hmmmm ....... maybe this was the vocal equivalent of that brilliant non-acting that Sheila spotted allowing us to find our own meaning.

I think that not going for the money note was a comment on the deficit and the need for financial retrenchment and living within our means .... of course I could be wrong.

Hi sweetie <smooch!>

I understand, I just wish as the winner she'd nailed it.

It does make me angry when people say someone doesn't show much personality - you should be picking someone who is suitable for the role, not whether they are bubbly in real life. By her own admission, Danielle is the most shy of the Dorothies and I think she seems a nice, genuine straight-forward girl which makes it actually more amazing when she tranforms into another character you see how good an actress she is. I like Sophie too but I think she was just performing as Sophie, charming as she is, rather than getting into the character of Dorothy.

I'm a singer and that argument is silly. As a singer Danielle should have been able to control her diaphragm.

Sophie's control was better and always has been. Having said that I'm not sure the big note at the end suits Dorothy, and don't know if they'd actually keep it in the show, but I'm sure Dani would have don't it if she could

I think Dani will be a very good Dorothy but I'm not sure she will be the next west end star, perhaps in acting but not sure about vocally.

Men with no interest in this show do not talk like this.

Well my husband does and can be quite cutting with his comments!

Sorry O/P ... I get the irony now.

Love it!

I thought Lauren did by far the best OTR of the night but that's what I expected. She has the best voice. Danielle was good - not brilliant, but good. I preferred it to Sophie's.

I think Danielle will be excellent in the part eventually. She's already a great actress and it seems to come very naturally to her. She has time to work on the vocals.

Well I think we all know SnoopMk's views by now.

Rumour has it that Danielle sneezed twice into a handkerchief and SnoopMk was up on her feet demanding an encore.

But she's entitled her view as much as the next person and it all adds to the debate.

Nothing at all wrong with my arguments, thank you very much.

When you stand up and sing in public competition, your nerves can kick in at any time; that's when the bum notes come! As a singer, I just know why that is. Any non-singer could work it out if they too have been in competitions that depend on physical skill.

Danielle gave 100% in two rousing final songs, then had to gather herself together for a much quieter song, the most crucial song of her young life. Of course she was nervous, so probably not perfect!.

Danielle won according to the rules of the competition, which is that she got the most viewers' votes. End of story.

If those votes had gone to Sophie, what's the betting that people would now be pulling her performance to pieces too?


Sophie hasn't got the "Dorothy" role, but with the right support and the right agent, she may well end end up with a more glittering West End career than Danielle. After all, the "Oz" musical is hardly "Phantom".

I do think Sophie gave the better performance of OTR and this is coming from somebody who didn't like Sophie and wanted Danielle to win.

That said, this is not X-Factor so its not just about hitting notes.

My husband goes to plays with me and enjoys theatre, and he has more of a music background than I do. He usually hears off-notes more than I do, for instance. He just thinks talent reality shows are a bit silly so he doesn't get that into them. He does seem to think, though, that the ALW ones are more worth watching than pop singing shows like American Idol. He watches with me because I like it, but he watches seriously and has strong opinions on the performances although he usually doesn't have strong favorites as far as the performers go. He judges mostly on performance on the night. He also does not always agree with me.

We should hear more about this very brave fellow!

Both girls gave 100% in all of their performances. Both girls were nervous. You can't just use excuses for Danielle and make out she was the only one with the weight of the world on her shoulders, purely because she was the bookies favourite. She had no more pressure on her than Sophie or Lauren. It seems a popular view that Danielle's OTR was not as great as was expected. Of course it's probably down to nerves, but to be fair she hasn't got as good a range as some of the girls and has sometimes missed top notes, OTR was just off and On My Own was off too. Suggesting she was the one with all the pressure is just ridiculous.

Danielle will do a fine job when the show opens. I know she will. But to imply that non-singers don't know when a performance is good or bad, and to also imply that Danielle was the only one with the pressure, just weakens your argument because both of those statements are ridiculous.

dont get me wrong i congratulate her for winning, but yes her over the rainbow song wasnt as emotional and gripping as sophies.

danielle has the acting qualitiy which works wonders for her. I still think Laurens the most talented out the remaining 3 but she wasnt a Dorothy - shes a leading lady for another part.

Sophies singing tells you a story you feel the emotion, danielle is hot and cold sometimes she does sometimes she doesnt no doubt she will get the training she needs, im sure she'll do wonderful in the west end and good luck to her shes got the "Actress in her" which will make up for the lack of emotion in some of her songs. hopefully she will pull it off though i loved her mumbo italiano song though 1st class well done !

Mambo Italiano was Danielle's best song, but is hardly demanding vocally. And she was very out of breath singing it last night. I am sure Danielle will get better with more coaching, but you can only extend your range so much, and unfortunately for her I just don't think she will have the range needed for lots of West End shows, she is lucky that WoO is not much of a singing musical.

I amamazed at the suggestion that Danielle was more nervous than Sophie. I think that is b******s - they are both young and will both have been very nervous, but Sophie still managed to deliver vocally because her voice is naturally better. Hopefully Danielle's will get better over the next year.

No, I don't think Danielle was "more nervous" - that would indeed be bull****t, but she was definitely nervous. So didn't sing her best.

Sophie was great, though. With that voice and those looks she will definitely end up with a stage role that will be more "her". (Apparently she got a big hug from ALW when the show went off air.) There are quite a few musicals on the "Really Useful" website and I wouldn't be at all surprised if when some contracts come up, she wouldn't be considered for a short run in another big role - much bigger than "Dorothy".

But both girls are very young, and both would benefit from some real stage school training fitted in before launching themselves permanently into the big time.

She wasn't the best singer and her performance was acceptable.

They did that song 4 times on Saturday night and if I have to hear it again I will scream.

I thought Danielle's rendition of Over the Rainbow was weaker than most girls this series, if I'm honest. But she is a good singer, all the same.

The OTR which she sang at the end wasn;t brilliant, but I can forgive her that, I think she was just overcome by the relief and the emotion, as anyone so young would be in such a position. She had also put so much energy into everything that evening (especially Mambo Italiano) that once the prize was won, well, I'm not suprised it wasn't her best vocal ever.

Her first performance of OTR I really enjoyed though. She may not have the range or the natural ease of Lauren or Sophie in her vocal but I thought it was well acted - she added something to it that was more than just sweet or wistful. I'm not one to rave over Danielle's acting either (I think she is often quite monotonous in the acting in her solo numbers, particularly compared to the upbeat group numbers where she tends to shine) but I thought that one was a really good acting performance.

I voted for Danielle but even I have to admit her OTR was rubbish and I thought Sophie was going to win because hers was much stronger.

They really need to work on that last note.

What worries me is that Danielle's head voice does not seem strong enough to compensate for her lack of range in belt (chest voice). That is where she will have to work as the range is not likely to get there, but with a powerful head voice she can use that instead.

Odd that almost all the series has been focussed on singing, now sudenly singing is not so important