Once a pop group has had its heyday, can things ever really be the same? Can reunions work and help groups relive their glory days or are they just a shameless way of milking more money out of their waning popularity?

In the last few years many groups that were popular in the 90s and early 2000s have got back together in various capacities. Some have reunited to try and recapture the magic and record new music such as with Take That and others have reunited for our entertainment on reality shows such as the Big Reunion.

ITV 2’s Big Reunion was a massive hit show which spawned a highly successful tour, showcasing the groups that had signed up for the series including B*Witched and 5ive. This show really brought to our attention the fact that the stars from our childhood were struggling to make ends meet and needed to do something to earn a bit more money. It was highly entertaining but also incredibly sad in a way.

As a child who was born in the (very) late 80s, the aforementioned groups were a huge part of my childhood and I had built up a picture of these stars through rose tinted glasses. They were the subjects of my adoration; my bedroom wall fodder and the reason I shouldn’t have been let loose with pocket money in Woolworths.

Seeing the same stars that I had worshipped as a young teenager struggle for attention amongst themselves bought me the same discomfort and sadness as watching an older family member age and get slowly more infirm. Part of me was morbidly curious to see how events would unfold as they bickered amongst themselves and slowly unravelled but part of me also wanted to make them a nice cup of tea and sit them down in a nice comfy chair where they couldn’t harm themselves anymore.

Out of the acts that took part in the first series, the one group that has really tried to make the most of their brief day release is Blue. They have recently released new material including a new studio album which turned out to be a commercial flop. So much so that their record label Sony has now dropped them although they have assured fans that they will continue independently.

You have to admire their tenacity. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Blue back in the day when they actually made some very catchy pop music but their recent efforts have fallen very short of the mark. What saddens me is the fact that they have emphasised that they will be continuing as a group at least in the short term in order to celebrate their 15th anniversary.

The boys really seem to be painfully dragging it out now. Undoubtedly there are Blue fans that will be ecstatic that they are going to stay together but personally I think they should be grateful that they have enjoyed the success they have in a notoriously difficult industry and call it quits.

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