Oz Blog: Making a Song and Dance

Week four, and the excitement at the Over The Rainbow TV studios is building, especially amongst the audience – Saturday’s show was apparently host to the loudest studio audience so far in terms of decibel levels, or so the BBC’s warm-up comedian told us. The banners were flying, the T-Shirts were on… this week host Graham Norton spotted the banner being waved by Steph Fearon’s friends, although he thought that perhaps the words “Go Steph!” had a slightly mixed message…

This week the final nine opened the show with ‘Ease On Down The Road,’ a track from The Wiz, a 1970’s motown-inspired adaptation of The Wizard of Oz that was one of the first Broadway musicals to feature an all-black cast, before Graham re-introduced the panel – including a newly-engaged Charlotte Church. After filming, Graham asked to see the engagement ring – but Charlotte confessed it was being resized!

Last week’s results show left Andrew with a tough decision, as saving Lauren meant saying goodbye to Bronte. But, as the Lord revealed, it hasn’t been a completely bad week for Bronte. “I think we can reveal she’s gone for a couple of auditions… but even better is that she has got her place at stage school, which I think is what she needs,” he said. Bronte was back in the studio on Saturday – as was fellow former Dorothy, Amy Diamond. We also spotted some of the Wild Card Dorothys in the audience – Tegan, Claire Hillier and Tasheka – all there to support the girls.

And so, it was on with the show as Dani and Sophie took to the stage. Performing first was 16-year-old Dani, who sang Jennifer Hudson’s ‘One Night Only,’ surrounded by male backing dancers. The song, being about one-night stands, was not one of panellist Sheila Hancock’s favourites – “it’s not really for your age group, but then I am a boring old fa… whatever!” she said, to laughter from the studio audience. John Partridge, who spent the previous week working on choreography with each of the girls, said it was Dani’s “strongest performance to date.”

Sophie was next, with her take on Avril Lavigne’s ‘With You.’ Having given Sophie some negative comments in previous weeks, after rehearsing with her, John was impressed. “I could give you the biggest hug right now…” he said. Charlotte loved the way Sophie grew into her performance, saying “I really believed it.”

Lauren was up next, performing the mambo song ‘Sway’. Her sashaying down the stairs was, for Sheila, in itself a “triumph,” as she praised Lauren’s “elegant” performance. Despite last week warning Lauren about coming across as arrogant, Charlotte thought her performance was unbelievable – “you smouldered your way through that…I’m a massive fan,” she said. And for the Lord himself, it was Lauren’s best performance yet.

Next up were Emilie, performing the iconic Breakfast at Tiffany’s ballad ‘Moon River,’ followed by Stephanie, who sang Jennifer Lopez’s upbeat dance number ‘ Let’s Get Loud.’ As Graham pointed out, two very different performances for the panel to compare.

For Sheila, Emilie’s voice was “pretty” but could have done with more understanding about what the song was about. Emilie’s performance featured one male backing dancer, which Sheila didn’t understand, and John also had an issue with the waltz Emilie and her partner did. “I didn’t understand who you were singing to and what you were singing for… you didn’t look at the boy or connect with him,” John said – but Charlotte disagreed. “I saw you looking at him!” she said. For Charlotte, Emilie had found her vocal control, although Andrew confessed he doesn’t think she is vocally secure. “The problem is we have such talented girls here, so I’m going to have to be a bit blunt,” he said.

In her performance however, Stephanie did something “extraordinary,” said Andrew, telling her: “You’re a wonderful mover.” John agreed, calling Stephanie his “little firecracker,” while Charlotte said “you’re awesome, that’s all I’ve got to say.”

Steph and Jenny were the next two girls to perform. Steph sang ‘Out Here On My Own’ from Fame, while Jenny – who confessed to not being the best dancer in the competition – performed a complicated routine which saw her strut her stuff in high heels along a bench for her rendition of ‘Why Do Fools Fall In Love?’

Steph’s was a “wonderful, sincere and honest” performance, according to John, and equally for Sheila it was “beautiful… deeply felt, simple and lovely.” Sheila felt Jenny could have had more fun with the choreography, while Charlotte felt her vocal had been “a little nasally.”

The final two girls to perform were Jessica and Danielle. Jessica’s version of the Queen classic ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ was another complicated bit of choreography, with an actual motorbike on the studio stage (the men who quickly lifted it off before Danielle’s performance should have had their own round of applause…)

Charlotte thought Jessica “owned the stage,” although John confessed to not enjoying Jessica’s performance. Sheila felt the choreography was a bit too much. Andrew praised Jessica’s ability to work both the live audience and the TV, and told her that if he were casting the musical Funny Girl, she’d be top of the list.

Danielle’s was the final performance, as she took on Take That’s ‘Could It Be Magic,’ with more lovely male backing dancers. John loved her performance but felt he had seen it before and was keen for her to try something different. Sheila wanted to see Danielle love the camera more – “regard it as a friend, rather than an intrusion,” she told her. For Andrew, Danielle is “a very remarkable performer.”

And so, just time for one final performance from our would-be leading ladies. And not just any performance – a song from one of Andrew’s favourite shows, West Side Story, ‘America.’ With some more complicated choreography, Andrew encouraged the voting public to watch how the girls performed together during the song, as Dorothy needs to be able to lead a West End ensemble. Luckily Andrew enjoyed the girls’ performance, leading the ovations that followed, before Graham announced the voting lines were open…

Read our Oz Blog on Sunday’s show here.

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

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Oz Blog: Making a Song and Dance