Results: The curveball!
I had a feeling that tonight’s sing-off was going to produce one of those curveballs, whereby you are left thinking, “How did they get through? and “why is so and so in the bottom two?” and it happened. More on that later, but first, how did we get there?
Well, firstly, we were shown footage of the girls acting, strangely, after we had voted. The Nancys worked alongside Barbara Windsor and DVO in the real Queen Victoria pub. Jodie bought life experience and was better than I had expected, Samantha looked like a soap star in waiting and I can see her as a teen vamp in Eastenders. Rachel was excellent, contrasting with Jessie who was awful. DVO agreed and then did a U-turn, talking up the Irish lass!
JUDGES’ FAVES
The group number was Lionel Bart’s “Fings Ain’t What They Used To Be.” DVO singled out (surprise, surprise!) Jessie, John praised Niamh (why?!) and Barry liked Jodie. Andrew said it was unfair to single anyone out, but then mentioned Jessie as the strongest link. I am either watching a different show to many of the judges, I am a miserable critic, or this show is geared around false comments which equal phone votes!
OLIVERS’ FAVE
The Olivers chose Sarah as their Nancy and she sang a group number with them. It showed that she was best suited to a show like Mary Poppins or something with more sugary sweet numbers, as she is not Nancy.
When asked who was NOT Nancy, the judges said:
Jodie (John, trying to be controversial, after praising her!)
Sarah (D.V.O seeing what many saw)
Ashley (Barry, playing it safe)
WHO IS THROUGH?
As if to pour water on John, the first Nancy through was Jodie. She was followed by Samantha and you could have guessed the outcome from her on, really. Jessie was next, following the hyperbole that was the judges’ comments. Sarah’s name followed, but for the wrong reasons; she is in the sing-off.
Niamh is next through, followed by underdog, Ashley.
SING-OFF FOR THEIR SUPPER
This leaves Rachel and Sarah to battle it out.
The outcome is fairly clear-cut before the girls open their mouths. As this is a bottom two is about suitability and as talented as Sarah truly is, she is not the ideal candidate for the role. Granted, she deserves to be on stage nightly, but singing something sweet and playing a clean cut heroine. Wicked would be great for her.
Sarah delivers an emotionally driven secton of the song “As If We Never Said Goodbye” and has some fight left. But Rachel underdoes it, showing a vulnerable quality, ideal for the role. She acts well, but without seemingly trying half as hard as Sarah. Rachel also looks like the wench that is Nancy, whereas Sarah? Well, she is almost too RADA to convince.
It is the best sing-off yet. Andrew does not cite it a wrong result (so, why go on last week?) and chooses (thankfully) to save Rachel.
Who will go next week? Well, Niamh, Jessie or Samantha, hopefully. But tune in next week to find out!
May 4th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Totally happy with the night’s results. Delighted that the wonderfully talented Ashley was put through and against the grain of comments. Equally delighted that despite heaping praise on her Rachel was in the bottom two, as her performance was a DISASTER! But in the end she clearly has more Nancy-like qualities than Sarah, who I would say has the best voice out of all the Nancys, but not suited at all to the role. Also her final performance proved that she couldn’t be Nancy-it was good, but not Nancy. GOOD RESULT!
May 4th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Anyone got anything to say about the Olivers?
A
May 4th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Yeah I have lol! Chester is brilliant and Gwion is also very very good other than that I would say they’re all rather similar and not all that great….
May 5th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
I only joined this show part way through, but here are my views:
Firstly, the format boggles me -
Why has the casting vote been given to someone who has no involvement with the show? I can’t imagine a producer/director relinquishing the casting of a major part to someone indifferent. I find ALW very creepy; he makes me think of a child molester. He always seems to be available when an over-emotional Nancy candidate has an urge to hurl herself into someone’s arms. He sits on that throne like a malevolent toad.
At first I thought DVO had been put on the panel as a bit of fluff; but her comments are very intelligent and insightful – she definitely knows what she’s talking about. Whereas “Captain Jack” just makes a lot of noise.
I find the format quite repetitive; there is far more to playing a leading lady than singing pop songs. All the girls have obviously got fantastic voices, or else they wouldn’t have got this far. I feel they need to be tested more on their acting outside of the songs, and more needs to be said about how they actually move on stage. I would have liked to have seen the show focus on the ‘pub challenge’, and for the voting to have been given based on their individual performances. Even at this late stage we don’t know how good the girls’ cockney accents are!
I would also like to see more interaction with the Olivers. It surprises me that we have not yet seen a Nancy and an Oliver give a joint performance. You could have the perfect Nancy and the perfect Oliver but if they don’t work well together then the show suffers. Next week I think all the girls should get a chance to perform with the boys.
I did feel that Samantha had an unfair advantage this week, as she was given dance moves to add an extra dimension to her performance. She did very well, but I would have liked to have seen how all 7 coped with choreographed movement.
My favourite is Jodie (although I doubt she’ll win). She has vocal strength, energy and depth. She can be tough or vulnerable – I could see her throwing a grown man out of a bar, and I could see her sitting down and weeping. She is feisty, but also fun.
Here’s my thoughts on the others:
Rachael – Shouts too much. No element of fun or optimism. Oliver! would be pretty grim if she were cast.
Naimh – What is she still doing here???? Beautiful voice, but no character. Boring to watch.
Jessie – A strong contender for me.
Ashley – At first I thought she had potential and I wanted her to do well, but she is lacking something.
Samantha – Not really seen much acting from her, apart from doing sexy moves. Perhaps she could be a stripper or something…
May 5th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
I am thoroughly confused - how did Rachel end up in the bottom 2, whilst Niamh wasn’t? Sarah must be pretty frustrated - I think she would have been saved in a sing-off against almost anyone else apart from Rachel…
Jon (http://colouredlights.wordpress.com)
May 6th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Well Rachel was appalling on Saturday-she was out of tune and even screeched on a top note-imagine if she had done that on the West End stage she would have been a laughing stock. Although Niamh was pretty bad too….
May 6th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
I tend to agree with much of what Jeanne says. I couldn’t understand the bottom 2 at all this week. Although I personally can’t warm to Rachel at all (don’t know why - I just don’t like watching her) I didn’t think she deserved the sing-off. And Sarah! What’s going on? She had one of the best voices. I think her song was totally wrong for her and was the main reason she went out. She did her best with it but it was a rotten choice for a woman. I would have had Niamh in there - she looks totally wrong for Nancy. Thought Ashley did a good job but I fear she’s next to go. Jessie has been my fave from the beginning. As for the Olivers, I had my eye on Harry from the start so pleased he’s through. Gwion is cute, but that strong Welsh accent!! It’s cute but will he be able to tone it down for the stage? I also like Arthur and Jordan.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:18 am
If judging only on last Saturday’s performances, I’d have Rachel and Ashley in the bottom two. Rachel because with a very ‘light and easy’ song, she managed to crack at the top note - and no, John, it wasn’t because of emotions, it was trying so very hard to impress that she can reach the note. Ashley because I felt those come-hither looks she gave during her performance were shallow. But Ashley survived and it was Sarah who couldn’t be saved by Andrew Lloyd Webber.