Over the Rainbow and Toto-ally barking

Is your dog star struck? Or more to the point are you and just happen to have a furry friend? A pooch with pizazz? Andrew Lloyd Webber is looking for a special Toto to join Dorothy in a one-off gala performance of The Wizard of Oz.

Early next month, he’ll be inviting dogs of all breeds to open auditions for the part of Toto. They are looking for pets with potential, they don’t have to be professionally trained. No matter what shape, colour of size, your doggy diva could be Toto!

Helping Andrew on his canine quest is a whole new Toto Panel, who will be judging the Totos to make sure they’re up to scratch.

On the Panel is Jodie Prenger, the winner of I’d Do Anything who plays Nancy is the West End production of Oliver. Joining Jodie are two dog trainers to the stars, Gerry Cott and Sarah Fisher. Both have trained animals for the stage, so our Totos are in excellent hands.

Toto should be healthy and happy – a dog with a spring in its step and in tip-top condition. The winning Toto will need to be confident as they will be around lots of people and dogs in new environments and sometimes will be working with other people away from their owner. Needs to be a smart dog, still able to pick up a trick or two.

Finally, the Toto Panel are looking for a true star! The winning doggy will have bags of personality and not be afraid to show it off!

Do you think your dog has what it takes? Open auditions will be taking place early next month, with details being confirmed soon, so visit Over The Rainbow Twitter and Facebook Fan Page for the latest updates.

Toto Wizard of Oz

Source bbc.co.uk website

Dorothy and Toto come to BBC One

Andrew Lloyd Webber is bringing The Wizard of Oz to the West End stage and he needs you. Starting on 26 March at 9.00pm on BBC, Over The Rainbow reunites Lord Lloyd Webber and host Graham Norton in their search for a new Dorothy.

Helping Andrew and the nation choose the perfect Dorothy is the panel of experts: singer Charlotte Church, EastEnders and musical theatre star John Partridge and actress Sheila Hancock.

Of course The Wizard of Oz wouldn’t be complete without Dorothy’s doggy companion Toto. The show will be looking for a new furry friend – I wonder how the audition will go. Musician John Vickers has a dog called Sidney who sings every time he plays the violin, but I am not sure if that counts.

Be the first to know about all the Over The Rainbow gossip and news by joining the official Facebook Fan Page (facebook.com/bbcdorothy) and becoming an Over The Rainbow Twitter follower (twitter.com/bbcdorothy). Or you can watch my blog!

Source bbc.co.uk

Somewhere over the rainbow is the new Dorothy

Dorothy and Toto Wizard of Oz

Were you glued to TV’s reality search for star How do you solve a problem like Maria? Or was it Joseph or Nancy and Oliver? Then you’ll love the latest foray into casting by the GBP (Great British Public) Over the Rainbow which aims to find a new Dorothy for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s latest West End production of The Wizard of Oz.

Auditions are open to anyone, with or without experience, or in most cases talent, and nationwide auditions have already begun. All applicants have to be aged 16 or over by 26 June 2009. Once selections have been made, we will have to endure week after week of professionals, semi-professionals and checkout girls from Tesco trying to be Judy Garland until we find the perfect young lady from Kansas (or somewhere in the West Midlands at any rate). What a treat!

I thought they were looking for Toto the dog as well. That would be fun. Maybe I imagined it or it was wishful thinking.

A few years ago we had a brown Yorkie/Cairn cross called Nipper who sadly shuffled of this mortal coil about 5 years ago at the age of 16. When she was about eight years old we took her to an open audition for the part of Sandy in Annie at the local amateur theatre. Needless to say it was all an unmitigated disaster as there was no way she was going to answer to ‘Sandy, Sandy…’ in an American accent (that’s Annie with the accent not the dog) or sit still or do anything remotely obedient.

Fashion designer Alexander McQueen found dead

Lee McQueen, the founder of fashion house Alexander McQueen, was found dead at his flat today, aged just 40 years old. Paramedics called to his home pronounced him dead at the scene. Police said his death was not being treated as suspicious.

A statement said his family were “devastated” at the “tragic news”, and said that they shared “a sense of shock and grief”.

A former British Designer of the Year winner, Mr McQueen started his career as an apprentice in Savile Row, where he learned how to make jackets at Gieves and Hawkes.

In 1996, the man nicknamed “the hooligan of English fashion”, with his close-cropped hair and Doc Martens, was named head designer at the Paris couture house of Givenchy.

He will be sadly missed by all who knew him and by many who didn’t. He was a huge talent and cited by some as a genius in the fashion world.
Source www.telegraph.co.uk

Lee McQueen

My two biggest fears

According to QI, human beings are born with only two inbuilt fears: the fear of loud noises and the fear of falling. All other fears are abnormal and have to be learned.
Source www.bbc.co.uk.

As I work on the fourth floor of a 15-story building and the people in the office next door are really noisy, that’s two fears taken care of already. The other two – spiders and opening credit card statements after Christmas are apparently abnormal and had to be learnt. I must have had a good teacher.

Who’s voting now?

Dancing on Ice – well that was exciting! I’m not surprised Bobby Davro was in the skate off, but I’m amazed the other one was Gary Lucy. Once again the GBP (Great British Public) have voted with their hearts and not their heads. Must be lots of ladies of a certain age (me included) voting for Jeremy Sheffield and Dr Hilary Jones.

But in spite of all this excitement, I’m not that excited yet. And once Jeremy and Dr H have gone, which won’t be long methinks, there’ll be no-one left for me to get excited about. Maybe they’ll grow on me but right now they just look like another bunch of Hollyoaks and other soap kids, just like we see in all the reality shows.

jeremy sheffield

As entertaining as two girls kissing on a subway

So who watched Pop Star to Opera Star tonight? I certainly did and I really enoyed it. Even my hubby who hates reality shows with a vengeance enjoyed it.

Shame Alex James of Blur went out, though it was a bit of a foregone conclusion. He was – dare I say it – rubbish, but he was still, as always, superbly entertaining. And I am not biased beacuse he lives down the road from me (well almost) and makes cheese. Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen described his performance as being ‘in the style of Dennis the Menace’ and Meat Loaf said it was ‘like watching two girls kissing on a subway, so entertaining’, whatever that means.

Marcella Detroit, late of Shakespeare’s Sister was staggeringly good when she hit the high notes and Jimmy Osmond gave it a fair shot as well. Bernie Nolan was the Daniel O’Donnell of the programme – perfectly pitched, steadfast and just a tad boring.

But my initial favourite was of course the artist formerly known as Darius Danesh, who sang Nessun Dorma totally out of his comfort zone. As a bass/baritone it was obviously hard for him to hit the high notes, I think they even lowered the song for him, but he showed real potential.

Highlight for me though was Meat Loaf, leaping up and clapping, making comments that made no sense and being totally bonkers. While Mexican tenor Rolando Villazon – when he demonstrated how to sing – I was totally bowled over. Apologies to the person who pulled me up for describing him as a bod I’d never heard of. We’ll all have heard of him from now on. Amazing.

The seven others – Vanessa White of the Saturdays, Bernie Nolan, McFly’s Danny Jones, Jimmy Osmond, Kym Marsh, Marcella Detroit and Darius will sing again in next week’s show. Can’t wait. In the parting words of Alex James, ‘What a blast’.

alex james

Pop star to opera star

I can’t wait till tomorrow night. Yet another new reality show but this time it’s high brow. Pop Star to Opera Star starts at 9.00pm Friday 15th January and gives pop singers the opportunity to have a go at singing opera under the direction of Katherine Jenkins and some bod I’ve never heard of called Rolando Villazon. But the best bit is that ‘rock God’ Meat Loaf is one of the critics along with Laurence LLewellyn-Bowen. “I’ll be looking for someone just like me,” the singer has been quoted as saying. It’s worth watching for that alone! Then we have Myleene Klass – OK – and Alan Titchmarsh hosting the show. Why Alan Titchmarch? Will they be singing in the garden? Or digging up the weeds mid aria?

Alex James of Blur and Maestro fame, Bernie Nolan – one of the Nolans of course, the pop star formerly known as Darius Danesh now Darius Campbell, Kym Marsh, a member of McFly, another from the Saturdays, Jimmy Osmond (my brothers made me do it – well tell them to do it instead of you then) and one of Shakespeare’s Sisters (no not that Shakespeare) are all competing. Will they be rubbish? I hope so – that will be far more entertaining! Pity they didn’t get Rhydian to do it – he would be bound to win.

jimmy osmond

So you think you can dance?

So You Think You Can Dance started tonight on BBC1, with Arlene Philips as one of the judges along with ‘Nasty’ Nick of original Pop Idol fame, Louise Redknapp and various other random choreographers etc. Cat Deeley is the presenter. There were loads of brilliant dancers but I have two criticisms already (and the series has only just started).

Firstly there was a guy from Brazil called Hugo Cortes who was absolutely amazing but when it came to the last 14, he was told sorry you don’t have the right visa, goodbye. So why did they let him get that far in the first place?

Secondly, there were no really bad dancers like the really bad singers who audition for X Factor. Isn’t being a really crap dancer as funny as being a really crap singer? Then we could laugh at them for years being rude to the judges or doing YMCA out of tune. Even when the well-endowed burlesque dancer (wasn’t she the one who showed us her assets on Britain’s Got Talent?) fell off the stage it wasn’t funny.

Oh and just one other thing. I flatly refuse to even mention Celebrity Big Brother. I’m not that desperate. Enough said.

So you think you can dance

Nearly forgot Dancing on Ice

Just when I thought it was safe to watch TV again, along comes Dancing on Ice (I can’t believe I forgot) and the line-up has been revealed. Not sure which is weirder, Heather Mills, ex-wife of ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney or GMTV’s Dr Hilary Jones.

We have the usual smattering on unknown Hollyoaks, Emmerdale, Coronation Street and other soap minor ‘celebrities’ plus Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies – she should be good – and she-who-nearly-lost-her-nose Eastenders actress Daniella Westbrook. Holby’s Jeremy Sheffield is set to be this year’s heart throb, while Sinitta is taking to the ice to show she is more than just Simon Cowell’s ex-girlfriend.

Finally we have Bobby Davro who looks a bit long in the tooth compared to all the soap youngsters (sorry Bobby) and Gordon Ramsay’s wife Tana showing that he is not the only star in the family.

It’s an interesting line up of B list celebrities – at this stage no idea who will be the shining stars and who will be out on their bums – literallly.

Dr Hilary Jones