Oz Blog: It's goodbye to another of our Dorothies...

12th April 2010

Oz Blog: It's goodbye to another of our Dorothies...

Read our Oz Blog on Saturday’s show here..

And so to Sunday. As the studio audience prepared to say goodbye to another one of our girls, the BBC’s warm-up comedian took to the stage and tried to fish some Eastenders gossip out of John Patridge. He wasn’t having any of it, though.

Someone else who wasn’t having any of it was Hennessey, the Dalmation that was supposed to make an appearance on set with Graham as he told us more about the search for Toto. Maybe it was the lights, maybe it was the audience, maybe it was the fact that Andrew put his Cats cap on, but Hennessey jumping up on the stage and, in the words of the warm-up guy, “trying to eat Charlotte,” meant that unfortunately his trainer had to lead him back off. No word yet on whether he’s one of the possible Totos…

But, as they say, the show must go on. After a musical interlude in which the Dorothys performed a ‘Mash Up’ of the songs ‘Money Makes The World Go Around’ and ‘Material World,’ it was time to find out a bit more about Hennessey’s doggie pals. Team Toto – dog trainer Gerry Cott, animal behaviourist Sarah Fisher, and actress and I’d Do Anything winner Jodie Prenger – have been scouring the nation for a dog to play Dorothy’s constant companion, in a gala performance of The Wizard of Oz. Dogs large and small performed for the Toto panel as we saw the team begin the process of selecting the 50 dogs that we’ll meet in next week’s show.

From dogs to scarecrows… after meeting some of the dogs it was time to see what Sheila had been up to with the would-be Dorothys. Given just 48 hours to learn the scene where Dorothy meets the Scarecrow for the first time, each of the girls then performed in front of Sheila. And as Graham said, she’s a hard one to please. “Lauren is good, but almost too good,” she said. Sophie and Dani forgot a couple of lines, but Jenny, Bronte and Emile stood out for Sheila. It was Danielle that garnered the most praise, though: “she is a considerable actress, in my opinion,” Sheila said.

Then it was back to the studio, where – after another quick costume change – the girls pulled out all the stops to sing ‘Get Happy.’ But all too soon, it was time for Graham to read out the results, and reveal which two girls were in the dreaded sing-off…

Tension was high in the studio, with loud gasps as Graham announced that Bronte and Lauren were in the bottom two. There were tears from the other Dorothys as Andrew revealed both girls had been in his top five.

But, after Bronte and Lauren had both performed ‘What I Did For Love,’ from the musical A Chorus Line, Andrew had to choose. “I am truly gutted by this… for the first time, I could honestly say I don’t know,” he said. Feeling that her greater level of experience might be beneficial, Andrew chose to save Lauren, leaving Bronte to become the second girl to leave. “I would have hoped this wouldn’t have to happen, especially this early,” Andrew said, explaining his decision to Bronte. “You must keep in touch… You’re a fantastic kid.”

A difficult decision for Andrew, then, and it was goodbye to Bronte as she sang us out for the final time. No Dorothy is safe…

For updates on the upcoming Wizard of Oz production, sign up for Andrew’s newsletters

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

Comments [2]

Cannot believe Bronte was voted out on sunday, i thought she was absolutley fantastic!!!! A definate winner in my eyes!!!!! Well done Bronte x

Posted by chloesmith04 on 14th April 2010 at 10:19

Fantastic show, look forward to watching every weekend. So much talent, anyone can win. Cant wait for the tickets to go on sale. Wendy Hughes, South Wales

Posted by hughwn8 on 18th April 2010 at 20:20

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Oz Blog: It's goodbye to another of our Dorothies...

Comments [2]