Over the Rainbow (Canadian TV series)

Over the Rainbow is a Canadian reality talent competition, which premiered on CBC Television on September 16, 2012. Based on the 2010 series Over the Rainbow in the United Kingdom, the series auditioned aspiring musical theatre performers for the role of Dorothy for a Toronto production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical adaptation of The Wizard of Oz.[1] The series was hosted by Daryn Jones.[1] Arlene Phillips, Thom Allison, and Louise Pitre served as judges alongside Webber.[2]

Over the Rainbow
GenreReality
Directed byJoan Tosoni
Presented byDaryn Jones
JudgesAndrew Lloyd Webber
Arlene Phillips
Thom Allison
Louise Pitre
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes17
Production
Executive producersDon Weiner
Ivan Schneeberg
David Fortier
Gerry McKean
ProducerMel Balac
Running time40–90 minutes
Production companyTemple Street Productions
Original release
NetworkCBC Television, CBC HD
ReleaseSeptember 16 (2012-09-16) –
November 5, 2012 (2012-11-05)

The competition began with a Dorothy "boot camp" run by Lloyd Webber, which trained contestants and eliminated all but 10 finalists. Following a public telephone vote on 4 November 2012, 20-year-old Danielle Wade was chosen as Dorothy to perform the role for Mirvish Productions in Toronto, which started on 20 December 2012.[3][4] Wade has played several leading roles in student and community theatre and is an acting major at the University of Windsor. The judges praised her as "a consistently solid performer with a big voice and girl-next-door likeability and charm".[5]

The show also auditioned Canadian dogs for the part of Toto. CBC and Weber did not restrict the breed of Toto to Cairn Terrier (as used in the 1939 film), but instead searched for a dog that embodies the spirit of Toto: One that is a "bright fun loving companion full of energy and charisma".[6] The winner was a small mixed breed dog named Linzy, that looks similar to the film's Toto, owned by Reta Thompson. However, Linzy did not appear in the stage production.[7]

Finalists

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Ten contestants made it through the audition rounds and performed during the live shows.

Finalist Age* From Dress Color Status
Kelsey Verzotti 17 Calgary, Alberta Bubble Gum Pink Eliminated 1st in Week 1
Michelle Bouey 21 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island Robin's Egg Blue Eliminated 2nd in Week 2
Julia Gartha 16 Unionville, Ontario Purple Eliminated 3rd in Week 3
Jennifer Gillis 16 Coquitlam, British Columbia Sky Blue Eliminated 4th in Week 4
Jessie Munro 17 Toronto, Ontario Teal Eliminated 5th in Week 5
Cassandra Hodgins 17 London, Ontario Yellow Eliminated 6th in Week 6
Colleen Furlan 19 Winnipeg, Manitoba Red Eliminated 7th in Week 7
AJ Bridel 18 Kitchener, Ontario Orange Third place
Stephanie La Rochelle 17 Ottawa, Ontario Kelly Green Second place
Danielle Wade 20 LaSalle, Ontario Lime Green Winner

* at the start of the series

Results summary

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Place Contestant Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Final
1 Danielle Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Winner
2 Stephanie Safe Safe Safe Bottom 2 Safe Bottom 2 Safe Runner-up
3 AJ Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Bottom 2 Third Place
4 Colleen Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Eliminated Eliminated
5 Cassandra Safe Safe Safe Safe Bottom 2 Eliminated Eliminated
6 Jessie Safe Bottom 2 Bottom 2 Safe Eliminated Eliminated
7 Jennifer Safe Safe Safe Eliminated Eliminated
8 Julia Bottom 2 Safe Eliminated Eliminated
9 Michelle Safe Eliminated Eliminated
10 Kelsey Eliminated Eliminated

Live shows

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The live shows saw the finalists eliminated one by one following both individual and group performances. At the end of every live show, the losing Dorothy would have her shoes stripped by the Dorothy who survived the sing-off, and the shoes would be given to Lloyd Webber (week 1) and Phillips (weeks 2-7).

Week 1

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Following the first week of the competition, Kelsey was the first Dorothy to be eliminated from the competition. The show performances were:

  • Group performances:
    • "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" (from the musical The Wizard of Oz)
    • "One" (from the musical A Chorus Line)
Contestants' performances on the first live show
Contestant Performance Pair Order Song Result
Kelsey Verzotti Pair 1 1 "Good Morning Baltimore" Bottom 2
Julia Gartha 2 "Make You Feel My Love" Bottom 2
Cassandra Hodgins Pair 2 3 "Fever" Safe
Michelle Bouey 4 "Love Song" Safe
Danielle Wade Pair 3 5 "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" Safe
Jessie Munro 6 "Take That Look Off Your Face" Safe
Jennifer Gillis Pair 4 7 "Whistle Down the Wind" Safe
Colleen Furlan 8 "Fallin'" Safe
Stephanie La Rochelle Pair 5 9 "The Climb" Safe
AJ Bridel 10 "Mambo Italiano" Safe

Sing-Off

Act Sing Off Song Results
Kelsey Verzotti "What I Did for Love" from A Chorus Line Eliminated
Julia Gartha Saved by Lloyd Webber

Week 2

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The show performances were:

Contestants' performances on the second live show
Contestant Performance Pair Order Song Result
Colleen Furlan Pair 1 1 "Call Me Maybe" Safe
Cassandra Hodgins 2 "Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)" Safe
Julia Gartha Pair 2 3 "Give Your Heart a Break" Safe
Danielle Wade 4 "There You'll Be" Safe
Jennifer Gillis Pair 3 5 "I'll Stand by You" Safe
Stephanie La Rochelle 6 "Titanium" Safe
Jessie Munro Pair 4 7 "Firework" Bottom 2
AJ Bridel 8 "Angel" Safe
Michelle Bouey Solo Performance 9 "When You Believe" Bottom 2

Sing-Off

Act Sing Off Song Results
Jessie Munro "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" from Evita Saved by Phillips
Michelle Bouey Eliminated

Week 3

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The show performances were:

Contestants' performances on the third live show
Contestant Performance Pair Order Song Result
AJ Bridel Pair 1 1 "One Night Only" Safe
Cassandra Hodgins 2 "Maybe This Time" Safe
Colleen Furlan Pair 2 3 "Legally Blonde" Safe
Jennifer Gillis 4 "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" Safe
Jessie Munro Pair 3 5 "The Rose" Bottom 2
Stephanie La Rochelle 6 "Flashdance... What a Feeling" Safe
Julia Gartha Pair 4 7 "The Man That Got Away" Bottom 2
Danielle Wade 8 "Big Spender" Safe

Sing-Off

Act Sing Off Song Results
Jessie Munro "As Long as He Needs Me" from Oliver! Saved by Phillips
Julia Gartha Eliminated

Week 4

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The show performances were:

Contestants' performances on the fourth live show
Contestant Order Song Result
Cassandra Hodgins 1 "Mercy" Safe
Jennifer Gillis 2 "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" Bottom 2
Colleen Furlan 3 "If My Friends Could See Me Now" Safe
AJ Bridel 4 "True Colors" Safe
Danielle Wade 5 "Moon River" Safe
Stephanie La Rochelle 6 "Buenos Aires" Bottom 2
Jessie Munro 7 "Rolling in the Deep" Safe

Sing-Off

Act Sing Off Song Results
Jennifer Gillis "Tell Me on a Sunday" from Tell Me on a Sunday Eliminated
Stephanie La Rochelle Saved by Phillips

Week 5

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The show performances were:

Contestants' performances on the fifth live show
Contestant Order Song Result
Jessie Munro 1 "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" Bottom 2
Danielle Wade 2 "Valerie" Safe
AJ Bridel 3 "Feeling Good" Safe
Cassandra Hodgins 4 "Out Here on My Own" Bottom 2
Colleen Furlan 5 "Could It Be Magic" Safe
Stephanie La Rochelle 6 "Smile" Safe

Sing-Off

Act Sing Off Song Results
Jessie Munro "Tell Me It's Not True" from Blood Brothers Eliminated
Cassandra Hodgins Saved by Phillips

Week 6

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The show performances were:

Contestants' performances on the sixth live show
Contestant Order Song Result
Danielle Wade 1 "At Last" Safe
Stephanie La Rochelle 2 "Someone Like You" Bottom 2
AJ Bridel 3 "Nobody Does It Better" Safe
Colleen Furlan 4 "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" Safe
Cassandra Hodgins 5 "Your Song" Bottom 2

Sing-Off

Act Sing Off Song Results
Stephanie La Rochelle "On My Own" from Les Misérables Saved by Phillips
Cassandra Hodgins Eliminated

Week 7

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The show performances were:

Contestants' performances on the seventh live show
Contestant Order Song Result
Stephanie La Rochelle 1 "Cabaret" Safe
Colleen Furlan 2 "Somewhere" Bottom 2
AJ Bridel 3 "All That Jazz" Bottom 2
Danielle Wade 4 "I Dreamed a Dream" Safe

Sing-Off

Act Sing Off Song Results
Colleen Furlan "No Matter What" from Whistle Down the Wind Eliminated
AJ Bridel Saved by Phillips

Week 8

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For their individual performances, the contestants sang songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

The show performances were:

  • Group performances:
    • "The Wizard of Oz Medley"
    • "Already Home" (from the musical The Wizard of Oz)
    • "Sing" (by Gary Barlow & The Commonwealth Band featuring Military Wives)
Contestants' performances on the eighth live show
Contestant Order Andrew Lloyd Webber song Order Song of the Season Result
AJ Bridel 1 "Memory" N/A N/A (already eliminated) Eliminated
Danielle Wade 2 "As If We Never Said Goodbye" 4 "Big Spender" Winner
Stephanie La Rochelle 3 "I Believe My Heart" 5 "Buenos Aires" Runner-up

References

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