Exactly 11 years ago, we were all preparing to watch the ADWD final! A certain curly haired adonis was preparing to compete in said final. I wonder if he ever dreamed that, not only would he win, but, 11 years down the line, he'd still be going strong?
I remember being really nervous, hoping that the Great British Public would make the right decision. I also remember it being blisteringly hot, and thinking that if I was melting, it must be infinitely worse for the ADWD finalists in that studio!
Some kind soul has uploaded whole eps of ADWD and HDYSAPLM to a certain tubular site. Those were my favourite two series, and as I hadn't seen HDYSAPLM since it aired, it was fascinating to watch it all again. I wish they'd shown as much of the singing (and decision making) at the final whittling of the Js (in ALW's Irish castle) as they did with the Ms (in ALW's English residence) - it was interesting seeing clips of the Ms singing their solo songs at their concert. I'd love to know what solos the Js sang at theirs.
Whilst watching the HDYSAPLM live shows, I found myself wondering what would have happened if one of the original final 10 (Emilie) hadn't dropped out before the first live show (she was replaced by Siobhan). I think she almost certainly would have been the Seamus of HYDSAPLM!:laughing: ZT really didn't like her, so judges' comments would have been interesting! She dropped out because she'd been advised by her singing teacher (she was training to be an opera singer) that singing in a non-operatic style could damage her voice. I suspect she would have struggled singing pop songs, so it's just as well she did drop out. Incidentally, I googled her a year or so ago out of curiosity, and she did indeed become an opera singer, so well done her!
One obvious difference between HDYSAPLM and ADWD was that there were only 6 live shows in HDYSAPLM - they had two double elimination shows! I'm glad they didn't do that with ADWD - it would have been way too tense!:anguished: Another difference was the b*tchiness of the Ms - I couldn't imagine Lee saying in a VT (about Ben) "If the public won't pay 25p to vote for him, why would they pay £50 for a ticket to see him?":flushed: :laughing: Also, the M's all had nick-names (e.g. Baby M, Intense M, Second Chance M) which were used on the show. If they'd done that with the J's I wonder what Lee's nick-name would have been? Intense J? Professional J? The Chosen One J?:laughing:
I'm just watching ALW being asked what he's looking for in his Joseph - "A bit of a Justin Timberlake, a tiny touch of the Michael Jacksons with a touch of the Jude Laws..." To quote Graham "Oookkkkaaaaayyyyyyyyy":laughing:
ALW's 'KERCHING!!!' expression at the end of Lee's performance of 'Mack The Knife' cracks me up!:laughing:
I've just been watching week 6 - what struck me was that no-one gave a bad performance (some were better than others), which probably accounts for the frankly bonkers result! I still can't believe (watching 11 years later) that Daniel ended up in the sing-off! I suspect that Daniel might have suffered from performing right before Lee blew everyone away with PIB! There was also probably complacency from the voting public - "Even if Daniel ends up in the bottom two, ALW won't send him home unless he's up against Lee in the sing-off!" Which, of course, proved to be untrue. ALW's explanation for saving Lewis didn't make a whole lot of sense - he couldn't see Daniel being a WE star, and was unsure about Lewis, so he was saving Lewis? Er...OK!:face_with_rolling_eyes: :laughing:
