I'd Do Anything (Live Shows Week 9)
Saturday, May 24th, 2008 07:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lizziecRachel: The panel discuss her before, most saying she hasn't blown the audience away (Denise disagrees, mentioning her performance of Beautiful), Barry saying he doesn't think she has any more to give. Yay! A show song - Cabaret from Cabaret. What she turns out is really rather good. She is in tune (bar one note very near the end), acting her socks off, coping well with the choreography. I loved the change of words (from "going like Elsie" to "going like Rachel"), I actually saw her in the role tonight - she is definately a complete package and would be an excellent Nancy. I really think this underlines the fact that the girls should have been singing show tunes all the way through - this was Rachel's best performance to date and I was very impressed and enjoyed it very much.
Jessie: John Barrowman and Denise are very much against Jessie, while Andrew and Cameron are for her. I'm with John and Denise - I find her unwatchable now (especially that mouth thing). She's singing "What I did for Love" from Chorus Line. She is seated for most of this, which works in her favour as she is not strong when choreographed. Her vocal was strong (though somewhat harsh in places - what's the opposite of a glottal stop [for when one starts?] - cos that's what she did at the start of her words), and her acting wasn't bad for once, but she wasn't a patch on Rachel's performance (imo), and I don't think she is ready for Nancy. The kindest thing to do would be for her not to win, but to go out and go to Drama school. ALW thinks she has star quality, I disagree really (at this point in time).
Samantha: The panel don't seem to think she's very good at any other emotions than anger/aggression and thinks she needs to be able to move people which she hasn't yet. She sings "When You Believe" from The Prince of Egypt. Her tuning is good (with a few spots out of tune, especially towards the end), her movement not bad (though there's no real choreography, unlike Rachel's). She seems to struggle with the understated song, and I didn't really "feel" her performance. John uses the opportunity of critiquing Samantha to attack Jessie again (calling her a fish out of water). The panel seemed to like the performance. Barry letches over her again - once more making me feel rather ill. Cameron thinks she'll stay till next week, but thinks he lost the vulnerability as she got to the money notes.
Jodie: Cameron says her best performance was "Send in the Clowns" - I agree, and it goes to show how much she (and everyone else TBH) benefitted from show songs. She's singing "Out Here on my Own" from Fame. It's a technically good performance and I thought she sung and acted it well, but I don't think it's her best performance ("Send in the Clowns" was better I think). It was beautifully understated though, and it would be a crime if she wasn't here next week. I think it was the best solo performance of the night. Denise and John loved it, Barry thinks she was too restrained, Cameron thought it was "Matronly", ALW says it was his fault she was so restrained and thought she was "on the button" and agonises about his decision tomorrow.
Opening number of Food Glorious Food. The Olivers (all 12 of them - I note the ones who aren't in the Semi Final are still performing with the group, which is quite nice) really stole this from the Nancys in terms of performances, possibly because they're more numerous than the Nancys, or maybe they're better (certainly more natrual).
ALW called a crunch meeting about the Nancys. I don't remember this with the Joseph's last year. I think he's rather worried. I am too. I like a few of the Nancy's that are left, but they all have stregnths and weaknesses, and I don't feel as partisan as I did last year about Lee. I think it should be between Jodie and Rachel though as to the final role, as Jessie and Samantha (IMO) are too young with voices that are not developed properly yet. It's nice to see Cameron Mackintosh on the panel now. Given it's his show I wish he could have been there before.
Samantha and Jodie are the first pair (singing "Superstar" from JCSS). Jodie starts badly, right at the bottom of her range, tuning suffered accordingly. Samantha was better, seeming more comfortable with the key the song was in. Samantha also looked more natrual with the choreography, but Jodie's voice was the one that dominated. As to which was better - I think it depends what you're looking for. Argh!
The Olivers sing "Tomorrow" from Annie, followed by the final mission (giving a performance on a West End Theatre stage). The three who are Oliver are: Gwion, Lawrence and Harry.
Jessie and Rachel are paired and sing their duo second. They are singing "Buenos Aires" from Evita. They start out singing together and someone there is out of tune (and someone (maybe both?) is shouting too - don't know if it's the same person). Rachel shows her diction is good on her solo lines, which Jessie struggles with the rapid fire delivery. Rachel is out of tune on a couple of points, quite badly in places.
The show closes with the Not Olivers singing "No Matter What". They do a good job, especially as a) it's a pop song and b) and some of them are visibly upset.
The best duo was Jodie and Samantha by a long way. IMO the best performance was Jodie (followed closely by Rachel). The worst was absolutely Jessie. I think the sing off should be between Jessie and Samantha, with Jessie to go.
Cross posted to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nancy_or_oliver
[Edit - Sunday] Asked by Graham how much they want it, it's the two older Nancys (Jodie and Rachel) who manage to get their thoughts in. Their mission is then introduced - to spend the night in a genuine Victorian place, making dinner etc without microwaves (though I'm certain they didn't make the bread!) and then to speak "As Long as He Needs me" in character to Barry Humphries. Barry liked Jessie's performance, I thought she sounded rather like Sean Connery as Bond. In Rachel he saw something he'd never seen before - genuine leading lady potential. Jodie's performance was apparently very emotional. He felt Samantha parroted the words to start with, then she knelt down with tears in her eyes and he felt she was a proper actress. He seemed most impressed with Rachel's performance.
Group performance of "A Hard Day's Night". This is followed by the Olivers being told they can be Oliver, with ALW and Cameron justifying their decisions. Then we hear Gwion, Harry and Lawrence in their first public performance of "Where is Love?" The first thing I notice is that the vocal coaches seem to have been working to get rid of Gwion's very welsh accent when singing - compared to the start of series it's virtually not there. I also note one of the others (can't remember his name) singing out of the side of his mouth. It's catching! It was a lovely performance though, and one or two of the Nancys should take notes - the Olivers have been much more consistant than some of them (IMO).
John says Jessie isn't Nancy, Denise chooses Jessie, Barry thinks Jodie isn't Nancy and Cameron also chooses Jodie. The audience boo in disagreement with Jodie not being Nancy, and barely utter a word in defence of Jessie. Interesting.
Jodie and Jessie are straight through to the final, leaving Rachel and Samantha in the sing off. Rachel looks rather annoyed. Samantha would be going home if it were down to viewers votes. The sing off song is "Memory" from Cats. Andrew says this was the result he did not want. Bet he won't flounce off this time though.
Rachel starts flawlessly,Samantha has some tuning problems at the bottom of her register. Samantha has some problems with her diction here (but they improve as the song continue). Denise looks like she's about to cry. I believe in Rachel's acting more than Samantha's here, and her tuning was solid (unlike Samantha who had problems with her tuning throughout the song), and if it were based on the sing off I think that Rachel should be staying. He plays it off as youth vs experience, and says he's making his decision based on where the show is going to go. He saves Samantha, which I think is absolutely the wrong result (based on the sing off and on the performances tonight).
Jessie: John Barrowman and Denise are very much against Jessie, while Andrew and Cameron are for her. I'm with John and Denise - I find her unwatchable now (especially that mouth thing). She's singing "What I did for Love" from Chorus Line. She is seated for most of this, which works in her favour as she is not strong when choreographed. Her vocal was strong (though somewhat harsh in places - what's the opposite of a glottal stop [for when one starts?] - cos that's what she did at the start of her words), and her acting wasn't bad for once, but she wasn't a patch on Rachel's performance (imo), and I don't think she is ready for Nancy. The kindest thing to do would be for her not to win, but to go out and go to Drama school. ALW thinks she has star quality, I disagree really (at this point in time).
Samantha: The panel don't seem to think she's very good at any other emotions than anger/aggression and thinks she needs to be able to move people which she hasn't yet. She sings "When You Believe" from The Prince of Egypt. Her tuning is good (with a few spots out of tune, especially towards the end), her movement not bad (though there's no real choreography, unlike Rachel's). She seems to struggle with the understated song, and I didn't really "feel" her performance. John uses the opportunity of critiquing Samantha to attack Jessie again (calling her a fish out of water). The panel seemed to like the performance. Barry letches over her again - once more making me feel rather ill. Cameron thinks she'll stay till next week, but thinks he lost the vulnerability as she got to the money notes.
Jodie: Cameron says her best performance was "Send in the Clowns" - I agree, and it goes to show how much she (and everyone else TBH) benefitted from show songs. She's singing "Out Here on my Own" from Fame. It's a technically good performance and I thought she sung and acted it well, but I don't think it's her best performance ("Send in the Clowns" was better I think). It was beautifully understated though, and it would be a crime if she wasn't here next week. I think it was the best solo performance of the night. Denise and John loved it, Barry thinks she was too restrained, Cameron thought it was "Matronly", ALW says it was his fault she was so restrained and thought she was "on the button" and agonises about his decision tomorrow.
Opening number of Food Glorious Food. The Olivers (all 12 of them - I note the ones who aren't in the Semi Final are still performing with the group, which is quite nice) really stole this from the Nancys in terms of performances, possibly because they're more numerous than the Nancys, or maybe they're better (certainly more natrual).
ALW called a crunch meeting about the Nancys. I don't remember this with the Joseph's last year. I think he's rather worried. I am too. I like a few of the Nancy's that are left, but they all have stregnths and weaknesses, and I don't feel as partisan as I did last year about Lee. I think it should be between Jodie and Rachel though as to the final role, as Jessie and Samantha (IMO) are too young with voices that are not developed properly yet. It's nice to see Cameron Mackintosh on the panel now. Given it's his show I wish he could have been there before.
Samantha and Jodie are the first pair (singing "Superstar" from JCSS). Jodie starts badly, right at the bottom of her range, tuning suffered accordingly. Samantha was better, seeming more comfortable with the key the song was in. Samantha also looked more natrual with the choreography, but Jodie's voice was the one that dominated. As to which was better - I think it depends what you're looking for. Argh!
The Olivers sing "Tomorrow" from Annie, followed by the final mission (giving a performance on a West End Theatre stage). The three who are Oliver are: Gwion, Lawrence and Harry.
Jessie and Rachel are paired and sing their duo second. They are singing "Buenos Aires" from Evita. They start out singing together and someone there is out of tune (and someone (maybe both?) is shouting too - don't know if it's the same person). Rachel shows her diction is good on her solo lines, which Jessie struggles with the rapid fire delivery. Rachel is out of tune on a couple of points, quite badly in places.
The show closes with the Not Olivers singing "No Matter What". They do a good job, especially as a) it's a pop song and b) and some of them are visibly upset.
The best duo was Jodie and Samantha by a long way. IMO the best performance was Jodie (followed closely by Rachel). The worst was absolutely Jessie. I think the sing off should be between Jessie and Samantha, with Jessie to go.
Cross posted to
nancy_or_oliver[Edit - Sunday] Asked by Graham how much they want it, it's the two older Nancys (Jodie and Rachel) who manage to get their thoughts in. Their mission is then introduced - to spend the night in a genuine Victorian place, making dinner etc without microwaves (though I'm certain they didn't make the bread!) and then to speak "As Long as He Needs me" in character to Barry Humphries. Barry liked Jessie's performance, I thought she sounded rather like Sean Connery as Bond. In Rachel he saw something he'd never seen before - genuine leading lady potential. Jodie's performance was apparently very emotional. He felt Samantha parroted the words to start with, then she knelt down with tears in her eyes and he felt she was a proper actress. He seemed most impressed with Rachel's performance.
Group performance of "A Hard Day's Night". This is followed by the Olivers being told they can be Oliver, with ALW and Cameron justifying their decisions. Then we hear Gwion, Harry and Lawrence in their first public performance of "Where is Love?" The first thing I notice is that the vocal coaches seem to have been working to get rid of Gwion's very welsh accent when singing - compared to the start of series it's virtually not there. I also note one of the others (can't remember his name) singing out of the side of his mouth. It's catching! It was a lovely performance though, and one or two of the Nancys should take notes - the Olivers have been much more consistant than some of them (IMO).
John says Jessie isn't Nancy, Denise chooses Jessie, Barry thinks Jodie isn't Nancy and Cameron also chooses Jodie. The audience boo in disagreement with Jodie not being Nancy, and barely utter a word in defence of Jessie. Interesting.
Jodie and Jessie are straight through to the final, leaving Rachel and Samantha in the sing off. Rachel looks rather annoyed. Samantha would be going home if it were down to viewers votes. The sing off song is "Memory" from Cats. Andrew says this was the result he did not want. Bet he won't flounce off this time though.
Rachel starts flawlessly,Samantha has some tuning problems at the bottom of her register. Samantha has some problems with her diction here (but they improve as the song continue). Denise looks like she's about to cry. I believe in Rachel's acting more than Samantha's here, and her tuning was solid (unlike Samantha who had problems with her tuning throughout the song), and if it were based on the sing off I think that Rachel should be staying. He plays it off as youth vs experience, and says he's making his decision based on where the show is going to go. He saves Samantha, which I think is absolutely the wrong result (based on the sing off and on the performances tonight).
