Do you think that the format of the show which concetrates on singing (songs not related to the musical I may add) give certain contestants advantages or disadvantages?

Television and Theatre are such completly different mediums; what looks good on TV will be too subtle and appear wooden. Similarly what looks hammy and cheesy on TV would probably work well in Theatre.

Would Daniels style of acting (which sometimes looks over-the-top on tv) look far better on stage. I'd say yes

Would Seamus be more popular if we just saw him perform and didn't see a video clip beforehand? again I'd say yes.

Does the fact that acting is far less prominent than singing in the show affect the outcome?
Certainly. If acting had been concentrated on more in the Maria show i'd bet anything that Siobhan would not have been in the final.

Of course this is less important in Joseph but I did feel it was slightly ridiculous that the acting was almost completly ignored in HDSPLM? when the part was 70% acting!

Basically what i'm trying to ask (not very succinctly i'm afraid!) is do you think a different Maria or a different Joseph would be chosen if the format of the show was different? or do you think that talent always shines through no matter what.

I do think that if they are going to sing pop songs then all should sing them though there should be a week or two when all sing just show tunes. Cant understand why they keep emphasising the acting aspect when there is very little acting in Joseph in my opinion. I would also like to see the singer having some sort of say in what song they sing. Maybe given a choice of two or three songs from ALW with them able to pick the one they are most comfortable with. The video bits should have no relevance on the contestant though I know this is just wishful thinking on my part.

I also think that ALW will get the Joseph he wants in the end with the current format.
Last edited by ArtyAttack : 25-04-2007 at 18:20

On that point I would say yes, I would be really impressed with him, but he comes across as such a smug, conceited bad mannered git I can't stand the bloke!

But I do think that sheer talent will come across no matter what, and that is why I am hoping for Lee or Daniel to be there at the end!

I agree with that. Lee always looks as though he's really over-acting in the group items, but I'm sure from a few rows back in the studio he actually looks better than the rest.

Stage v Screen ............. reminds me of the arguments for and against Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig (both classically trained actors and more experienced on stage than screen) who are in my opinion the two best Bonds ever ................ but I digress ...................... I find it interesting that Lee and Daniel are the most experienced stage/theatre performers because I find them the most subtle of the contestants. Certainly when compared to something like Chris B's demented performance last week and both of Antony's "look at me" performances.

I think that to the people behind this concept, the TV show is just as important as the musical. It's a prime-time Saturday night family show, so it must entertain in its own right. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the TV show comes first, and the musical is spun off the back of it, because the programme generates a huge amount of public interest and many London theatres are unable to fill seats.

This is why the competitors don't all sing the same songs, even though that would be the blindingly obvious way of comparing them fairly; and it's particularly why they're not repeatedly singing songs from the show they're auditioning for, but a mixture of pop and easy listening to entertain the Saturday family crowd.

It is probably not the ideal way to audition a lead for a show, but it doesn't really matter. I don't suppose Jason Donovan auditioned - his main acting experience was a TV soap opera; he carved out a pop career off the back of his acting experience and transferred to stage musical off the back of his popularity in both fields.

In other words, he was trained up to be Lloyd Webber's 'ultimate Joseph' (or whatever it was he called him) mainly because he was already popular with an audience and could sing. Philip Schofield didn't even have that - but he was a TV presenter who was very well known.

Whoever wins this show will, like Donovan and Schofield, be known to a large audience thanks to the programme, and will quite possibly be a better singer than either of them. The most important quality this show's auditioning for is public popularity - the rest can be taught.

YES! Thank you for pointing this out. I was watching with a friend who screamed "STALKER!!!" at the screen when Chris was singing. He really was a bit scary.

But we were both impressed SO MUCH by Lee. That's what's made me want to post here.

He certainly scared off the voters. Let's hope he doesn't get Every Breath You Take next time.

Oh, Lord. I might actually pay to see that.

But it goes back to the point about studio v stage v television. I don't know if the panel members have monitors that they can watch on. I certainly can't see any. But if they did, they might understand the perspective of the voting public more. Chris just looked terrifying. Doesn't matter if it would look okay if one was sat in Row T of the stalls at The Adelphi, it just looked scary on television. And people are voting based on what they are seeing.

But I'm really wanting to hear some big showtunes that will really sort the men from the boys both in terms of vocal performance but also acting ability. It showed how badly it can go wrong in the case of Johndeep. I think that if you're casting a role in musical theatre, and I'm not objecting to the odd pop song, you would surely want to see them perform appropriate material.

I am personally absolutely dreading a Lee v Daniel sing off in the early stages. Never know with public voting.

I was wondering if they have monitors or not, as when you see the camera from their perspective (the judges), they are defin getting the theatre perspective.

I don't think that would happen, but if it did it would be a disaster for the show, in my opinion.

Thats one of my worst nightmares too. Although i'm rooting for Daniel, i do like Lee too

Me too, but us public are very fickle. Chris got some amazing comments from the judges (i thought they were going to cancel the show and just give him the part!)
But he ended up in the bottom two.

I don't think the public were being fickle there, I think the public were spot on. I was shouting at the telly when the judges were praising him to high heaven, are you blind, ref? He sounded passable, but is odd looking, pulls weird faces and moves awkwardly.

He was better in the sing off, but Johndeep had been stitched up by having a song he didn't know, and a very difficult one at that. (Though if you want to be a Musical star I can't believe you wouldn't be familiar with West Side Story!)

BTW, I agree with the poster who said they should all sing pop or all musical, its so hard to compare otherwise. I understand that they are trying to appeal to a broad audience, but there are enough well-known songs from shows to fill the programme.

I don't agree about Chris. I saw the show 2 years ago, and even when he is singing on the show I can see him as Joseph.....he acts and moves like Joseph.

It really could be anyone in the bottom two. The public are SO fickle plus there must be quite a few viewers not ringing in now because of all the scandals recently. If it's older viewers who are more inclined to support Lee or Seamus (set aside how he might be being edited and the issues that presents for him) which it might very well be then they could end up in the bottom two. I only say that because I'm making the assumption from internet chatter that younger viewers are going more for Lewis, Antony and the boys than Lee. I stand to be corrented though on my take on it. ALW seemed pretty annoyed by the public vote last week on his podcast on Really Useful. Can't blame him. I'd be very worried if I was him now, which is why I suggested that I was terrified of a Daniel v Lee singoff. And I also agree that this would be disasterous for the show.

I think you're right...I'm younger and really like keith, Lewis and Chris I really don't like Lee and Seamus!!