By JAMES REANEY -- London Free Press
Life couldn't be much sweeter for Sugar Jones.
The five young women from Canada's first made-for-TV pop group were in London yesterday for a run of publicity appearances, a little live-to-air on Energy Radio.
Vancouver's Sahara MacDonald, Hamilton's Andrea Henry, Winnipeg's Maiko Watson and Quebec's Julie Crochetiere and Mirella Dell'Aquila already have a hit CD (Universal) and a hit single (Days Like That). They are also getting used to hearing the same thing over and over again.
"What's it like being a 'popstar?' " is what Crochetiere says the five are hearing.
"It's like (being asked)," she starts before MacDonald finishes the thought "What it's like to be 12?"
No problem, but they'd rather offer advice to the next crop of popstars on Global TV. Last August, they were five of 4,000 wannabes. Now, they're stars.
"Be sure that this is what you want, because it's hard work," Henry says.
"Be yourself . . . stay focused . . . stay close (to your friends)" chorus the others in a mantra they could also apply to themselves.
Sugar Jones members came up with the group's name themselves. It may have something to do with the sweet R&B/pop sounds they're developing and their love of candy.
No band can crowd a candy machine like Sugar Jones. Why not? MacDonald was battling a cold yesterday, but everything else tastes like success for the group these days.
There were no public performances scheduled for the group yesterday, but there is already talk of a fall date in London. Sugar Jones is playing Canadian dates on a tour by U.S. group Destiny's Child.
Henry has performed, pre-Sugar Jones, in London several years in a row as the Hamilton-area winner in the Youth Talent Search event at Western Fair.
Sugar Jones was born from the television show Popstars, co-produced with Universal Music and Global TV. It was created by Michael Geddes, a former Londoner.
Last year, Geddes and three other judges saw 4,000 young women between the ages of 18 and 25 in Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. The judges singled out 145 women from the general auditions and then chopped that list down to 25 candidates who were flown to Toronto for two weeks of intense scrutiny.
