Oz Blog: Another sad goodbye…

Read our Oz Blog on Saturday’s show here.

With the dreaded sing-off looming, the Over The Rainbow studios were full of nervous family and friends of Dorothys this Sunday… The banners being waved by the girls’ supporters are getting bigger and better every week. Graham took another look before this Sunday’s results show. “Dani Rayner – over the Rayner-bow, very clever,” he said to Team Dani.

As the cameras started rolling, the girls greeted us with another performance of ‘Ease On Down the Road,’ before we got a recap of last night’s action and some of the girls’ reaction to the panel’s comments. As Graham said, they don’t mince their words – but the girls might be pleased to know that, of the final nine, John sees at least four potential leading ladies in the line-up, while Charlotte confessed there’s “not a sausage of a chance” she could cope with the level of work the girls are doing every week.

But time for another mash up… and this week there were three songs being mashed: Liza Minelli’s ‘Losing My Mind’, Beyonce’s ‘Crazy In Love’, and Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy.’ Bit of a theme going on then…

More craziness next from the Toto panel as we saw Jodie, Gerry and Sarah try to reduce 50 dogs to the 10 that will go onto meet Andrew next week. We saw Strider the Great Dane, who could be Toto; cocker spaniel Thomas Cook, born with a hare lip and cleft palate and now working with disabled children – not Toto but such a hit with an emotional Jodie that she wants to take him home; and assistance dog Bumble, his owner’s best friend and another dog who “could be Toto.” As Gerry Cott said: “Does Andrew know what he’s let himself in for…?”

Back to the girls – and to a very special dance lesson with panellist John Partridge. In heels. John’s task was to help the girls descend that long staircase at the studio, and to show them how to move gracefully. Which meant a chance to dance with John. As Lauren said, “I was in John Partridge’s arms!” But who did John think was most impressive in the task? “Stephanie… she’s a mini Ginger Rogers, and Danielle – she adopted a character and maintained it throughout the performance.”

Then the girls put their dancing skills to good use with a performance of ‘Buenos Aires’ from Evita. “I’m worried now that we’re casting the wrong musical – there’s some wonderful Evitas there!” Andrew said.

But all too soon it was time for the sing-off, as Graham prepared to announce the results. It was another nail-biting few minutes as the girls and their families in the audience waited anxiously. When Dani was revealed as the first girl in the sing-off, there was a gasp from the audience… and another one as Graham called Danielle’s name.

As Dani and Danielle took their places to perform ‘Maybe This Time’ from Cabaret, the Dorothys stood to give them both a standing ovation. It was another tough decision for Andrew, but he chose to save Danielle, sending Dani – the youngest performer in the competition – home. “Whilst I think you’re a fantastic singer, I think you’ve got to learn to become at ease with your own body, and get the movement and understand how to use your body with music, then I think you’ll be well away,” Andrew told Dani.

So, another sad farewell for our Dorothys as Dani becomes the third girl to fly Over The Rainbow…

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For more information on Over The Rainbow, visit www.bbc.co.uk/dorothy.