I love the way they had the boys strut in Never Forget! Joseph and Sam were really feeling it! And I liked the pose at the end (although I did feel for Chester - Tara let the poor kid breathe a little! ), especially the way Jonny grabbed onto Kwayedza's hand.

I was a little disappointed with the Lee Mead performance (Was it me or did the boys look like they were wearing t-shirts from Primark??? The BBC wardrobe department really out-did itself there!) but Jonny stopping to tug his trousers up really made me laugh so I guess I shouldn't complain too much!

P.s - I'm glad I'm not the only one struggling with revision! This thread is just so much more interesting than A2 history!

No, not just you. I thought it looked wrinkled and tatty. Prolly not too many ironing boards in the BBC?

They did! They looked boring

My favourite outfits have to be the ones in Give A Little Love though, I thought they were brilliant. Chester and Jonny especially wore them really well, I thought.

Well its all over gutted!

Lol at the O-Factor and Oliverisms lol

can we have our B.A Oliver Studies degree now?


Yeah the pose was the best bit,cos let's face it,the boys didnt get to sing much

When did he do that!? I must go watch that video again. I didn't pay too much attention, I was grumbling away at the fact it was all about Lee and the only good bit was the Jonny spotting!

I didn't notice this. Just watched it again and tried to look out for it but I couldn't see it!

I think it was after the boys get up from the steps - I only saw it out of the corner of my eye but it did make me smile!

Have a look on iplayer, it's much clearer than youtube I've found.

Edit: Just watched it again on Youtube and he doesn't actually stop, it's kinda as he's skipping lol (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AACG1Hm3kTI - around 1.07)

Oh that did make me smile! He kind of skipped off the steps.

I didn't comment on this last night as I forgot, but when Graham had the dog on stage, did anyone else think Gwion looked incredibly terrified of it!?

I missed the beginning of the show yesterday, I don't remember a dog at all. When was it?

It was before Laurence & Jodie's duet, when the three boys came on to say which three girls they'd picked. (or rather, have been allocated.... )

and lol at Jonny pulling up his trousers.

Thanks Yes he was eyeing the dog slightly nervously wasn't he.

In Laurence and Jodies duet did anyone notice at the beginning when their both on the bench and sliding towards each other how Jodie went to far and poor Laurence just sort of had to shuffle on the spot because there was nowhere for him to go without ending up on Jodies lap.

I noticed that too, made me laugh.

So overanalysis crew what were your favourite duets from last night?

I thought Gwion's was the best,for its interaction between the two.

Also was I only one to like Singing in the rain?

Jessie and Gwion's had to be my favourite, it was just adorable. But I loved Singing In The Rain too, but then I'm probably biased being both a Harry and Samantha fan. I just feel the song didn't work properly, they didn't get a typical 'duet' song like the other two duets got, which I thought was a bit unfair really.

Jessie and Gwion's was magic. The first time I watched, I was transfixed by Adorable!Welsh!Blond!Tiny!Gwion so much that I didn't really notice Jessie, but on re-watching she did a good job too. But I do still think that she got the best song, the most popular Oliver and the most undemanding-but-tug-at-heart-sweet choreography.

Laurence and Jodie's was really sweet too. Jodie seems to be quite natural when interacting with them (although I do prefer Sarah with the boys - Jodie can be a little too much) and Laurence was just adorable; his kind of quiet modesty is so endearing and he looked so genuinely surprised when Jodie pushed him with her bum! Liked their random feet wiggling and his "precisely my cup of tea" line too. Jodie was poking Laurence so much though lol.

I enjoyed Harry's, but not as a duet - it just didn't work, there wasn't much chemistry there at all, and Harry's vocals weren't strong. And as others have said I think the song was far more to blame than Harry or Sam themselves - the song first of all is a man's song, it's not about interactions between two people, and it's not a duet - so the song didn't really allow them to interact. I also think Harry is the least "sweet" of all the Olivers - it's not meant in a bad way, but Harry just strikes me as a young adult and a young man more than a child actor, so he's less likely to evoke an "awwww" feeling than the other two.

Watching Singing In The Rain again, I really feel Samantha was actually trying to make it work as a duet, but Harry didn't seem as interested. Now I'm rubbish at reading body language etc so I'm not sure, but to me, it just seemed that way.

Also, just watched Jessie and Gwion again, and it didn't occur to me, but I agree with Ashrell, she definitely got the most popular and the cutest Oliver. I can't imagine Harry or Laurence on her back!

Yes I thought it was odd choice of song,but quite liked it anyway! Harry really grew on me in the last few weeks.

I know what you mean,when you say that about Harry. Gwion has the obvious cute welsh thing going on. Although he wasn't my favourite Oliver (You all know who that was by now!),I can see why he was picked. Laurence I really like too,he is so modest and unassuming,it's lovely to see

Having watched the Lee and Oliver's performance,it's such a waste of their talent,the boys' were really marginalised last night,even during Never forget,I thought there could have been a few more lines from them,but the Nancy's got the majority of them.

Also did anyone else get annoyed with Graham,when Lee and the boys finished the perforamance,he said something like "off you go urchins"

By the way,I can't view the Spurs video for some reason,so it would be nice if someone could pop it onto youtube.

I'm still obsessed with the Ollies in Never Forget. Their beginning part was just beautiful!

Sam was really feeling it, his strut was just so funny along with his claps. He really was giving it his all last night!

hello, hello everyone! I've been busy so its my first post of the day at 3 O'clock - shocking. I see quite a bit has been happening in the Oliver area and hope that you have all been revising hard (it doesn't look like it... but at least you've been looking at some type of "chemistry" Ashrell).

In terms of the duets, I thought Laurence was excellent as ever, my favourite Oliver, because he is so good vocally. Thought Jodie was a bit OTT and cringed quite a bit with all the poking going on however, there she connected with him quite well and I thought the ending was really nice, when she said "well done". The bum bump made me laugh, i think its the surprised sound that Laurence made.

Sam and Harry, I think this helped contribute to the Nancy result. It wasn't a great song for either of them. I didn't like it at the time, but watching it back, I like it now. Harry's dancing and stage presence is excellent. The song doesn't suit his voice but there was something that made me like it but I don't really know what. I don't know what is making these Nancys go for the strangle round the neck as a hug though. Some part of Sam's dress breaks and she keeps trying to get it out of the way. I didn't feel there wasn't a great chemistry between them though.

Jessie and Gwion were fantastic. Gwion was excellent, his dancing was great but I don't think he was particularly enjoying the hug at the end. Jessie seems to be grappling with him. Also around 0.28, Jessie's touching just seems a bit aggressive and rather strange IMO. Thought the piggy-back was cool though. I just really liked the performance because they connected so well together.

Also, in Never Forget, I love it when Arthur claps but kind of misses, Joseph and Sam's aggressive walks forward (Sam's walk is like a right geezer)
Last edited by legend1989 : 01-06-2008 at 15:32

I noticed that, he kind of gave them a little nudge/push as well! I don't really get why Lee was there at all, I much would've perfered to see the boys sing on their own! Lee had his moment last year.

I also thought it was funny how Graham drew attention to the fact that Harry was the oldest Oliver (at the grand old age of 12 ) and that might've affected his performance a bit (although I'm probably just reading too much into it). I thought Harry looked a bit awkward occassionally, for example during that bit where he had to put his hands under his chin and smile lol, so him not meeting Sam's eyes could just be embarassment.

Also Sam's not that much older than he is (compared to someone like Jodie for example). Dancing with an older teenager is different from dancing with an adult. Eugh I'm not expressing myself very well - I mean, with Laurene & Jodie and Gwion & Jessie it was definatly an adult dancing with a child but with Harry and Sam the divide in roles wasn't as clear...does that make any sense?

I also wanted to see more Alex (he never seems to get much attention in the group performances - although that could just be me being bitter!)

Yes, that was kind of the point I was trying to make - Harry strikes me more as a young adult than the all-sweet-innocent child, and I think he might have been a bit embarrassed because Sam's so close in age to him. With Jodie there is a definite adult-child relationship and while Jessie's the same age group as Sam, the song and Gwion made their duet an adult-child thing too.

I was playing spot-the-alex as well but hardly saw him. Jordan just kept jumping into my eyes all night lol.

I wonder if it was a spontaneous move from Jodie?

I'm so happy because I have just managed to download videos of every performance the olivers ever did onto my ipod. Now I will never be bored on the train .

And yes, the Nancies really do like that strangle-hold position. Maybe would have been more relevant if they were competing for the role of Bill Sykes?

Watched 'Never Forget' again. Huge lols at Sam and the awesome that is Joseph rocking up like hard men . Too little Chester in the performance though, and Jonny's shirt really gets to me. it looks like he is wearing Princess Diana's wedding dress under his waistcoat.

Ha, ha. One good thing about IDA being over is that there will be fewer distractions from now on.

I know what you mean about Jessie being a little too aggressive. Actually, all in all the duets were perhaps a little too touchy-feely and at times it felt almost a bit patronising. With Laurence, Jodie was able to pull it off because Laurence is so reserved and modest, so that it didn't feel overbearing; with Gwion it was also OK because he is so tiny and angelic-looking. But I'm not sure if the really saccharine choreography would have worked well with Harry.

OMG yes! Mystifyingly so, he was the only Oliver I could concentrate on

I know what you mean, I thought the same. I got a sense of sort of embarrassment from him?

I loved Sam's manly walk in Never Forget, and Joseph's!