If you were watching I’d Do Anything on BBC1 on Saturday night, you’ll know that the part of Nancy in Cameron Mackintosh’s new West End production of the musical Oliver! has been carried off by 28-year-old Blackpool native Jodie Prenger.

Although Jodie was naturally thrilled to win the talent competition, I can’t help thinking that her victory must have been soured a little by the fact that both Mackintosh and judge Andrew Lloyd Webber made it abundantly clear that they preferred her 18-year-old rival, Irish Jessie Buckley. Since the final was decided entirely by public votes, however, the two theatrical bigwigs could only look on as the audience made the decision first to eliminate 17-year-old contestant Samantha Barks, and then Jessie – leaving Jodie triumphant.

The first part of the final, which would see the remaining three contestants reduced to two, featured solo performances from all the girls. First up was Jodie with a rendition of Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man,” in which she seemed a bit nervous and restrained to me, although she did deliver by the end. Webber, displaying a lack of prophetic vision (or perhaps just indulging in wishful thinking) said that he questioned whether it was a winning performance. But judge John Barrowman (who has become increasingly vocal about his anti-Jessie stance) insisted that you always believed in Jodie when she sang the words of a song – a judgment I would agree with. … continue reading

The four Nancy finalists became three on Saturday night, in a shocking elimination that saw 26-year-old Rachel Tucker sent home from I’d Do Anything, the BBC’s search to find a girl to play Nancy in a new West End production of Oliver!

Rachel

The fact that Rachel would wind up in the “bottom two” based on public votes wasn’t a surprise to me, as she has been there twice before. What was a surprise, given that Rachel has the most professional experience of all the remaining finalists, was that Andrew Lloyd Webber would choose to save inexperienced 17-year-old contestant Samantha Barks instead of her.

Although I haven’t always found Rachel a hugely charismatic performer, she is someone I would trust to carry a West End show. And, ironically, her elimination came after what the judges agreed was her best performance in weeks: a rendition of Liza Minnelli’s "Cabaret" that started off a bit stagy for me, but became unexpectedly spine-tingling towards the end, given the sheer force and power that she was putting into the lyrics. I don’t know if it’s just one of those songs that it’s impossible not to be moved by, but by the time she declared, “When I go, I’m going like Rachel” it had pretty much become the performance of the evening for me. You can watch the clip below:

The remaining three contestants are now Samantha Barks, 18-year-old Jessie Buckley, and 28-year-old Jodie Prenger. … continue reading

Pretty Irish teenager Niamh Perry was sent home last night, meaning that there are now only four contestants left on I'd Do Anything, the BBC’s search to find a girl to play Nancy in the West End production of Oliver! Although I thought Niamh was a talented performer, she failed to convince the panel and the public that she had the toughness for Nancy, delivering a version of No Doubt ’s “Don’t Speak” that judge Denise Van Outen compared to a teenager throwing a tantrum. While I personally thought that criticism was a bit exaggerated, I did find it hard to picture Niamh in the role of Nancy – just as I find it easy to believe she’ll be picked up soon for a professional role that’s better suited to her.

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The remaining four contestants are Jodie Prenger, Jessie Buckley, Rachel Tucker and Samantha Barks – and one of the things making this competition more interesting than the two BBC musical talent shows that have preceded it is that it’s extremely hard to pick a front-runner. With the most professional experience of the lot, 26-year-old Rachel might seem a safe choice – but she was in the bottom two again on Sunday, indicating that she’s not a hit with the public. While teenagers Jessie and Sam are talented, they both seem too young and inexperienced at the moment to me. If I had to hazard a guess as to who will finally take home the prize, it would be 28-year-old Jodie, but I'm not certain.

So, the BBC has recently launched the latest in its line of three musical talent contests, and I admit that I’m watching. First there was the 2006 show How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, which searched for an unknown girl to play Maria in a new West End production of The Sound of Music. Then there was the 2007 show Any Dream Will Do, which searched for an unknown boy to play Joseph in a new West End production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Now there’s I’d Do Anything, which searches for both a girl to play Nancy and a boy to play Oliver Twist in a new stage production of Lionel Bart’s Dickens-based musical Oliver! Thankfully, the producers have decided that it’s just too cruel to put the small boys auditioning for Oliver through the usual American Idol–style humiliation of panel criticism and a public vote — so that decision will be made privately, although the audience will be let in on footage of the boys preparing and performing.

But the girls — who have now been narrowed down to twelve finalists aged between 17 and 28 — are judged to be old enough to cope. Consequently, there’s been all the usual gratuitous upping of their angst, as the panel (which includes Andrew Lloyd Webber) make them stand and wait for the initial decisions, and hint that they’ve been dropped just to see them squirm.

Why do I keep on watching, given how obnoxious that behavior is? Well, for one thing, I love musical theater. And for another, there are worse ways to spend your Saturday evenings than in watching 12 talented women singing their hearts out.

Back in the days of the first contest, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, the show was considerably enlivened by the gorgeousness, as well as the talent, of one of the competitors, Siobhan Dillon: … continue reading