Op zoek naar Joseph (Looking for Joseph) is a 2008 talent show-themed television series produced by the AVRO in the Netherlands. It searched for a new, unknown lead to play Joseph in a 2009 Dutch revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
The show was hosted by Frits Sissing, who announced Freek Bartels as the winner of the final public telephone vote on 26 October 2008.
It was the second Dutch talent show to be produced by the AVRO/Willem Nijholt, after Op zoek naar Evita. A third talent show, this time called Op zoek naar Mary Poppins aired in 2009, Op zoek naar Zorro aired in late 2010, Op zoek naar Annie aired in 2012, Op zoek naar Maria aired in 2021 and Op zoek naar Danny & Sandy aired in late 2022.
A similar format has been used as well in the United Kingdom in 2007, with the show Any Dream Will Do taking an unknown singer and placing the winner in the lead role for the 2007 performances in the West End. On 9 June 2007, Lee Mead was announced the winner of this show.
Format
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: Pia Douwes, (musical theatre actress who is very successful in Europe) Erwin van Lambaarts (managing director of Joop van den Ende theatre) Paul de Leeuw (television comedian, actor and singer) Willem Nijholt (head judge and actor and singer.)
Live finals The final eleven contestants competed in the live studio finals held on Sunday nights over eight 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 Joseph, and the two contestants with the fewest votes performed a sing-off in front of Nijholt, who then decided which Joseph to keep in the contest. This was repeated with the top ten, the top nine, the top eight, the top seven, the top six, the top five and the top four.
Nijholt 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 Joseph out of the final two contenders, Freek Bartels and John Vooijs. After more votes were cast, the winning entrant was revealed as Bartels, who won a contract to play Joseph at the Stadsschouwburg in Amsterdam.
Finalists Eleven potential Josephs made it through the auditions process to perform during the live shows. Finalist Age* Date of birth Coat colour StatusRobbert van den Bergh 25March 10, 1983Pastel blue Eliminated 1st in week 1Adriaan Korrnenberg 25October 1, 1982Pink Eliminated 2nd in week 2Hein Gerrits 27May 9, 1981Lime green Eliminated 3rd in week 3Remko Harms 26November 5, 1981Dark green Eliminated 4th in week 3Baer Jonkers 24May 29, 1984Dark blue Eliminated 5th in week 4Amir Vahidi 18August 1, 1990Red Eliminated 6th in week 5Mathijs Pater 24January 17, 1984Light blue Eliminated 7th in week 6Robin van den Akker 29July 21, 1979Turquoise Eliminated 8th in week 7Roy van Iersel 21September 11, 1986Yellow Third placeJohn Vooijs 29March 26, 1979Purple Second placeFreek Bartels 21October 24, 1986Orange Winner * at the start of the contest
Results summary + Results summary PlaceContestantWeek 1Week 2Week 3Week 4Week 5Week 6Week 7Final Part 1 Part 2 1FreekSafeSafeSafeSafeSafeSafeSafeSafe Winner 2JohnSafeSafeSafeSafeSafe Bottom 2SafeSafe Second place 3Roy Bottom 2SafeSafeSafeSafeSafeSafe Bottom 2 Third place 4RobinSafeSafeSafe Bottom 2 Bottom 2 Safe Bottom 2 Eliminated Eliminated 5Mathijs Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Eliminated Eliminated 6Amir Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Eliminated Eliminated 7Baer Safe Safe Bottom 2 Safe Eliminated Eliminated 8Remko Safe Safe Safe Eliminated Eliminated 9Hein Safe Bottom 2 Eliminated Eliminated 10AdriaanSafe Eliminated Eliminated 11Robbert Eliminated Eliminated
Live shows The live shows saw the finalists eliminated one by one following both individual and group performances. Once eliminated, eliminated Joseph then performed "Arme Jozef (Poor, Poor Joseph)\Sluit alle deuren (Close Every Door)" together with the remaining Josephs as his grand exit song, symbolically handing back his dreamcoat.
Week 1 (September 7, 2008) Following the first week of competition, Robbert was the first Joseph to be eliminated from the competition. The show performances were:
Group performances: "Go, Go, Go Joseph" (from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) "Help!" (The Beatles)
+ Contestants' performances on the first live show Contestant Performance Pair Order Song Result Roy van Iersel Pair 1 1 "Nu (Now)" Bottom 2 Freek Bartels 2 "I Want to Break Free" Safe Remko Harms Pair 2 3 "Waarom God (Why God Why)" Safe Adriaan Kroonenberg 4 "Vlieg met me mee" Safe Hein Gerrits Pair 3 5 "Toen ik je zag" Safe Robbert van den Bergh 6 "Walking on Sunshine" Bottom 2 Mathijs Pater Solo Performance 7 "Go the Distance" Safe Robin van den Akker Pair 4 8 "Faith" Safe Baer Jonkers 9 "Maria" Safe Amir Vahidi Pair 5 10 "Your Song" Safe John Vooijs 11 "Livin' on a Prayer" Safe Jury's favourite Joseph: Erwin van Lambaart: Mathijs Pia Douwes: Mathijs Paul de Leeuw: Amir Sing-Off
+ Act Sing Off Song Results Roy van Iersel "You'll Never Walk Alone" from Carousel Saved by Nijholt Robbert van der Bergh Eliminated
Week 2 (September 14, 2008) Adriaan was the second contestant to be eliminated from the series. The show performances were:
Group performances: "Livin La Vida Loca" (Ricky Martin) "Luck Be a Lady" (from Guys and Dolls)
+ Contestants' performances on the second live show Contestant Performance Pair Order Song Result Amir Vahidi Pair 1 1 "Ik leef niet meer voor jou" Safe Adriaan Kroonenberg 2 "On the Street Where You Live" Bottom 2 John Vooijs Pair 2 3 "Lang is de nacht (Endless Night)" Safe Baer Jonkers 4 "Mack the Knife" Safe Freek Bartels Pair 3 5 "Het gaat beginnen (Something's Coming)" Safe Remko Harms 6 "It's Not Unusual" Safe Robin van den Akker Pair 4 7 "Papa" Safe Hein Gerrits 8 "Working My Way Back to You" Bottom 2 Mathijs Pater Pair 5 9 "Fever" Safe Roy van Iersel 10 "Alsof je bij me bent" Safe Jury's favourite Joseph: Erwin van Lambaart: Freek Pia Douwes: Roy Paul de Leeuw: Robin Sing-Off
+ Act Sing Off Song Results Hein Gerrits "Ergens in de sterren (Written in the Stars)" from Aida Saved by Nijholt Adriaan Kroonenberg Eliminated
Week 3 (September 21, 2008) In a double elimination, two Josephs were voted off the series. The show performances were:
Group performances: "Ladies' Choice" (Zac Efron) "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (Bonnie Tyler)
+ Contestants' performances on the third live show Contestant Performance Pair Order Song Results Part 1 Results Part 2 Baer Jonkers Pair 11"Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" Bottom 2 Safe Mathijs Pater 2 "Sandy" Safe Safe Roy van Iersel Pair 2 3 "Paint It, Black" Safe Safe Remko Harms4"Van Haar Te Houden (If I Can't Love Her)" SafeBottom 2 Hein Gerrits Solo Performance5"Radeloos (First and Last\Tragedy)" Bottom 2 N/A (already eliminated) Amir Vahidi Pair 3 6 "All I Care About is Love" Safe Safe John Vooijs 7 "De vleugels van mijn vlucht (Wind Beneath My Wings)" Safe Safe Freek Bartels Pair 4 8 "Man in the Mirror" Safe Safe Robin van den Akker9"Zij leven voort (They Live In You)" Safe Bottom 2 Jury's favourite Joseph: Erwin van Lambaart: John Pia Douwes: Robin Paul de Leeuw: Freek Sing-off 1:
+ Act Sing Off Song Results Baer Jonkers "The Impossible Dream" from Man of La Mancha Saved by Nijholt Hein Gerrits Eliminated
Sing-off 2:
+ Act Sing Off Song Results Remko Harms "Laat Me" by Ramses Shaffy Eliminated Robin van den Akker Saved by Nijholt
Week 4 (September 28, 2008) Baer became the fourth contestant to hear he was not Joseph. The show performances were:
Group performances: "Greased Lightning" (from Grease) "Beat It" (Michael Jackson)
+ Contestants' performances on the fourth live show Contestant Performance Pair Order Song Result Robin van den Akker Pair 1 1 "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?" Bottom 2 Baer Jonkers 2 "Alles is liefde" Bottom 2 Freek Bartels Pair 2 3 "Yesterday" Safe John Vooijs 4 "Oorlog in mij" Safe Roy van Iersel Solo Performance 5 "Everything" Safe Mathijs Pater Pair 3 6 "Proud of Your Boy" Safe Amir Vahidi 7 "Ik vroeg te veel" Safe Jury's favourite Joseph: Erwin van Lambaart: Mathijs Pia Douwes: Roy Paul de Leeuw: Roy Sing-Off
+ Act Sing Off Song Results Baer Jonkers "Hoog vloog je, te hoog (High Flying Adored)" from Evita Eliminated Robin van den Akker Saved by Nijholt
Week 5 (October 5, 2008) With only six finalists remaining, the Josephs were announced in sets of three and performed in a trio as well as their individual performances. Amir became the fifth contestant to hear he would not be Joseph. The show performances were:
Group performances: "Een Voor Allen, Allen Voor Een (All For One, One For All)" (from 3 Musketiers) Freek, John and Mathijs: "Zomer een dag" (Willeke Alberti) Roy, Robin and Amir: "Zing, Vecht, Huil, Bid, Lach, Werk En Bewonder" (Ramses Shaffy) "Moeder, ik wil bij de revue" (Wim Sonneveld)
+ Contestants' performances on the fifth live show Contestant Performance Pair Order Song Result John Vooijs Pair 1 1 "Kon ik nog maar even bij je zijn" Bottom 2 Freek Bartels 2 "Kom Kees" Safe Mathijs Pater Pair 2 3 "Laat me niet alleen (Ne me quitte pas)" Safe Amir Vahidi 4 "Terug naar toen (Journey to the Past)" Bottom 2 Robin van den Akker Pair 3 5 "Verloren verleden (Everything That I Am)" Safe Roy van Iersel 6 "Waar is de zon?" Safe Jury's favourite Joseph: Erwin van Lambaart: Mathijs Pia Douwes: John Paul de Leeuw: John Sing-Off
+ Act Sing Off Song Results John Vooijs "Zij gelooft in mij (She Believes in Me)" by André Hazes Saved by Nijholt Amir Vahidi Eliminated
Week 6 (October 12, 2008) In the quarter-final, the sixth Joseph to be eliminated was Mathijs. The show performances were:
Group performances: "I'm Still Standing" (Elton John) "Don't Stop Me Now" (from We Will Rock You)
+ Contestants' performances on the sixth live show Contestant Order First song Order Second song Result Robin van den Akker 1 "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" 6 "Sinds een dag of twee" Bottom 2 John Vooijs 2 "One Song Glory" 8 "Hocus Pocus" Safe Freek Bartels 3 "Ga nou maar gewoon (Ease On down the Road)" 7 "This is the Moment" Safe Mathijs Pater 4 "Chim Chim Cher-ee" 10 "Copacabana" Bottom 2 Roy van Iersel 5 "Jailhouse Rock" 9 "Lege Stoelen, Lege Tafels (Empty Chairs at Empty Tables)" Safe Jury's favourite Joseph: Erwin van Lambaart: Freek Pia Douwes: Freek Paul de Leeuw: John Sing-Off
+ Act Sing Off Song Results Robin van den Akker "Pak maar m'n hand" by Nick & Simon Saved by Nijholt Mathijs Pater Eliminated
Week 7 (October 19, 2008) In the semi-final, the seventh and final Joseph to be eliminated was Robin. The show performances were:
Group performances: "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" (from The Lion King) "Elephant Love Medley" (from Moulin Rouge) featuring Brigitte Heitzer
+ Contestants' performances on the seventh live show Contestant Order First song Order Second song Result Freek Bartels 1 "Vanmorgen vloog ze nog" 5 "You Raise Me Up" Safe Roy van Iersel 2 "New York, New York" 6 "Onbeschirjfelijk Mooi (Indiscribablely Beautiful)" Bottom 2 Robin van den Akker 3 "Lef" 7 "Mr. Bojangles" Bottom 2 John Vooijs 4 "Anyone Who Had a Heart" 8 "Nooit een acht" Safe Jury's favourite Joseph: Erwin van Lambaart: Freek Pia Douwes: John Paul de Leeuw: John Sing-Off
+ Act Sing Off Song Results Roy van Iersel "Telkens weer" by Willeke Alberti Saved by Nijholt Robin van den Akker Eliminated
Week 8 (October 26, 2008) The grand finale saw Freek win the competition, with John coming second and Roy third. The show performances were:
Group performance: Finalists and former Josephs: "Kop, Op, Nou Jozef (Go, Go, Go Joseph)\Geef Mij Mijn Dromenjas (Give Me My Coloured Coat)" (from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat)