When it comes to TV over this summer, sport has most certainly been taking centre stage. Firstly it was the European Championships, then Wimbledon and now we have the delights of the Open Championship, mixed in with Formula One and the excitement of a probable British winner of the Tour de France. Add to all of this the build up to the Olympics, which will soon be crowding our TV for the next month.
However for those of you aren’t avid sports fans, the past week has seen a new reality TV series launched on ITV, as every night Andrew Lloyd Webber continues the search for his next superstar to play the role of Jesus, in his touring production Jesus Christ Superstar. On Sunday night the first live show was held, and each night since the field has slowly been whittled away, as we gradually edge closer to discovering who will earn the right to play the part.
Generally over recent years these reality TV shows have become a farcical or low quality affair, with poor participants and lacklustre and thoughtless judging, all to sustain the supposed entertainment factor of the show and generate publicity. For this you have to look no further than ITV’s very own, the X-Factor, and some of the shocking acts, which have been on show in recent years. Just to name a few; Jedward, Wagner and most recently the highly publicised Frankie Cocozza, who grabbed his moment of fame.
However Jesus has been different; instead the competition has been taken seriously and the performances have largely been of fine calibre, creating a show which is entertaining for it’s credibility and competitive nature, rather than for the wrong reasons. Credit must go to Andrew Lloyd Webber and his fellow judges for their thoughtful and constructive comments, and their enthusiasm in aiding the development of the contestants, which is vividly being demonstrated on stage. All of this is creating a fascinating spectacle, as we grow closer to discovering who will win the honour of playing the legendary role.
BBC must be kicking themselves right now. Andrew Lloyd Webber has previously run a series of similar shows for BBC, advertising for roles such as Dorothy and Joseph amongst others. However that is the problem. To many it seems that this is a way of the Lord himself advertising for a position in one of his shows, and this is a stance which doesn’t serve BBC well. Thus Superstar has become an ITV production, and a very good one at that, in my opinion surpassing previous shows of similar nature.
To make it worse for BBC, their attempt to rival ITV in terms of reality shows flopped in the past months, as The Voice failed to live up to its billing. Hampered by a severe shortage of talent, a poor setup of the show and some mediocre judging, the standard of the show was incomparable to the success of Superstar. Of course this is largely my opinion, and others may have loved The Voice. I must admit that I tended to watch the show; however that was partly down to the disappointment of Saturday night TV. For now this is a victory for ITV, but at least BBC can say they’ve got Strictly Come Dancing, which last year finally caught up with the lore of X-Factor.
So if you asked me to give a simple review of Superstar I’d say it’s been a highly enjoyable and enthralling watch, aided by an intelligent programme setup and some quality contestants. All in all it has demonstrated that you don’t need to poke fun at the contestants to be entertaining, and you can hold a serious and competetive competition which is still an enjoyable watch. Now all we need to do is find a Superstar.
I don’t watch many reality TV show because they normally equate to ancient Rome and the Gladiatorial entertainment played out for the masses in the arena.
But when I saw that it was casting to find a lead in one of my favourite ever musicals I decided I couldn’t miss it, hoping to hear contestants singing at least some of the music from the show.
Although I thought Ben was a worthy winner, one of the few who, in my view, had the persona and depth of variety in his voice to portray the difficult and exacting roll of Jesus. (I’ve seen the live show three times, starting with the original West End production with Paul Nicholas playing Jesus and the last live performance, about three years ago was a Spanish production at the Teatro Falla in Cádiz and I’ve also watched the film version on video more times than I care to remember.)
I found the overall ITV production dreadful, especially Amanda Holden’s presentation skills (or lack of) and Melanie Chisholm’s role of Judge (I think she forgot that she was supposed to be judging and offering advice and acted like a ‘weeny bopper’ at a pop concert, flinging herself and her arms all over the place whilst the lads were performing – no Mel, you didn’t look cool you just looked plain stupid). When she sang in the Final I realised that her antics had been to cover up that she’d had no idea what she was talking about with her ‘advice’. Her rendition of one of the most beautiful songs in the show “I Don’t Know How To Love Him” was the worst version I’d ever heard – how on earth could she give performing and singing advice to the contestants when her own breathing, transition and musicality were appalling?
Jason Donovan had years of experience and know how of stage musicals to make him a good choice of judge and mentor and of course Andrew Lloyd Webber, as the genius who wrote the music were well worth listening to. Even Dawn French, who was probably brought to lighten up the programme for the dumbed down masses, did manage to at least amuse. Then, of course, there were the usual 5 minutes of programme followed by 4 minutes of ads breaking up the continuity and any atmosphere generated completely. (Why not make these shows as they do football matches, with long ad breaks before, halfway through and at the end – it would be much less annoying than having to fast forward every 5 minutes or so).
But I do wish young Ben well in the role of Jesus, I think he is going to be brilliant in the role – despite his ‘leading lady’.
“I found the overall ITV production dreadful, especially Amanda Holden’s presentation skills (or lack of) and Melanie Chisholm’s role of Judge (I think she forgot that she was supposed to be judging and offering advice and acted like a ‘weeny bopper’ at a pop concert, flinging herself and her arms all over the place whilst the lads were performing – no Mel, you didn’t look cool you just looked plain stupid).”
This is all very true. I’m really not sure how Amanda Holden has had a career. She has no charisma and I can’t help but look at her and think she looks dead inside. A bit like Tess Daly.