WINNIPEG -- You know the story by now.

Five young women are plucked from obscurity and turned into an up-and-coming pop group via Popstars a network television show, Universal Music, a major record company and a group of helpful coaches, choreographers and producers.

The quintet in question is Sugar Jones, five young women from across Canada who were chosen by judges on Popstars.

The members of the group are Julie Crochetiere, 20, from Beaconsfield, P.Q.; Mirella Dell'Aquila, 19, from Montreal; Andrea Henry, 22, from Hamilton; Sahara MacDonald, 24, from Vancouver (though she was born in Winnipeg); and Winnipegger Maiko Watson, 20.

They already have a self-titled debut album in record store racks, their first single, Days Like That, was a bona fide hit on MuchMusic -- and they have thousands of fans, as evidenced by the 1,200 or so kids who turned out for an autograph session yesterday afternoon at Polo Park.

All that remains to be seen is whether this group can sustain its momentum and prove that -- though their formation may have been a fabrication -- they are legitimate pop contenders.

"That's the biggest thing," says Sahara in a hotel suite before heading for the mall. "It's great for the TV show to be over and it's great to actually become a band."

Mirella agrees.

"On TV we knew there would be cameras around and though we were supposed to act naturally, you always kind of know that. It's nice to do more personal stuff, just hand out together and be a group."

So, now that the show is over and the comfy, Global-supplied condo is vacant, does real work begin? Do the members of Sugar Jones feel like things are real again?

"I think so, now that the album's out," says Andrea. "It's nice to know it's happening and that we can get to work."

"At the signings we've been doing, it feels real," says Julie. "You get a real sense of who's out there and how many people there are."