Staff at CosmoGirl! had to hold their deadline on Saturday night and wait for the winner of the TV contest Pop Idol to be announced before they could go to press.
The teen magazine persuaded the makers of the programme to let them do an exclusive photo shoot with the five finalists last month.
Although four separate covers were designed in advance, celebrity editor James Williams and features editor Miranda Eason sat in the office from 7pm waiting for the TV result at around 10.20pm before they knew which cover to send.
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Williams said they had to race to fax the reprographics house and printers and then phone editor Celia Duncan in Australia with the result.
Art director Catherine Duffy then saw the final process through at the printers on Sunday morning.
CosmoGirl! normally works three months in advance. "It was quite a feat for us because the cover is normally done two weeks before we go to press," Williams said. "We had to switch our deadlines around quite a lot but we thought we couldn’t miss it."
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Williams said the timing was perfect because CosmoGirl! was due out on sale a week before the Pop Idol winner’s single will be released.
By Ruth Addicott
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