Over the Rainbow – the final 7
The search for Dorothy
Over the Rainbow, the BBC’s search for a Dorothy for The Wizard of Oz, moves into a more serious phase now. We’ve said goodbye to Dani Rayner and Emilie Fleming. You can read more about them and their departure on the Wizard of Oz London blog. Now we are on to the really hard stuff. There 7 girls left and every single one of them is a potential star.
She could still be Dorothy
These girls are tightrope walking without a net, the slightest falter and they are gone. The standard is so high in this competition I’m convinced we are now watching the start of at least 4 classic West End leading ladies careers and 2 possible pop divas!
Here they all are performing this week’s mash-up:
So, in classic Over the Rainbow style, here are the remaining contestants in no particular order:
Danielle Hope, 17, from Manchester
I like Danielle. I thought she would do well but I was not sure at first about her voice. Well, now I am sure! She could be Dorothy. Her voice is much better than I’d realised and she has a great tone combined with real power and strength in ballads. She can act too and her dancing is pretty good. More than any of that she has star quality and I think she could be a long term West End hit.
Jenny Douglas, 18, from Scotland
Jenny is cute and attractive. She’s got a smashing voice and a great quirky quality. Her dancing is coming on and she is definitely still in the running. If it doesn’t work out for her I think she’d make a super pop singer. I disagreed with the panel and enjoyed her version of Warwick Avenue!
Lauren Samuels, 22, from London
I love being proved wrong! I wasn’t that keen on Lauren but she’s really grown on me. Great voice, good dancer, nice acting skills. I think that even if she’s not Dorothy,(and she may well be!) she’ll still go far. I think she’ll be in the top 5
Sophie Evans, 17, from Wales
Well, Andy said “She’s Welsh, of course she can sing” but I’m afraid we’re just not hearing it at the moment. She’s got it all there, singing, dancing even acting but she seems to be holding back. I think she’s a bit overwhelmed, poor kid. I fear she’s the weak link at the moment and was lucky that Andrew Lloyd Webber saved her. Personally, based on the sing-off, I would have saved Emilie!
Stephanie Davis, 17, from Merseyside
Stephanie has a great voice and good dancing skills. Full of life, warmth and energy. She’d make a charming Dorothy and I expect her to be in the top 5. If not she’s going to have a great career anyway either on stage or as a recording artist. Love that voice, as Charlotte Church said “I could listen to you sing the phone book!” I do wonder about her acting range but only because she’s not really had chance to show us.
Jessica Robinson, 18, from Middlesborough
Great face, something of the Liza Minnelli or maybe Lorna Luft there. Little bit gawky and awkward sometimes, and so were they at her age. She going to be a star. I’m not totally sure she’s Dorothy but watch this space. This girl will go far. I’d love to see her do musical comedy but there’s more depth to her than just that.
Steph Fearon, 21, from London
Good voice, good dancer, nice acting skills, great on stage presence. Steph can still be a little bit too R&B sometimes but she’s got to be a contender. She is becoming a real favourite and she’s got the maturity to handle a huge production resting on her shoulders.
The Wizard of Oz and the Search for Dorothy Continues
I’ve really been enjoying the programmes this time. As far as reality casting TV goes this show must be the best they’ve done. Andy’s been collecting all the videos over on The Wizard of Oz London blog so if you’ve missed anything, or you just want to see something again you can find them there.
Who’s your favourite?
I thought Jessica was going to win it pretty much from the start, & I got the winner right from the start for the previous 3 Andrew Lloyd Webber series
Perhaps I’ll be proven wrong this time! They’re not only to be really good at singing, moving & acting but they have to have great audience appeal, which for me Jessica has more than any of the others in spades.
But Stephanie has so clearly had more experience than the others and it shows. She could do 2 shows a day as a lead already with no problem & managed to sound like Doris Day in the hoe-down which I thought was pretty amazing – she really stood out from the others in her hoe-down team. The one thing she lacks for me at the moment is charisma.
Danielle is so strong as a performer it’s amazing. Her performance this week was stunning. And she has the capability to play age 12-13.
Steph is amazing, such a natural talent, but I think she’d be better in a more jazzy musical. We’ll have to see.
I agree about Lauren – she’s grown on me too
And she’s so sweet – lovely voice.
Woops I missed a couple: Sophie I think is too weak as a singer (I often can’t hear her low notes at all) and I’d have loved to have seen the sing-off – I missed it this week and they’re not putting it on iPlayer
But I should think someone will put it onto Youtube 
Jenny is too nasal for me – it’s like she has one voice and that’s it – no variety. But she is very cute.
Isha
You can see the sing-off on Andy’s blog Sophie and Emilie Sing -Off It’s great for catching up anything you miss in bite sized chunks
Thanks Linda – I think perhaps I looked there just before he put it up
Not too impressed with their lower notes, which is prolly one reason they’ve tended to linger in the bottom 2. But it’s wonderful to see how appreciative all these young women are of each other’s talents, and how well they’ve bonded. I hated it in the first series when the competitors were encouraged to be catty at each others’ expense.
Thanks again.