Aw, sweet little Joseph! That's just heartbreaking. This sort of explains that 'walk' he did later though. I've seen (young) kids do that before; overdoing things to make themselves feel stronger and more confident. And bless Rachel! Sweetheart! Can you give us a link, ArtyAttack? I always love to read things in their original context.

In Billy Elliot though, I think only Billy (and maybe Michael?) are housed in the Billy House

The Michaels and Debbies also stay in the Billy house - because until now, these roles have been cast with kids from northern England.

However, a new Debbie starting tomorrow (Megan Jossa) is from London, so in her case providing accommodation isn't necessary.

Here you go: http://forum.theinternetforum.net/in...&topic=31522.0

The quote about Joseph:
"the take that song that the past olivers and nancy's sang was pre recorded after the first show, they rehearsed it first fran seemed to have the giggles a bit on the stairs then they recorded it for real. i'm not sure why but joseph seemed to start crying after the first rehearsal all the girls tryed to comfort him but it was rachel in the end that seemed to sort him out (in a nice sense)"

Apparently the Olivers wenen't allowed to go to the after-party... that's a bit harsh!

Ah, OK, thanks for clearing that up.

Aww, that's horrible. Poor boy. I would never have guessed he'd be upset from his performance the second time round - with the strong confident walk and everything!

Aww,bless him! I said in an earlier post,I thought his audition was really good,so I thought he might have a nerves problem,but I loved his confident seeming walk in Never Forget.
Edit: Holly beat me to it!

Oh, and aparently Lewis is the nicest person ever.

I wasn't quite sure what the smiley put after this comment was about, but the comment itself is absolutely 100% true, Lewis really IS the nicest person ever! Having met him 3 times now, I can certainly say he is.


Aww poor Joseph, crying! Aww bless his heart. I thought he was really confident in Never Forget, I'd never have guessed he was upset before it!

He was great! And the confident walk probably had everything to do with what happened earlier. Kids tend to do that!

Thanks for the link - it's always really good to hear the perspective of someone who was there live, because it always seems to be different to our perceptions!

Apparently Keisha's got a film role, then? Good for her.

Aw Joseph

I'm glad Chester and Jonny managed to hold it together though, those two looked so devastated last week it actually quite upset me (but I'm soft like that )

Me too, it made me really sad last week seeing them really crushed.
I look forward to seeing those 2 boys in a show somewhere soon I hope! I want Jonny for Billy Elliot and Chester for Michael.

Poor old Joseph, he really did have a good audition but never really showed it in the live shows. Slightly random, but about the fixed braces, I think Jordan may have a problem. When i didn't know their names, he was called Big Teeth (slightly embarrassed now because he comes across as a good kid, rather dramatic, summed up by his audition, but a key part of the Oliver group I suspect).

Sorry if this has already been mentioned before, I sort of missed out on some posts earlier this week due to busy days (and nights) at work, but I suddenly realised something!

Two of the winning Olivers performed with Nancies before. I always thought (and mentioned it before) that all of the boys should have performed with the girls, because that would really show the public which girls could connect with the boys, as that's an important part of Nancy's character.
However, I just realised that performing with the girls might have been a crucial factor in the decision of the winning Olivers as well! Both Laurence and Harry got the chance to show CM and ALW how they would connect to the older cast members. Though probably not intentionally, this still may have contributed to them landing the part in the end...

As always, loved reading all your comments on the duets. Only caught up on the show on iplayer this morning! Thought I'd give my comments on the duets

Laurence/Jodie: I don't really see Getting to Know You as a duet song. In the King and I, it's more of a Anna solo with the children chiming in occassionally. And I did think that the solo line distribution was less equal than with the other pairs (i.e that Jodie got most of them). Although it may just be that I wanted to hear more of Laurence! I think the two had great chemistry. I think it did showcase all of Laurence's strengths. Vocally, he shone as always (and IMO outsang Jodie). And he has this unassuming sincerity to him, that makes me want to give him a hug or adopt him. I did think Jodie overdid the poking a bit (it would have seemed less excessive if he was a lot younger). Although, Laurence is as cute as a button, so maybe she just couldn't help herself. The bum bump bit was my favourite bit.

Harry/Sam. I thought it was not that great when I first watched it. Watching it again on youtube, I think it was good, just not for what the duets were meant to show. However, I think Harry and Sam were set a really hard task. Firstly, the song was made for a man's voice. Secondly, it is not a duet. And certainly not a song meant to be sung between a woman and a child. So it is hard to create that type of feel to a song, especially when the the age difference between the two is not that large, Harry is the least childlike of the boys, and and there other Nancy who are more at ease at being maternal. I do think Sam tried to smile at Harry and vaguely interact, but it just didn't work. However, if I look at it as two individuals performing on stage together, I can appreciate that they both are excellent performers and pulled off the dance routine.

Gwion/Jessie. I thought they were fantastic. However, I do think that they were kind of given a gift here. I think they had the best song for a duet, and the choreography also worked to their advantage. I think they had great chemistry, although I think that was more to do with Gwion that with Jessie. Like Laurence, Gwion really showcased all his strengths in the duet. He has such a sweet, angelic voice and he has that "aww" factor. Gwion has definitely grown on me (not that I didn't like him before but the past couple of weeks he has really shone for me). I thought Jessie was great too, although I do think she came off as slightly aggressive when she was poking Gwion (in comparison to Jodie's poking).

I did like Never Forget, although it may be due to nostalgia, as Take That were big when I was their age. For some reason, I thought that the boys would love this song until I realised that the song wouldn't hold the same memories for them considering that a lot of them weren't even born when the song was released! I think it was a good choice of song. I guess it could be considered a musical song now. I think that the lyrics really suited the occasion. It was nice that Jonny was centre stage. I still think it was harsh that he got less than a week to enjoy his final 8 position. I'm not sure what to make of Tara and Chester at the end. It's hard to tell whether she's invading his personal space or not. She does seem to be gripping him quite tightly. However, the way she rests her head against his, and the way he strokes her arm, I don't know.

Like I said in the last page, I think they'd both be AMAZING at the role of Toby in Sweeney Todd

I think all of the boys will end up with a role in something. Like countless others have said, it's a rarity to find such young boys with such enthusiasm for musical theatre - and the experience of working with CM and ALW for 10 weeks!

Agree with you 100%! Felt there was a bit of a poke-a-thon going on with all the duets, lol.

The Nancys seem to like poking the Olivers. In all the opening numbers, you'll nearly always see a little Oliver getting poked! I remember in one, Ashley gave Joseph a poke in the stomach and he looked thoroughly unamused! I don't quite see why they need to poke so much to show affection.

Loved reading your views and I agree completely! Lol at all the poking

I don't quite know what to make of that either... Him stroking her arm could mean they really do have some kind of bond, but it could also mean he felt sort of awkward in that position and was just trying to strike an attitude.

I kind of took it as Chester just getting a bit emotional and wanting to cling to something and feel that someone was there with him. It was a little bit odd though - I wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first!

Tbh I expect he would've much rather been in the group hug with the other Olivers!

I think so too actually!

Perfect sense! I agree completely but didn't know how to start wording it so well done! I've never noticed Harry being self-conscious, like some of the other older boys, but think he was last night. The cutsie hands-under-chin thing did not sit well with him. I was very aware there's only five years between them, and the inappropriate song didn't help, merely highlighting that this wasn't a natural performance between an adult and a child. Quite like it but it doesn't do what it was supposed to.

Alex rarely gets to be front and centre! I want to see more of him too!

BTW Love this thread and its contributors, where even the negative comments are positive!

Just watched Never Forget again, and it's just so lovely; Kwayedza and Jonny at the end are very sweet, and I love how Arthur claps but his hands don't really meet.

That should be our motto!

Welcome to The Oliver Appreciation thread, where even the negative comments are positive!

I was just watching this again and the look on Jonny's face at 0.21 is very strange. He's singing to Amy and he looks very bemused/suspicious. But it made me smile

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vwa6_6uI6Ww

I also couldn't help noticing how slick Chester is when dancing.

I guess they had their own after-party. I know a thing or two about these after-party's in the entertainment industry and let me tell you, that's no place for kids... However, here, the kids and their families usually have their own after-party simultaneously. So I guess this probably happened for the Olivers too.

Aw, lovely!