By TYLER McLEOD -- Calgary Sun

CALGARY -- Wannabe singing stars got a taste of what it's like to be both Christina Aguilera and Gervase Peterson yesterday as Calgarians auditioned for Popstars.

The Spice Girls-meet-Survivor concept is being imported from Australia in the hopes of producing both a top-selling recording act and a hit reality TV series.

"I've been to a lot of auditions and that was the scariest one," said Tasha Gowing, 19, at the SilverCity Famous Players cinema -- host of the national, Sun-sponsored talent search.

"The camera's right in your face. It was intimidating (but) once you got into it, you're OK."

Popstars will debut on Global (Calgary 7) in January, while Universal Music hopes to have the girl group recording songs by October.

"We're only looking for five girls and we'll see 4,000 across the country," explained Michael Geddes, who will manage the group and produce the series.

Of the 200-plus Calgarians trying out yesterday, less than 40 earned a call-back to meet again with the Popstars team.

Some of them may join 25 finalists in Toronto next month for a week-long "boot camp" of voice lessons, styling sessions and dance rehearsals.

Such casting calls have been used to form acts like The Spice Girls, The Monkees and Menudo. Popstars yielded an Australian success in Bardot, while O-Town, the stars of ABC's Making the Band, are beginning to pick up steam among the teeny-bopper set.

"We're proud to say this is a documentary, a docu-soap. Making the Band was a little too slick," Geddes said. "This will be fly on the wall. We're going to get a lot of elation and a lot of tears."

Popstars' cameras have already caught some tears as organizers invited some of the girls to meet with them again today.

"I cried when I got the call-back -- they have it on film," said Leanne Bayko, 20.

Bayko arrived at the multiplex before 6 a.m. and waited five hours to sing 30 seconds of soulDecision's Ooh, It's Kinda Crazy.

"I'm a little tired -- I only had about four hours sleep with all the excitement," she admitted.

With mere seconds to impress Geddes and the other judges with one of five approved tunes, participants did what little they could to make an instant impression.

Already a veteran of the Calgary Stampede's Youth Talent Showdown and the city's First Night festival, Liz Tekeste choreographed dance moves for her song.

She found herself forced to improvise, however, when the auditions ended up taking place in a narrow theatre aisle rather than a traditional stage.

"There was a second there just before I got on that I almost gave up on the dance, but I chose to stick to it," said successful candidate Tekeste, 23.

"There are a lot of talented artists here and you need something to stand out."

Jasmine Faulkner chose the All Saints hit Never Ever after realizing no one in her group of auditioners had performed it yet.

"I was going to do Backstreet Boys and I decided at the last minute to be different. That was one my chance," Faulkner, 20, said after learning she had made it through the first round of cuts. "I think it might have helped a little bit. I stood out with that one single song."

Even making it to Day 2 was far beyond what Bayko was expecting when members of her recreational baseball team told her to try out. The Royal Bank employee wasn't pursuing fame and fortune.

"I sang in high school and junior high choir. Lately I've been going to karaoke bars," she said.

"It's a good feeling to know you have the talent to catch somebody's eye."

Jen Donovan, 18, also warmed up for Popstars with karaoke.

"My parents have a major system at home. I've sung for a lot of people when my parents have parties and had a lot of encouragement," she said, adding it took more than a little encouragement to get her to yesterday's audition.

"Yesterday, my boyfriend and my mom kind of ganged up on me and told me I should just do it," said Donovan.

Were her daughter chosen to join the band, Jean Genereux hopes she wouldn't have to wait until the show airs to find out what 21-year-old Amber Howlett was up to.

"She'll phone me every night -- I know her," Genereux said.

"I always wanted to be a performer -- acting, singing dancing, whatever it may be," Howlett said. "I may not be successful today, but it's my first try and I'm not going to get discouraged by the experience."