The Vamps v Rita Ora Pop Slam!

Two of the biggest pop stars

in the universe are about to go into battle...

boy band rockers The Vamps

against hot pop sensation Rita Ora.

There can only be one winner, so stay right here.

I'm Amberley Lobo and this is Pop Slam!

Going head-to-head, we've got...

..Rita Ora.

# We're tearing up the town

# Cos that's just how we do... #

She's one of the hottest properties in UK pop,

with a string of hits to her name and an amazing style.

But how will she fare against...

# Tonight, we'll dance... #

..The Vamps?

# I'll be yours and you'll be mine... #

These four cheeky scamps

have come from nowhere to become the latest pop sensation.

They're already racking up hit singles and selling out

tours with a fan base that is growing by the hour.

It's going to be a blinding Pop Slam!

Whose team are you on?

Team Vamps or Team Ora?

If you're not sure who to pick, then stay right here.

I'll be hitting the road to find out everything there is to know

about their superstar lives, to decide who deserves the most

coveted prize in pop music, the Ambo.

'There's only one way to win the Ambo,

'and that's by gaining as many as my Ambo points as possible.

'I'll be dishing them out over three slamming rounds of pop-osity,

'where I meet the people who knew the stars back in the day...

'..then, I check out how hard they've been working,

'and, finally, I scrutinise their style.

'All before the big moment.'

And the winner of the Ambo is...

Now, you might not agree with the outcome and, if not, that's OK.

Get onto the CBBC website

and have your say.

Seriously, who do you reckon is going to win?

Rita, look at her. She's just so cool and, I'm not going to lie,

she's my fashion icon.

But then there's The Vamps, and you can't say no to a boy band,

especially when they're so cute.

Well, there's only one way to decide. It's time for Pop Slam!

Bring it in.

Round 1, Pop Potential.

This round is all about how our stars made it.

Rita Ora might be a massive star right now,

but wind the clock back a bit to the early '90s and young Rita was

just a kid who loved to sing here,

in Ladbroke Grove in London!

-CROWD:

-We want The Vamps!

We want The Vamps! We want The Vamps!

# Here we go again

# Another drink, I'm caving in

# Stupid words keep falling from my mouth... #

And before The Vamps' lead singer Bradley was playing to

thousands of obsessed fans...

he was right here in Sutton Coldfield!

# One more drink and I should go... #

So how did Rita Ora and The Vamps make it to the big time?

I'm going to find out.

First up, the boys.

This is the very street where it all began for

future Vamp Bradley Simpson.

But his bandmates were miles away.

James was in Bournemouth,

Connor was in Birmingham,

Tristan was in Exeter.

You'd think it would take some serious magical fairy dust to

get these boys all in the one place.

But, actually, it was just the internet. More of that later.

This is the story of how four normal boys went

and became Britain's hottest new group, The Vamps.

# That's all I have to say

# So, baby, can we dance? #

This is Bradley's actual house

and he still lives here when he's not on tour and

just generally being a rock star.

You know what? I'm going to do it.

You never know, he might be in!

DOORBELL RINGS

Bradley! Natalie!

'That is Bradley's big sis, Natalie.'

Who are you?

It's Amberley from Pop Slam!

-Come here! Bring it in! Let's go.

-Come in!

-All right.

No way, I'm actually going to get a tour of Bradley's house!

Hashtag major exclusive!

-This is Brad's piano.

-No way!

-You mean his actual fingers touched this?

-Yeah.

Amazing. And is this his guitar?

That was his first guitar that he ever had.

So cool. Let's go to his room.

Yes, come on. I'll take you up.

# Oh, it tears me up

# I try to move on... #

It was in his bedroom here that

Brad took his first steps to superstardom.

He recorded cover versions of songs like this, which he

then uploaded online.

# You can't play on broken strings... #

'I can't believe that I'm going into

'his very bedroom where it all happened.

'Take two Ambo points for getting

'your talent out there!'

# I can't tell you something that ain't real... #

-This is Brad's room.

-No way!

Oh! I recognise this.

This is where he did some of his music videos!

SHE GASPS

And that's a picture of Brad and the boys.

No biggie.

No way!

Wait for it.

Who am I? Who am I?

# Natalie

# Thanks for having me in your room... #

# You told me you loved me

# Why did you leave me

# All alone? #

You must have so many memories of him in this room.

-Is this is where he'd smash out a whole bunch of tunes?

-Yeah, yeah.

You know, the windowsill, he'd sit and play for hours

and hours and hours, like just ridiculous.

Making up little tunes.

Be honest, was that annoying?

So annoying.

THEY LAUGH

He's my little brother, he's going to be annoying.

# Cry me a river

# Cry me a river... #

-Do you know much of the story of how they got together?

-Yeah.

Brad was kind of putting

his own covers up on YouTube for, like, years.

Absolutely years and years.

And then James actually found him.

# As long as you love me

# I'm under pressure... #

130 miles away in Bournemouth, guitarist James McVey

had just got himself a record deal. But he needed a band.

He was looking online for a singer and then, boom, he spotted Bradley.

They just hit it off straightaway, got on really, really well.

Started to write together and then they found Tris.

Enter 18-year-old drummer Tristan Evans from Devon.

Here he is when he was 14,

basically showing off.

# I won't let these little things slip out... #

And the last piece of The Vamps' jigsaw was the bassist.

HE PLAYS GUITAR

The boys chose 16-year-old Connor Ball from the Midlands

and here's the incredible moment when they signed him up.

Watch this.

Connor, will you be our bassist?

LAUGHTER

-Oh...

-What?

Wait, what?

Please be our bassist.

I'd love to be your bassist.

ALL: Aw!

Aw, wish I was there.

The Vamps had their first team hug.

Take three Ambo points for a dream line-up.

Sorry, guys. Can you please...

MUSIC DROWNS OUT SPEECH

With their four-piece jigsaw complete, The Vamps

set about uploading cover versions online to build their fan base.

And it worked, cos soon

they had hundreds of thousands of followers.

Now the question was, could they make it in the real world?

# I'm known to go a little too fast

# Don't mind all my friends... #

Ah, of course they could!

# They're the only friends that I have... #

In April 2013,

the boys bagged themselves a massive UK tour

with McFly and played 20 shows.

# That's all I have to say

# So, baby, can we dance? #

Take two Ambo points for getting your first tour, lads.

In September 2013,

The Vamps gave the fans one of their own songs to cheer about.

# You know I need you, girl

# My heart's not made for someone else.. #

Can We Dance stormed to number two in the charts. Nice one!

Have another two Ambo points!

But they weren't the only ones getting big.

# We got that sweet, hot loving

# Dancing in the dark... #

Over in London, a young girl called Rita Ora

was about to become one of the UK's coolest singers.

# We're tearing up the town

# Cos that's just how we do

# How we do... #

This is where Rita grew up and that's the flat she lived in.

But she wasn't actually born here.

In the early 1990s, Rita's parents moved here

when she was a baby from Kosovo in southeastern Europe.

Everyone told Rita she had an amazing singing voice,

but she needed a helping hand to turn that talent into a ticket

to one-way stardom.

This is how Rita made it big.

# So put your arms around me, baby

# We're tearing up the town

# Cos that's just how we do... #

If you want to get as big as Rita, it pays to start young.

When Rita was six, she joined

the primary school choir and then it was on.

Her voice got her to a place where stars are made.

This is the Sylvia Young Theatre School

and it's at this place where Rita started to shine.

Eh?

'I'm going to get all the goss on teenage Rita

'from the principal herself, Sylvia Young.'

Now, Sylvia, I've got to confess, I've never been in a headmaster's

office before cos I was such a good student.

But what was Rita like when she was at school?

She was funny, cheeky, naughty.

I'm afraid so.

But very likeable, very warm.

There was a lovely personality there.

We genuinely were very, very fond of her.

What was your first impression when you first saw Rita?

I saw a very pretty little girl with a lovely voice.

She did a very good audition. She also wrote a note.

-Would you like me to read it to you?

-That would be amazing.

"Rita, Year 6.

"I'm 11 years old, I come from Kosovo.

"I really enjoy swimming, singing and I love writing stories.

"I know you're going to not like this, but I have pet rats.

"Their names are Ant and Dec.

"When I grow up, I would like to be a singer,

"because I love singing and travelling.

"I'd also like to be an author.

"I love writing adventure stories and children's stories."

THEY LAUGH AND SCREAM

Luckily for us, Rita didn't become an author

and concentrated on her singing.

For being top of the class,

have three Ambo points.

# Baby, you could be my man

# And we can fall in love... #

Sylvia helped Rita realise that she had the talent to make it,

but it was after leaving school that the hard work really began.

Rita started singing in pubs and clubs around London

and word soon got out.

Craig David asked her to be on his song with UK rapper Tinchy Stryder.

# So tell me

# Where's it gone? Where's it gone?

# For that old school feeling again

# Where's your love? Where's your love? #

This was the massive break Rita had been waiting for,

because it hooked her up with an even bigger US rapper.

You might have heard of him? Jay-Z.

# We're livin' life like a video... #

In 2009, Jay-Z flew Rita to New York

to sign her to his Roc Nation label.

He even managed to squeeze her into one of his vids.

Blink and you'll miss her. R-R-Rewind!

That's two Ambo points

for impressing the main man.

# You know you're only in it cos it's hot right now

# Hot right now Turn it up right now... #

Signing with Jay-Z opened doors for Rita and

after a few years of hard work came her big break.

In 2012, she sang lead vocals on DJ Fresh's number one smash

Hot Right Now, and it turned her into a megastar.

# Hot right now... #

Have three Ambo points for never giving up on your dream, Rita.

# Cos it's hot right now... #

Let's have a look at the scores.

Wowsers, The Vamps lead by

nine Ambo points to Rita's eight.

Stay tuned, this Pop Slam

could go either way.

Now that we know how our stars made it,

let's check out how hard they've been working since then.

It's time...for Round 2!

Round 2, Pop Success.

This is all about what our stars have been up to to make sure

they stay at the top of the charts.

First up, it's The Vamps.

They may be a new band, but The Vamps are massive. How big?

Let me stat you.

I'm talking 35 million hits on their online video page.

And, between them, over a million Twitter followers.

Phwoar, welcome to the club.

# The story of my life

# I take her home

# I drive all night

# To keep her warm... #

They may have only had a few of their own singles,

but that hasn't stopped The Vamps from creating more

than 30 videos of other people's songs.

Like this One Direction track that the band

uploaded on their video page.

All right? I'm Brad from The Vamps

and this is our cover of Just Give Me a Reason.

# Just give me a reason

# Just a little bit's enough

# Just a second, we're not broken... #

They've worked so hard to create their online following that,

wherever they go, so do thousands of fans. Whoo!

That's three Ambo points for taking

band dedication to a new level.

I met The Vamps recently

and it was just phenomenal.

They were on their phones tweeting where they were

and then suddenly, outside,

there was hundreds of fans.

FANS SCREAM

We love The Vamps!

They have this power at their fingertips that I'd never

seen with another band before.

All the lads' hard work is finally paying off and,

even before releasing an album,

they're getting some pretty big bookings.

And it doesn't get much bigger than sharing a stage with Taylor Swift.

Beats singing in your bedroom, right, Brad?

But stepping up to play massive arenas hasn't always

gone smoothly for The Vamps.

Like in February 2014, when the lads were supporting

Taylor Swift at the O2 Arena in London and this happened.

SINGING

Oh! Connor took a big tumble mid-song.

But don't worry, guys, he's OK.

For staying professional despite a major slip-up

in front of your fans,

you guys get two Ambo points.

# I'm checking you out in your sweet design... #

Whilst The Vamps have been taking Britain by storm,

Rita Ora set her sights on world domination.

In August 2012, she released her debut album Ora,

and it sailed to the top of the charts.

That's three Ambo points for Rita's hard work

to claim a number one-tastic debut.

Someone like Rita Ora, you can't imagine her not being famous.

You can't look like that and have those kind of talents.

So it's no surprise that she has had the level of success she's had.

# Drop the ball, let me feel the beat... #

Rita's hard work has led to mega-success,

headlining on stage both with the ORA Tour in the US in 2012

and the huge Radioactive Tour in 2013.

It's amazing!

That's two Ambo points for taking

your music from the UK to the USA.

Rita is huge in the UK and the US,

but guess which countries could possibly love her more

than anywhere else?

Kosovo and Albania.

# RIP

# To the girl you used to see... #

Remember, Rita might have grown up in London,

but she was actually born in Kosovo,

to Kosovo Albanian parents.

So neighbouring Albania is somewhere close to her heart.

I don't know much about Albania

and who better to ask than the ambassador for Albania himself?

# Baby, come closer

# I'm ready for you... #

Hey!

Rita's such a big deal in Albania that the ambassador invited her

here to the London Embassy for a special reception.

How proud are the people of Rita in Albania?

Rita Ora is very famous in Albania,

because she's an Albanian,

but she was born in Pristina in Kosovo.

So, she's very much loved by the kids.

Kids go to the school with pictures of Rita Ora

stamped in their bags and books.

Are you ready?

# My way through London

# Americana

# The persona

# It's prima donna... #

In 2012, when Albania was celebrating its

100th anniversary of independence, Rita was invited by none other

than the president to fly to the country and get the party started.

# I can't express enough... #

How happy I am to be here.

Tirana!

Let me hear you make so much noise right now! Let me hear you scream!

More than 100,000 people were watching.

The weather was not good, it was raining like cats and dogs,

but people still stayed there up till the end of the programme.

So that was a moment when Albanians really had

that great feeling of a great artist

like Rita Ora who makes us very proud.

That's two Ambo points for presidential connections.

If Rita's big in Albania,

then she's even bigger in her home country of Kosovo.

# Hey there, rock stars

# Turn up your radio... #

So, when she wanted somewhere to film her video for Shine Ya Light

in 2012, of course she chose none other than

her home city of Pristina.

# They'll never knock you down... #

This is crazy. We're in my home town in Pristina

and we're shooting a video.

They've closed off the whole road.

I love ambassadors, so I want to hear from the

Ambassador of Kosovo to get the lowdown on the vid.

I could see that there were enormous crowds of young people

in the streets cheering her name and following her wherever she went.

We were very, very proud that she did that.

# Oh-oh-oh, shine tonight... #

Rita is such a big star in Kosovo

that they let her have the run of the city.

Check out her police escort in her video.

They're real, by the way.

For never forgetting her roots, that's an ambassadorial

four Ambo points for Rita.

# We shine. #

# I hold my hands up high

# And throw my glass into the sky

# But when the morning comes

# We'll never see the sun... #

Back in the lightning-fast world of The Vamps,

things just kept getting better.

After three successive hit singles, in April 2014,

their debut album Meet The Vamps stormed straight in at number two.

# No, we're not going home tonight... #

Have three Ambo points for super hard-working debut-tasticness.

# Wake up in the morning

# With the sunlight in my eyes... #

But how has all this hard work affected their record sales?

Let's take a look-see.

# And now he's gone away

# And now I'm torn apart

# So torn apa-a-art... #

Rita has racked up an impressive

2.1 million records in the UK.

Nice going.

# Jealousy

# Turning saints into the sea... #

The Vamps are so hot right now

that they're selling records all the time.

But, right at this moment,

I estimate that they've sold

around 750,000 records.

But that will be going out of date...now.

They win two Ambo points

with Rita collecting three. Nice.

Let's check out the scores.

Rita now has 22 Ambo points

with The Vamps just behind on 19.

You know what to do if you don't agree.

Go online and have your say.

We've seen our stars' pop potential and how hard they've worked at it.

But now that they've reached the dizzy heights of superstardom,

let's see how glamorously outrageous they've become.

Round 3, what you got?

Round 3, Pop Style.

This is all about our celebrities' lives - clothes, cars,

pets or whatever else they splash their cash on.

First up, Rita Ora.

There's no doubt where Rita Ora spends a lot of her downtime.

She hits up some of the trendiest clothing stores in the UK

and America and, as a result,

she has one of the coolest styles in pop.

# I just can't free my mind

# It's making me uneasy... #

Rita Ora doesn't just follow fashion, she leads it.

The glamorous star is as much at home

on the catwalk as she is on stage.

Just ask superstar LA designer Ashton Hirota.

Rita is amazing.

She can go from elegant to street to anything, really,

and everyone loves what she wears. She's always raved about.

You'll never see her on a worst dressed.

And, if she is, she usually still looks amazing.

# I just can't free my mind

# It's making me uneasy... #

When she's not performing or in the studio, Rita keeps herself

busy on endless photo shoots for fashion labels and make-up brands.

For nailing the ultimate pop style,

I'm giving Rita four Ambo points.

That's her style sorted,

but what else is she into?

We all know Rita is off the scale in the coolness stakes,

but, when it comes to food,

I bet you didn't know she likes everything to be hot right now.

Rita has an obsession with hot sauce

and she likes to put it on everything.

And when I say everything, I mean everything.

She'll even put it on a banana.

But, on doctor's advice,

she's been told to ditch this spicy habit to save her lovely voice.

How hot can it possibly be?

Get in my belly.

'Oh, that's minus one Ambo point

'for being way too hot right now!'

OK, it's time to deal with The Vamps' style.

Basically, they're like One Direction with guitars.

I'm joking!

With these boys, it's all about the hair.

I think hair, if you're in a boy band,

is incredibly important, because, once upon a time,

it just used to be girls that cared about their hair,

but The Vamps have almost taken that mantle and run with it.

-Ooh!

-For services to hair products,

the boys win three gel-tastic Ambo points.

# What about love?

# What about our promises? #

The Vamps look like a rock band,

so it makes sense that they should travel like one.

The Vamps are a pretty fresh brand.

They've only been touring live for a year,

but they've clocked up some pretty serious miles,

supporting McFly, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez and The Wanted.

# I was walking away

# But she's so beautiful it made me stay... #

Up until recently, this was their tour bus of choice -

not exactly the height of luxury.

Oh, you can't really rock up to Wembley in one of those.

Now the boys are doing their own big tours,

they've upgraded and tour around in one of these.

This tour bus has just been dropped off by The 1975.

My mate Stu kits these babies out

and he's going to give me a glimpse of the

kind of luxury The Vamps can look forward to on their next tour.

Me first! Ooh!

Oh, what? This looks exactly like my school bus.

Jokes, jokes, jokes.

It is amazing! There is a lot of technology around here.

Can you run us through what we're looking at?

Yeah, we have a PlayStation, sound systems, flatscreen TVs.

That is amazing. Welcome to the future!

Keen to see some more. What else have you got? Ooh!

Didn't even think of a kitchen! No way!

And you can't have a kitchen without a kitchen window

and there is a pretty awesome window there.

Right, let's carry on the tour. No way!

It's like bunk bed city over here!

I would definitely call shotgun on this one under here.

This is so comfy! It's actually better than my bed at home.

This is so cool!

Plenty of space for The Vamps to party in whilst

they're on their way to their next gig.

I'm sold,

but no tour is complete without a visit to the smallest room on board.

No way. I have never filmed in a toilet before. Get in, get in.

When you're on the road, what if you need to do a number two?

-Are you allowed to?

-No number twos.

-No number twos?!

-No number twos.

-You're lying!

-I'm not fibbing.

-What do you do?

Ring the bell and we'll stop at the services.

For touring in style,

have two Ambo points, boys!

But, at a cool £500

a day to hire, I think

that bus is a bit out of my price range.

Now, what time does the 86 arrive?

# I got a wild heart. #

And that brings us to the end of Round 3.

Well, guys, we're at the end of Pop Slam,

and it has been amazing!

But we've still got this bad boy to give away. Who has won the Ambo?

Will it be Rita Ora or The Vamps?

SHE GASPS

Let's look back at what we've learnt.

It's been a battle of The Vamps' catchy guitar tunes versus

Rita's ultracool dance pop.

Both have exploded into the charts with a string of massive hits

and both know how to put on a show.

This Pop Slam is way too close to call.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's the moment we've all been waiting for.

The points have been counted and independently verified by me.

And the winner of the Ambo is...

It's Rita Ora! Oh, sorry, boys!

Rita, get in here! How do you feel?

Actually, you know what, save it. Let's just see you in action.

# Oh, oh

# I will never let you down... #

Hey, it's Amberley from CBBC. I was wondering if Rita was in?

HIGH-PITCHED CHATTER ON PHONE

Yeah, I know her really well...

HIGH-PITCHED CHATTER ON PHONE

We're really close, actually.

We're actually best mates with the Albanian ambassador.

No, I'm not kidding.

Oh, you're going to go get her.

I will hold. No, take your time.

MUFFLED SPEECH

Hi, Rita! It's Amberley.

# I will never let you down. #