Any Dream Will Do (TV series)

Any Dream Will Do
Created by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Bea Ballard
Presented by Graham Norton
Judges Andrew Lloyd Webber
John Barrowman
Denise van Outen
Bill Kenwright
Zoe Tyler
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of series 1
No. of episodes 11
Production
Producer(s) BBC Entertainment
Running time 30–90mins
Release
Original network BBC One, BBC HD
Picture format 16:9, HDTV 1080i
Original release 31 March (2007-03-31) – 9 June 2007 (2007-06-09)
Chronology
Preceded by How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? (2006)
Followed by I'd Do Anything (2008)
External links
[<span%20class="url">.co.uk/programmes/b00721q9 Website]

Any Dream Will Do, was a 2007 talent show-themed television series produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom. It searched for a new, unknown lead to play Joseph in a West End revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

The show was hosted by Graham Norton, who announced Lee Mead as the winner of the final public telephone vote on 9 June 2007.

It was the second West-End talent show to be produced by the BBC/Andrew Lloyd Webber, after How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?. Further Talent shows in the series have aired, with I'd Do Anything completing in 2008 and Over the Rainbow which ran in April/May 2010.

A similar format has been used as well in The Netherlands in 2008, with the show Op zoek naar Joseph (Looking for Joseph) taking an unknown singer and placing the winner in the lead role for the 2009 performances in The Netherlands.[1] On 26 October 2008, Freek Bartels was announced the winner of this show.

Format

Commissioned after the success of the similar BBC series How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?,[2] the series followed the same format to find a new, unknown lead for a revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The series was named after the song from the musical, "Any Dream Will Do".

Expert panel

An expert panel provided advice to the contestants throughout the series, and provided comments during the live shows. As they appeared on screen from right to left, the panel was made up of:

Auditions

The first week of the show documented the initial auditions where one hundred hopefuls, from thousands, were called back to London. This was further whittled-down by the panel of judges to fifty contestants who would enter Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Joseph School". However, two additional entrants were selected over this fifty contestant limit after they went to Lloyd Webber's personal studio for a second audition.

In the second week, the fifty individuals selected attended "Joseph School" where the coaches worked on singing, acting and choreography with the contestants. Former Joseph actor Jason Donovan, amongst others, visited to lend his advice and support for them. On the second day, one contestant left the competition, twenty-three were eliminated and only twenty eight remained. On the third day, another eight men were eliminated, leaving only twenty contestants in the competition. These men were taken to Lloyd Webber's castle in Ireland, where they performed live in front of a packed house of locals and industry professionals including Louis Walsh. The best twelve were then taken through to the live studio finals.

Finalists

Graham Norton and the twelve contestants each wearing their 'dreamcoat', symbolically handed back once they were eliminated. Those pictured are (clockwise from top left) Chris B, Antony, Chris C, host Graham Norton, Keith, Lewis, Ben, Johndeep, Daniel, Seamus, Craig, Lee and Rob.

Twelve potential Josephs were chosen, each wearing a unique coloured coat. At the end of every live show, the Joseph who was eliminated had his coat stripped off whilst singing a song of farewell (a combination of "Poor, Poor Joseph" and "Close Every Door to Me").

Finalist Age From Coat Colour Status
Chris Crosby 18 Nottingham Burgundy Eliminated 1st in Week 1
Johndeep More 23 Birmingham Lime Green Eliminated 2nd in Week 2
Antony Hansen 17 Abingdon Pastel Blue Eliminated 3rd in Week 3
Seamus Cullen 35 London Green Eliminated 4th in Week 3
Chris Barton 20 Ormskirk Lilac Eliminated 5th in Week 4
Rob McVeigh 24 Rotherham Turquoise Eliminated 6th in Week 5
Daniel Boys 28 London Purple Eliminated 7th in Week 6
Craig Chalmers 25 Edinburgh Dark Blue Eliminated 8th in Week 7
Ben Ellis 18 Scarborough Orange Eliminated 9th in Week 8
Lewis Bradley 17 Middlesbrough Light Blue Eliminated 10th in Week 9
Keith Jack 19 Dalkeith Yellow Runner-up
Lee Mead 25 Southend-on-Sea Red Winner

Results summary

Colour key
     –Contestant was in the bottom two and who was saved after the sing off
     –Contestant was eliminated after the sing off
     –Contestant who received the most public votes
Weekly results per contestant
Contestant Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Final
Part 1 Part 2 Part 1 Part 2
Lee Mead Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Winner
(week 9)
Keith Jack Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Runner-up
(week 9)
Lewis Bradley Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Bottom two Bottom two Safe Bottom two Eliminated Eliminated
(week 9)
Ben Ellis Bottom two Safe Safe Bottom two Safe Safe Safe Bottom two Eliminated Eliminated
(week 8)
Craig Chalmers Safe Safe Bottom two Safe Bottom two Safe Safe Eliminated Eliminated
(week 7)
Daniel Boys Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Eliminated Eliminated
(week 6)
Rob McVeigh Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Eliminated Eliminated
(week 5)
Chris Barton Safe Bottom two Safe Safe Eliminated Eliminated
(week 4)
Seamus Cullen Safe Safe Safe Eliminated Eliminated
(week 3)
Antony Hansen Safe Safe Eliminated Eliminated
(week 3)
Johndeep More Safe Eliminated Eliminated
(week 2)
Chris Crosby Eliminated Eliminated
(week 1)

Live Shows

The twelve finalists, (or "Josephs"), were announced on 7 April 2007, with the live studio finals starting a week later. Each week the "Josephs" were set various singing and performing tasks each week. They were introduced with clips summarising their past week before performing a solo song and hearing comments from the panel. Each week they also performed two group songs, one from Joseph at the start of each show and one after the solo performances. All the performances were live in front of a studio audience, with a live band headed by Nigel Wright and backing singers.

Every week, a Joseph was eliminated from the competition. The public got a chance to vote for their favourite Joseph by calling in after all the finalists' solo performances. The two Josephs with the fewest votes in a given week performed a sing-off in front of Lloyd-Webber, who then decided which contestant to keep, based upon how well he felt that contender would fill the Joseph role. The eliminated Joseph then performed "Poor, Poor Joseph/Close Every Door" together with the remaining Josephs as his grand exit song, symbolically handing back his dreamcoat.

Week 1 (14 April 2007)

Contestants' performances on the first live show
Act Order Song Result
Rob McVeigh 1 "Summer of '69" Safe
Lee Mead 2 "Mack the Knife" Safe
Lewis Bradley 3 "Faith" Safe
Ben Ellis 4 "Johnny B. Goode" Bottom 2
Craig Chalmers 5 "Try a Little Tenderness" Safe
Johndeep More 6 "If There's Any Justice" Safe
Seamus Cullen 7 "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" Safe
Antony Hansen 8 "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" Safe
Chris Crosby 9 "This Love" Eliminated
Daniel Boys 10 "You Give Me Something" Safe
Chris Barton 11 "Walking in Memphis" Safe
Keith Jack 12 "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" Safe

Week 2 (21 April 2007)

Contestants' performances on the second live show
Act Order Song Result
Daniel Boys 1 "Since U Been Gone" Safe
Craig Chalmers 2 "Home" Safe
Keith Jack 3 "Who Am I" Safe
Seamus Cullen 4 "Being Alive" Safe
Ben Ellis 5 "All by Myself" Safe
Johndeep More 6 "Something's Coming" Eliminated
Chris Barton 7 "I'll Be There" Bottom 2
Rob McVeigh 8 "Piano Man" Safe
Antony Hansen 9 "Light My Fire" Safe
Lewis Bradley 10 "Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word" Safe
Lee Mead 11 "Bad Day" Safe

Week 3 (28 April 2007)

In a double elimination, two Josephs were voted off the series.

Contestants' performances on the third live show
Act Order Song Results Part 1 Results Part 2
Seamus Cullen 1 "Start Me Up" Safe Eliminated
Lewis Bradley 2 "I Saw Her Standing There" Safe Safe
Rob McVeigh 3 "Oh, Pretty Woman" Safe Safe
Antony Hansen 4 "Patience" Eliminated N/A
Chris Barton 5 "Tell Her About It" Safe Safe
Ben Ellis 6 "Life Is a Rollercoaster" Safe Bottom 2
Daniel Boys 7 "The Lady Is a Tramp" Safe Safe
Lee Mead 8 "I Don't Want to Talk About It" Safe Safe
Keith Jack 9 "Crocodile Rock" Safe Safe
Craig Chalmers 10 "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" Bottom 2 Safe

Week 4 (5 May 2007)

Contestants' performances on the fourth live show
Act Order Song Results
Ben Ellis 1 "Addicted to Love" Safe
Craig Chalmers 2 "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" Bottom 2
Lee Mead 3 "All Right Now" Safe
Keith Jack 4 "Love Is All Around" Safe
Lewis Bradley 5 "Dancing in the Moonlight" Safe
Rob McVeigh 6 "Back for Good" Safe
Chris Barton 7 "All Night Long" Eliminated
Daniel Boys 8 "All About You" Safe

Week 5 (12 May 2007)

Contestants' performances on the fifth live show
Act Order Song Results
Rob McVeigh 1 "Born to Run" Eliminated
Daniel Boys 2 "Maggie May" Safe
Lewis Bradley 3 "I'm a Believer" Bottom 2
Lee Mead 4 "Leave Right Now" Safe
Craig Chalmers 5 "This is the Moment" Safe
Ben Ellis 6 "Help Yourself" Safe
Keith Jack 7 "Always on My Mind" Safe

Week 6 (19 May 2007)

With only six finalists remaining, the Josephs were announced in sets of three and performed in a trio as well as their individual performances.

Contestants' performances on the sixth live show
Act Order Song Results
Keith Jack 1 "Brown Eyed Girl" Safe
Lewis Bradley 2 "The Rose" Bottom 2
Ben Ellis 3 "Blue Suede Shoes" Safe
Craig Chalmers 4 "Black Or White" Safe
Daniel Boys 5 "Evergreen" Eliminated
Lee Mead 6 "Paint it Black" Safe

Week 7 (26 May 2007)

One of the finalists was chosen by Josh Groban to perform "You Raise Me Up" with him live in front of the audience. Lee Mead was the lucky one while the remaining four were back-up singers.

Contestants' performances on the seventh live show
Act Order Song Results
Lee Mead 1 "Daydream Believer" Safe
Ben Ellis 2 "Crying" Bottom 2
Craig Chalmers 3 "Suspicious Minds" Eliminated
Lewis Bradley 4 "Hero" Safe
Keith Jack 5 "Let Me Entertain You" Safe

Week 8 (2 June 2007)

The semi-final was held on 2 June 2007, in which the remaining four Josephs competed for the three remaining spots in the final. Again announced in sets of two, the contestants performed duets of Andrew Lloyd Webber songs with another Joseph in addition to their solo performance. At the end of the show, the three finalists were announced.

Contestants' performances on the eighth live show
Act Order Song Results
Ben Ellis 1 "Ease on Down the Road" Eliminated
Lee Mead 2 "Livin' on a Prayer" Safe
Keith Jack 3 "Could It Be Magic" Safe
Lewis Bradley 4 "Sweet Caroline" Bottom 2

Week 9 (8 June 2007)

The final, held on 9 June 2007, featured three songs from each of the Josephs: in addition to their regular performance, each performed a big band number and the final two repeated their favourite song from the series. The opening song was performed by all 12 Josephs, supported by the winner of a national Joseph Choir search – the choir of East Ham's Brampton Primary School in east London.[3]

Contestants' performances on the ninth live show
Act Order Song Order Big Band Song Order Song of the Series Result
Lewis Bradley 1 "Kiss" 4 "Beyond the Sea" N/A N/A (already eliminated) Eliminated
Keith Jack 2 "For Once in My Life" 5 "Moondance" 7 "Always on My Mind" Runner-up
Lee Mead 3 "(You're The) Devil in Disguise" 6 "Theme from New York, New York" 8 "Paint It Black" Winner

The success of the programme prompted the BBC to extend the series by an extra week (week nine),[4] removing the need for a double eviction prior to the final. The new date for the final, 9 June 2007, ensured it would air directly opposite the final of ITV's competing show, Grease is the Word. This move paid off as the final of Any Dream Will Do managed to secure the upper hand over Grease is the Word in viewing figures with a peak of 8.5 million viewers and an audience share of 39.6%, compared with ITV's high of 4.9 million viewers (an audience share of 23.5%).[5]

In the final, over three million votes were cast with Lee Mead being announced as the winner.[6] He sang "Any Dream Will Do" to close the series and his prize was six months in the lead role of a revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in London's West End.

After the series

Winner

Before the opening night of Joseph at London's Adelphi Theatre, publicity from the TV show had brought in £10 million in advance ticket sales,[7] leading to a five-month extension to the show's run and an extension of Mead's contract until June 2008.[8]

Mead's version of "Any Dream Will Do", along with "Close Every Door" performed by the three finalists, was released as a single to raise money for BBC Children in Need. It reached number two in the UK Singles Chart.

His first public performance after the win was on 1 July 2007 at the Concert for Diana at London's Wembley Stadium, where he sang "Any Dream Will Do" with former Joseph actors Donny Osmond and Jason Donovan.

Mead, along with the winner, Connie Fisher and last five runners-up of the previous Lloyd-Webber reality show How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? starred in a one-off Christmas Eve special on BBC One entitled When Joseph Met Maria.[9]

Other finalists

Fifth-placed Craig Chalmers was cast by Bill Kenwright as Joseph in the touring version of Joseph[10] from 20 August 2007. The tour was due to have its first night in Bromley, London, less than 24 km (about 15 miles) from the Adelphi, where Kenwright was co-producer. In Chalmers' last week before viewers voted him off the programme, Kenwright had told him: "You wowed the audience and please God you are here next week for the semi-final."[11] Chris Barton played Benjamin on the tour and at some matinees Joseph or the Narrator. He then went on to be a Swing in Spring Awakening in both Hammersmith and the Novello west end. Kenwright employed Chris Crosby on his new national tour of Half a Sixpence opening on 28 August 2007 at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley.

Keith Jack joined the cast of the touring Joseph production with Craig and Chris Barton. He played the Narrator, a part usually played by a woman though originally written for a male voice. His first official performance was on 1 October in Plymouth although he performed a couple of the final shows in High Wycombe on 28 and 29 September. He has now finished playing this role. He was recording an album to be released in early 2008 with a single from it issued in time for Christmas. In June 2010, Keith took the Dreamcoat from Craig and continued his role till May 2013.

In January 2008 Antony Hansen joined the cast of Bill Kenwright's touring production of Joseph as a brother. During this time Bill Kenwright formed a boy band named 'Dream On' to celebrate the phenomenal talent witnessed on Any Dream Will Do. Hansen and fellow finalists Chalmers, Bradley, Crosby and Barton's debut album became a chart success in its first two weeks. In May 2008, Bill Kenwright cast Hansen as Pharaoh in the National Tour of Joseph. In January / February 2009 Hansen played the lead role of Joseph for Bill Kenwright. Hansen joined the west end cast of Les Misérables in June 2009 in the ensemble and first cover Marius. July 2009 saw Hansen and fellow 'Any Dream Will Do' contestant Craig Chalmers finish recording their 2nd album together with BK Productions – 'Saturday Night at the Movies'.

Lewis Bradley was contracted by Lloyd Webber to play Joseph at the Adelphi Theatre during Mead's holiday absence, and possibly for an additional performance a week. Meanwhile, Ben James-Ellis (Ben Ellis, who adopted the name James-Ellis for Equity purposes) landed the role of Link Larkin in the UK premiere of Hairspray: The Musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre from 11 October 2007. Daniel Boys went on to land many roles including performing in the Royal Festival Hall's concert production of Sweeney Todd, Landor Theatre's I Love You Because and the lead role of Princeton in Avenue Q at the Noël Coward Theatre. He also took part in the cabaret If You've Got It Flaunt It at the West End's Trafalgar Studios in September 2007.

Johndeep More went on to appear in Nevermind The Broadway and a pantomime Cinderella (with Crosby).[12]

Criticism

In an interview with The Stage, the then-recently eliminated Daniel Boys questioned Andrew Lloyd Webber's stated aim of casting a Joseph outside the stereotype, "who's a bit of a Justin Timberlake, tiny touch of the Michael Jacksons and a bit of the Jude Laws,"[13] by pointing out that so far all the Josephs that were a bit outside of the traditional mould have been eliminated for exactly that reason.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Dutch website AVRO, "Op Zoek Naar Joseph"". Retrieved 27 October 2007.
  2. ↑ BBC Press Office (19 December 2006). "and devised by the same team, BBC One announces Any Dream Will Do". Archived from the original on 13 May 2007. Retrieved 10 June 2007.
  3. ↑ "Joseph Choir Search final list announced". BBC. 11 June 2007. Retrieved 11 June 2007.
  4. ↑ Hemley, Matthew (17 May 2007). "Any Dream Will Do takes on Grease for final show clash". The Stage. Archived from the original on 20 May 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2007.
  5. ↑ Rogers, Jon (11 June 2007). "BBC1's Dream pays off". Broadcast magazine. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 11 June 2007.
  6. ↑ "The Final Result". BBC. 9 June 2007. Archived from the original on 15 June 2007. Retrieved 9 June 2007.
  7. ↑ Reynolds, Nigel (19 July 2007). "Joseph and the Amazing £10 million Sales". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 July 2007.
  8. ↑ Really Useful/See Tickets. Retrieved 3 July 2007.
  9. ↑ Pick Of The Day | |What's on TV – Britain's best TV listings, storylines, news and video from soaps like EastEnders
  10. ↑ Smith, Alistair (4 August 2007). "Second Joseph emerges from Any Dream Will Do". The Stage. Retrieved 25 July 2007.
  11. ↑ BBC Press Office (26 May 2007). "You're Not Joseph! Public vote Craig Chalmers off BBC One's Any Dream Will Do". Retrieved 25 July 2007.
  12. ↑ BBC – Any Dream Will Do – When Joseph Met Maria
  13. ↑ Andrew Lloyd Webber on Any Dream Will Do, 14 April 2007, explaining what he's looking for in this show.
  14. ↑ Matthewman, Scott (25 May 2007). "Daniel Boys: More Mr Nice Guy". The Stage. Archived from the original on 2 June 2007. Retrieved 29 May 2007.

External links

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