I was hoping to be more positive this week after being disappointed in practically every contestant last week, but I’m afraid I wasn’t impressed with the opening number for the same reasons as last week, which I’ll try not to repeat this week. But this week’s challenge was acting, acting the song that is, which is exactly what I was after last week. Are you following? 

Daniel has seemed quite shy so far, but was shown in rehearsals disagreeing with Andrew Lloyd Webber, first of all saying that Andrew didn’t “understand” his last performance and then, when Lloyd Webber suggested Daniel should perform Since You’ve Been Gone with anger rather than joy, Daniel said, “I’ve chosen to do it differently” or some such. Ballsy or arrogant? You decide (because I’m blinded by his dimples and can’t judge). 

Daniel absolutely stormed it, in my opinion. He managed to convey both joy and fury
and his voice is fabulous and effortless. It gave me the shivers and
took my breath away. Bill and Denise both thought he was fantastic.
(“The more I see you, the more I see Joseph” – Denise).

Singing Go Home, Craig had the misfortune of following Daniel. His
performance was as boring as his voice, I’m afraid. Denise said he
could have done more. John thought his performance was apologetic,
which was spot on. Keith sang Who Am I? and I he didn’t do anything for me either. His
acting was okay and his voice is gorgeous, if a little shouty, but I
wasn’t convinced. John said his diction was terrible. Bill said he
finds his talent frightening.

Last week, John advised Seamus to be more of a team player. His
response? “I don’t know what that means … I’m just going to focus on
myself.” That’s the spirit! His performance of Being Alive (from the musical
Company) was great, if a little over the top. His lip was quivering at
one point, but at the end his eyes were dead. John told him to enjoy it
more and, again, be more of a team player. Seamus argued with Zoe that
nerves weren’t his problem, the emotion was part of the performance. So
arrogant.

Ben, who was in the bottom two last week, performed All By Myself. He
began out of tune, which didn’t give me much hope for the more
challenging bits. His voice sounded pretty poor and I felt like he was
acting the song rather than, as Bill Kenright said earlier, being the
song. It’s difficult to sing that song without giving me the shivers -
it’s just one of those songs that gets me – but Ben managed it. The
weakest performance so far by far. Denise didn’t think it was a great
vocal, but she was convinced by his acting. John said he didn’t
deserved to be in the bottom two this week (but that’s because he
really championed him to be in the last twelve). 

Johndeep was one of my favourites last week and this week he performed
Something’s Coming from West Side Story (which I love). I wasn’t sure
about him this week. I thought the acting side was over the top and way
too camp and I didn’t love his vocal either, but I do find him very
watchable. John thought it was “slightly camp and over-the-top” too.
Bill said it was his own interpretation, but the wrong interpretation.   

Chris B and his dazzling teeth sang I’ll Be There to a
dancer and, if I’d been her, I would have been afraid. It was way too
much. Desperate and embarrassing. The judges loved it, proving that
they’re all quite mad.

Rob (the builder) sang Pianoman. He clearly loves performing and he’s
pretty charming, but he’s not one of my favourites. Denise loved it
(she said it rocked her world). Bill thought it was fantastic too.

Can I just say I love the cutaway shots of Lloyd Webber – he always looks bored out of his mind or irritated.

Antony sang Light My Fire and made Lloyd Webber blush in rehearsal. He
sounded extremely sexy, but I didn’t get much acting from him at all.
Occasionally he raised an eyebrow or smiled and I thought how good it
could have been. Denise said he needs to loosen up. Bill thought he
needed to embrace the audience a bit more. He was still pretty sexy for
a 17-year-old.

Lewis’s performance of Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word was
wonderful. Understated, but totally convincing. Denise thought it was
fantastic and she believed every word. Bill said his maturity was
astonishing (which is true – he’s 17!) John said it was absolutely
brilliant. Zoe told him off for breathing in the middle of a word. If
he doesn’t win, I’ll eat my multicoloured pants.

Lee, one of my other favourites, was last and there was a short film
about his working class background (Lee’s dad: “I’m just a postman and his mum’s a
cleaner.”) in case the audience are worried he’s at an advantage being,
you know, a professional theatre performer and everything. He sang Bad
Day, which I thought was a really poor choice of song. I don’t find the
original that convincing and I think if Lee hadn’t had a girl to sing
to (and kiss at the end) his performance wouldn’t have been convincing
either. Denise thought it was great and Bill said it was devastating
(in a good way).

Such an enormous improvement on last week. I wonder if they can keep it
up when they’re not challenged to act. I hope so because it’s so much
more satisfying to watch. I expected Craig and Johndeep to be in the
bottom two, but I hoped it would be Craig and Ben (or Christeeth for
making me cringe). Zoe and Denise went for Ben too, with John and Bill
plumping for Johndeep.

It was Christeeth and Johndeep in the sing-off, which was a shame. They
were poor, but Craig and Ben were worse. If it had been down to viewers
votes alone, Chris would have gone out (cue big gasp from the
audience) and they had to sing Let It Be.

It’s funny, like last week, they went for different interpretations:
Johndeep went for a sort of intense frowny thing, while Chris went for
what looked like spiritual transportation. I would have struggled to
choose between them, because I don’t think either of them were
particularly good, but Lloyd Webber picked Christeeth to stay, saying
he had to base his decision on who would in the end be most likely to
play Joseph and that was Chris. Which raises an interesting question.
It’s hard not to think it was because Johndeep’s Indian, but I can’t
decide if that’s a problem or not. Presumably that means no non-white
performer had a chance of winning the competition, but is there such a thing as colour-blind casting in the theatre? Probably not.

At least Johndeep got the opportunity to let his family know what he wants to do with his life and that’s not to be sniffed at.

Next week not one, but two Josephs will go home. And on that bombshell,
my favourite bit – the Close Every Door To Me leaving lament, which was, again,
completely brilliant.

Any Dream Will Do: BBC One, Saturday 28th April at 7.30pm and 9.45pm

Any Dream Will Do Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3