We all knew that the fan base votes would make a difference. Alex going out first was good - it wouldn't bother him and he enjoyed the bit he wanted. It just makes me a nervous wreck. I watched while I got Mum to bed last night but at 10pm was supposed to be going to a leaving party for an hour. I had to wait until the phone numbers were give and then run off. I hated not seeing the results. Spam phoned me and told me or else I'd have been on pins. By the time Mum was settled, I would have been late anyway, so an extra 5 mins to find out D's phone number couldn't be avoided. I voted as I walked to the party.

I suppose it makes it fairer that voting time is so short, I just kept redialing for the 15 or so minute, only after did I realise it was 50p a call, there was me bck in the 10p pi times.

 

the only thing I take issue with now on rewatching the show is the way needing the microphone was mentioned for Darius - I noticed the others had either the small head mics..or were much closer to their double mics. I thought Darius was standing a fair way away from his tbh.

also the times I have seen the tenors, paverotti etc.they have had their mouths up to mics too - so not sure about the thing about opera singers not needing mics etc.

 

first watching I wasnt listening properly, too nervous, but today I am appreciating Darius' performance and vocals more - I really feel the chorus of that song had real richness and tone, and had the same effect on me as the from a distance bit I mentioned before, goosebumps when he launches into the end part and lets rip - I love the way he reigns it in, then opens up -

Edited January 16, 201015 yr by prettyinpink

Jimmy, Darius and Marcella were stuck with static mics. Who decides that?

 

Darius and Jimmy would have been perfectly comfortable with a head mike. They used them in the West End. Jimmy had a rabble rousing popular song and he could jig about a bit , wave his arms and inject some personality into it.

 

Darius and Marcella would have killed their arias with too much movement.

 

To be fair Rolando was not singling Darius out for criticism by saying that. He was trying to give him a pointer for next time, saying that he needed to project from the very start of the song and that if he'd been working in a theatre without a microphone( like real opera singers do), those first notes wouldn't have carried all the way.

Edited January 16, 201015 yr by Baytree

OMG Darius was soooo Fantastic wasn't he :dance: !.....then again we knew he would be whatever he sang!I loved the way he finished the song too,he really gave it his all!

YAY so proud of him getting through :yahoo: !.......of course we knew he would though!...........couldn't wait to get on the phone to vote!

Mmmmmmm looking as Yummy as ever too.............and i love his hair like that! :heart:

 

Woohoo cant wait fo next Friday! :cheer:

Darius did really well tonight. Thought he looked and sounded great!

No doubt Danny will do well, but I thought he was the weakest singer - apart from Alex!

I disagree. Yes, he started roughly, but it all get improved by the end of the performance. And he was too uptight and didn't want to show it, because, despite his words about not being too serious about the show, he IS competetive and he wants to win and he IS serious about this. So, no matter how fan base he has, if we speak about actual performances, he did very well. So did Darius. I really enjoyed Nessun Dorma sung in baritone (which I didn't expect I will), but I'm afraid he's too concerned, he wants to win too much, it can inhibit him to do that. After all it's just a game, he should enjoy himself.

I think Danny was right about this show, you should obviously take it seriously, but at the same time enjoy what you do, otherwise it is a wasted effort. So shame, he can't convince himself in that.

 

Well, I really want Marcella, Vanessa, Darius and Danny to stay and then it will be tough to make a decision who should win. For now, they are my favourites.

I wish I lived in the UK so I could go to the show. It seems really entertaining and I adore Rolando! He is the true star of the show, without any doubt :)

 

Speaking of judges, I really don't mind Meat Loaf (inspite of his ludicrous behavior) but I really don't understand what Lorence is doing here. Okay, he's classical FM DJ so what? And I finished a musical school, can I be the judge too? :wacko:

I don't think he's got enough knowledge to be the judge. He never even said his opinion first.

 

Anyway, all the contestants did a great job, let's cross our fingers for the next week. I'm afraid we all need to stock up with some nepenthes as this show is going to get tenser with every week! Actually, I really love the tought of that :dance:

Edited January 16, 201015 yr by Julia

OMG Darius was soooo Fantastic wasn't he :dance: !.....then again we knew he would be whatever he sang!I loved the way he finished the song too,he really gave it his all!

YAY so proud of him getting through :yahoo: !.......of course we knew he would though!...........couldn't wait to get on the phone to vote!

Mmmmmmm looking as Yummy as ever too.............and i love his hair like that! :heart:

 

Woohoo cant wait fo next Friday! :cheer:

 

I didn't! I was sick to the pit of my stomach. I really wasn't certain there would be enough floating voters to swell our numbers and keep Darius out of the bottom two.

 

First ratings are 4 million. not bad because opera doesn't appeal to the huge demography the general talent and celebrity shows do and it was up against live eviction night on CBB and the second part of a Silent Witness episode

Edited January 16, 201015 yr by Baytree

not bad ratings considering -

 

I thought Darius stood too far back from his mike and this affected the beginning of his song not being projected enough but maybe he is saving his voice. I hope that betting list isnt expecting him out next.

If I went down tomorrow and stuck a wad of money on Darius that would shorten his odds but it won't change the fact that they all have nowhere to hide on a Friday night. They have one chance only. there's no sing off.

I didn't! I was sick to the pit of my stomach. I really wasn't certain there would be enough floating voters to swell our numbers and keep Darius out of the bottom two.

 

First ratings are 4 million. not bad because opera doesn't appeal to the huge demography the general talent and celebrity shows do and it was up against live eviction night on CBB and the second part of a Silent Witness episode

 

 

That's exactly how I felt. I was a nervous wreck. I'm going to watch it all again later as I couldn't really concentrate properly last night. Perhaps the show is appealing to a different type of audience and Darius might pick up votes from them. Sue

I've never known Darius not put his heart and soul into what he does and care about how it goes. He's just not a ' take part and just enjoy it' person. I wish he wasn't so nervous but very few people wouldn't be. I thought he did excellently. as did most of the others.

all I can say is hopefully the next weeks song will be for a baritone, and that this week turns out to be the hardest for D, as said what with THAT song, the key change- imo it worked - and the distance he was from the mic, all imcumberments outside vocals and performance that the others will not be able to change i n a positive way in weeks to come -

not that I know what arias there are and what key they are for..but seems to me everyone famous is a tenor??

Edited January 16, 201015 yr by prettyinpink

I've never known Darius not put his heart and soul into what he does and care about how it goes. He's just not a ' take part and just enjoy it' person. I wish he wasn't so nervous but very few people wouldn't be. I thought he did excellently. as did most of the others.

You are so right about that. It's what I wanted to say. It was seen in his performance. Opera would be just screaming without heart and soul put in the singing. But I do hope that they will choose something that suits his vocal range next week. It wasn't the best performance of Nessun Dorma imo, even considering how many versions it's got. But he did really well.

I don't what to expect from the next week. It will be so difficult for them to learn the next arias. So worried about all of them. I just hope none of them will feel intimidated or otherwise too relaxed and they will put all their efforts to improve themselves even more! :rolleyes:

 

all I can say is hopefully the next weeks song will be for a baritone, and that this week turns out to be the hardest for D, as said what with THAT song, the key change- imo it worked - and the distance he was from the mic, all imcumberments outside vocals and performance that the others will not be able to change i n a positive way in weeks to come -

not that I know what arias there are and what key they are for..but seems to me everyone famous is a tenor??

I only know two more or less 'famous' baritones, its Simon Keenlyside from the UK and Gerald Finley (he also performs bass arias), but it's just me, I'm sure there are many fantastic arias for baritones. But I guess you're right, most of the famous opera men are tenors. The only bass I can remember is Fedor Shalyapin :blush:

Edited January 16, 201015 yr by Julia

I just hope none of them will feel intimidated or otherwise too relaxed and they will put all their efforts to improve themselves even more! :rolleyes:

 

 

That's my fear for Darius. I hope struggling so much with the range in this one doesn't affect his confidence in the next one. At least he never stopped working at it.

 

I think the rest had good remarks which should boost their confidence. Vanessa didn't, she has a lovely voice but just came over as not having put enough work in. If she does this week, she should be fine.

Darius was given the wrong song, but this might actually have done him a favour. Every other male aria on the show, D would have ABSOLUTELY nailed, whereas his song was lowered considerably from the original key, in order that D would be able to achieve the high notes(which he did). If he had made it look too easy, he would have fallen victim to the usual ego/cocky/arrogant remarks, which we all know are very far from the truth.

 

I thought all the performers were better in the live show. Jimmy must have been holding back in the Thursday event as he was much improved for me. Darius did a good job, and was certainly top 2 for me, with possibly Marcella slightly outperforming him. I think in the weeks to come, he'll get arias more suited to his bass baritone, and he'll go on to do well, though as mentioned, fanbases will have more to do with who wins than how they sound.

 

Meatloaf thought this was either American Idol, or a pantomime, and seemed to be trying to big up his part. As for Lawrence, all I can say is, why the bloody hell is he there? I don't feel he contributed to the show much in any way, apart from both of them disgustingly saving Alex who didn't give half the vocal performance that Vanessa(was it?) gave. That decision REALLY sucked and devalued the judges opinions considerably to me. Almost as if they had been told who to vote for so as to make the show better(in someone's opinion). Shame on them either way, as there really was no comparison between the performances.

 

Although Danny is likely to win, he was poor imo, and the only person worse(which is arguable) was Alex who left the show. I'm glad he got the boot because he was a bit of a joke and never bothered to show up to perform at the dress rehearsal, preferring to go to something with his band. Not good enough for me, as Meg has said, if you commit to do something then do it, especially when so close to the very start!

 

I snapped 4 pics, but they aren't much good. My best one looks almost identicle to the one Meg has featured, so I think we must have shot at about the same time. I'm only just back, the house is freezing and I have to make some tea. After this I'll upload the pics and see if they're worth a posting, but I got more of the back of Sue's head than of D's face in them.

 

Must say a HUUUUUUUGGGGGGEEEEEE!!!!!!! thank you to Jane :D for the ticket she was able to give me. We had good seats and managed to see most of the action

 

all I can say is hopefully the next weeks song will be for a baritone, and that this week turns out to be the hardest for D, as said what with THAT song, the key change- imo it worked - and the distance he was from the mic, all imcumberments outside vocals and performance that the others will not be able to change i n a positive way in weeks to come -

not that I know what arias there are and what key they are for..but seems to me everyone famous is a tenor??

 

Bryn Terfel is the only bass baritone who seems to appear now and again at big occasions in the UK, but far less often than the numerous tenor crossover artists of far less experience and skill. I honestly can't recall seeing any English, Scottish or Irish ones on our TV.

Your pics are ALWAYS worth posting. Apart from anything else, we don't get many these days.

Although Danny is likely to win, he was poor imo, and the only person worse(which is arguable) was Alex who left the show. I'm glad he got the boot because he was a bit of a joke and never bothered to show up to perform at the dress rehearsal, preferring to go to something with his band. Not good enough for me, as Meg has said, if you commit to do something then do it, especially when so close to the very start!

I really hope that he'll be more concerned in the next weeks. I think he's got a big potential, it's just his personality that overcame last night. He can be really persistent. Maybe seeing hes opponents will be a good motive for him.

All in all, I still think my favourites are Danny, Darius, Marcella (who's done amazingly well as this aria is far from the beginner's level) and Vanessa because of her potential. A huge vocal range but too much freaking out imo :huh: These four people made the show edgy for me. I hope it will be this way in the next weeks :)

 

The crowd got on my nerves during all show, but it was the worst when Danny sang (of course :lol: ). I feel so sorry for Rolando being booed! But he's adorable as well as his lovely accent ^_^

I thought you might like to read this post from DS.

 

Can a real, live professional opera singer join the thread (even though I'm a rodent...)?

 

Thoughts:

 

Our Kath advising anyone on support, breathing, and language pronunciation is laughable. Neither has she ever sung onstage in an opera, and never will.

 

But I'll stop being ranty about Our Kath for a second...

 

The Contestants:

 

Some surprises - Darius, Bernie Nolan, and Marcella Detroit were stand outs, although hopefully at some point, one of the "coaches" *cough* will realise that Darius is a baritone (as already stated), and give him something appropriate.

 

And I'm afraid Danny was as flat as Kath's chest before the boob job...although I suspect he'll go far in the competition with the McFly vote.

 

Rather than dumbing my job, that I've trained for over a decade to do, down, the show is actually underlining the fact that it's damn hard, and DOES take a lot of training. Oh, and it's train-wrecky entertainment at its finest

 

Phone voting money, I'm informed, also goes to a music therapy charity rather than into the ITV coffers, which is a good thing.

excellent post on DS there, and I agree with BP, at least Darius did really well when thrown a curve ball - he should feel he can cope with anything they throw at him now, hopefully

I agree with BP about the performances, and hubby did comment about Danny - he too reckoned he was the worst one, even worse than alex as he didnt give any entertainment value either - although he may well improve, whihc is what these programs are about arent they.

 

its a shame its not like strictly where you get some insight into the weeks rehearsals, it makes me think they dont actually get any thing much, prob just a short session to edit into the friday night program to look like they have been mentored all week....I feel its such a waste of a good idea