Hypothesis:

Andrew Lloyd Webber says to Tamsin Outhwaite, ok, they're all marvellous aren't they (blah blah) but there's one girl in your group who a bit special. Would you mind terribly singling her out - obliquely of course?

Come the show:

Tamsin does her job. "There's one who's perfect".

Graham Norton's question script, sorry "banter": "So basically you've got the winner, Tamsin".

"Yes.

Andrew Lloyd Webber praises Tamsin Outhwaite to the rafters.

The chosen one's first line in the following song is "What a set-up - holy cow!"

And then, because us viewers don't like to be steered too obviously, Andrew fulsomely praises one of the OTHER girls in that group, while it is obvious we are all trying to work out who the "perfect" Dorothy is.

BUT...he exposes himself with one of the classic giveaways - he touches his nose, which is a classic sign of lying (when you fib the blood rushes to your nose - Pinocchio was onto something)

He also looks ridiculously pleased with himself. The man is an open book.

...and sure enough, the extremely highly praised Dorothy bizarrely does not go through.

Instead, of the two that go through, one is the rankest of the rank outsiders in the betting.

Ergo, it is abundantly clear who Tamsin Outhwaite was asked, sorry said of her own accord was the perfect Dorothy. Who Graham Norton was scripted to describe as the winner.

And it also happens to be the one who struck me on the non-live shows as the obvious winner.

She'd better not let me down, as I have now put some serious money where my mouth is!

It also explains why they put the rankest of rank outsiders through.

If you peg the winner and then put the obvious non-runner through with one other girl, there's no element of doubt.

If you look at the last series, they did the same singling out of their favoured contender - remember "there's one who's world class" - but they did not make it clear enough whether it was Jessie (it was), Sam or Niamh.

I suspect that Andrew Lloyd Webber decided not to make the same mistake again.

The diversion demonstrates that they can't be too overt about these things - the show has to retain a veneer of competition after all. It is only necessary for the reviewers who are opinion-formers to get the message, and dozier voters will follow.

I hope you're right

"What a set-up - holy cow; they'd never believe it!"

"All I can say is wow; wait til the riff and raff see exactly how..."

["stage manager, would you mind doing a dramatic close up at this point.."]

"He signed his autograph!"

["To think the highesh brow should pick the lowest brow"]

"Which there's no doubt is me"

Last time before the live shows started I bet equally heavily on Sam, Jessie and Jodie.

This time I have hedged with four others who may have a chance, and I've gone all out on The Chosen One.

I'll be gutted if she gets knocked out.

More from Andrew Lloyd Webber

"Hmmmmmmmmm, not sure about this group" (touching nose, sticking hands in trousers, fondling earlobe)

"What I want you [ie, by subliminal inference, the viewers] to do in the second song is really concentrate on the meaning of the lyrics"

I never thought of it like that before but you're right.

I do like her a lot though and wouldn't be disappointed f she did win.

Too subtle for me, I'm afraid. I'm not even sure which girl you mean, because I haven't replayed that song so don't know which one got those lines.
I think if ALW really wanted this particular girl to win he'd be nuts not to choose her. Last year he got Jodie, although it was quite obvious she wasn't his choice. He got her, IMO, largely because the viewers warmed to her personality and her "back story", which was heavily featured in the early shows. (She was also an excellent singer, but so were quite a few of them).
I think the public (and I include myself here) don't generally pick up on such subtleties as who got slightly better lines in a song, and tend to vote on how the girls sound, and wether they came across in the background footage as likeable.

Well, they haven't made the mistake this year of throwing the spotlight excessively on the backstage personality of any one girl. You're right - last year they made Jodie into good telly long before the live shows and let her play them with the whole marriage thing, with the result that they unleashed a monster they couldn't control.

It's cumulative - giving a girl a show-off lyric with dramatic close-ups will in time enhance perception of her. Giving her what Simon Cowell would call a "moment".

And remember, they are not spinning in her favour for any other reason than that she is the best contender. But even the best contender will not shine if given the crap part of the song.

As for good singing, in the first song they gave her a very difficult bit of technical singing, which she executed brilliantly, and was praised for it by one of the judges. It's substance as well as spin.

I first noticed her with something she did on one of the preview shows - I can't remember if it was singing or acting - but it was a league ahead of anything anyone else was doing.

I think every little detail of these shows is intimately choreographed where Andrew Lloyd Webber and the producers think it may impact the viewers. From lyric allocation to editing.

I'd Do Anything showed that the producers are not omnipotent and that if the public takes a shine to a contestant then that will rule the day. But both shows where there was a clear preconception of what the character should look like threw up winners who conformed. Jodie was not only good telly, she also happened to be the closest fit.

I think Dorothy is every bit as iconic as Maria and more so than Nancy; so I think this is probably a two horse race between the current bookies' favourite and The Chosen One.

Chosen doesn't necessarily mean winner, it means initially preferred by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Can someone tell me who you are on about? It's too cryptic for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S_pQ...eature=channel

I'm guessing the argument is that Emilie is the chosen one.

I'm not buying this FXDUX. I'm struggling with attributing a lot of meaning to the lyrics she was given. The song is about making the big time. The other girls sang very similar lyrics.

More importantly though, not putting your chosen one through to the top ten when you have the power to do so is totally bonkers policy. The public have seen bugger all from these girls and they barely know them.

The powers that be have no previous voting patterns to draw conclusions from. It would be incredibly risky to rely on the public to put her through. The public are still at the stage where they are voting for the one name they can remember. My brother didn't watch the whole of the second show but told me that he was voting for Tash because he thought there should be a better ethnic mix in the top ten. He hadn't heard her sing. These are the kinds of reasons people are voting.

The incredibly subtle kind of manipulation you are talking about is very unlikely to work at this stage.

No, I said above the fulsome praise for one contestant was misdirection.

I do hope that Emilie gets through the public vote though.

It's not about subtlety, it's about supplying the preferred candidate with fodder for making herself a Cowellian "moment". You need a stinging lyric and a good hook to do that - and for that the contestants are at the mercy of the producers.

I think they are talking about Danielle being the chosen one.

FGS either say who you're talking about or don't make a thread and keep your cryptic-stupidity to yourself.

To get past this whole "Oh they want the viewers to look at the words forensically" subtlety stuff, what I mean is this:

There are two things at work here: one is the pursuit of a "moment". And the other is the narrative arc of each contestant: is this a frontrunner, is this someone with potential, is this a no-hoper? Did this person grow into a contender this week? Did that person prove she can't [act/sing] and fall out of contention?

What I am saying is that there were overt and less overt flashing signs in this show saying, this girl is not only a contender, she is the preferred contender.

I don't think they expect all dozy viewers to get it immediately. They only need the more alert ones to get it initially.

Do you really think I'd put loads of money on a girl who is not already in the top ten? Sheesh.

It's abundantly clear who I am referring to.

I was stupid enough to make quite a lot of money on I'd Do Anything - even though my favoured contestant didn't win.

Hopefully I'll be stupid enough to make several hundred quid on this show. Though I may not. The current favourite has a great chance imho. I've hedged her to break-even.

It's quite possible that one of the people I have discounted will unexpectedly emerge from the pack. But hey, I believe in this girl.

OK clearly you're more intelligent than all the other contributors on here-so if you are so certain why not say who you are talking about and be proved right tonight when the 11th girl is revealed as your chosen-one?

Or is that not something you are willing to do?

Well apologies for misinterpreting, my mind is a touch pre-occupied at the moment, I'm on here to distract myself from much bigger problems.

With chosen ones, all I can say is we shall see. Looking back there have always been more than one chosen competitor and I usually find that I don't understand the narrative arc until the show is over. Occasionally the "plot" from the point of view of the producers can change dramatically week on week. Nancy was a good example, the semi final was all about getting Rachel and Sam to the final and the final was all about Jessie winning. I think they had to change their story quite comprehensively when they realised that only Jessie had a chance of beating Jodie in the public vote.

I'm trying not to be too trite. Let me clarify: the girl I am referring to is already in the top ten.

This is not a big mystery. Just click on the youtube link in this thread.

The 'Chosen One', according to the O/P, is obviously Danielle.

Well here's hoping Danielle goes tonight then-just to prove you wrong

You never know.

That's the point. She can't be eliminated until the final if she's the 'Chosen One.'

Such an interesting theory. However, you can usually manipulate any situation to fit any particular 'conspiracy' idea.

But to add to it, I can also remember ALW stating early on something like "I want to keep my powder dry at this stage." Could that be because his favourite hadn't yet performed?

Also, the comment he made (and more particularly the way it was said) to Sophie along the lines of "I have to say you are extremely talented," (note the first four words), did kind of sound like he was sub-consciously addressing a possible runner-up.

Nothing's set in stone. In the end, they have to deliver.

You're on a hiding to nothing trying to get behind the meaning of the judges' words and the allocated lyrics! Posters queue up to pooh-pooh this kind of thing. But I do think there is much to be gleaned from what is said if interpreted correctly.

Sophie is very good - she's one of the four I have hedged with. But I don't think she's a good fit for Dorothy - she's too sassy.