There’s been a lot of focus on the singing and dancing performances of the remaining Dorothys but which one would really be best suited to playing the part night after night in Wizard of Oz? One of the recent missions was about maintaining the Kansas accent and here you can see each of four contestants in a scene from Wizard of Oz that allows us to really evaluate their abilities as actors.

Now Andrew Lloyd Webber seemed to be bowled over by Danielle, so we get a clue here perhaps as to who he would like to see the public vote for tonight, but he also praises Lauren’s professionalism and wonders if she can pull out just a little bit more from inside her own emotion for us. Personally, I found the Danielle performance just a tad drawn out and over done, but there’s no doubt she would make a smashing Dorothy, as would any of them really.

Over the rainbow – Mission

After watching them each have a go at the real acting, who do you think comes out of this mission in the best position for tonight’s vote?

Sadly, it was Steph Fearon’s time to go. All three Over The Rainbow judges agreed, the public had voted her into the bottom two and Andrew Lloyd Webber saved Lauren instead. Steph herself looked almost relieved by the decision, and was clearly thrilled to bits by the standing ovation she received from the vast studio audience. So now we are down to the final three Dorothys to be ranked by public vote only in the final episode of Over The Rainbow next Saturday. Steph’s Performance of Rule The World:

The Sing off, Sunday

Another Suitcase in Another Hall from Evita Goodbye Steph

“I’m disappointed not to have gone that little bit further but at the end of the day I wanted whatever the public wanted,” said Steph. Steph Fearon, admits she would love to star in the West End musicals The Lion King, Wicked or Sister Act, and also said that Andrew Lloyd Webber had asked to meet her later this week to discuss her future.

The six remaining Dorothys attended the West End opening night of Sweet Charity at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. Tamsin Outhwaite, the brilliant star of this fantastic musical was already know to the Dorothys having been an expert guest in one of the earlier episodes of Over The Rainbow. Andrew Lloyd Webber had made a point of celebrating Tamsin Outhwaite’s performance in Sweet Charity having seen it at The Menier Chocolate Factory, where this production originates and I must say, he is not wrong. This is a truly well put together show, with a big band, great atmosphere and clever choreography. Also present on the red carpet were Sheridan Smith from Legally Blonde, Joanna Page and also Heidi Range, Amy Nuttall, Amanda Lamb and Holly Willoughby. Sweet Charity director Matthew White gave the benefit of his advice and encouragement to Dorothys during the interval, so I don’t know if we will see some brief footage from this visit during the summary of the Dorothys’ week in this weekends Over The Rainbow.

The Seven Remaining Dorothy Contenders With Emilie, Dani, Bronte and Amy having been discounted from playing Dorothy in the new London production of Wizard of Oz, the seven remaining Dorothy contenders are Stephanie Davis, Lauren Samuels, Danielle Hope, Jessica Robinson, Steph Fearon, Jenny Douglas and Sophie Evans. Danielle Hope Danielle Hope, 17, from Manchester

Danielle performs Cry Me A River Cry Me A River  is truly one of the best songs you could hope for, but I wasn’t too keen on the orchestration of  this one, nevertheless Danielle’s fantastic voice really does do it justice. This Dorothy contender has genuine star quality, the real thing. Jenny Douglas Jenny Douglas, 18, from Scotland

Jenny performs Warwick Avenue Jenny has endeared herself to us with her quirky performances and cute personality. I can imagine her as Dorothy, in fact I can imagine getting some cheap seats at the back of the upper circle for Wizard of Oz in London and still getting a great performance from Jenny. Lauren Samuels Lauren Samuels, 22, from London

Lauren performs Nobody Knows Sophie Evans Sophie Evans, 17, from Wales

I’m afraid Sophie must be the favourite for being dropped next week, but such is the high standard in this show this is still great to listen to.
Sophie sings Love Song Stephanie Davis Stephanie Davis, 17, from Merseyside

Stephanie sings Nobody Does It Better. Stephanie has a brilliant voice and must be one of the top contenders Jessica Robinson Jessica Robinson, 18, from Middlesborough

Along with Jenny, Jessica has the kind of facial expressions that can project to the back of a large theatre and therefore can be envisioned playing Dorothy in Wizard of Oz, no problem. In this case, the singing and dancing is all there too. Jessica performs There Youll Be Steph Fearon Steph Fearon, 21, from London

Steph sings Use Somebody Steph stands out for being a little shorter, an experienced, natural performer and well supported from South London! Sh started out with a full on R & B singimg style but has shown she can take the training and direction required for the West End stage where I’m sure she’ll end up. Not necessarily as Dorothy though.

The search for the perfect Dorothy for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s forthcoming production of the Wizard of Oz continued in Over the Rainbow this weekend. The latest hopeful to hand back her silver shoes (don’t get me started on how weird that is!) was Bronte Barbe. I felt really sorry for her as she’d obviously not expected to go out so early. I thought she was a good bet for the top 5 (so did ALW!) but the public vote disagreed. Bronte Barbe Bronte comes from Macclesfield, a quiet, sensible town at the edge of the Peak District. It’s not quite Kansas but I expect it sometimes feels like it to someone like Bronte! She lives there with her Mum, sister and dog.  She’s only 18 and she’d been working as a volunteer teacher at her former dance school before the show.  She does have some amateur musical theatre experience and she’s got her Grade 8. I think she’ll do well and she could have been Dorothy. Over the Rainbow Show 5 put an end to Bronte’s Dreams of the Emerald City One not quite brilliant performance of K.T. Tunstall’s Suddenly I See and Bronte was doomed to be in the bottom two. I thought quite a few of the Dorothys were on dodgy ground on Saturday night’s show. The producers had given them all songs that went against type. Some of the girls pulled it off but I agreed with the public vote that both Bronte and Lauren struggled. I though Sophie struggled even more than either of them though so I was surprised that she survived. Steph on the other hand was a revelation singing “It’s So Quiet” she seemed to finally get her R&B warbling under control and give us a real musical theatre number. Very nice! Not sure she’s Dorothy but still, very nice. So why did ALW save Lauren? He said it was down to experience and Lauren is 22 against Bronte’s 18. However I also think Lauren has a stronger voice. She might even be Dorothy  if she can just stop mugging to the camera! Goodbye Bronte Click here to view the embedded video. My Favourites for Dorothy My favourites at the moment, in no particular order (where did I get that idea from?) are: Jenny Douglas – Good voice & full of life and devilment. Danielle Hope – Reasonable voice, good stage presence. A strong dancer she has that adolescent quality that Dorothy will need. Dani Rayner – Lovely voice, looks the part, just a bit worried about her acting skills and very young at only 16. And almost any of the others – it is as they say, all to play for, and the standard is so high that one slip can be fatal. I’d feel sorry for them but I know how well many previous losers have done! Talent won’t be ignored and for some of them not being Dorothy might be the best career move they’ll ever make! Bronte would make a smashing Glinda

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The search for Dorothy The BBC show Over the Rainbow quickly narrowed the field from 20 hopeful Dorothys down to 10 this week. I watched the show with Andy, my co-writer  here and author of the Wizard of Oz London blog. The girls worked in 5 groups of 4 and each group faced the judges twice. The groups each sang a pop song and then met with some of our favourite West End leading ladies to work on a show song. First I’ll go through my impressions of how they got on and then I’ll share some video of the show and tell you what I thought of each of the final 10 potential Dorothys. Tamzin Outhwaite – Sweet Charity Song:If They Could See Me Now It was hard to focus on the group whilst they were with Tamzin, the camera undoubtedly loves her. She gave them some good advice and some of this group worked really well. It’s such a classic song in a way this group had an easier time than some. Having said that I was impressed.  Dorothy might just be in this group. After the group sang ALW made Tamzin blush by saying how fabulous he thought she is in Sweet Charity. Sheridan Smith – Legally Blond Song: Legally Blond Sheridan Smith was funny and helpful and I thought her group would do well. Legally Blond isn’t an easy song, and though the group were OK they were a bit stiff. A couple of them still might be Dorothy. Kerry Ellis – We Will Rock You Song: Somebody to Love Despite excellent advice from Kerry this group didn’t do very well. They found the rock number tricky. Although they did their best it was obvious that some of them struggled with the rock format. Ruthie Henshall – Chicago Song: All That Jazz Ruthie was divine, of course. Full of good advice she guided them through their song. It is a deceptively easy song that relies heavily on good timing and they made quite a success of it. Her group were also probably the best dancers. Dorothy might be in this group. Mel C – Blood Brothers Song: Tell Me It’s Not True This group were totally in awe of meeting a Spice Girl but she soon put them at their ease. She told her group to keep their song ’small’, they did. It’s a sad and difficult song and the best I can say is that it was OK. One of them forgot what the song was about and kept grinning. Understandable given the pressure but not good. Having said all that one member of this group really caught my eye as a potential Dorothy The final 10 +1 The format is that the judges picked their 10 with the ‘help’ of ALW. Click here to view the embedded video. So the final 10 are…. Danielle Hope, 17, from Manchester I quite like Danielle. I think she’ll do well but I’m not sure she’s right for Dorothy. Amy Diamond, 22, from Cheshire Oh dear. I’m sure she’s got a great voice and is talented but er, she’s too grown up to be Dorothy. She’s a woman and she will have to be an amazing actress to make me believe she is a child. Lauren Samuels, 22, from London Again, lovely and talented but not maybe not Dorothy. I might be wrong and I would like to see more of her. Bronte Barbe, 18, from Cheshire She’s definitely got some sort of charisma, nice voice but I’m just not sure. Need to see more of her. Jenny Douglas, 18, from Scotland Not bad at all, she stood out in what was not that strong a group. I’m not sure what her dancing is like and we’re told they need a Dorothy that can dance as well as sing. Steph Fearon, 21, from London Good voice, tended to be a little bit too R&B sometimes. She’s a possible I think if they really are looking for a different Dorothy. Dani Rayner, 16, from Cheshire Youngest in the competition Dani really could be Dorothy. AWL likes her, she’s got a great voice and she seems to be a good actress. I was impressed. Sophie Evans, 17, from Wales As Andy (my co-writer and Wizard of Oz London blog) said “She’s Welsh, of course she can sing” . He’s right and I think she can act a bit too. I’d like her to do well but I’m not sure about the dancing … Stephanie Davis, 17, from Merseyside Very pretty, she’d make a charming Dorothy. I’d like to see more of her acting though. Jessica Robinson, 18, from Middlesborough Great face, something of the Liza Minnelli there. Little bit gawky and awkward in the pop song but she was totally at home in her show tune. She could be Dorothy.. And the wild card….. I wonder who you think should make it through? Then the other 10 sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow so the public could decide who they wanted to bring back: Click here to view the embedded video. Personally I liked Sarah but I think they are all really talented and, though they may not be Dorothy, we haven’t seen the last of any of them. Of course we’re in the world of social media now so you can follow the remaining Dorothys’ adventures on twitter -  @overtherainbow or on Facebook and catch up on any shows you miss on the Over the Rainbow Youtube channel or on iPlayer. If you just want a quick catch-up I think Andy will be doing that on the Wizard of Oz London blog So who do you think will be Dorothy? a