Connie Fisher is now favourite to win the reality show ‘How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?’.

Bookmakers William Hill have installed Connie as the 4/9 favourite to land the role of Maria in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new West End production of ‘The Sound of Music’.

Siobhan Dillon is second favourite to win the show on odds of 5/2, with Helena Blackman currently on odds of 6/1.
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Salthill singer Aoife Mulholland was voted off the show at the weekend during a double eviction night, which also saw Abi Finley leave the show.

Theatre Critic Sir Trevor Nunn has spoken out against Andrew Lloyd Webbers popular TV show ‘How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria’.

He believes that the show does not truly represent a proper theatre audition process, and that the show focuses too heavily on Audience entertainment, instead of who is the best actress for the part.

He told The Times:”What these reality programmes more or less rely on is the viewing public being witness to distress. That is absolutely not how casting proceeds in the theatre.”

Nunn was involved in the early planning stages of the upcoming version of The Sound Of Music, but left the team due to the TV programme: “It was not a route I wanted to follow,” he added.

The remaining girls from the BBCs hit show ‘How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria’ attended their first movie premiere this week.!

They were seen strutting along the red carpet on the arm of Owen Wilson at the London premiere of his new film You, Me And Dupree.

Not content with attending the show, the girls decided to steal it, bu doing the Can-Can around the leading man!

Western Mail reports:

BOOKIES have tipped a Welsh actress as the red hot favourite to win this summer’s hit talent show, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?

Connie Fisher is one of eight remaining finalists competing for the chance to play Maria in a new Andrew Lloyd Webber production of The Sound Of Music in the West End.

With two finalists already eliminated and another one due to be voted off on Saturday, the competition is heating up, but in the eyes of the public and the bookmakers, the 23-year-old from Pembrokeshire is the favourite to win.

Yesterday bookmakers Ladbrokes revealed odds on her winning are 5/6, and said support for her was so strong, they hadn’t calculated odds for any of the other finalists.

Ladbrokes spokesperson David Williams said, “The reason for such short odds is that she’s far and away the best competitor on the series. She’s the only one attracting support.”

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At William Hill, odds on the Welsh Maria are 4/5, while her closest competitors Siobhan and Leanne have odds of 3/1 and 5/1 respectively.

Connie, who graduated from the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts last year with a first-class degree, attributes her success to a childhood competing in eisteddfodau around Wales.

Yesterday her Mum, Jan Fisher, 58, said, “I’m extremely proud as I know she’s worked jolly hard for it. She’s done four gruelling years to get a degree. We’re just extremely proud.”

Postings on the programme’s online message board such as “How do you solve a problem like maria? Give the part to Connie, she is just brilliant”, reflect her popularity with the public and yesterday Welsh entertainer Owen Money said he was backing her as well.

He said, “I realised her talent about seven years ago when she was on the first series of Just Up Your Street. I think she’ll win, I really do.

“She has the talent and the confidence as well. It’s her whole personality, you look at the way she looks and she does look like Maria.

“She’s destined to win it. She’s head and shoulders above everybody else. And if she didn’t have the talent she wouldn’t have been on my programme.”

Connie had her first professional acting job at the Torch Theatre, Milford Haven, - the princess in Aladdin - and she also worked with the youth theatre as a teenager.

Peter Doran, artistic director said, “Connie doesn’t just have a good voice, she can act, which is important because the role [Maria] is not just about singing. It’s also a very heavy acting role.

“The thing that impressed me when I first saw Connie in the youth theatre was how good an actress she was, I was totally unaware of her voice at that stage.

“She has got amazing eyes that find you wherever you are sitting. She holds your focus and you find you can’t take your eyes off her. It was only later when she was in a project where she was allowed to sing that I realised her voice was quite exceptional.”

Connie, who is busy rehearsing for Saturday’s show, said, “My uncle bets online and he went on a website and saw people had put £3,500 on me to win.

“It’s quite a lot of pressure, but I’m hoping if people are prepared to put money on me then they’ll pick up the phone and vote because it all comes down to the public backing me.”

The X Factor has once again proved why its one of the most popular shows on TV at the minute.

The X Factor managed to beat BBC rival show ‘How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria’ by over 3 million viewers, coming in with 8.4 million to Maria’s 4.4million. In fairness though, the arrival of the X Factor didn’t diminish Marias ratings, proving that Graham Norton might just be worth every penny of his new contract!

I wish that ITV and BBC wouldn’t air the shows at exactly the same time. I know its good for competition and all that, but I would love to be able to watch both shows, and I still haven’t worked out how to use my video recorder!

I have a strange passion for West End Musicals, and while watching Maria I can easily imagine it is me on the stage, however I hate to miss an epsiode of The X Factor and Simon Cowells caustic comments.

If the channels would just alter their schedules it would make my life a lot easier!!!!

It was a close call, but Graham Norton last night revealed that the two Marias who had got the least amount of the public vote in hit BBC show ‘How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria’, were Belinda and Meliz.

Both girls then had to perform the ballad ‘Another Suitcase In Another Hall’ from the hit musical Evita. Andrew Lloyd-Webber penned the song himself and so was the perfect choice to judge between the two Marias.

Based on the fact that he is convinced the new Maria must have a contemporary feel, Andrew decided to save Meliz, and so it was time for the girls to say goodbye to Belinda.

I don’t know about the rest of you but I think the girls singing the closing song with the person just kicked out, is more than a little bit cruel. It does make fantastic TV though, no wonder the shows rating figures have been so high!

As the auditons begin for Andrew Lloyd Webbers new reality TV show ‘How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria’, one contestant definately stood out from the lot.

Kevin Bishop, the BBC Creative Head behind the show, said: “We’ve been to Cardiff and Belfast and virtually everyone we’ve seen is responsibly competent.

“There are none of the outrageous ones you see on Pop Idol or The X Factor - although we did have a transvestite audition for the part of Maria.

“She was called Lady Portia and she auditioned in Belfast. She got through to stage two and was fantastic.

“We were very impressed with her.”

I can just see it now, a transvestite nun, how cutting edge!

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.