Heya, I just wondered what this years is like in comparison to previous years since I never watched those. (Actually I saw a few episodes of Joseph but only remember a few of them and I think a girls comp would just be different somehow).

So yeah, just wondering like what people thought, talent levels, personalities, buddy-buddyness of the girls, and just general stuff you think people might want to know.

Also, any key things we (ignorants like me!) might find useful to know about prev years, as in key people and generalised agreed things about them by ppl on here, or general public or judges. Just that there are a few ppl being mentioned who are clearly from the Nancy one (which I didn't see) where people kinda assume people know some key things about them and I don't and it'd probs be easy to sum that up in a few words.

Would just be nice =] and nice n nostalgic I'm sure.

Also - off topic, wasn't it nice when they asked the girls who they would miss? I totally called Steph and Sophie being best pals in house on the night that Bronte got booted. You could just tell. I like everyone hugs and hold hands so much, they seem genuinely fond of each other.

I know it was nicer than the previous weeks of 'who do you think should leave?', but I guess I felt a little sorry for those who didn't get a mention (Danielle mainly).


I'm quite liking this series - more than I'd Do Anything. But it will take a lot to beat Joseph. I got quite attached to a few of the boys in that series

I think Steph is miss popular. Or big sisterly. A nice big sister I mean. And they are mostly very young this year. tThey all seem very nice, and get along well.

Yes I felt bad for Danielle when she said Dani but Dani said Steph I think

Jessica and Danielle both said Dani.

Jessica and Danielle didn't get anyone saying they'd miss them the most.

I think it was Steph and Stephanie who got two "votes" each whilst everyone else got one (apart from Jessica and Danielle obviously)

I didn't watch Maria/Nancy/Joseph, so this is my first experience of this kind of show & I have a few questions

- The 'assigned colours' thing (e.g. Stephanie - wears yellow, Danielle - wears red, Sophie - wears purple etc). Was this done in previous years as well? Are there 'lucky' & 'unlucky' colour theories based on previous years?

- Do they release every week's voting figures after the final, like X Factor etc does? I had a look online but couldn't find any. I'd be interested to see the OTR voting for each week at the end of the show.

Hmm, good question. I haven't noticed any particular lucky/unlucky colour trends myself. (Yes they have always been assigned particular colours in past series.)

Not sure who went out first in Maria.
Connie won and was orange

Chris C went out first in Joseph, and I think he was pink.
Lee won and was Red

Was it Amy who went out first in I'd Do Anything? I think she was green?
I can't even remember what colour Jodie (winner) wore

Amy this year was purple or blue wasn't she?
(I have such a bad memory!)

Who knows who the winner will be based on all that!!



I'm not sure about voting figures. I've never seen them mentioned.

Laura was out first on Maria. No, I have no idea either!

Final 2 of Joseph and Nancy never in sing offs.

Final 2 in all of the previous ALW shows have had 1 English and 1 non-English finalist.

HDYSAPLM? Connie: Welsh, Helena: English

ADWD Keith: Scottish, Lee: English

IDA Jessie: Irish, Jodie: English

June and July are the months to be born in to win!!!

Connie Fisher June
Lee Mead July
Jodie Prenger June

Which of our girls fits?

If that carries on it would mean Sophie or Jenny for the final.

I've seen all four series. ADWD was my favourite. I think, thus far, OTR is the weakest. Mainly, I think because there are no stand-out performers yet. By this stage in the previous competitons, some of the contestants were beginning to stand out. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that the OTR sing-offs have been so random thus far - it's hard to pick a favourite and stick with them when you're struggling to remember who's who. Also, there is a lack of consistancy with the OTR girls, which doesn't help when it comes to choosing favourites.

The contestants in How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? were:-

Connie (Winner)
Helena
Siobhan
Aoife
Abi
Leanne
Simona
Meliz
Belinda
Laura

The Any Dream Will Do boys (sounds like a group of male strippers) were:-

Lee (Winner)
Keith
Lewis
Ben
Craig
Daniel
Rob
Chris B
Seamus
Antony
Johndeep
Chris C

I'd Do Anything girls were:-

Jodie (Winner)
Jessie
Samantha aka Sam
Rachel
Niamh
Ashley
Sarah
Keisha
Francesca
Tara
Cleopatra aka Cleo
Amy


HDYSAPLM Website:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/maria/

ADWD Website:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/joseph/josephs/index.shtml

IDA website:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/oliver/

^^ awesome listage!
I came in at the Meliz stage of HDYSAPLM (which I always see and somehow read as "napalm"... too many Vietnam movies!

I was totally traumatised at the first sing off I saw, much to my mother's amusement as I was at hers for the w/end!!! So when we got to the Holy Joes... Lord!!!

I think the problem here are there are no real stand out performers at the moment...
Or rather - the better singers and performers are beginning to make their mark (mostly) with the public, but ALW keeps telling us they're not right for Dorothy... in which case WhyTF did you put them through, you baggy eyed eejit???
Y'know.. just puttin' it out there!

dont know if the colors are helpful at all Dosnt seem to be any patten

Thanks for the info everyone!
Was just curious to see if there was a pattern eg. the 'purple' ones being voted off first or something like how in one of the dancing shows (can't remember if it's Strictly or DOI!) everyone says that wearing pink seems to be unlucky, etc.

It's a shame they don't release the voting figures, I'm always curious about whether the winner was always in the lead, whether it kept changing, whether there was someone who kept just scraping through, etc. Just nosy I guess

These girls all seem to be younger than the Nancys and Marias, with the exception of Amy, who has already gone.

It's actually Lord Baggy Eyed Eejit, if you please!

Yes, this is definitely the youngest group so far. The Marias ranged in age from 20 (Leanne) to 28 (Simona and Aoife), with the majority being early 20s. The Josephs ranged from 17/18 (Lewis, who turned 18 during the show), to 35 (Seamus). I think Sam was the youngest of the Nancies (was she 17?), and I think Jodie (28) was the oldest, but I'm not as sure on that one.

With the Dorothys, the oldest (Lauren and Amy) are both 22, while the youngest (Dani) is 16 and the vast majority of them are in the 17-19 range. I think Lauren and Steph are the only ones left who are older than 19.

Well I'd miss Danielle the most.

^ So would I.

^^
^^ Me too

Key things to know -

ALW hasn't got a clue about who is talented.

His favourite could fart then fall over in a sing off and they would still be saved.

He prefers younger performers, mostly because he can manipulate them better, the only exception to this is Ben from ADWD.

Don't believe what you see/hear. Once the contestants leave these competition and perform in musicals weaknesses we are told they have disappear.

What jill1812 said
Last edited by tiddleboo : 20-04-2010 at 15:32

Watch for the "who didn't make the show" factor too this year - Katie Hall and Nancy Sullivan appeared at Nancy bootcamp and were next seen in the WestEnd Phantom and Les Mis as Christine's understudy and Eponine...... .

There's also the given something entirely inappropriate victims who do well from it. Watch Aoife in the un-Maria like dance numbers she got and you can just about see someone casting for Chicago and thinking that move she has just done looks like our routine. I would hope someone is spotting roles for Jessica, Jenny and Steph even if they are sent into a holding pattern with inappropriate songs. Bronte seems to have been picked up for auditions already and there's one claim Amy has been seen auditioning for Legally (though there's not an ensemble role for someone blonde who looks like her as far as I recall?)

Wouldn't say ALW can't spot talent - he just misses some, comes up with illogical arguments to make choices on and sometimes doesn't seem to know who he is talking about. Not sure if all the bad song choices that produce underchievement are deliberate or just incompetence. The list of comments on people that proved untrue in the past is very long but I am not sure who had the worst record between Barrowman, DVO, the vocal coach, the producers on the first 2 series and ALW.

Interesting to see who does better this year and if third to fifth is still such a good place to come in. Is looking too much like the role a drawback long term? Is looking more like some other roles often a career advantage?

Well of course it is - how rude of me

Barrowman's talent spotting was brilliant. His favourite Joseph's were Daniel and Ben. He was the one saying from early on Jodie could be Nancy, and much as I missed it at the time he was right about Sam. He also push for Rachel to be in the final 12.

I think winning the role is great but the winner is going to be that role in so many people's heads you do wonder if they can get past that. None of the winners has done a second big west end musical, although Lee's about to start. The biggest winner have to be Aoife and Rachel, but then they must be among the most versatile.

I think ALW like pliable talent like Jessie, Niamh, Lewis, even Connie. I find it a bit creepy he doesn't seem to like those who are very sure of themselves, Daniel, Jodie, Ben and Rachel spring to mind.