i think the bbc set is cheap looking (especially the grated stair case) and sterile and compared to the baby doll ill fitting dresses of the bbc, the canadian ones are a wee bit better at times.

i think the standard is equal if not an edge going to england.

how opinions differ, eh?

I would actually go back further in time and say the Canadian set reminds me of a variety show from the '70s.

You can argue about the Maria dresses, but I think it's just a matter of taste which ones you like better. I personally prefer the UK ones because they were more colorful and added to the overall playfulness of the show. The Canadian ones IMO add to the whole "throwback to the 70s" feel. As for the other costumes, Week 2 of Canadian Maria was better, I think. Week 1 was awful, but the second week was a major improvement and I hope they keep up that trend.

I thought Gavin did a much better job the second week, but I loved Graham on UK Maria and it would take a lot to surpass him, I think.

no, no 70s is Merv Griffen orange, yellow and brown.

i am very critical of decor, and i just have to watch closer tomorrow night to see this tacky stage you all speak of. i still say the staircase being spiral is more in keeping of TSOM house.

LOL! Have a look at this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HECJLH4onZk

What shape is the staircase?

I don't remember thinking that all the Marias in the UK final were such good singers - mind you my memory is terrible as you may remember!

no no , the one she went up on the side after she was fired. it was on the side of the house.

the shape doesn't matter really it is the grating metal that is awful in the bbc version.


i do though, think i was thinking of Annie or something for a quick minute LOL

Hope the torrents are up as quickly as they were last week!

OH!
this week is musical theatre and 2 marias go home. it is a three person sing off.

so far...
kyla was embarrassingly awful. breathy and couldn't sing the song or dance it. jb was too nice in his judging. Elaine was actually the most honest.
donna was fab as always with that voice. pitch perfect, BUT...

I have to tell you something.

Elaine addressed Donna's diva behaviour behind the scenes (always blaming others is one thing i remember) and reprimanded her for it. John stood up for her and said he never met a leading lady that wasn't a bitch and Elaine said "i have" to jb's response of " a good one" - dirty look exchanged.
What do you think? Do you think Elaine should have done that? everyone looked surprised and this may affect voters now?? i have never seen anyone do that yet... mind you the producers on most shows just have a camera on and put it up.

Janna-Defying Gravity - I want to know what you think after the slaying Sam took.

I think janna actually acted the song well. but she spoke some. or at least a few notes.

judges - elaine - a stars performance
john - spectacular performance
simon- just a huge clap again.

Marisa is my neice's twin.

in the video before she sang Donna did say she didn't want to sound mean or something to that affect but that it is a competition and the more people who go home give her more of a chance of winning.

England eh? I won't go into a rant, but I'd say considering our winning Maria was Welsh, the more appropriate (and correct ) term is The UK (Or Britain)...

where is it filmed? BBC in London? i was referring to where the studio was. i am aware of the term UK. but London is in England.

Interesting about Donna! TBH, that "it's a competition" attitude helped Connie win it... though the blaming other people thing is bit odd. Nevermind! I'm trying my hardest to not vote based on personality! (Well, not "not vote"...but pick a favourite! Lol!)

i find it odd that Elaine brought it up, but i guess on this show they don't have cameras filming all of this or at least won't show it. i don't know what her motive was. couldn't she have addressed it in rehearsal without doing on national telly? i do know when i saw Simona's behaviour about the girls practicing late at night and ranting and raving and then her admitting she still felt that way on the live show, i though she was a bit of a bit**

Katie got slaughtered!

Elicia was the performance of the night so far with that fave of cabaret. it just gets the croud going. the costume was better than rachels, but i think rachels was coreographed better. Elicia did it well.

I ended up feeling that Simon and Elaine want to push Elicia and get rid of Donna - Donna got a bland song, no choreography and nasty comments mostly unrelated to her performance. What happened to last week's Elaine, telling us all how fabulous Donna's head voice was going to be? Elicia on the other hand got the real crowd-pleaser show off song.

For myself, I'm hoping we lose Tamara and Katie tomorrow, they're the weakest performers IMO.

It's kind of interesting that John should say that, because during ADWD he called Seamus on not being a team player. He said that it was very important for a leading man to treat the rest of the company with respect.

Different rule for men and women? It's okay for the leading lady to act like a diva, but not the leading man, because bitchy behaviour is somehow expected from the women? Or is this just John's usual 'one rule for my favourites, another for everybody else' approach?

I get that feeling too! But she is pretty good, so as long as their favouritism doesn't become blatantly obvious then she's in with a good chance of winning this competition! If, however, the judges continue to show favouritism, the public might not respond well to it. *shrug*

In his autobiography JB says he was told to be taken seriously as a leading man you have to act like a leading man. And the same for a leading lady.

The difference with Seamus is his ego was far bigger than his talent.

I've just trawled youtube to find the clip to look at it again, but full length clips with the judges comments from ADWD don't seem to exist in the same way.

I don't agree about Seamus. What did he ever do that was so obnoxious? He could be a teeny bit condescending to the younger ones, but I do think he was in a difficult position, given that he was so much older than them and was being judged by two people who weren't that much older than himself. I think Bill Kenright hit the nail on the head when he said that deep down Seamus was very insecure. He never criticised anyone, he never answered back to the judges, what did he do that was so terrible?

I thought he was phenomenally talented. Top three or four for sure. I've just seen him in Evita and he did a great job.

I have been watching the occasional clip of Canadian Maria on youtube, but I don't know much about Donna or her behaviour. But I think it's contradictory for John to insist in one series that you have to be a team player and then in another, that's it's okay to throw diva strops. I've never heard him suggest before that being a bitch is perfectly acceptable.

And as for all leading ladies being bitches, that's clearly bollocks. Lots of them are really decent and down to earth.

I do agree with Piper that it seems likely that TPTB want Donna out because she isn't really their image of Maria. Phenomenal singer though.

Can't wait to see the 'Donna diva' thing! I've said from the start she won't suit them!

When you're working with a group of people in the claustrophobic and insular environment that is the cast of a production, you have to try and get along. There are bound to be niggles between cast members from time to time, that's human nature - it happens in all workplaces. However, to deliberately behave in a bitchy/obnoxious/diva-like manner is just not acceptable and makes for a very uncomfortable working environment! It should certainly not be encouraged, and especially by someone who has been in the business long enough to know better!

What I would say re: Elaine's comment to Donna is that Elaine should have kept that comment for private discussion. Airing it in public is unfair, unless Donna was behaving badly on the show in front of the live audience, judges and viewers at home, in which case, it would have been relevant to comment publically on Donna's behavior in public. As it was, it shoud have been kept out of what was supposed to be a critique of the performance Donna had just given!

Re: Seamus. I don't think he was ever Diva-like or bitchy. He seemed very forthright in his opinions and said what he thought. Not always a good idea - there's a lot to be said for using your common sense and being tactful. Having said that, I did think Seamus was a good performer and it does seem like JB has contradicted himself (so in ADWD, it was all about team-work etc whereas in Canadian HDYSAPLM, the message appears to be "It's OK to behave like a Diva if you're a leading lady/man because it's expected of you!").

Great MT show!

Kyla - Struggled to sing and move in what should have been a show stopper - she is too inhibited & can't let go enough - disappointing and could go imho

Donna - What a surprise! Loved this 'other' voice - but even though I love her, she's not Maria for me and I think the judges are making their move on her as she's not Maria for then either. We don't see training clips so Elaine clearly thought it was okay to make those comments - I didn't feel comfortable with it. Wonder if there will be a sympathy backlash?

Marissa - Showed she could move and sing - loved her dress! - good performance!

Janna - Performance of the night for me ticking all the boxes - far superior to Sam's performance on IDA - I understood what the song was all about from her performance - fantastic, fantastic, fantastic!

Tamara - Looked fab but performance was just terrible - could go imho

Jayme - Best performance so far and clearly a favourite with the judges - still don't like her

Katie - Not good tonight - terrible song, but she just can't do mature - could go imho

Elecia - Cabaret performance too 'posh' for me (prefer Rachel by far), but she is clearly a favourite with the judges

GC was quite good tonight!

I'm waiting for Miss AvUK to put them up on youtube (heaven bless her ). What did they all sing? I'm totally intrigued by the idea of the three person sing off. How does that work?

I agree with all of this. I wonder why they didn't go down the BBC route, which is capture it all on VT, edit it in the worst possible light and unleash it on the unsuspecting viewing public?

It's getting a bit irritating the way these shows are one part talent show one part personality contest. Some of the most accomplished contestants go out too early because they struggle to put a version of themselves on screen that the audience can fall in love with (among the Nancies, I think this happened to Keisha and Rachel). Elaine attempting to dent Donna's popularity by criticising her personality is just another example of the same thing. This kind of personal attack might backfire though?

I'm just starting to download episode 7

The whole personal attack thing is a bit odd... Like LaurieMarlow said, why not try and make Donna look like a bitch via a VT instead of seemingly picking on her irrelevantly. A VT may look less harsh but be more effective. Fair enough if the judges commented on a VT, but, if the Canadians are anything like the Brits, just plucking something out of thin air is probably not going to go down well with the public, especially if there's no evidence to back up the criticism. Plus I'm going to go out on a whim and say Donna is probably one of the more popular contestants...

Interestingly, this lack of VTs is maybe making the competition fairer? We're not really getting a chance to warm to contestants' personalities. They shine through as much as they can in performances, but we're not seeing them get engaged, visit their grannies, take lessons in how to walk in heels, cry about how hard they're working, make us laugh... On the other hand, I think finding that personal attatchment to a contestant is often what makes these shows more successful...

I dunno, I still think I prefer the British format.

I've been trying to think what else to say but you've summed it up perfectly! I guess it's a question of what should the balance be between personality and talent when voting (if you can), and I guess this differs for everybody.

I'm also really missing ALW! Did he mention on a VT on the show that he would be arriving in July? I hope this means for the live shows. Bravo him if so!

Just finished downloading! ... bed can wait!

Janna's moving up in my rankings again... Did anyone else, during the Maria School shows, think that Janna would be sort of like... "the professional"? (i.e. maybe a bit too big for her boots?) She seems really down to earth in the tiny little snippets that we get!

Oddly, I kinda like them all! (Though I'm hoping Tamara and Jayme say cheerio this week...!)