Legendary composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and his panel have whittled down thousands of hopefuls to just 11 finalists in their nationwide search to find a new Joseph.

In tonight’s live show, the remaining hopefuls take to the stage to prove that they have the drive, determination and sheer unadulterated talent to land one of the best-loved roles in musical theatre.

In the presence of Andrew Lloyd Webber and his esteemed panel of experts – Broadway and West End leading lady Denise Van Outen, celebrated theatre producer Bill Kenwright, Torchwood star John Barrowman and outspoken vocal coach Zoe Tyler – the West End wannabes battle it out to prove that they have the charisma and star quality worthy of the Technicolor™ Dreamcoat.

Graham Norton hosts as the Josephs give it everything they have for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to star on the West End stage. Once the panel have given their expert opinion, viewers are able to vote for their favourite. Whose dreams will be shattered? And who will still have the chance to be the public’s Joseph?

Later this evening, at 9.55pm, viewers can find out which Joseph has been voted off by the public – and which Josephs have survived to perform in next week’s live show.

Saturday 21 April
7.40-8.45pm BBC ONE
9.55-10.20pm BBC ONE

Having successfully solved a problem like Maria, legendary composer and producer Andrew Lloyd Webber and his panel have whittled down thousands of hopefuls to just 12 finalists in their nationwide search to find a new Joseph. Now the hard work really begins as the finalists take to the stage in the first of eight live shows to prove that they have what it takes to land one of the best-loved roles in musical theatre. Read more & comment »

The search for a Joseph to star in a brand-new production of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor™ Dreamcoat continues with the second part of the audition process that finds our 12 Josephs.

Tonight’s show, narrated by Graham Norton, picks up the journey as the final 50 boys enter Joseph school. A team of the best coaches in the business teach them vocals, acting and choreography. Every hopeful is getting the very best in training, which sees some boys unexpectedly blossom, while others can’t quite hack the pace, and, as the drama unfolds, more dreams are made and broken. Read more & comment »

Graham Norton, presenter of BBC’s Any Dream Will Do, today challenged Simon Cowell to throw in the towel before his show even launches.

Any Dream Will Do and ITV’s Grease Is The Word will both go head to head next week. Both shows are looking for a star of a West End Musical, but Graham believes that they will be two entirely different shows.

Speaking to The Sunday Mirror Graham offered some words of advice to Simon Cowell saying:

“Simon is a huge TV talent – I admire his work ethic,” he said. “But he’s got all the money he needs – he should pack it in and enjoy himself. It must be great sitting on a beach in the Bahamas drinking cocktails with Paula Abdul and raking it in like while doing nothing.”

“Cowell is a TV talent, but Andrew is a phenomenon,” he said. “He wrote his first musical at 18. The man is a genius. Simon is just a good businessman. But I admire his work ethic – to keep going after all these years.”

“On all these copycat talent shows, there’s always someone trying to be Simon Cowell.

“But we’re not like that. Andrew Lloyd Webber is just Andrew. He’s no Mr Nasty. He was around long before all these reality shows. And he’ll still be around afterwards. He’s written songs our children’s children’s children will be singing.”
Norton gloated about his ‘classier’ show and was quick to take a swipe at the ITV judges.

“David is always worth a chuckle – it’s a very unusual look. All Sinitta’s done for the show is to walk down the street in a bikini. I suppose it worked for Borat. For us, this is about finding a star. We’re not looking to humiliate the contestants.”

The countdown has begun and this Saturday is to be a musical extravaganza with both Any Dream Will Do and ITV’s Grease Is The Word launching on the same night.

The first show of Any Dream Will Do, presented by Graham Norton, charts the journey of the thousands of hopefuls who attended regional auditions around the country in Cardiff, Glasgow, Belfast, Manchester and London, to the lucky 100 who made it to the London call backs.

It follows the progress, hopes and dreams of boys who have settled for day jobs, but secretly harbour a desire to star in musical theatre and now are finally given the chance and support to live their dreams. Viewers meet the boys who have trained their whole lives for a moment like this and who are now given the chance of a lifetime to audition for the Lord himself.

Have the auditions thrown up somebody with star quality, who can get on the stage and perform night after night? Andrew Lloyd Webber’s passion and fondness for musical theatre means he’s forever interfering in the process and changing his mind as only Andrew knows how – so viewers can be sure of a rocky road with plenty of ups and downs along the way.

A new TV talent search to find the next stars of the musical Oliver! will begin this week on BBC One.

I’d Do Anything will be looking to find an actress for the role of Nancy and three young actors who will take turns as Oliver in the Lionel Bart musical.

Graham Norton will again host the show after leading previous searches for the stars of Joseph and The Sound of Music.

Auditions will begin in early 2008 and the programme will be broadcast on BBC One later in the year.

Norton will be joined by Andrew Lloyd Webber for the programme along with Barry Humphries, John Barrowman and Denise Van Outen. Read more & comment »

Hosted by Graham Norton, When Will I Be Famous? is an exciting new live show for all the family showcasing the very best variety acts from the UK and around the world. Each week, different acts put their skills to the vote with the winner taking home a cash prize of £10,000.

Illusionists, contortionists, dancers, cabaret artists and comedy acts all compete in a series of head-to-head challenges. A panel of three celebrity judges pass comment on the acts which range from seasoned variety professionals to complete novices and cast their vote. A panel of 101 pre-registered viewers can then vote from home and make the casting decision as to which acts go through to the live final.

In the second show of the evening the finalists compete with each other with the overall winner being decided on by an open public phone vote, with all profits going to Comic Relief.

Many of the acts who don’t make it through the audition process ranging from the breathtaking to the bizarre also feature as part of the programme in Graham’s Sideshow.

Executive Producer Phil Parsons says: “When Will I Be Famous? will provide a shot of glamour and excitement. The production team has been scouring the globe for the world’s best variety acts throughout the autumn and, as well providing a platform for established acts to reach a wider audience, we have also unearthed some exciting, unsigned and unseen talent for BBC viewers.”

Viewers can register to become part of the 101 Armchair Panellists who appear on the programme each week by going to www.bbc.co.uk.

Irish comic and chat show host Graham Norton has waded in on this year’s Big Brother, berating producers for allowing unstable contestants like Shahbaz to enter the house.

Surprisingly, he’s also taken a wallop at housemate Richard Newman for being an “evil bully” toward Shahbaz. Norton thinks that it should have been obvious to the housemates that Shahbaz had mental problems.

But isn’t that the problem with Big Brother? The contestants are expected to be a strange mix, and someone with a serious problem might not be picked up, because it is assumed that they’ll be eccentrics – harmless oddballs. Isn’t that how most people felt about Shahbaz until he started talking about “coming here to die” and killing himself on screen?

The interesting thing about Graham Norton’s statement is that he’s come off the fence – normally Graham would make caustic comments about the housemates, but I don’t think he’s ever openly criticized the show’s producers before.

In light of the growing backlash against Big Brother and the endless series of mental health professionals clamouring for airtime over this, I think Graham’s is the most sensible commentary I heard so far.

Graham Norton is fast becoming the reality TV king! He is in the midst of working on the second series of Strictly Dance Fever and has now been appraoched by the BBC to present Sir Andrew Lloyd Webbers new TV show ‘How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria’.

The show will search the length and breadth of britain in an attempt to find a leading lady to perform the role of Maria in the Lloyd Webber stage version of ‘the Sound Of Music’

Norton said: “I’ll be there to mop the brows and do some serious handholding as we try and find that star-in-the-making.

“It will be a real rollercoaster for everyone involved. I’m thrilled to be along for the ride.

Lord Lloyd Webber said: “I have always had a passion for discovering and nurturing new talent and this will be a fantastic opportunity for a young artist to become a real star.

“I’m particularly pleased that, for the first time, the search will be open to everybody.

“Never before have young musical theatre performers had such an opportunity to show their talents on prime time television.

Who would have thought that there were over 80,000 budding dancers lurking around the UK? Tonight’s first episodes of Strictly Dance Fever showed the barrage of hopefuls whittled down to just 100 and then to 50 by the shows four judges Arlene Phillips, Wayne Sleep, Stacey Haynes and Ben Richards.

We caught the second episode at 9:30 and had great fun trying to predict who would get through to the actual live competition. It’s a bit like X Factor, really – the editing focuses more on the people who are interesting or who eventually got through.

Take Katie, for instance (the one with the mad afro-thingy) – she got plenty of camera-love and by the end of the show it was obvious we’d be seeing her next week.

Look at the lover’s tiff between Rammi(?) and Maria – they bickered constantly during the rehearsal and got through despite their performance being less than amazing. Despite getting through, poor Maria wasn’t so sure she wanted to continue after the ordeal with her boyfriend. And we think Rammi was an arse, by the way!

JP was the street dancer who Wayne Sleep said didn’t have “what it took” to get through. However, he excelled at the salsa and our money’s on him to get through to the final 10 couples.

Next week’s show will continue to whittle the auditionees down to 20 (that’s 10 couples) and the competition begins in earnest the week after.

What are your predictions for the final 20 contestants? Leave a comment and let us know!

The last month has been a dull one! With the end of ‘Just The Two Of Us’, and ‘Dancing On Ice’ we have been suffering from Reality TV cold turkey, and the withdrawal symptoms were BAD!

Thankfully we have something to look forward to! Strictly Dance Fever starts this saturday (1st April) at 7pm, and will be once again presented by the camper than camp Graham Norton.

The show will feature the best amateur dancers in Britain strutting their stuff for the judges, and more importantly for all your votes! The series will start this week with four special shows, showing how the contestants were chosen and the ups and downs of the audition process.

For die hard fans you can catch June Sarpong presenting a ‘behind the scenes’ show on BBC 3 after the main event,

Auditions were held all over the country earlier this year, the contestants were chosen and very soon we will see the new series of Strictly Dance Fever starting on BBC1.

Unlike Strictly Come Dancing, Strictly Dance Fever will not feature celebrities, but rather the best of Britains unproffesional, amateur boogie boys and babes.

The show will be presented by the camp as ever Graham Norton and genres of dance will include tap, tango, street dance, body popping, salsa and lindy hop.

The contestants will be put into pairs and will have to learn a new dance each week. They will then face the public vote after each live show.

Watch this space for all the news and gossip on Strictly Dance Fever over the next few weeks!