I’m going to go all controversial and disagree with people. I don’t think 19/BMG are behaving impeccably, but with the exception of the TOTP debacle, their handling of Will is much more clever than their handling of Gareth. They already have more than enough glory for now, and if anything it should be limited for the sake of “5 years from now”.
My view on this is that it is a much bigger shame for Will fans than it is for Will. As many people have commented, the single isn't very inspired, and not the sort of material he is likely to go onto release in the future. For people who only took a passing, or snidey interest in PI, they see the single as representative of who he is and what he's about, so the sooner he can move on, the easier it will be to impress them with his subsequent releases.
Furthermore, the general population who are neither Will, Gareth nor Darius fans are beginning to feel all this PI nonsense should be over. Even if it seems brief to us as fans of the series, his 3 weeks at the top of the charts already annoyed lots of people who “don’t understand what the fuss is about”, so I'd say it's clever not to drag things out too much right now.
I agree it would have been a shame to deny Will a 4th week at number one, because 4 weeks seems to have significance, but I'm pretty sure George Michael is outselling him anyway. It was definitely unfair to spoil Will's first TOTP. I can't believe they mucked it up to favour Gareth, because it made everyone to do with PI look bad. I suspect 19 got a bit too big for their boots and thought they did actually rule the world. Ultimately the record company wants to make money from both of them and that wasn't helping. It sounds terrible, but for Gareth’s sake, I hope there is another big release in 2 or 3 weeks to make sure his single doesn’t linger, annoying people (esp music press and DJs) either. I’m sure when they are old, they’d rather look back and remember a long and satisfying recording career than a 4th week at number one with their first release.
Putting Evergreen and Anything is Possible on Gareth's single was supposedly due to 'popular demand'. I suspect the popular demand was to buy something, and quickly and they didn't have time to record something new. It's quite boring, but only really a problem if you wanted to buy both singles anyway. I only hope they don’t put them on both the albums, because that would be a nonsense. The thing about Will and Gareth's initial single releases are that the hype and demand for both really would not be affected by what they were actually singing. Will will probably never have a bigger single in his life, but I'm hoping that it won't be the one he's remembered for, as I'm also hoping that all his future singles are much better. It isn’t groundbreaking, but at least Unchained Melody is a classic song and a bit less dull than Evergreen.
It does look unfair, but limiting Will's exposure can only help him in the long-term. I only wish they could do something to limit Gareth's exposure too for his sake and the sake of any other PI finalists wanting a singing career. It's any excuse to put a photo of him on the front page at the minute, but that's only be because people are willing to buy something. Will is a very private person, and Gareth is pretty quiet himself. I hate to think what the papers would be like if either of them were talkative. That said, whoever's idea it was to have them pose for the "handing over the number one" photo deserves a good talking to, and is only interested in breaking records for short-term gain.
One bit of good publicity for them is coverage of the PI tour, because they are actually doing their job. They should try to limit any news coverage to this, so it is more dominant than the status of Gareth’s hair, or Will’s jumpers. In what should be about the talent end of thing it's a shame so much attention seems focused on the louder Gareth contingent. It should focus on the performances, but I suppose the hysterical fans are quite entertaining too! Oh no, I’ve just realised I too am a trashy journo by spending so much time describing the squealing. I’m sorry, I’ve never been to anything like that before, and it was such a sight to behold – you’ve all seen them sing anyway.
If forced to choose I'd say he did get the louder reception, but only
just. In the overall context of noisiness, any differences were insignificant to my (ringing) ears. Will's reception at the concert was nothing short of massive and worthy of note all by itself, and it seemed to me to be from the same people screaming at Gareth, so it makes sense to look after them both equally well. In spite of what some reports will tell you, Will had much more to do during the PI concert than Gareth and was definitely given top billing. However it was also very obvious there was someone else there just as popular with the paying customer. There could be only one winner of the TV show PI, but there is so much demand for the runner up, that to deny that to give Will more glory would only serve to cause resentment the other way round. Neither Will, Gareth, nor the rest of the finalists entered PI for glory, but to get the chance to do what they enjoy - sing. They are getting it, and there will be far more singing (and glory) for them in the long term if there was a little less media saturation.
Sorry, another long and rambling post. What I think I really mean to say is that I think the "Will woz robbed" is just as much a part of the marketing ploy to ensure we go and buy his album as any of the rest of it. It is very cunning, because the best way to show the nasty record company that they are wrong to treat poor Will like that is to go out and buy his CDs in large volumes, and incidentally making them a bit more cash while we are at it.