Last chance to be a Popstar

TORONTO -- Today's the day if you want to be a Popstar.

 Starting at 8 a.m. and running until 8 tonight, music industry executives, television producers and other weasels will be auditioning hundreds of young women between the ages of 18 and 25 to star in an upcoming Global TV docu drama. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it.

 Popstars will feature five young Canadian women who will be groomed to be the biggest thing since the Spice Girls.

 The Toronto wannabes will compete with young women from Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal to be one of the final five.

 "It's a serious commitment," says Allan Reid, vice president of Universal Music Canada and one of the judges. "Anyone who has family or is married is going to have to be willing to leave home for a while. We're looking at a possible two-year commitment."

 Anyone interested should check out www.popstars.ca for more info, including a list of the five songs that the judges will want to hear. Pick one and memorize the lyrics. The tunes hail from groups such as The Backstreet Boys, All Saints and Soul Decision. Damn -- nothing from the Defranco Family!

 If you're reading this any time after noon, it may already be too late to head down to the Paramount Theatre at the corner of Richmond and John where the auditions are taking place.

 "It's all on a first-come, first-serve basis and there's a strict wrist-band policy in effect," says Reid.

 Anyone who scores with the judges (hey, that's just an expression) should plan to stick around for tomorrow's callback auditions.

 Around 25 or 30 women will return to Toronto Sept. 10 for the final auditions. The show is scheduled to air on Global sometime next January.

So you wanna be a Popstar