Urapopstar

Urapopstar, known also as URAPS, is a multiplayer browser-based role-playing game that emulates the popular music industry with virtual popstars, record labels and a record chart. It was created by British teenager Robert Black in around February 2001. After its simple beginnings, the site has grown to be a very complex and very realistic simulation of the pop music world. The website is full of professional-looking artwork and often self-written lyrics.

The first number one was "Never Get (What You Always Want)" by Sparez. As of the chart dated December 18, 2011, Urapopstar has had 467 number one singles. The current number one is "Somebody For Me" by Chase Elite.

History
Urapopstar is an internet community in which its members create virtual popstars with the goal of bringing them onto the highest position possible on the top 40 singles and albums charts.

The first chart was published on March 4, 2001. It was a top 14, and the first number one was the girl group Sparez with their song "Never Get (What You Always Want)". Within two months of the first chart, the first artist that lasted two weeks as the first on the charts was Ryan Simmonds by producing his single "Boys and Girls". Earning seven number ones and one as a featured artist, he remained the biggest artist on Urapopstar until Lucreacia earned her eighth number one single "Reputation" in 2004, and the biggest male artist on Urapopstar until Antony Jones earned his eighth number one single with "The Thrill Of Speed" in 2005.

Simmonds extended his success into 2002, along with pop groups Ace*Teens and Gasp, two of the most successful pop groups in history. 2002 also saw the arrival of country star Andrea Twain, who earned seven #1 hits in her career beginning with "When".

During 2003, the undisputed Queen Of Pop, Lucreacia tallied seven number one singles from "Where The Wild Roses Grow", a duet with Tom Owen, to "Christmas". The year also saw the arrival of new acts Mars/Venus and Miss Drips whilst other acts such as ex.one and Mark B produced some of the biggest hits of their careers.

In 2004, girlASKboy and Androgyny led "The Rock Revolution" whilst the success of acts of Lucreacia, Mars/Venus and Miss Drips continued.

Some of the most successful artists of 2005 included Claire Kitten, Emblaze, Melissa Moore, Alesha and Emma Brown. Large successes from newcomers included Russ Hooch and Kantar.

In 2006, Emblaze scored the first ever four-week #1 with "Easy Target" which is now among the top 10 sellers of all time selling over 600,000 copies. 2006 also marked the 5th anniversary of Urapopstar, which was marked with the forums having a five year anniversary party including performances from veteran acts. Other highlights of 2006 included the first Tango Challenge, which was won by Christine Tyler and Arwyn Knight.

Comebacks in 2006 included Buffi, whose album Pill Queen sold over 2 million copies, Miss Drips, who continued her streak of top 5 hits, and Delta Nu, who scored three #1 singles. Among the most successful newcomers of the year were Ami Yuki, Dalisay, Christine Tyler, Hélène Schneider, Lemon Cosmos and Alex Washington, all of whom reached the top 5 with their debut singles, while other veteran artists such as Jon Farley and Dr. C and the Predicates finally scored their first #1 hits.

Emblaze called it quits in fall 2007, ending their career with the single "Bit Of Rough" selling over 500,000 copies to be the #1 single of the year. Also around the same time, Jack Stevens, Jake, and Jon Farley came together for the charity single "Trendy Pop Boys", one of the most popular singles on Urapopstar, eventually becoming the biggest selling single in six years. Alesha had one of the best years of her career thanks to a massive hit streak from her album Alesha Is The Queen, although it was interrupted by the overwhelming failure of the collaboration "Power Power" with Buffi, Shell Ruin, and Taylor Brookes. Two of the year's most notable newcomers were Emily Henning, who released five number one hits from her debut album Shattered Diamond between 2007 and 2008, and the Sleazy Sisters, who became the first winning act from URAPS Idol to reach #1.

Jack Stevens rode high off the success of "Trendy Pop Boys" in 2008, earning seven number one hits that year alone, including the first single to chart on downloads alone, "Sexxxy Robots/Dodging Bullets". In December 2008 he broke Lucreacia's record of the most number one hits and tied her record for most number one singles in one year with the release of his single "The Wolves".

The year also saw the arrival of Indigo Peak, who earned four huge selling number ones, and Romo, who became the first act in five years to have her first three singles reach the top spot. Amazingly enough, Indigo Peak and Romo earned the top 2 best-selling singles of the year. Izzy continued to churn out number one records, despite not doing that much and Jake was as faaaaaaaaaabulous as ever! (you so would!!!) His collaboration with Yannik of Indigo Peak, "Partners In Crime/Not Tonight Santa" became 2008's Christmas #1 single and with its success extending into the new year became the biggest hit of all time.

In 2009, forum activity and voting levels reached their highest points since the Adam and Rob administration, giving way to a new "golden age" of URAPS. China, who suffered a career backlash as a result of a series of feuds in summer 2008 dubbed by the tabloids as "World War III", saw a massive resurgence, earning her first #1 single with "Tune Me In Stereo" and winning the third Tango Challenge with her collaboration with 2gether. Leading up to the release of her second #1 single, China won three awards at Urapopstar Awards 16 and ranked #1 in the 12th URAPS Rate.

Indigo Peak, Emily Henning and Jake continued their #1 streaks following their accomplishments in the previous year. After 16 consecutive number one singles, Jack Stevens' streak broke with the #4 charting of his single "Mannequin Do...", though he did rebound to the top with Captain Jack. Veteran acts such as Paul, Riley Hart, Esmeralda Dimuzio, 4tune, and Sophie Ramone came back with their greatest successes in years, while newcomers such as Syd Wolfe and Crystal Barker have been really successful, both of them reaching #1 within a few months of first releasing.

The admins faced a server suspension in late February 2009, leading an organization called SAVE URAPS to start up. The organization, encouraging people to donate to the admins to keep the uptime of the game running for as long as possible, held a star-studded telethon on March 21st 2009, two days after a server shutdown was realized. An all-star charity single featuring contributions from over 40 acts, "Play The Game", was released two days after the telethon and reached #1 on the charts. In September, further site issues led to a reformation of SAVE URAPS, a second telethon, and a second charity single "Hold Fire".

During late 2009-early 2010, China and Ana Simpson marked their territory as pop superstars, with their respective singles "Not Gonna Tell" and "Turnaround" each selling over half a million copies and spending eight months inside the top 40. The era saw also #1 comebacks from veteran superstars 4tune and Hailey Klass, the arrival of hot newcomers Dresden & Bareilles, Butterscotch, Thorn City and Moodring, but most importantly the meteoric rise to superstardom of Midnight and teen sensation Just Ginger as well as the downfall of chart mainstays Indigo Peak and Jack Stevens. Ana Simpson and Alesha scored the year's best-selling singles with "A Million Tales" and "The Last Temptation", both selling over half a million copies.

2011 brought along a slew of newcomers due to advertising on such boards as Girls Aloud Media and Popjustice, and new acts such as Candi and Dante each scored #1 debut hits among the already established acts of the board.

And still, the charts are looking as healthy as ever, with the chart turning itself upside down nearly every week, and with more releases each week than ever before.

Presently Urapopstar continues to receive a large amount of web traffic and activity while being administered by Lewis and Rob. The game attracts visitors from around the world but are primarily from Great Britain.

Controversy
There has also been drama on Urapopstar. One member, Michael, was banned for his rather morbid topics and another, Simon, tried to ban the administrators after being caught cheating. Ex-player Britney was also banned for constant bickering on the forums, and for trying to cheat at the game.

In September 2011, a former admin sold the server for the Urapopstar website to Nathan, who was banned for causing a great deal of drama earlier that year such as hacking into other members' Photobucket accounts and releasing a single unfavorably directed at an admin. His purchase of the server led to Nathan and Andy taking over the game against the wishes of sitting admins Lewis and Rob, and many members were frustrated by the manner in which the transition was handled.

The gamers of URAPS are recently facing a battle to save most of the wiki profile on the Urapopstar wiki for being salvaged by certain members who are seemingly upset with the game.

Additional information

 * Urapopstar helped inspire a number of "ripoff" games including Cybercelebrity, Superstars, Idolised, Limelight, and Spotlight.
 * Unlike the real UK charts, there is no weekly chart show; the only week the charts are counted down in real time is on Christmas week.
 * Several songs about and inspired by Urapopstar have been written over the years, such as "Urapopstar" and "Revolution" by Buffi, "Five Years" and "2005" by Dr. C and the Predicates, and "Life Imitates Fiction" by Luke Ramada.