Op zoek naar Maria (Looking for Maria) is a talent competition program that aired in Belgium on VTM. It premiered on 25 March 2009. The premise of the series was to find a musical theatre performer to play the role of Maria von Trapp in the 2009 and Roel Vente revival of The Sound of Music at the Efteling Theatre. The show is hosted by Koen Wauters and featured , Linda Lepomme, and Peter de Smet as the judges for the show.
Following a public telephone vote, 27-year-old was chosen as Maria with 25-year-old Fleur Brusselmans as the runner up and Liv Van Aelst in third place.
A commercial advertising the show, featuring over 200 dancers in it, seemingly spontaneously, to "Do-Re-Mi" in Antwerpen-Centraal railway station, has received over 20,000,000 hits on YouTube.
A similar format of Op zoek naar Maria has been used as well in The Netherlands in 2021 taking an unknown singer and placing the winner in the lead role of Maria for the 2021 performances in The Netherlands. The show is hosted by Frits Sissing and featured Pia Douwes, Jamai Loman, Carline Brouwer and Richard Groenendijk as the judges for the show. It was the fifth Dutch talent show to be produced by AVRO, 10 years after Op zoek naar Evita, Op zoek naar Joseph, Op zoek naar Mary Poppins, Op zoek naar Zorro and Op zoek naar Annie. In the final, on 4 April, Nandi Van Beurden was announced as the winner of the series. This was followed by Op zoek naar Danny & Sandy in late 2022, which was won by Tristan van der Lingen and Danique Graanoogst.
A similar format has been used as well in the United Kingdom in 2006, with the show How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria? taking an unknown singer and placing the winner in the lead role for the 2006 performances in the West End. On 16 September 2006, Connie Fisher was announced the winner of this show.
Belgium Finalists Eleven contestants made it through the audition rounds and performed during the live shows.
Finalist Age* From Dress Colour StatusDorien Ackx 25 Geel Pink Eliminated 1st in week 1Helen Geets 33 Merksem Green Eliminated 2nd in week 2Ellen Vandervieren 28 Beveren Yellow Eliminated 3rd in week 3Sandra Paelinck 23 Mortsel Dark Blue Eliminated 4th in week 4Marian Van Klaveren 31 Lede Purple Quit in week 5Elisabeth Herman 26 Wetteren Red Eliminated 5th in week 6Elke Buyle 23 Duffel Light yellow Eliminated 6th in week 7Katrien Smets 22 Tienen Light Blue Eliminated 7th in week 8Liv Van Aelst 34 Brasschaat Orange Third placeFleur Brusselmans 25 Ghent Lavender Second placeDeborah De Ridder 27 Antwerp Pale Blue Winner
* at the start of the contest
Results summary Place Contestant Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Final 1 Deborah Safe Bottom 2 Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Winner 2 Fleur Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Bottom 2 Runner-up 3 Liv Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Bottom 2 Bottom 2 Safe Third Place 4 Katrien Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Eliminated Eliminated 5 Elke Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Eliminated Eliminated 6 Elisabeth Bottom 2 Safe Safe Bottom 2 Safe Eliminated Eliminated 7 Marian Safe Safe Safe Safe Quit Quit 8 Sandra Safe Safe Bottom 2 Eliminated Eliminated 9 Ellen Safe Safe Eliminated Eliminated 10 Helen Safe Eliminated Eliminated 11 Dorien Eliminated Eliminated
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 program by leading a performance of "Adieu, vaarwel (So Long, Farewell)" from The Sound of Music with the remaining contestants.
Week 1 (April 8, 2009) Following the first week of the competition, Dorien was the first Maria to be eliminated from the competition. The show performances were:
Group performances: "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?" (from the musical The Sound of Music) "Don't Stop Me Now" (Queen)
+ Contestants' performances on the first live show Contestant Performance Pair Order Song Result Dorien Ackx Pair 1 1 "Sweet About Me" Bottom 2 Elisabeth Herman 2 "All by Myself" Bottom 2 Marian van Klaveren Pair 2 3 "Over the Rainbow" Safe Fleur Brusselmans 4 "I Kissed a Girl" Safe Deborah De Ridder Solo Performance 5 "I Want You Back" Safe Liv van Aelst Pair 3 6 "So What" Safe Elke Buyle 7 "Chasing Pavements" Safe Katrien Smets Pair 4 8 "Samson" Safe Ellen Vandervieren 9 "I Say a Little Prayer" Safe Sandra Paelinck Pair 5 10 "Mad About You" Safe Helen Geets 11 "Flashdance... What a Feeling" Safe Sing-Off
+ Act Sing Off Song Results Dorien Ackx "One of Us" from Mamma Mia Eliminated Elisabeth Herman Saved by Verlinde
Week 2 (April 15, 2009) The show performances were:
Group performances: "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?" (from the musical The Sound of Music) "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" (Eurythmics & Aretha Franklin)
+ Contestants' performances on the second live show Contestant Performance Pair Order Song Result Deborah De Ridder Pair 1 1 "It's Oh So Quiet" Bottom 2 Liv van Aelst 2 "Licence to Kill" Safe Marian van Klaveren Pair 2 3 "9 to 5" Safe Ellen Vandervieren 4 "Stepping Stone" Safe Sandra Paelinck Pair 3 5 "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" Safe Helen Geets 6 "One Moment in Time" Bottom 2 Elisabeth Herman Solo Performance 1 7 "Fever" Safe Fleur Brusselmans Solo Performance 2 8 "Hopelessly Devoted to You" Safe Katrien Smets Pair 4 9 "Love Song" Safe Elke Buyle 10 "I Don't Want to Dance" Safe
Sing-Off
+ Act Sing Off Song Results Deborah De Ridder "I Know Him So Well" from Chess Saved by Verlinde Helen Geets Eliminated
Week 3 (April 22, 2009) The show performances were:
Group performances: "My Favorite Things" (from the musical The Sound of Music) "Get the Party Started" (Pink)
+ Contestants' performances on the third live show Contestant Performance Pair Order Song Result Katrien Smets Pair 1 1 "Sparkling Diamonds" Safe Sandra Paelinck 2 "One Day I'll Fly Away" Bottom 2 Elke Buyle Pair 2 3 "Dag vreemde man" Safe Ellen Vandervieren 4 "Cabaret" Bottom 2 Marian van Klaveren Solo Performance 1 5 "Sway" Safe Liv van Aelst Pair 3 6 "Because of You" Safe Fleur Brusselmans 7 "The Boy Does Nothing" Safe Deborah De Ridder Solo Performance 2 8 "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" Safe Elisabeth Herman Solo Performance 3 9 "Papa" Safe Sing-Off
+ Act Sing Off Song Results Sandra Paelinck "Take That Look Off Your Face" from Tell Me on a Sunday Saved by Verlinde Ellen Vandervieren Eliminated
Week 4 (April 29, 2009) The show performances were:
Group performances: "The Sound of Music" (from the musical The Sound of Music) "Dreamgirls" (from the musical Dreamgirls)
+ Contestants' performances on the fourth live show Contestant Performance Pair Order Song Result Fleur Brusselmans Pair 1 1 "Big Spender" Safe Liv van Aelst 2 "Hij kan niet zonder mij (As Long as He Needs Me)" Safe Elisabeth Herman Pair 2 3 "If I Were a Boy" Bottom 2 Deborah De Ridder 4 "Mannen (Men)" Safe Sandra Paelinck Solo Performance 1 5 "Al de jazz (All That Jazz)" Bottom 2 Marian van Klaveren Pair 3 6 "Afscheid nemen bestaat niet" Safe Elke Buyle 7 "Mamma Mia" Safe Katrien Smets Solo Performance 2 8 "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" Safe Sing-Off
+ Act Sing Off Song Results Elisabeth Herman "For Once in My Life" by Stevie Wonder Saved by Verlinde Sandra Paelinck Eliminated
Week 5 (May 6, 2009) The show performances were:
Group performances: "The Lonely Goatherd" (from the musical The Sound of Music) "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell)
+ Contestants' performances on the fifth live show Contestant Performance Pair Order Song Result Elke Buyle Pair 1 1 "Non, je ne regrette rien" Safe Liv van Aelst 2 "I Feel Pretty Safe Elisabeth Herman Solo Performance 1 3 "Shout" Safe Katrien Smets Pair 2 4 "Na Die Ontmoeting (Now That I've Seen Her)" Safe Fleur Brusselmans 5 "Brussel" Safe Marian van Klaveren Solo Performance 2 6 "Makin' Whoopee" Withdrew Deborah De Ridder Solo Performance 3 7 "When You Believe" Safe Sing-off: Due to Marian van Klaveren's withdrawal, there was no sing-off that week.
Week 6 (May 13, 2009) The show performances were:
Group performances: "I Have Confidence" (from the musical The Sound of Music) "Do-Re-Mi" (from the musical The Sound of Music) featuring the children, who will play as the Von Trapp children in the upcoming Flemish revival of The Sound of Music "Cell Block Tango" (from the musical Chicago)
+ Contestants' performances on the sixth live show Contestant Order Song Result Deborah De Ridder "Ik leef voor jou" Safe Elisabeth Herman "Het is over" Eliminated Elke Buyle "Huil niet om mij, Argentina (Don't Cry for Me Argentina)" Safe Fleur Brusselmans "I Could Have Danced All Night" Safe Katrien Smets "Hij speelt een spel (May Be I Like It This Way)" Safe Liv van Aelst "Roxanne" Bottom two Sing-off: Elisabeth Herman and Liv van Aelst were in the sing-off, and performed "De roos" by Ann Christy. Albert Verlinde chose to save Liv and bid farewell to Elisabeth.
Week 7 (May 20, 2009) In the quarter-final, the seventh Maria to be eliminated was Elke. The show performances were:
Group performances: "Dingen waar ik zoveel van hou" (from the musical The Sound of Music) "Don't Rain on My Parade" (from the musical Funny Girl)
+ Contestants' performances on the seventh live show Contestant Order First song Order Second song Result Deborah De Ridder "Buenos Aires" "Heel alleen (On My Own)" Safe Elke Buyle "Meisje en het beest (Beauty and the Beast)" "Good Morning Baltimore" Eliminated Fleur Brusselmans "Jij woont in mijn hart (You'll Be in My Heart)" "Popular" Safe Katrien Smets "Ik ben een brassband (I'm a Brass Band)" "Maybe This Time" Safe Liv van Aelst "Get Happy" "Al je koffers op de gang maar weer (Another Suitcase in Another Hall)" Eliminated Sing-off: Elke Buyle and Liv van Aelst were in the sing-off, and performed "The Winner Takes It All" from the musical Mamma Mia. Albert Verlinde chose to save Liv and bid farewell to Elke.
Week 8 (May 27, 2009) In the semi-final, the eighth and final Maria to be eliminated was Katrien. The show performances were:
Group performances: "De boer en de boerin" (from the musical The Sound of Music) "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" (from the musical Hair)
+ Contestants' performances on the eighth live show Contestant Order First song Order Second song Result Deborah De Ridder "Minutewals" "Memory" Safe Fleur Brusselmans "Het glipt door m'n vingers (Slipping Through My Fingers)" "If You Hadn't, But You Did" Bottom 2 Katrien Smets "Love You I Do" "Zalig zijn (Wouldn't It Be Loverly)" Eliminated Liv van Aelst "Anyone Who Had a Heart" "Een nieuw leven (A New Life)" Safe Sing-off: Fleur Brusselmans and Katrien Smets were in the sing-off, and performed "Let It Be " by The Beatles. Albert Verlinde chose to save Fleur and bid farewell to Katrien.
Week 9 (June 3, 2009) The show performances were:
Group performances: Finalists and former Marias: "Kunnen we iets beginnen met Maria (How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?)" (from the musical The Sound of Music) Deborah and Fleur: "Ik kan heel de wereld aan (I Have Confidence)" (from the musical The Sound of Music)
+ Contestants' performances on the ninth live show Act Order Song of the Series Order The Sound of Music song Order Song Result Deborah De Ridder "Voor wie gelooft (When You Believe)" "De boer en de boerin (The Lonely Goatherd)" "Astonishing" Winner Fleur Brusselmans "The Boy Does Nothing" "Do-Re-Mi" (Dutch version) "Ik ben de perfectie" (Practically Perfect)" Runner-up Liv van Aelst "Hij kan niet zonter mij (As Long as He Needs Me)" "Iets waar ik zielsveel van hou (My Favorite Things)" N/A N/A (already eliminated) 3rd Place (Eliminated) After being announced as the season winner, Deborah concluded the season with a performance of "De muziek van de hoogste bergen (The Sound of Music)".
Netherlands Expert panel An expert panel provided advice to the contestants throughout the series, and provided comments during the live shows. The panel was made up of: