Oh wow, you've met him! What's he like in real life?

I remember when a girl at our school got a part in Mary Poppins in the West End a few years ago. She was in my house, so I was quite proud of her achievement and it was certainly inspiring for other young budding performers.

I've only met Chester very briefly and he is mainly memorable for being a boy in a mainly girls dance class!

My recollections are of a obviously talented and nice boy who is also very cute looking. His Mum also seemed nice and friendly. Despite fears on this forum about all the Olivers being posh and with silver spoons in their mouths, Chester was at a normal local dance class and he seemed very down to earth.

I checked with my niece who knew him a bit better and she confirmed that he was "OK" which is high praise indeed in her teenage language!

I love Gwion, the second I saw him at the auditions, I wanted him to be Oliver...

Hehe, I'm liking Chester more

By the way, I've just heard from my friend that Harry used to be in Mary Poppins (check video!) - and was also in the BBC TV series "Roman Mysteries" as Lupus. I wonder what the other boys have done before IDA! Anyway, just thought it was interesting

Gwion makes me giggle, his accent is so cute!!

Jordan also makes me giggle, I must admit I hated Arthur until we saw his VT, totally different to what I thought!!

I don't know why, but that really annoys me, since he's already a "professional", and with clearly untrained kids like Arthur and Joseph (and to a lesser extent others such as Gwion) it just seems unfair.

I'm not at all suprised about Harry's experience, he is by far the best actor and seems to be the only one who really knows how to work the stage, I figured he must have done some other things. I heard that Johnny (I think it was him anyway) was very close to being a Billy Elliot.

Hmm, I don't really mind. It was kind of a given that most of these kids probably have some kind of stage school background and it was never going to be a completely amateur find (just like with the Nancys). Some of the others may also have experiences behind them too, just that we don't know about those yet.


I agree - I wasn't really surprised either because I always thought he appeared more confident & natural on stage than some of the others.

I agree - I wasn't really surprised either because I always thought he appeared more confident & natural on stage than some of the others.[/quote]

The problem I have with Harry's experience is that Cameron McIntosh ran Mary Poppins, and a quick search of "Harry Stott" on Google brings up an article about how the child roles were very hard to cast.

Atleast when the Nancy's are experience, it's a public vote, so it's still the publics decision.

I also have a problem with how there are some clearly trained kids, and some not so (such as Joseph, who's lack of training I find so endearing when he mucks up). It's kinda like "false hope" you are giving the kids put through to the "semi-finals", when in your heart of hearts, you know the role will go to Harry, Jonny (if experienced too!) and someone else.

I wouldn't be surprised; when the Oliver's sang Electricity, Jonny seemed the most 'Billy Elliot' out of the boys. I also can see that Harry's had experience, he's a fantastic actor and to me seems to own the stage.

Holy! I saw Harry in Mary Poppins, and I didn't even realise that!! (Just had to check my programme to confirm that! Lol!)

I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for Gwion.

And after Arthur uttered the words "some of my favourite clothes are skinny jeans", I warmed to him. Hahaha. What a cutie.

Still not warming to Jonny though... I think it's the lack of expression on his face when he performs.

Hm, I think it's a personal perception - I don't care one jot if some of them had experience while others haven't, because that's just part of the package - some will have that advantage of experience, while others may have the advantage of natural acting talent, looking the part, better voice etc. In a real audition the boys would never be on a level playing field either and ALW/CM never advertised for just inexperienced boys. I'd rather see an experienced performer who can be relied on to deliver, rather than use a less good unknown just for the sake of it and for being endearing. I can also see no sign of ALW/CM favouring Jonny/Harry in the limited footage we have (hell, they're not even through to the SF yet!).

The whole format of this 'semi-final' thing does give them a bit of false hope and prolong the anxious process more than necessary, I agree. But they should have been ready for an unconventional experience before they entered and I think the Beeb has done very well to ensure that the experience is a positive one for them with the positive selection, no public votes, fun tasks etc.

Anyway, back to Saturday's show: I'm glad Kwayedza's through - he's one of the best singers there! Although I'm not sure if his voice is already too low for "Where is love" etc? Plus, I wonder what ALW meant with his throat being dodgy.... I also thought their task VT was funny and quite adorable, although I still fail to see the relevance of them to playing Oliver (in fact, I haven't really seen the relevance in most of the tasks bar the Billy Elliot one). Still, the boys are having fun though.

And I don't know why they made the Olivers sing in pairs for the Whistle down the Wind song. I'd much rather hear the individual voices.

Half of the places are taken now - I wonder who the other four would be. Still rooting for Alex/Jonny/Harry plus Gareth/Laurence.

..I'm utterly not bovvered.

I have a bit of resistance to stage-school "brats" though so I'd favour any lad who's "ordinary".

Tell me who they are and I'll support them!

I'd love Gwion to play the role.

I think he was ill maybe ??

Yes, there was a brief clip of him in the VT croaking while he sang. They didn't make a big deal out of it, but he clearly had some sort of throat infection or similar.

I suspect they already know who the eight in the semi-final will be, and probably have their final three sorted, too.

That's why I find it difficult to get too worked up about it. I'm not really bovvered, either, to tell the truth.

But I do like Chester.

Word has it that they may well all be in Fagin's gang anyway. (Thanks Mr Spielberg) so the less experienced ones will be about to get some real experience soon. It would be stupid to waste all that training and bonding that they have had together.

Yeah, I'm sure they've picked since these "challenges" we are shown are hardly decision makers. Unless loads of training goes on backstage.

Gwion last nice was shown as the "sweet nervous" one...everyone else being brave, but him being a little bit nervous. I'm sure he's a lock-in for either reserve or being Oliver.

Hopefully Lawrence, Jonny and Jordan will be the next lot in the final - and maybe Joseph to give the wee nipper a bit of confidence in his ability.

My favourit Olivers are (in order):

Sam
Gwion
Kwayedza

So come on Sam to make it through to the semi finals!

I'm posting for Camilla again:
"When I watched Electricity Jonny did stand out for me as being the most Billy Elliot out of them all, but I think it is infact Chester who I think auditioned for Billy. Although I can definitely see Jonny in the role! Jonny has only performed in local amateur productions I've heard, but he's still really excellent! He has to get through this week, he really deserves the next hat.
I found the video of his audition today and he's so great; he sang Expressing Yourself from Billy Elliot. A definite contender IMO and I'd love it if he got the role. I was also happy to find Chester's audition too; he sang Defying Gravity from Wicked. These boys have fabulous taste in musicals!

I was surprised Kwayedza got chosen but he really did well in his song with the Olivers!

People have commented that Jonny often looks blank and bored during the 2nd Oliver song on the Results show but this week he was definitely more 'animated' and the lovely close up shot of him was really nice! He showed tons of emotion this week, and I'm very proud of him! (I feel so protective over him haha)"

I really like Jordan - he always seems to be enjoying himself

And he looks just like my youngest at a similar age, so I admit to being biased

can we not have a thread for the olivers like we do for the nancys. where there is a statstical counter, and everyone can pick their 3 on that i reckon that could be quite interesting

I hope Jonny, Laurence and Alexander all go through.....not as fussed about the last one, maybe Jordan I think.

I have 6 that I really like though Chester, Jonny, Gwion, Laurence, Kwayedza and Alexander

Fell in love with Jonny in electricity....he was amazing!!

Camilla, where did you find the auditions? Thanks!

Camilla, are you Camilla10Jovi on Youtube? I would also like to see the auditions - although do you mean the ones back from Episode 1&2?

Kwayedza was really good tonight - his voice really is something. I'm glad he's through, although I still don't think he's entirely suited to be Oliver (more of a Dodger?) - and I think his voice may already be a little too low...

My next four: Alexander, Jonny, Harry, Gareth/Laurence!