the television audience, who tuned in every week to see who had made the cut. The show was a ratings hit and the band's self-titled release debuted at No. 2 on the Canadian album chart. The first song, "Days Like That" spent two weeks at the top of the singles chart and proved to be a certifiable radio smash.
The members of Sugar Jones do not deny to be anything but a manufactured pop group but are determined to have a voice in future endeavors. While time did not permit it on the debut, the next album will contain some of their own ideas. Given the intense media attention and hectic schedule of appearances and performances the band has endured since it was formed, the girls have held up with remarkable poise.
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The group was the focus of controversy as Popstars neared the end of a 13-episode run, when an original member, no longer with the group, confessed to robbing another contestant and running up a significant tab on a stolen credit card. The girl was replaced with a surprised Andrea Henry and Sugar Jones was soon born.
The scandal soon died down with the release of the album but not before the group learned a lesson in media relations. The girls of Sugar Jones are now intent on promoting their brand of R&B pop, while burrowing a niche for themselves in a congested market and earning respect in the music industry beyond their native Canada.