How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria? is a British reality television talent show that documented the search for an undiscovered musical theatre performer to play the role of Maria von Trapp in the 2006 Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Ian stage production of The Sound of Music.
The series was originally devised by the then in-house development team at BBC Entertainment Events and was announced by the BBC in April 2006. BBC One broadcast the programme, which was hosted by Graham Norton, on Saturday evenings from 29 July through 16 September 2006.
The title derives from the refrain of "Maria", a song from the first act of The Sound of Music.
Connie Fisher won the final public vote, and with it a six-month contract to play Maria in the West End production.
Format
Creation The lead role of Maria von Trapp in the new West End production of The Sound of Music, to be staged by Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Ian, was to be played by American actress Scarlett Johansson. Negotiations fell through, and after a four-year search for an actress to fill the role, it was revealed in November 2005 that Lloyd Webber had approached the BBC to allow the public to cast the role through a Popstars-style talent search, the first time that such a format had been used.
This was the first programme to allow the public to cast a leading role in a West End show, and it was initially criticised. However, it won International Emmy and Royal Television Society awards and became the first of a series of collaborations between the BBC and Lloyd Webber, including Any Dream Will Do, I'd Do Anything, and Over the Rainbow. The series also led to versions and similar series abroad.
Expert panel
To assess and train the potential Marias and judge them during the live shows, an expert panel was chosen. The panel comprised: Andrew Lloyd Webber – musical theatre composer and producer, co-producer of the new stage production David Ian – theatre producer, co-producer of the new stage production John Barrowman – musical performer, dancer, singer and actor Zoe Tyler – voice coach, singer and performer, vocal coach to the finalists
Lloyd Webber also asked Denise van Outen to participate in the series, but she turned him down, saying that she "felt uncomfortable about being on the panel and giving my criticism". She later became a judge on follow-up series, Any Dream Will Do.
Auditions Open auditions were held around the UK in April and May 2006, open to both professionals and amateurs over the age of 17. The top 200 made it through to the London callbacks where they performed for Ian, Barrowman and Tyler to secure one of 50 places at Lloyd Webber's "Maria School", where over four days they would receive vocal and drama training from the expert panel.
Several additional performers were selected over this fifty contestant limit; one being Briony, who had been rejected initially due to nerves hampering her performance, but who returned for a second chance and was allowed in by Ian. A further four, whom the panel had rejected, were contacted by Lloyd Webber himself as he personally believed them to be potential Marias.
During "Maria School", contestants were eliminated to leave twenty, who were then taken to Lloyd Webber's house, where they performed for fifty people from the entertainment business. Ten finalists were then chosen by the panel and taken through to the live studio finals.
The series started on Saturday 29 July 2006, and the first two programmes followed the audition stages of the competition before revealing the final ten at the end of the second programme.
Live finals The final ten contestants then competed in the live studio finals held on Saturday nights over six weeks. Each week the contestants sang and performed during the live show, receiving comments from the judges following their performance. The public then got a chance to vote for their favourite Maria, and the two contestants with the fewest votes performed a sing-off in front of Lloyd Webber, who then decided which Maria to keep in the contest. This was repeated with the top ten, the top nine and the top eight. With the top seven and top five, two were voted off in the program, and there were two different sing-offs.
Lloyd Webber had no say in the final casting decision, when in the concluding edition of the series it was left to the public to choose who should play Maria out of the final two contenders, Connie Fisher and Helena Blackman. After more than 2 million votes were cast, the winning entrant was revealed as Fisher, who won a six-month contract to play Maria in the West End production, performing six out of the eight weekly shows.
The profits from the telephone votes went to a bursary for young performers. Lloyd Webber also donated his fee to the bursary.
Finalists Ten potential Marias were selected as finalists who would appear on the live shows. Abi Finley and Aoife Mulholland auditioned together having known each other from college, and both made it to the finals. One of the original 10 finalists, Emilie Alford, withdrew from the competition after deciding it was not for her. She was replaced by Siobhan Dillon, who lost a place in the final ten following a sing-off against Alford and Laura Sicurello in front of Lloyd Webber. This earned her the nickname "Second Chance Maria". + Finalists Finalist Age* From Dress colour StatusLaura Sicurello 26 Milton Keynes Yellow Eliminated 1st in Week 1Belinda Evans 28 Somerset Dark blue Eliminated 2nd in Week 2Meliz Serman 23 Chingford Gold Eliminated 3rd in Week 3Simona Armstrong 28 Greenford Purple Eliminated 4th in Week 4Leanne Dobinson 20 Colchester Lilac Eliminated 5th in Week 4Abigail "Abi" Finley 23 Prestwich Light blue Eliminated 6th in Week 5Aoife Mulholland 28 Salthill Green Eliminated 7th in Week 5Siobhan Dillon 21 Staffordshire Red Third place (Eliminated in Week 6)Helena Blackman 23 Southampton Pink Runner-upConnie Fisher 23Haverfordwest Orange Winner *As of start of series
Results summary Colour key –Contestant was in the bottom two and who was saved after the sing off –Contestant was eliminated after the sing off –Contestant who received the most public votes –Contestant who received the most public votes and won the competition
+Weekly results per contestant Contestant Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 FinalPart 1Part 2Part 1Part 2Part 1Part 2 Connie Fisher 1st Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Winner(week 6) Helena Blackman 10th Safe 7th 6th 6th Safe Safe Safe Runner-up(week 6) Siobhan Dillon Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe 3rd Third Place Eliminated(week 6) Aoife Mulholland Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe 4th 4th Eliminated(week 5) Abi Finley Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe 5th Eliminated(week 5) Leanne Dobinson Safe Safe Safe Safe 5th Eliminated(week 4) Simona Armstrong Safe Safe Safe 7th Eliminated(week 4) Meliz Serman Safe 9th 8th Eliminated(week 3) Belinda Evans Safe 8th Eliminated(week 2) Laura Sicurello 9th Eliminated(week 1)
Live shows The live shows saw the finalists eliminated one by one following both individual and group performances. Once eliminated, the leaving contestant ended the programme by leading a performance of "So Long, Farewell" from The Sound of Music with the remaining contestants.
Week 1 Following the first week of competition. The show performances were:
Group performances: "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?" (from The Sound of Music) "I Have Confidence" (from The Sound of Music)
+ Contestants' performances on the first live show Act Performance Pair Order Song Result Leanne Dobinson Pair 1 1 "It's Oh So Quiet" (Björk) Safe Laura Sicurello 2 "Torn" (Natalie Imbruglia) Bottom two Aoife Mulholland Pair 2 3 "Runaway" (The Corrs) Safe Abi Finley 4 "Nobody Does It Better" (Carly Simon) Safe Siobhan Dillon Pair 3 5 "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" (Shania Twain) Safe Connie Fisher 6 "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (Aretha Franklin) Safe (Highest votes) Simona Armstrong Pair 4 7 "Over the Rainbow" (Eva Cassidy) Safe Belinda Evans 8 "Over the Rainbow" (Judy Garland) Safe Helena Blackman Pair 5 9 "Crazy Chick" (Charlotte Church) Bottom 2 (Lowest Votes) Meliz Serman 10 "Son of a Preacher Man" (Dusty Springfield) Safe
Guest performance: "Iris" (Ronan Keating) Panel's verdict on who was Maria John Barrowman: Connie Zoe Tyler: Leanne David Ian: Connie
Sing-Off
+ Act Sing Off Song Results Laura Sicurello "No Matter What" from Whistle Down the Wind Eliminated Helena Blackman Saved by Lloyd Webber
Notes It was revealed during the results show that Connie received the highest number of votes
Week 2 As the mission for this week, the potential Marias performed a scene from the musical with an actor as Captain Von Trapp.
The show performances were:
Group performances: "My Favorite Things" (from The Sound of Music) "Don't Rain on My Parade" (Barbra Streisand from Funny Girl)
+ Contestants' performances on the second live show Act Performance Pair Order Song Result Belinda Evans Pair 1 1 "Fever" (Peggy Lee) Bottom two Abi Finley 2 "The Closest Thing to Crazy" (Katie Melua) Safe Simona Armstrong Pair 2 3 "Material Girl" (Madonna) Safe Meliz Serman 4 "The Voice Within" (Christina Aguilera) Bottom 2 (Lowest Votes) Helena Blackman Solo Performance 5 "Woman in Love" (Barbra Streisand) Safe Connie Fisher Pair 3 6 "Shout" (The Isley Brothers) Safe Leanne Dobinson 7 "See the Day" (Dee C. Lee) Safe Siobhan Dillon Pair 4 8 "Chains" (Tina Arena) Safe Aoife Mulholland 9 "If My Friends Could See Me Now" (from Sweet Charity) Safe
Guest performance: "You Can't Stop a River" (Duncan James)
Sing-Off
+ Act Sing Off Song Results Belinda Evans "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" from Evita Eliminated Meliz Serman Saved by Lloyd Webber
Week 3 During the week, David Ian talked to the girls about fitness and stamina, and Claire Sweeney advised the singers on looking after themselves and their voices. The mission was a fitness test, with Olympic athlete Iwan Thomas, requiring the Marias to complete an assault course. The Marias also attended the première of the film You, Me and Dupree in Leicester Square.
The show performances were:
Group performances: "The Lonely Goatherd" (from The Sound of Music) "Don't Stop Me Now" (Queen)
+ Contestants' performances on the third live show Act Performance Pair Order Song Result Siobhan Dillon Pair 1 1 "Jump (for My Love)" (The Pointer Sisters) Safe Leanne Dobinson 2 "9 to 5" (Dolly Parton) Safe Helena Blackman Pair 2 3 "Flashdance... What a Feeling" (Irene Cara) Bottom 2 Aoife Mulholland 4 "Sway" (Dean Martin) Safe Meliz Serman Pair 3 5 "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Cyndi Lauper) Bottom 2 (Lowest Votes) Abi Finley 6 "Big Spender" (from Sweet Charity) Safe Connie Fisher Pair 4 7 "My Baby Just Cares for Me" (Nina Simone) Safe Simona Armstrong 8 "I Only Want to Be with You" (Dusty Springfield) Safe Guest performance: "Something About You" (Jamelia) Panel's verdict on who was Maria John Barrowman: Aoife Zoe Tyler: Abi David Ian: Abi
Sing-Off
+ Act Sing Off Song Results Helena Blackman "Take That Look Off Your Face" from Tell Me on a Sunday Saved by Lloyd Webber Meliz Serman Eliminated
Week 4 Ahead of Saturday night, Lloyd Webber made a surprise visit to the contestants and worked with each to improve their performance. Lloyd Webber also watched them on how well they interact with kids.
The show performances were:
Group performances: "Do-Re-Mi" (from The Sound of Music)