27 replies to this topic

[Occasional Hope]

Thoughts?

I was unimpressed by Jonathan Ansell - very cheesy performance - although I suspect dropping out of a lead role for a better opportunity is not unprecedented in the theatre.

I liked the guy who sang 'Maybe I'm Amazed', the one who did 'Empty Chairs at Empty Tables', and the black one who Mel C went all gloopy over. There seemed to be a number of decent voices, though.

At least none of this lot look as if they'll burst into tears every five minutes.

Edited by Occasional Hope, Jul 7, 2012 @ 3:09 PM.

[Jasamina]

When and where is this show on?

[WileyCoyote]

I'm guessing the OP meant this: http://superstar.itv.com/

Its one of the approximately five billion "cast a musical" competitive reality shows the UK seems to have (they tried ONE of those in the US once, for Grease, and nobody watched or cared).

Edited by WileyCoyote, Jul 8, 2012 @ 9:00 AM.

[My Way]

(they tried ONE of those in the US once, for Grease, and nobody watched or cared).

There was also one casting the Legally Blond musical on VH1, I think?

[oakgal]

I'm going to give this one a go, I just have to get it first. The UK does these shows quite well. Truth be told, I'm really only tuning in to see Dawn French.

Edited by oakgal, Jul 9, 2012 @ 1:39 AM.

[lipgloss]

Ollie Thompsett who made the final 30 pulled out due to his rock of ages commitments, the o2 shows start just before cast change. But he cant confirm until the show goes out. Given he was under a years contract and Mr G4s was a 4 week run seems a bit mean to have such a go at Mr G4 and not say a word to Ollie.

I still cant believe they called Johnathan 'valjean' Williams a barman. Everyone but Ansells experience is being played down.

Ansell cant act for toffee and has no rock in his tenor, adding to his winning personality i was surprised he got as far as he did.

Its weird seeing (but not hearing) people like Ollie and Alex Gaumond on this, both established westend leading men who dont hurt for work and i imagine dont have any trouble getting auditions in the usual maner.

Seamus show of my own has also been a shadow, itv dont want to remind people who he is? Why after his moaning about adwd stigma why is he back again? He looks like he should be on shipwrecked.

I miss graham norton.

[Occasional Hope]

Given he was under a years contract and Mr G4s was a 4 week run seems a bit mean to have such a go at Mr G4 and not say a word to Ollie.

Ansell cant act for toffee and has no rock in his tenor, adding to his winning personality i was surprised he got as far as he did.

I can't help wondering if there was something else going on - maybe he was even more obnoxious off screen?

[lipgloss]

Just don't get why he went past the first stage.

Just another contrived story for drama I suppose, omg he's pulled out of a show for this and now has nothing, even though he did the show other than when he was at Jesus school(heh) when adwd's anthony Hansen covered.

[Occasional Hope]

Well, I'm certainly not impressed by the scheduling on this, and I can't really see the viewing figures recovering.

[lipgloss]

It's bizarre to have the final on a Wednesday.
I kind of like the top 10. Wish Alex had gone through but happy With some of the others.

[Reya]

Not as much fun so far as the Josephs were - less campery and crying and out of tune singing so far. And no Graham :(

Based on screentime in the audition episodes, Nathan, Niall and Ben seemed to get the most coverage, followed some way behind by Tim and Roger. So I was assuming those were the producers favourites. They all performed in one big chunk today as well.

Unlike in most shows, I don't think getting to perform last was necessarily a big benefit tonight - a lot of people will have been switching over at 9 to watch Big Brother or Wallander. David and Dirk Who stuck at the beginning, followed by basically everyone who got screentime (including Jon the Eleventh, sneaking in there at the end). Afnan, Jeff and Rory could be at a disadvantage.

Mind you, my friend has watched nothing so far, but took one look at the photos on the website and announced that Jeff was clearly the winner. Every show so far has ended up with the winner who best fit the generally accepted idea of what the character should look like. Does that make Jeff or Nathan the winner?

[NotPatrick]

I really don't know why they've done the scheduling for this the way they have. Nobody is going to devote nine days in a row to anything, especially in the middle of Summer. I'm guessing the show has enough celebs in it to attract an audience as it is, and the extra publicity boost coming from having a tv show will help the whole thing along, but they're putting themselves as hostages to fortune with the random voting that's likely to happen.

I can see Tim winning. He seems a very ITV sort of winner with his body confidence issues, and they're throwing a lot of "he's what the show's all about" and "he's very musical" and "he's had his own musical published and performed" stuff. Which all baffles me because I think vocally he's one of the weakest. That said, anything could happen, because I can see very few people bothering to vote every single day. I'm not a great believer in "people he thought he was safe so etc etc" arguments, but with this show I can see it happening.

Obviously the most interesting thing is the elimination mechanism. I hope ITV don't wuss out, like they've wussed out of showing 12 multi-racial colour-coded Jesuses kicking seven shades of shit out of one another in the opening credits.

[lipgloss]

From the past shows I've only known/seen one of the contestants in advance.

This time it's half the finalists and so I've no idea how biased I'm being, but most those I didn't know of seem quite bland.

Tim fits very well with Minchin as Judas, the younger ones not so much.
Incidentally a bunch of the past contestants are on his More with every line album.

Agree about the loss of camp, no throne for the lord, no cross in a glass case, no colour coding, if there's no ripping of thorns from the exiting head tonight I will dispare.

Edited by lipgloss, Jul 16, 2012 @ 10:35 AM.

[qurtalain]

I found the show so dull and repetitive. I guess because there are so many contestants to cram in but it was like VT, performance, VT, performance, ad break - rinse and repeat for an hour and a half. Amanda barely chatted to each Jesus. It was just not fun.

The scheduling is a head-scratcher as has been pointed out in this thread. If this show doesn't capture an audience it's going to sink like the Titanic and disappear before people even realise it was on their TV screens.

As for the contestants themselves, I don't think anyone made an impact vocal-wise. Butlins guy seemed nervous as hell. The 'nevernude' guy has a face for comedy. He'd definitely redefine the role if they wanted to go the comedy angle. I liked the former rugby player guy, he's supercute and very Jesus-y looking. The rocker guy is too Nordic looking for my taste. He also gives off an arrogant vibe which isn't very Christlike. And his hand flutters at his mike which really pisses me off [/irrational].

[Occasional Hope]

The whole thing seems incredibly half hearted with all the token efforts at various aspects, eg the feeble exit routine. Doing it every night means there's no time for anyone to grow or improve over the live shows, or to build a fan base either.

I thought Afnan was better in the singoff, but tbh I can't imagine the GBP ever voting for someone from a Muslim family (as I would assume) to play Jesus. (I thought his parents yesterday were adorable, so I'm sorry to see him go if only because they won't be around again.)

[NotPatrick]

I know criticising the Andrew Lloyd Webber shows for bizarre song choices is cliche at this point, but I still say there is a special place in hell for whoever thought it was in wany way feasible for Dirk to sing "Titanium". And how I wish Nathan had done the original version of "Dedication To My Ex". On a number of levels.

The lack of a proper sing-out is an even bigger crime though. I was so angry.

[Reya]

Booo, ITV. Where's my singout?!

Not a particularly surprising bottom two - Dirk was too bland to stand out, and Afnan too Asian for the British public. I thought Afnan had a much nicer tone to his voice than Dirk though, pitch issues aside. I'd much prefer to listen to him sing.

Ben - seems solid right now. Not lighting the world on fire but hasn't really misstepped yet. Definite mid-to-front-level contender, competent and likeable enough, and sort of looks like he could be Jewish if you squint. There's plenty of weaker candidates.

Tim - ouch, that was horrible. That falsetto needs to not happen please. He's going to last as long as the producers want him to and will keep giving him favourable VTs to make it happen.

Rory - they seem to really like him, but I'm not sold. Something about this performance didn't really seem dynamic enough to me. Bit X-Factor. Obviously he's going to float around forever no matter how much I grow to hate him though, much like Craig from ADWD.

Nathan - I felt a bit sorry for him this time. Seemed unfair to accuse him of overconfidence a second day in a row, without even having VT material to back it up. Either they're trying to get rid of him or he's being set up for some sort of redemption arc. My Nathan Tolerance Levels are quite high anyway, partly because I don't think you can blame a young man for things he says on television at the age of 23 when he's trying to get himself noticed, and partly because he's one of my favourites to listen to by far. I don't love his screaming, but when he's doing basic rock voice it's one of the most pleasant to hear in that he never sounds like he's trying too hard or having to force it. If they weren't trying so hard to screw him he'd be a contender.

Roger - ouch, horrible song for him. Painfully bad. I get the feeling he's going to be the Rachel - the safe pair of hands they're going to keep around just in case.

Niall - make it stop. First recipient of the cruel 'I don't think you're right for the part'. He's toast. Maybe not tonight, but in a show or three. A shame, because I liked him.

Dirk - is way out of his league. There's no way he was ever going to be able to do justice to Titanium. I just find his voice too nasally as well. It's not very pleasant. If he's not in the bottom two tomorrow it'll only be because the public took pity on him.

Jeff - judging by the screams coming from the crowd, it doesn't matter much how well he sings. He's the most Jesus-y looking, the youngest, and the one my mum thinks is the best looking. Expect them to start desperately shoving him under the bus when they realise he's going to keep pulling in the teen girl/mum vote.

Jon - has a very nice tone to his voice, but no rock to it whatsoever. Still, lets all keep patting ourselves on the back for giving him a chance and rescuing him from Butlins hell. About the same time that self-satisfaction starts fading will be the time when he exits. Unless we're going to have some hideous Voice Groundhog Day. SAVE ALL THE BUTLINSES.

David - is an odd one. He's been universally praised so far, received some very favourable performance slots, seems like a very nice *humblehumble* sort of guy, but I'm having trouble seeing him in the part. Is he the Daniel? Or the surprise everyman winner once Tim crashes out?

[lipgloss]

David certainly looks like Daniel, same mouth or something.

Ugh the show is awful. Bad songs, bad wardrobe, bad format, no throne, no thorns, no boys weeping during the singout, walk to the light shudder.

My bias for Tim slipped last night his face was scary but Ben and Nathan did fine. I'm hoping they are setting Nathan up for a journey arc and not a bus home.

OT at xfactor auditions this year a man band did an awful version of Titanium.

[Reya]

Ultra-scientific breakdown of popularity via no. of twitter followers:

1. Nathan (7000+)
2. David (5000+)
3. Tim (3500+)
4/5. Niall/Ben (3000+)
6. Jeff (2000+)
7. Jon (1500+)
8. Rory (1300+)
9. Roger (1200+)
10. Dirk (900+)
11. Afnan (850+)

Maybe they're right to be scared of Nathan. Still find David's popularity slightly surprising. These make sense as far as last night's bottom two goes anyway - be interested to see who's in there tonight. Very scientific, this.

[lipgloss]

David's could be from his supporting Mcfly days and he's been endorsed by James Corden as he was in one man 2 govs.

[Reya]

Yes, I'm assuming a lot of them have existing support from before the show. It probably won't matter later on in the competition as people build up (or alienate) support, and voters switch as their preferred candidate drops out, but this early on I could quite easily see it making a difference even if only 5-10% of followers are voting given how low the ratings are. Nathan in particular has been pleading for votes from his followers ever since last night's show. Not much to separate John, Rory and Roger so I wouldn't be surprised to see one of them hit the bottom two tonight.

[Snowth]

Seems they've realised what a bad idea putting eliminations at the start of the show was, but they've made a hash of things by trying to fix it. I'm really cultivating a dislike for Jason Donovan too.

Really only watching for Niall, who is totally wrong for the part but I was a fan of his since seeing him as Fiyero in Wicked.

[Occasional Hope]

Seems they've realised what a bad idea putting eliminations at the start of the show was, but they've made a hash of things by trying to fix it.

Yes - this way didn't work either. And what was with sticking a guest performer on at the end? This realy is a shambles, productionwise.

I've liked Jeff up til now but A Kiss From A Rose was painful.

I think David was B2 because he strikes me as completely colourless - maybe too much of an actor and not enough personality of his own? I suspect he'll be there again tomorrow.

[Snowth]

I think I want Dawn to win.

[Occasional Hope]

Jon was the best in the singoff imo, but clearly he was toast before he started (before the evening started, come to that).

Roger sounded as though he was singing in the wrong key.

[lipgloss]

Well that was the biggest bus on a reality show since Wagner.

The crown of thorns pic was a drawing from a fan.

I'm so torn, I'd love Ben to win, he's a lovely, talented guy and deserves a big break but don't think they really needed to take Nathan out in that manor to achieve it.

[Snowth]

Really it's Nathan's fault for not sticking to their script as "the difficult one" by being pleasant and likeable. Meant they had to play dirty to get him out of the way. I don't get the fuss over the fan pic. They all want to be Jesus, what's the crime in acknowledging that? Hope he does well because that was a shitty way to go out.

Ben is probably the only one left who can sing the part. I have no idea why Roger is still there because the role isn't even in his range.

[Occasional Hope]

I guess it looks like Ben will win, but I can't honestly say he has any charisma. Nor does Rory, but I see Roger finishing third tomorrow.

Nathan did seem a little immature at times, I thought.