BBC America’s Singing Competition “Any Dream Will Do” is “Idol”-Worthy

amp160As hot as American Idol may be it is not necessarily the best singing competition on television this spring That distinction may go to a twoyearold British import titled Any Dream Will Do over on BBC Americaamp160Dream is actually a followup to the hit 2006 British searchforastar singing competition How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria in which young women competed for the lead role in a West End production of The Sound of Music This time around young men are competing for the title role in a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat If this format sounds familiar in a bad way you may be having a flashback to Grease Youamp8217re the One That I Want the abysmal 2007 NBC reality effort inspired by Maria in which men and women competed for the lead roles of Danny and Sandy in a Broadway production of Greaseamp160I havenamp8217t seen Maria but I did watch most of Grease so my only prior knowledge of this malleable British franchise the brainchild of legendary composer and theatrical producer Andrew Lloyd Webber was not particularly positiveamp160But two Sundays ago I was blown away by the outsize talent on display during the first competition episode of Dream As with Idol the Dream competition episodes are preceded by audition shows and semifinal masselimination rounds Perhaps the Top 12 finalists were all in uncommon top form on the night that show was taped but most of the guys were easily as talented as current Idol frontrunner sensation Adam Lambert and some of them were even betteramp160The full season of Any Dream Will Do was originally telecast in 2007 so it may seem like old business But as they say over at NBC if you havenamp8217t seen it itamp8217s new to you The winner went on to star in a West End revival of Joseph from July 2007 thru January 2009 He can be easily identified through a simple Google search so if knowing the outcome is an issue for you donamp8217t surf the Net for anything related to this program Me I donamp8217t think it detracts one whit from the enjoyment of watching so talented a group of young people go for the opportunity of their lifetimesamp160Is it fair to designate Adam Lambert as the barometer against whom one measures the talents of the contestants in Dream I think so because this guy has stimulated the Idol audience to a degree we havenamp8217t seen since the exciting ascension of Carrie Underwood in Season 4 As good as several of his competitors may be amp8211 especially Danny Gokey Kris Allen and Alison Iraheta amp8211 Lambert towers above them There hasnamp8217t been so much chatter about an Idol contestant since Sanjaya Malakar but in his case everyone was talking about his hair Adam has everyone talking about his talent and given his uncommon versatility weamp8217re all increasingly eager to see what he will do next No less a dreamcrusher than Simon Cowell actually sprang to his feet last week when Lambert finished performing Has that ever happened beforeamp160Cowell over the years has been known dismiss certain contestants for sounding too much like Broadway singers which is certainly better than being told they sound like karaoke croakers or cruise ship performers two of Cowellamp8217s favorite putdowns but is far below being designated as a possible pop or rock star a level of success that has sadly eluded most Idol champions So I wonder what he would make of the Dream finalists known as the Josephs all of whom could do well on Broadway and most of whom could likely make a name for themselves in the pop rock or country arenasamp160It isnamp8217t just the supertalented contestants that make Dream more fun than Idol Andrew Lloyd Webber the premier voice of authority and top judge on the show gives Dream a dramatic weight greater than that of Idolamp8217s four judges combined The four engaging experts who critique each performance amp8211 actor and singer John Barrowman theatrical producer Bill Kenwright actress Denise Van Outen and vocal coach Zoe Tyler amp8211 have more interesting insights to offer than Randy Jackson Paula Abdul Kara DioGuardi and Simon Cowell and seem to take their jobs more seriously than their Idol counterparts And host Graham Norton one of the most effortlessly engaging television personalities in the world keeps everything moving at a brisk clip without any of those uncomfortable attempts at forced humor that continue to compromise Idol main man Ryan Seacrestamp160Another reason Dream works so well is that the young singers are uniformly respectful of the grownup judges Everything the professionals say matters Cowell has often commented on the differences between the young people who appear on talent shows in England and those who snarl and growl their way through various American productions The contestants on Dream are ecstatic when they succeed and crushed when they donamp8217t Their honest displays of emotion add much more to the entertainment value of the program than the snarky responses of some Idol contestants Then again maybe Lloyd Webber Barrowman and their colleagues command more respect than Cowell and Co It may be that the producers of American Idol can learn a few things by watching Any Dream Will Do but I think anyone hoping to compete on future seasons of Idol can gain valuable insights from Dream too

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BBC America’s Singing Competition “Any Dream Will Do” is “Idol”-Worthy

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BBC America’s Singing Competition “Any Dream Will Do” is “Idol”-Worthy

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