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burntcopperToday, you should know where your towel is. And remember that you stand for Truth, Justice, Reasonably Priced Love and a Hard-Boiled Egg. For it is the Glorious 25th of May.
Watched finale of Over the Rainbow last night. it's been an interesting ride. No real clear squee or fervour, or massively obvious frontrunner, so people've been watching it with almost clinical interest. Though everyone had been predicting the winner from the beginning, Danielle Hope. Which probably says something about the viewers more than the competitors - we've been watching this kind of thing, know the type of person people are likely to vote for, and the type most likely to shine on tv and what Andrew's looking for.
Lauren getting through to the final wasn't a surprise whatsoever, given the praise she'd been given and how many times she'd been saved - great singer, just did *not* connect with the public and tended to play to the gods above all else - complete lack of subtlety. Good for theatre, almost certainly, will be employed by ALW in the future, but given the public didn't like her that much, unlikely she was going to win it once it was pure public vote, and out she went in the first round of the finale.
Sophie was a surprise, though. She was an interesting case. Not the most confident girl unless she was really enjoying herself, not that experienced, decent dancer, decent actress, lovely voice. Generally considered very sweet. But only ended up in the sing-off *once*, unlike the others in the competition. Which does show how far being liked and doing decently can get you when there's no clear stand-out. She did a nice job.
Danielle : got the Judy Garland-esque looks, came off extremely well on tv (confident but not overly, good range of voice, good actress - something so very natural about her acting, good dancer. Not the best dancer or singer, but good package) Did herself proud in the finale - Over the Rainbow, If I Only Had A Brain, 76 Trombones and the repeat of Mambo Italiano.
I did rather like my parents' comments - Dad wandered in and out at the beginning, mum stayed for most of it. Both of them pointed at Danielle after about two seconds of watching with 'She *looks* like Dorothy.' and then got taken aback when I answered 'What, twelve years old and blonde?' Heh. Yes, people, Judy Garland is not the be-all and end-all. Mum rather liked Danielle's performance - the natural thing, essentially, and loved her 76 Trombones as a stage performance. I told her she had to watch Mambo Italiano when it came on, and her big grin at the end of that was exactly the grin everyone had when Danielle did it first time round, including 'Andrew's loving this.' Interestingly, she took an instant dislike to Lauren on the basis of her acting and was heard to exclaim several times 'She's not even *looking* at him!' during 'If I Only Had a Brain'. Critique being that Lauren didn't connect to anyone on-stage and was constantly overdoing it. She agrees that Sophie is very sweet, but wasn't sure about her overall. And she nearly wet herself at St. Sheila's comments and couldn't believe how orange Partridge was. (yes, I do use my mum as voice of the general musical-going public)
Watched finale of Over the Rainbow last night. it's been an interesting ride. No real clear squee or fervour, or massively obvious frontrunner, so people've been watching it with almost clinical interest. Though everyone had been predicting the winner from the beginning, Danielle Hope. Which probably says something about the viewers more than the competitors - we've been watching this kind of thing, know the type of person people are likely to vote for, and the type most likely to shine on tv and what Andrew's looking for.
Lauren getting through to the final wasn't a surprise whatsoever, given the praise she'd been given and how many times she'd been saved - great singer, just did *not* connect with the public and tended to play to the gods above all else - complete lack of subtlety. Good for theatre, almost certainly, will be employed by ALW in the future, but given the public didn't like her that much, unlikely she was going to win it once it was pure public vote, and out she went in the first round of the finale.
Sophie was a surprise, though. She was an interesting case. Not the most confident girl unless she was really enjoying herself, not that experienced, decent dancer, decent actress, lovely voice. Generally considered very sweet. But only ended up in the sing-off *once*, unlike the others in the competition. Which does show how far being liked and doing decently can get you when there's no clear stand-out. She did a nice job.
Danielle : got the Judy Garland-esque looks, came off extremely well on tv (confident but not overly, good range of voice, good actress - something so very natural about her acting, good dancer. Not the best dancer or singer, but good package) Did herself proud in the finale - Over the Rainbow, If I Only Had A Brain, 76 Trombones and the repeat of Mambo Italiano.
I did rather like my parents' comments - Dad wandered in and out at the beginning, mum stayed for most of it. Both of them pointed at Danielle after about two seconds of watching with 'She *looks* like Dorothy.' and then got taken aback when I answered 'What, twelve years old and blonde?' Heh. Yes, people, Judy Garland is not the be-all and end-all. Mum rather liked Danielle's performance - the natural thing, essentially, and loved her 76 Trombones as a stage performance. I told her she had to watch Mambo Italiano when it came on, and her big grin at the end of that was exactly the grin everyone had when Danielle did it first time round, including 'Andrew's loving this.' Interestingly, she took an instant dislike to Lauren on the basis of her acting and was heard to exclaim several times 'She's not even *looking* at him!' during 'If I Only Had a Brain'. Critique being that Lauren didn't connect to anyone on-stage and was constantly overdoing it. She agrees that Sophie is very sweet, but wasn't sure about her overall. And she nearly wet herself at St. Sheila's comments and couldn't believe how orange Partridge was. (yes, I do use my mum as voice of the general musical-going public)
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Date: 2010-05-25 11:29 am (UTC)I agree that it's been a strangely detached ride, in the end, I could live with any of the final three getting the job, as I think could ALW.
But Lauren was always going to go out first when it came to the public vote, and she knew it. She'll do well in theatre, but I don't think she developed much as a performer during the show, unlike Danielle and Sophie. And your Mum was right that she didn't connect so well during If I Only Had A Brain.
When it came down to the final two I wanted Sophie to win. Because she has a sweet voice and an interesting face, and if I was paying £50+ for a theatre ticket I'd like to look at/hear someone like her rather than Danielle. Danielle may be a fine actress, but her singing voice is still weak (at least they've got 6 months to work on it) and her nuanced style might get lost in a big theatre. I did wonder if ALW was trying to sabotage her by giving her 76 Trombones when the other two got much meatier songs. But she made the best of it and there's no doubt her Mambo Italiano was great. However, when she got to sing Over The Rainbow she did not compare favourably to Sophie. Ouch.
I loved Sheila and her comments, but I wonder if they'll ever use her again, or if she'd want to do it again. Her 'tits' comment was outstanding and I thought it was a bit mealy-mouthed of Graham to tell her off for a 'potty-mouth' as if she were 3 years old. But I guess nowadays the BBC can't be seen to be condoning anything.
I saw the Joss Whedon/Neil Patrick Harris Glee episode last night which I thought was the strongest episode for a long time. Although I was disappointed to realise that the actor playing Artie isn't really a disabled actor. Seems like a missed opportunity.
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Date: 2010-05-25 01:24 pm (UTC)Mum was also pointing out that it's a bit obvious that Sheila really does not get on with ALW or rate his opinion - you could see her getting frustrated with the gushing. One wonders whether the 'They can't sack me' comment was somewhat telling...
Glee. Oh, Glee. :hearts: and yay, they did go for Idina as Rachel's mum! NPH is a fabulous thing, but now I want to see a matt morrison as Valjean and NPH as Javert performance. :pokes writers: Seek out the behind the scenes bit on youtube. it's a lot of fun and has some rather interesting comments. Not enough NPH, though. :pout:
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Date: 2010-05-25 01:36 pm (UTC)Idina as Rachel's mum seems the obvious choice as they look so alike. Though I'm not mad keen on the way everyone keeps ripping the narrative guts out of 'I Dreamed A Dream' (I blame SuBo) as I don't think the version that Idina and Lea sang made much sense, even within the mother/daughter dynamic.
But yes, NPH is a fabulous thing! When the two of them arrived for the Les Mis audition I was sure that one of them would get Valjean and one Javert and I came up with the same as you - Matt Morrison as Valjean and NPH as Javert. So I was a bit disappointed that the second male lead in Les Mis (who is not inconsiderable!) got written out of the story for dramatic purposes. And I so wanted to see them sing a Valjean/Javert duet!
I shall definitely seek out the behind the scenes bit - thanks for the tip. What's the best search phrase to find it?
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Date: 2010-05-25 01:50 pm (UTC)normally glee behind scenes ep title.
And they have left it completely open-ended for him to return.
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Date: 2010-05-25 02:00 pm (UTC)I hope he does return again before long.
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Date: 2010-05-26 08:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-25 07:32 pm (UTC)Danielle is so different when she's being herself, and when she's being a character on stage. And her duet with Lauren on Popular the previous week showed them both off wonderfully (as ALW said, he'd have to keep an eye out for the producers of Wicked flying in and grabbing them both!)
Yes, Lauren looks like she'd play someone a little more "evil" better (there's often a role for the leading lady's friend/competition/whatever that I think Lauren would fit nicely).
And given that Sophie did OTR better, it's not surprising that ALW gave D 76 Trombones, as it's a movement/slapstick/shouty song (like Mambo Italiano) and so suits her a lot better. And you could hear her voice going shouty and rough around the big chinese gong line ...