A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria? | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created by | Andrew Lloyd Webber Gigi Eligoloff |
| Presented by | Graham Norton |
| Judges | Andrew Lloyd Webber David Ian John Barrowman Zoe Tyler |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Producer | BBC |
| Running time | 30–90mins |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One |
| Release | 29 July – 16 September 2006 |
| Related | |
| Any Dream Will Do (2007) | |
How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria? was a British reality television talent show that documented the search for an undiscovered musical theatre performer to play the role of Maria von Trapp in the 2006 Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Ian stage production of The Sound of Music.[1]
The series was originally devised by the then in-house development team at BBC Entertainment Events and was announced by the BBC in April 2006. BBC One broadcast the programme, which was hosted by Graham Norton, on Saturday evenings from 29 July through 16 September 2006.
The title derives from the refrain of "Maria", a song from the first act of The Sound of Music.
Connie Fisher won the final public vote, and with it a six-month contract to play Maria in the West End production.
Format
Creation
The lead role of Maria von Trapp in the new West End production of The Sound of Music, to be staged by Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Ian, was to be played by American actress Scarlett Johansson. Negotiations fell through,[2] and after a four-year search for an actress to fill the role, it was revealed in November 2005 that Lloyd Webber had approached the BBC to allow the public to cast the role through a Popstars-style talent search, the first time that such a format had been used.[3][4]
This was the first programme to allow the public to cast a leading role in a West End show, and it was initially criticised. However, it won International Emmy and Royal Television Society awards and became the first of a series of collaborations between the BBC and Lloyd Webber, including Any Dream Will Do, I'd Do Anything, and Over the Rainbow. The series also led to versions and similar series abroad.
Expert panel
To assess and train the potential Marias and judge them during the live shows, an expert panel was chosen. The panel comprised:
- Andrew Lloyd Webber – musical theatre composer and producer, co-producer of the new stage production
- David Ian – theatre producer, co-producer of the new stage production
- John Barrowman – musical performer, dancer, singer and actor
- Zoe Tyler – voice coach, singer and performer, vocal coach to the finalists
Lloyd Webber also asked Denise van Outen to participate in the series, but she turned him down, saying that she "felt uncomfortable about being on the panel and giving my criticism". She later became a judge on follow-up series, Any Dream Will Do.[5]
Auditions
Open auditions were held around the UK in April and May 2006, open to both professionals and amateurs over the age of 17. The top 200 made it through to the London callbacks where they performed for Ian, Barrowman and Tyler to secure one of 50 places at Lloyd Webber's "Maria School", where over four days they would receive vocal and drama training from the expert panel.[1][6]
Several additional performers were selected over this fifty contestant limit; one being Briony, who had been rejected initially due to nerves hampering her performance, but who returned for a second chance and was allowed in by Ian. A further four, whom the panel had rejected, were contacted by Lloyd Webber himself as he personally believed them to be potential Marias.[7]
During "Maria School", contestants were eliminated to leave twenty, who were then taken to Lloyd Webber's house, where they performed for fifty people from the entertainment business. Ten finalists were then chosen by the panel and taken through to the live studio finals.[6]
The series started on Saturday 29 July 2006, and the first two programmes followed the audition stages of the competition before revealing the final ten at the end of the second programme.[7]
Live finals
The final ten contestants then competed in the live studio finals held on Saturday nights over six weeks. Each week the contestants sang and performed during the live show, receiving comments from the judges following their performance. The public then got a chance to vote for their favourite Maria, and the two contestants with the fewest votes performed a sing-off in front of Lloyd Webber, who then decided which Maria to keep in the contest. This was repeated with the top ten, the top nine and the top eight. With the top seven and top five, two were voted off in the program, and there were two different sing-offs.
Lloyd Webber had no say in the final casting decision, when in the concluding edition of the series it was left to the public to choose who should play Maria out of the final two contenders, Connie Fisher and Helena Blackman. After more than 2 million votes were cast, the winning entrant was revealed as Fisher, who won a six-month contract to play Maria in the West End production, performing six out of the eight weekly shows.[8]
The profits from the telephone votes went to a bursary for young performers.[9] Lloyd Webber also donated his fee to the bursary.[2]
Finalists
Ten potential Marias were selected as finalists who would appear on the live shows. Abi Finley and Aoife Mulholland auditioned together having known each other from college, and both made it to the finals. One of the original 10 finalists, Emilie Alford, withdrew from the competition after deciding it was not for her. She was replaced by Siobhan Dillon, who lost a place in the final ten following a sing-off against Alford and Laura Sicurello in front of Lloyd Webber. This earned her the nickname "Second Chance Maria".[10]
| Finalist | Age* | From | Dress colour | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laura Sicurello[11] | 26 | Milton Keynes | Yellow | Eliminated 1st in Week 1 |
| Belinda Evans[12] | 28 | Somerset | Dark blue | Eliminated 2nd in Week 2 |
| Meliz Serman[13] | 23 | Chingford | Gold | Eliminated 3rd in Week 3 |
| Simona Armstrong[14] | 28 | Greenford | Purple | Eliminated 4th in Week 4 |
| Leanne Dobinson[15] | 20 | Colchester | Lilac | Eliminated 5th in Week 4 |
| Abigail "Abi" Finley[16] | 23 | Prestwich | Light blue | Eliminated 6th in Week 5 |
| Aoife Mulholland[17] | 28 | Salthill | Green | Eliminated 7th in Week 5 |
| Siobhan Dillon[18] | 21 | Staffordshire | Red | Third place (Eliminated in Week 6) |
| Helena Blackman[19] | 23 | Southampton | Pink | Runner-up |
| Connie Fisher[20] | 23 | Haverfordwest | Orange | Winner |
*As of start of series
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 |
| – | Contestant who received the most public votes and won the competition |
| Contestant | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Final | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 1 | Part 2 | |||||
| Connie Fisher | 1st | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Winner (week 6) | |
| Helena Blackman | 10th | Safe | 7th | 6th | 6th | Safe | Safe | Safe | Runner-up (week 6) | |
| Siobhan Dillon | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 3rd | Third Place | Eliminated (week 6) | |
| Aoife Mulholland | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 4th | 4th | Eliminated (week 5) | ||
| Abi Finley | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 5th | Eliminated (week 5) | |||
| Leanne Dobinson | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 5th | Eliminated (week 4) | ||||
| Simona Armstrong | Safe | Safe | Safe | 7th | Eliminated (week 4) | |||||
| Meliz Serman | Safe | 9th | 8th | Eliminated (week 3) | ||||||
| Belinda Evans | Safe | 8th | Eliminated (week 2) | |||||||
| Laura Sicurello | 9th | Eliminated (week 1) | ||||||||
Live shows
The live shows saw the finalists eliminated one by one following both individual and group performances. Once eliminated, the leaving contestant ended the programme by leading a performance of "So Long, Farewell" from The Sound of Music with the remaining contestants.
Week 1
Following the first week of competition. The show performances were:[21]
- Group performances:
- "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?" (from The Sound of Music)
- "I Have Confidence" (from The Sound of Music)
| Act | Performance Pair | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leanne Dobinson | Pair 1 | 1 | "It's Oh So Quiet" (Björk) | Safe |
| Laura Sicurello | 2 | "Torn" (Natalie Imbruglia) | Bottom two | |
| Aoife Mulholland | Pair 2 | 3 | "Runaway" (The Corrs) | Safe |
| Abi Finley | 4 | "Nobody Does It Better" (Carly Simon) | Safe | |
| Siobhan Dillon | Pair 3 | 5 | "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" (Shania Twain) | Safe |
| Connie Fisher | 6 | "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (Aretha Franklin) | Safe (Highest votes) | |
| Simona Armstrong | Pair 4 | 7 | "Over the Rainbow" (Eva Cassidy) | Safe |
| Belinda Evans | 8 | "Over the Rainbow" (Judy Garland) | Safe | |
| Helena Blackman | Pair 5 | 9 | "Crazy Chick" (Charlotte Church) | Bottom 2 (Lowest Votes) |
| Meliz Serman | 10 | "Son of a Preacher Man" (Dusty Springfield) | Safe |
- Guest performance: "Iris" (Ronan Keating)
- Panel's verdict on who was Maria
- John Barrowman: Connie
- Zoe Tyler: Leanne
- David Ian: Connie
Sing-Off
| Act | Sing Off Song | Results |
|---|---|---|
| Laura Sicurello | "No Matter What" from Whistle Down the Wind | Eliminated |
| Helena Blackman | Saved by Lloyd Webber |
- Notes
- It was revealed during the results show that Connie received the highest number of votes
Week 2
As the mission for this week, the potential Marias performed a scene from the musical with an actor as Captain Von Trapp.[22]
The show performances were:[23]
- Group performances:
- "My Favorite Things" (from The Sound of Music)
- "Don't Rain on My Parade" (Barbra Streisand from Funny Girl)
