Week 8: Nancy meet Joseph
After Ashley’s untimely exit last week and the younger Nancys definitely flavour of the month with the Lord, what would the girls pull out of the bag tonight? Incorporated into the show was a stint from some of the Josephs, but more on that later. For now, which Nancy is still a contender?
Jodie sang “Holding Out For a Hero” from the film and stage show, Footloose. Andrew wanted to see how well she could move this week. She moved ok, but vocally she was very flat and nasally. I thought it was the worst performance she had ever done. The judges thought differently as John liked it, as did Barry with his back-handed compliment “You’ve been round the block a bit.” DVO claimed it was perfect and Andrew, obviously realising that his rudeness equals more than two phone votes to save his ‘victim’ said she danced “like Meatloaf.” This was uncalled for and John Barrowman gallantly stuck up for her.
Rachel had put up with a bit of stick last week and was determined to wow the judges and the audience at home. She sang X Factor/American Idol favourite “I Will Always Love You.” Vocally, it was excellent and felt like a two fingered salute to Barry and Andrew. I could really see her playing the role after this. But the judges clearly ring in the comments every week, as Barry said she hits an “emotional ceiling.” Andrew said he wants to see the real Rachel which is odd as she is playing a part!
Samantha had an unfair advantage this week as each girl had to choose their own song. So far, so good. But because Sam picked “Defying Gravity” from Wicked, she got to train with Idina Menzel, herself. What did Jodie get? Some trannies on a tram cheering her on! Rachel? Some middle class members of the public saying she was good! Anyway, it was a confident performance but she hit a few bum notes and comes across as a bit cocky now. She is too young, in my opinion. Barry had the most letchy comment of the night: “Please Samantha, can I have some more!”
Jessie sang Leanne Rimes “How Do I Live Without You” and dedicated it to her baby sister. It was chock-a-block full of Jessie-isms; the fingers running through the hair, the vacant looks, the ‘I’m gonna cry’ but not quite face, splayed arms, poor diction and emotionally devoid delivery. It just felt like what it was, a performance. There is nothing natural here, now. DVO said she was “unfeminine” and then said that might be good in the role! Andrew knew it was terrible and tried to blame the song.
Niamh chose No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak” which two lines in could have been changed to “Don’t Sing” as it was awful. This girl has run her course now. She delivers the same type of performance every week and there is nothing show-stopping here. It was average this week and very over-acted. She was trying to show that she was not fragile, yet physically she is like a flower. Her voice has the same wobbles every week and is not the stuff of £50 ticket prices, I’m afraid. DVO said it was like a “teenage tantrum.” JB said “Not a Nancy!” (not him, Niamh!). Barry mentioned how small she was. Andrew said he was “worried.”
The girls then teamed up with some Josephs who must have had the night off from Avenue Q, Joseph tour, Hairspray and the dole. They sang “Dancing In The Street” as a group number and two performers stood out for all the wrong reasons; Niamh and Jessie as they looked outclassed. Jessie did her stiff dancing moves again and looked like she was dancing in the sleet, rather than the street. You have to laugh as she was teamed up with Rob-the-builder! Were the producers having a laugh?!
As for the poor poor Josephs, Daniel, Ben and Keith looked incredibly confident, yet Rob and Lewis looked like desperados, longing for a second bite of the cherry.
Ain’t fame fickle?
My bottom two this week are Niamh and Jessie.
Who could be Nancy? Despite the judges comments, Rachel.
May 17th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Well, first up I have to say that I think they are all excellent performers. Of course, we all have our favourites, and ones that we think need to go home - I certainly do - but for all that i think they are a quality bunch and good luck to them all.
So here’s my view. I think Jodie has bags of personality and spirit but i just can;t see her as Nancy, at all, and I mean, at all. But i think that’s more to do with personal choice and opinion than anything else.
Rachel - yes I can actually see what they mean when they say that she’s a but ‘guarded’ she does need to be a bit more generous, she’s excellent a great singer and a real talent, but with five people left even excellent isn’t good enough. I think it was DVO who said that Rachel could learn something from Sam, and it’s true - I just hope that Rachel takes that as objective criticism and gives a bit more of herself. Interesting how the ‘lets see more of you’ theme came out for Rachel and Jessie.
What Sam has is a kind of natural charisma that really makes her stand out, she is young and she looks it (a bit like Niamh) but she’s got a lot of potential..but ready this time round for Nancy? I’m not sure.
Jessie…..well what can I say? I’ve been a hard core Jessie fan from the start, but I can see that she’s struggling; I don;t know what she can do ; it may be that she has to take a bit of a gamble with herself and simply relax and give herself to the performances.She and Rachel are a pair in that sense. I want to believe she has it in her and I’m still voting for her.
Niamh - she tried to look harder and it didn;t really come off for the judges. it may be that she does need to go for an alternative role in the production, it would be a delight to see her on the stage in this performance in the West End even if she’s not Nancy.
So where does that leave us - focusing on the home straight of this exhausting and demanding process; I wish I knew how the voting numbers where working out, but in the absence of that information my prediction is that Niamh will go next, followed by Sam and Jodie, and it will be Jessie vs Rachel in the final.
May 17th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Well it was a good show this week-extremely entertaining and here is my take on the performances tonight:
Jodie-This was a terrible choice of song, in that it’s extremely bland and it showcased how bland Jodie’s vocal really is. It has absolutely no depth whatsoever; it was a good overall performance, but vocally it was weak and for me vocals are no. 1 priority in a West End show.
Rachel-I’m no fan of Rachel, but for me this was an outstanding performance and I have no idea what the panel were watching, but it certainly wasn’t the same thing as me….
Samantha-This wasn’t by any means phenomenal and I had high hopes-it proved to me she could never play Elphie in Wicked-but could she play Nancy? I’m not sure-but for me she’s the best bet out of the ones left-quirky, but safe- young, but mature and confident.
Jessie-This was surprisingly poor-not as bad as Fighter, but then that would take some doing. This was an average performance and this girl is NOT Nancy!!!!!!
Niamh-I was expecting this 2 be fantastic and it wasn’t-she’s good, but as ALW says not yet great and it’s a real shame-also her defiant side wasn’t that good either…
For me the bottom two would be: Jessie and Jodie and ideally Jessie goes home. But realistically I predict Niamh and Jodie and probably Niamh leaves.
May 17th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
My thoughts:
Jodie–I love this song but she didn’t suit it, which is a pity.
Jessie-her voice is fine but everything else needs lots of work–she can’t act–dances like I do {badly} and has a lot of mannerisms which need to be removed {like the mouth thing}.
Sam-I don’t know what the judges see in her. She’s fine in popular songs but in a musical? No.
Niamh-I don’t like her and think she is totally wrong for Nancy. Her attitude irritates me too–if she says she is tough one more time —-and why doesn’t she do something with her hair? Get rid of the bangs girl—
Rachel–my favorite–her singing was fantastic and she put all the appropriate emotion in too—the panel need new contact lenses and hearing aids—
The bit with the Josephs for some reason made me laugh. Jessie’s dancing was terrible–I think she was even worse than usual in this—Jodie seems to have gotten fatter, but she seems real nice—Niamh looked like a pole—as a joint performace it lacked something–I don’t know exactly what—
I thought saying Jodie looked like Meat Loaf was incredibly rude—ALW is such a rude man I don’t know why anyone listens to him—
May 18th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Although I didn’t think it was the right choice of song last night, I still want Jodie to win. I think she has the charisma, warmth, look and voice to be a fantastic Nancy and I’d love to see her in the west end. Again, ALW is doing himself no favours by being so nasty with his meatloaf comment, what a horrid little man. Well done Jodie for taking it with humour and for John for sticking up for her.
May 18th, 2008 at 9:49 am
I really really wanted Jodie to well as I think she has all the qualities of Nancy. However last night’s performance showed that she is unable to move confidently, and she was out of breath. I am so disappointed as she is totally rihgt for that role! I think she needs to lose some weight - not because of the way she looks - as I see Nancy as big and buxom - but becuase her weight inhibits her physicality and stamina.
Rachel and Samantha are the strongest I feel - but I cannot be confident with Rachel until I’ve seen her perform something fun and cheerful.
As for “I don’t think Jodie could be Nancy because she’s too much like Nancy” - whatever Niamh!
May 18th, 2008 at 10:05 am
I really don’t like Rachel. I find her performances completely dire to watch and she has this look that she does every week where she stares at the camera trying to look emotional and deep, but she just looks completely stupid. That’s really harsh and I’m sorry, but I just think she is completely overrated by everyone.
On the other hand, compared to all the others, overrated or not, she was probably the best.
I think Jodie is really sweet and funny but she didn’t do too well on that song last night.
Rachel’s vocal was really good, but she is just so boring to watch and her acting always seems really fake to me.
I’m so jealous of Sam getting to meet Idina Menzel and she sang Defying Gravity well. Unfortunately, for anyone who has already seen Wicked, they already have their opinions and ideas on who sings it best and she couldn’t beat Idina Menzel for me (that is impossible though, so she didn’t stand much of a chance!) I think Sam is great, probably the best all rounder now, but I’d much rather see her in a bigger musical than Oliver.
Jessie. I really like Jessie, but she can’t dance and she can’t do a Cockney accent. No matter what ALW says, no one wants an Irish Nancy. However, if you remember Aoife from the Maria show, she had a really strong Irish accent and I went to see her in SoM and you would never be able to tell she was Irish, so I think with the right training, she could lose the accent. I also think, since they complain about her movement every week, maybe they should actually do something about it and send her off to do ballet instead of hoping it will cure itself each week.
Niamh has a really distinctive voice, but I don’t think she could pull off a West End show just yet. I think she should wait a few years then come back.
May 18th, 2008 at 11:24 am
I don’t rate Niamh at all. She struggles terribly with low notes and all her performances are bland. A very pretty girl but not a leading lady in my book. I thought Rachel was the best last night although she doesn’t totally convince me. She comes over as much warmer in the behind the scenes clips that we see than she does ‘live’. I like Jessie - love her voice - but I can see that she’s struggling with the movement. Sam - OK at ‘poppy’ things but not for MT. That song was dire in my opinion - not her fault; it’s just tuneless. Jodie is too over the top for me and struggles with movement too. I think Rachel is probably the best but it’s not clear cut who’ll win.
May 18th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
I have felt at times that I am the only human on the planet that thinks Jessie is a bit rubbish. I find her performances highly mannered and a bit ‘hollow’. She is so awkward when she moves and still cant do the accent! I feel harsh saying this as she seems like a lovely girl. I also find that although Niamh has a very distinctive and interesting voice, emotion and acting wise she is a bit of a one trick pony. Sam seems to be a really good all rounder who has developed as the competition has gone on, but she seems a bit smiley and light for me. She also seems to not handle the pressure massively well during the challenges. I think for three girls so young they have done fantastically to compete live on air and hold their own against more experienced performers, but I just dont think any of them can be Nancy. I worry that they will wreck their voices, and may not have the stamina to do so many shows over such a long period without any training. I hope that through this they all get an opportunity to go to drama school and come back in something else, the definitely deserve it.
I enjoy Jodie a lot, and she always has a warmth and real watchability in her performances. She is also quite reliable and seems to put in a good standard of performance each week, even if this particular show wasn’t her best. I enjoy Rachel a lot too. I really like her voice and she puts in a strong, emotional performance every week. In the end I feel that she should be Nancy for one reason only, she can act. I think this is something which is highly overlooked by the show in general. In the end, however good these people are at singing, if they are wooden, unbelievable or have a poor accent, the production is not going to be enjoyable. They are looking for actresses, not just singers. Ever week in the acting challenges Rachel shows she is very capable, watchable and has an extra something that the others just dont seem to quite have.
But having said all this I really enjoy how there doesn’t seem to be a real frontrunner at this point in the competition, it makes things much more interesting!
May 18th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
No, you are not the only one who thinks Jessie is a bit rubbish. I think she has talent but needs a great deal of training still. Her comment that she had learned a lot in four or five months was unconvincing. She seems just the same to me. If she has learned such a lot, why doesn’t it show? I do know a bit of what I am talking about too as I play two instruments, sing and play in an orchestra. I also actually played Oliver when I was 9, as they couldn’t find a suitable boy!