THEY came from all over Hampshire, dreaming of one thing. Stardom.

Bright and bouncy, the energetic teenagers poured into a dance centre hoping to get their big break in showbiz.

Dozens of hopefuls turned up at The Point, Eastleigh, to be put through their paces for Steps creator Barry Upton. As previously reported by the Daily Echo, he wants to find a new top 40 band for the next century.

Barry, from Romsey, intends wowing the pop world with the new line-up and he decided to recruit locally to make things easier logistically. He said: "These kids are really good, confident and talented - kids for the 21st century. But we don't just need that.

"We are looking for that special something else in these people, something that you can't really define and may not even see on the first occasion."

Teenagers of all heights and sizes were put through a special dance routine in a studio at the drama and dance centre, but Barry said they didn't need to be tall, slim and eye-catching. "We had this problem with Steps," he said.

"One of the members, Claire, looked a bit chubby when she was being put through her paces, but when we saw her on video later she looked great and really fitted in.

"We have videoed these kids so we can see if we have missed something during the auditions. Logistically, we decided to come to this area because it is near London. With Steps we had to deal with one person from Wales and it was very costly. This way it is easier and we feel sure we will find what we want from here."

But the auditions were just the beginning. Once the group have been chosen - and that will take time - they have to get to know each other and get on together. Then comes the search for a record company willing to take them on. Once all that is in place, the group look set to be launched in a blaze of publicity by the new year.

Whether any of the hopefuls felt confident of success was hard to tell. Barry declined to let the Daily Echo interview the youngsters who were taking part in the audition, just in case they mistakenly thought they had become the chosen few.

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