 | | By Glenn Meads | | |
Superstar blog: The final tenDate: 14 July 2012 Superstar is hotting up now, literally - as the Jesi are sent to Majorca where Andrew is writing his next musical. What could it be? And will he hold his auditions on TV? Just so we know where we are, this is all played out to Coldplay’s “Paradise.”
The guys talk about how some of them are feeling. You know the usual – “I think I’m going home.” Or “I think I screwed up my song and didn’t give it enough feeling.”
It’s nice to see the very talented Alex Gaumond through – if anyone has seen him in Legally Blonde, WWRY or The Full Monty though, you realise this guy will always be top of a producer’s list when it comes to casting as he is an excellent vocalist and actor.
Zoolander goes through too but every time he sings, it’s as if he is looking in a full length mirror. Not sure how this will go down in an arena, whereby you have to perform with others, not just yourself. Maybe if Ben Stiller decides to make a musical version of the hit film this guy could “Strike a pose” right there.
Nathan mouths “I’m gone” which in the true tradition of panto meets reality TV means of course that he’s through. And he is. Things start to become very serious when Andrew decides to watch them all deliver a one to one performance. It’s times like this when Graham Norton is missed.
Although there is some unintentional humour - which always tickles me whenever it occurs - as I have seen it in previous shows. You know the bit where Andrew leans forward as in this case each performer sings for his supper. His face either looks like he is going to eat one of them or slap them. I enjoy trying to work out what each facial expression means and who will stay and who will go based on the elasticity of his face!
Jon from Newcastle forgets his words but is endearing with it, Afnan rocks out and has the ability to bring it down a level and would make an interesting finalist. Tim makes a confession that his wife has never seen him with his top off. I feel sorry for the guy, as someone has clearly wormed this out of him and it could now haunt him for the rest of the competition.
The next task involves a tour bus. Even though the tour for the actual show is very short, this is not mentioned. So, the point of this is to get them used to the bus, get them tired and then make them perform like something out of Water for Elephants. Roger is not really rock enough – more like nougat but he goes through, Ross Zoolander again acts a song as if it’s about him being in love with himself. Nathan does all the runs but you can’t help but feel that his camp style of rock would be more suited to Rock of Ages or a juke box musical featuring the music of Twister Sister or Kiss.
Andrew undoes his own task by saying “We cannot allow the bus factor” to get in the way of their decision. But you set up the task to come to a conclusion. Goal posts moved right there – awkward!
So, who are the final 10 and what's my take on them?
Rory Taylor – the one who wears a beanie a lot.
Nathan James – put through as he makes great telly telling you how good he is.
David Hunter – looks like a member of Keane – a wild card.
Ben Forster – this guy has it and could be Jesus.
Tim Prottey-Jones – I like him but I hope he’s not been set up as the sob story contestant.
Roger Wright – has played Simba in the Lion King but I imagine will go home fairly quickly as he’s not a rock god.
Nial Sheehy – has not really been on my radar yet.
Jeff Anderson – looks the part but needs to prove himself vocally.
Dirk Johnston – has surprised people and will get votes for his looks with a teen audience.
Afnan Iftikhar – again, could prove to be really popular, this guy could grow into a contender.
And of course, Jon - who is an understudy. What? They clearly haven't decided what to do with him.
So, an interesting bunch of guys but there's still one thing puzzling me. Who thought a Wednesday night final was a good idea?
- by Glenn Meads
Any opinions expressed above do not represent the view of Whatsonstage.com nor any of its staff or contributors beyond the bylined author.
 | Glenn has covered the Manchester theatre scene for Whatsonstage.com since 2001. Since then he has edited whatsonstage.com/manchester and he currently edits the North West site, as well as providing news, reviews, features and competitions. |
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Reader Comments
| Comment | Date | | Obviously the real talent like Alex Gaumond didn't make it to the final 10. Says a lot for the standard of this show (not that I'm actually watching it I just like reading the blog posts about how bad it is). - Gavin | 15 Jul 12 |
| | A lot of very loud but technically lacking singers and not an ounce of star quality amongst them. - Pam | 15 Jul 12 |
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