Hmm, overall I was disappointed with this. I much preferred the format to previous shows to find Maria/Joseph/Nancy etc. I missed the audition rounds and getting to know the contestants. There was too much screaming and it all seemed too staged. Hopefully it will pick up.
I hope that they test the final few Sophies out with the Donna they will be working opposite. It is important that they work as a family unit.
The girls seem of a higher quality than the boys. Esme or Maisie would seem the most obvious, traditional casting but we shall see
The boys seem too generic at this stage. Tobias caught my eye and will probably shine more in a better grouping.
I'm only watching it for Toby, I saw him multiple times in Heathers and loved him. I'd like him to win for his sake, but then I'll actually have to go and see him in Mamma Mia, which is REALLY not my sort of show!
It’s still early days, but it all feels a bit too happy and cheerful. Will we see anyone who’s so competitive that they’ll happily sell their own granny (after forcing her to appear in a VT, obviously!) in order to win? Will we have Sophies and Skys with gimlet eyes as they tell us that they’ve wanted to be in Mamma Mia since they were foetuses? Will we have weeping and gnashing of teeth by departing Sophies and Skys as they belt out the farewell song? In fact will there even be a farewell song?
Watching this show does make me long for Graham Norton with just enough snark to stop things getting too saccharin, ALW with his facial expressions during performance not matching his comments afterwards, and the epic farewell songs! The Josephs being stripped of their coats by the other contestants was my favourite, especially when Seamus went rogue and changed the lyrics!
Meh, I couldn’t really tell who was singing in a lot of the duets, trios. Most the lads don’t seem to be very good. I know Sky is the blandest of bland roles so they don’t need to have much about them. But as previously said it would have been good to see some mass audition rounds to see how these were picked.
The girls were a lot better, and most of them could easily play Sophie comfortably.
My main issue with this is that the live performances in the open air sound so produced that they just don't sound like live performances. There's a bunch of reverb on a lot of the performances, where is that coming from? The music is a backing track - are the judges hearing what we are hearing? And not really respecting the judges with their input.
I'm giving it one more week but I think I'm probably out of the rest of this.
There was one moment where the judges clearly winced and, while the singing at that point wasn't great, it didn't quite merit that response. I agree, they can't be hearing the same as us. That said, competition reality TV is my guilty pleasure so I will probably watch right till the end, no matter how awful!
There was one moment where the judges clearly winced and, while the singing at that point wasn't great, it didn't quite merit that response. I agree, they can't be hearing the same as us. That said, competition reality TV is my guilty pleasure so I will probably watch right till the end, no matter how awful!
Alan Carr did an ALW gurn!😂
The problem is that because it was pre-recorded, what we’re seeing has been edited. So, the ‘reaction’ shots, might not have been from that performance. At least when ALW ‘reacted’ to a performance in the BBC casting shows, we knew he was reacting to that performance because it was live.
It sounded like a backing track, but there is a live band there playing, so I was a bit confused!
I wonder whether the sound quality was a bit variable so they've done some touching up for the television?
Desmonda appeared to have an entire orchestra backing her!
I also found the dancers distracting. The girls were performing on a small stage, so the group of dancers filled it. I half expected someone to get an elbow in the face or a kick to the shin!
Post by HereForTheatre on Oct 30, 2023 19:18:16 GMT
We really did get some now big theatre stars out of those old BBC casting shows, not just the winners either. I've seen quite a few on stage and most would are names in the industry. Rachel Tucker, Sam Barks, Danielle Hope, Jodie Prenger, Lee Mead, Daniel Boys, Bronte Barbe, Jessie Buckley, Sophie Evans, Lauren Samuels, Jessica Daley ect...
I can't see that the same will happen here...altho I think Desmonda's star was already rising and this will elevate her even more so maybe she will come out of this a star but other than that, doubt it.
Didn't ITV try another theatre casting show before? Was it for Grease or Dirty Dancing? You don't see many of them now either do you.
We really did get some now big theatre stars out of those old BBC casting shows, not just the winners either. I've seen quite a few on stage and most would are names in the industry. Rachel Tucker, Sam Barks, Danielle Hope, Jodie Prenger, Lee Mead, Daniel Boys, Bronte Barbe, Jessie Buckley, Sophie Evans, Lauren Samuels, Jessica Daley ect...
I can't see that the same will happen here...altho I think Desmonda's star was already rising and this will elevate her even more so maybe she will come out of this a star but other than that, doubt it.
Didn't ITV try another theatre casting show before? Was it for Grease or Dirty Dancing? You don't see many of them now either do you.
Yep, ITV did Grease is the Word back in 2007 - won by Danny Bayne and Susan McFadden.
ITV also did Superstar in 2012, a few of the finalists are still doing well in theatre (Ben Forster, David Hunter).
I don’t think it works without a public vote each week, the lack of jeopardy makes it a bit dull.
I agree with this and one thing that bugs me is the pieces to camera where the contestants talk about doing "regular jobs" and how they'd love to be in the West End but no mention of Desmonda being in From Here To Eternity and Tobias appearing in Heathers etc.
This is almost like the original Popstars series where it was pre-recorded and then shown. Clearly filmed a while ago given Sam Barks has given birth now and wasn't even showing when it was filmed. We don't know what input the producers of the TV show or those from Mamma Mia have had. I haven't watched this yet and probably won't watch it fully but I want to check out the actual performance numbers in due course.
This is almost like the original Popstars series where it was pre-recorded and then shown. Clearly filmed a while ago given Sam Barks has given birth now and wasn't even showing when it was filmed. We don't know what input the producers of the TV show or those from Mamma Mia have had. I haven't watched this yet and probably won't watch it fully but I want to check out the actual performance numbers in due course.
Judy Craymer is on set and being consulted throughout. Along with Anthony Van Last and Martin Koch. So there is heavyweight input
Last Edit: Oct 31, 2023 1:51:13 GMT by oxfordsimon
It's all too contrived and none of the parties involved are good enough at making it seem genuine. (There again it's no worse than the faux shock of Cowell &co unexpectedly discovering Subo or whoever as if they hadn't been through many rounds of auditions before they get near a camera). It would be more difficult and expensive to do, but a genuine fly on the wall rehearsal room experience of how they create and develop songs and scenes to performance standard would give a much better idea of the candidate's abilities, and would probably have more drama than this staged nonsense.
This is almost like the original Popstars series where it was pre-recorded and then shown. Clearly filmed a while ago given Sam Barks has given birth now and wasn't even showing when it was filmed. We don't know what input the producers of the TV show or those from Mamma Mia have had. I haven't watched this yet and probably won't watch it fully but I want to check out the actual performance numbers in due course.
Judy Craymer is on set and being consulted throughout. Along with Anthony Van Last and Martin Koch. So there is heavyweight input
Why not have a couple of them on the panel, fair enough Sam Barks has been used by ITV before and Amber is an experienced performer. But Jessie Ware who isn't particularly famous IMO and Alan Carr have no real musical theatre connections. Alan as the host/co-host would have been better use of him.