Over the Rainbow is a British television talent series that aired on BBC One from 26 March to 22 May 2010. It documented the search for a new, undiscovered musical theatre performer to play the role of Dorothy Gale in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 2011 stage production of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and a dog to play Toto for a one-off performance.

Produced by Talkback Thames for the BBC, the series was presented by Graham Norton. It followed previous collaborations between the BBC and Lloyd Webber to find new musical theatre performers: How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, Any Dream Will Do and I'd Do Anything. The series was named after the song "Over the Rainbow" and was also aired by TV3 in Ireland.

Following a public telephone vote, 18-year-old Danielle Hope was crowned the winner of the series and was chosen to play Dorothy. Miniature Schnauzer Dangerous Dave was chosen to play Toto.

A Canadian version of the show aired on CBC Television in the autumn of 2012.

Format Creation Following the end of I'd Do Anything in 2008, Lloyd Webber announced he would not work on another talent show in 2009, so that he could work on the musical Love Never Dies, the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, but that he would, however, return in 2010 to find a performer to play Dorothy Gale for a production of The Wizard of Oz. In July 2009, it was reported that the 2010 series had been dropped and would not take place until at least 2011, so that Lloyd Webber would not be criticised for promoting Love Never Dies, and that the series would be taken to commercial broadcaster ITV. Lloyd Webber later said that it was a scheduling clash solved by moving the series to later in the year.

The BBC announced the commission of the series in September 2009 with the title The Wizard of Oz; it would search for a performer, cast by the public, to play Dorothy and a dog to play Toto. Following the announcement, Lloyd Webber told The Daily Telegraph:

A big sticking point for me, this was. This is what the BBC wanted and I had to point out to them that as a cat man, this was not something that I was very happy about at all. The whole thing fills me with extreme concern. I might insist on having a cat on the programme, because I think the BBC as a public service broadcaster have got to give equal time in my view to cats.

Judges A panel of judges assessed the contestants during the series. They were: Andrew Lloyd Webber – musical theatre composer and producer, co-producer of the new stage production Charlotte Church – singer - confirmed as replacement for Denise Van Outen John Partridge – musical theatre performer and EastEnders actor - replaced John Barrowman Sheila Hancock – television and stage actress - replaced Barry Humphries

The Daily Mail reported that Denise van Outen, a judge during previous series, had been dropped due to her pregnancy, however this was denied by the BBC. John Barrowman, also a judge for previous series, wanted to judge on the series and he says the BBC wanted him to do it. However, he was already planning to star in American series Desperate Housewives when Talkback Thames asked him, and he turned down the offer.

Auditions Applications for the series were solicited in November 2009 and auditions took place in Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester and London from January 2010.

110 auditionees were invited to the callbacks at the Hackney Empire in London, where they performed in front of Hancock, Partridge and casting director David Grindrod. The group was then narrowed down to 50, and later increased to 54 when four eliminated contestants (including Jessica Robinson and Stephanie Fearon) were brought back into the competition. The final 54 were invited to attend 'Dorothy Farm', where they received vocal, choreography and acting classes before performing in front of Church, Partridge and Hancock. The panel then selected 20 girls to move on to the final round of auditions.

The top 20 performed in front of Lloyd Webber and the panel in a live show for a place in the final 10. The panel selected the final 10, with the public selecting one of the 10 contestants not chosen by the panel (Emilie Fleming) as the wildcard and eleventh finalist.

Live finals The final eleven contestants competed in the live studio finals each Saturday from 3 April, with the results being announced in a pre-recorded results show on Sunday. Each week the contestants performed, receiving comments from the judges following their performance. The public would then get the chance to vote for their favourite Dorothy, and the two Dorothys with the fewest votes performed in a sing-off in front of Lloyd Webber during the results show. He would then decide which potential Dorothy to keep in the contest. To end the programme, the surviving Dorothys sang "We Thank You Very Sweetly", a verse from "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead", while the leaving Dorothy handed her shoes to the saved Dorothy, who gave them to Lloyd Webber. The eliminated Dorothy would then lead a performance of "Over the Rainbow" whilst carried on a crescent moon across the stage.

The live shows took place in the Fountain Studios in London. Profits from viewer votes went to the BBC Performing Arts Fund.

Toto The series searched for a dog to play Toto for a one-off performance. The search was led by Jodie Prenger, winner of I'd Do Anything, along with dog trainer Gerry Cott and animal behaviour expert Sarah Fisher. The final 5 dogs were revealed on Sunday, 25 April.

+Final 5 Dog Age* Breed Colour Owner Status Troy 4½ Cross-breed Lime green Jackie Eliminated Spider 5 Beagle Purple Lucy Eliminated Missy 3 Cross-breed Pink Anna Eliminated Eddie 1 Pug/Shih Tzu Silver Lucie Eliminated "Dangerous" Dave 1 Miniature Schnauzer Blue Rachel Winner

*at start of series

Contestants Twenty contestants made it through the first audition rounds and performed in the first live show. Ten of them were selected as finalists by the judging panel, while Emilie Fleming was selected as the wildcard and eleventh contestant following the public vote after the final audition round. Each finalist wore a unique coloured dress and silver slippers with bows on them which matched the dress. 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. The winner of the series, Danielle Hope, claimed a pair of ruby slippers as her prize, as well as the starring role. Sophie Evans, the runner-up of the series, would later become the alternate Dorothy.

Semi-finalists

ContestantAgeFromTegan Edwards17NorfolkTasheka Coe28 WolverhamptonSarah Middleton21DerbyPhilippa O'Hara23BelfastKatie Honan19Republic of IrelandEmma Warren20DublinClaire Hillier25WalesClaire Harbourne18LancashireCamille Mesnard21Merseyside

Finalists

Contestant Age From Dress colour Status Amy Diamond 22 Cheshire Lavender Eliminated 1st in Week 1 Bronte Barbe 18 Macclesfield Bubble gum pink Eliminated 2nd in Week 2 Danielle "Dani" Rayner 16 Cheshire Olive green Eliminated 3rd in Week 3 Emilie Fleming 19 Newcastle Black Eliminated 4th in Week 4 Stephanie Davis 17 Liverpool Acid yellow Eliminated 5th in Week 5 Jenny Douglas 18 Edinburgh Burgundy Eliminated 6th in Week 6 Jessica Robinson 18 Middlesbrough Emerald green Eliminated 7th in Week 6 Steph Fearon 21 London Golden Eliminated 8th in Week 7 Lauren Samuels 22 London Cerise Eliminated 9th in Week 8 Sophie Evans 17 Wales Purple Runner-up Danielle Hope 17 Greater Manchester Red Winner

*at 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 won Over the Rainbow

+Weekly results per contestant Contestant Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8Part 1Part 2Part 1Part 2 Danielle Hope Safe Safe 8th Safe Safe Safe 4th Safe Safe Winner(week 8) Sophie Evans Safe Safe Safe 7th Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Runner-up(week 8) Lauren Samuels Safe 9th Safe Safe Safe 6th Safe 3rd 3rd Eliminated(week 8) Steph Fearon 10th Safe Safe Safe 6th Safe Safe 4th Eliminated(week 7) Jessica Robinson Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe 5th Eliminated(week 6) Jenny Douglas Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe 5th Eliminated(week 6) Stephanie Davis Safe Safe Safe Safe 7th Eliminated(week 5) Emilie Fleming Safe Safe Safe 8th Eliminated(week 4) Dani Rayner Safe Safe 9th Eliminated(week 3) Bronte Barbe Safe 10th Eliminated(week 2) Amy Diamond 11th Eliminated(week 1)

Episodes

Auditions: Top 20 selection The series started on Friday, 26 March, and the first programme followed the open auditions, call-backs and the contestants at 'Dorothy Farm', concluding with the selection of the top 20.

Auditions: Top 10 selection Aired on Saturday, 27 March, the second episode saw the top 20 contestants perform in front of the panel to secure a place in the top 10. In groups of four, they performed a pop song and a musical song, coached by a West End performer. The show performances were:

Group performances: "Yellow Brick Road / We're Off to See the Wizard" (from The Wizard of Oz) Top 20 Performances

Group 1

+ Act Songs Results Camille Mesnard "Never Forget You" (pop song) & "All That Jazz" from Chicago with coaching from Ruthie Henshall (Musical Song) Eliminated Jessica Robinson Advanced Stephanie Davis Advanced Sophie Evans Advanced

Group 2

+ Act Songs Results Takesha Coe "Love Story" (pop song) & "Tell Me It's Not True" from Blood Brothers, with coaching from Melanie Chisholm (Musical Song) Eliminated Dani Rayner Advanced Philippa O'Hara Eliminated Sarah Middleton Eliminated

Group 3

+ Act Songs Results Emma Warren "Cry Me Out" (pop song) & "Somebody to Love" from We Will Rock You, with coaching from Kerry Ellis (Musical Song) Eliminated Steph Fearon Advanced Jenny Douglas Advanced Tegan Edwards Eliminated

Group 4

+ Act Songs Results Katie Honan "Rain on Your Parade" (pop song) & "Legally Blonde" from the musical of the same name, with coaching from Sheridan Smith (Musical Song) Eliminated Bronte Barbe Advanced Lauren Samuels Advanced Claire Harbourne Eliminated

Group 5

+ Act Songs Results Amy Diamond "Take a Bow" (pop song) & "If My Friends Could See Me Now" from Sweet Charity, with coaching from Tamzin Outhwaite (Musical Song) Advanced Danielle Hope Advanced Emilie Fleming Wildcard Claire Hiller Eliminated

After the panel chose Amy, Bronte, Dani, Danielle, Jenny, Jessica, Lauren, Sophie, Steph and Stephanie to be in their top 10, Camille, Claire Ha., Claire Hi., Emilie, Emma, Katie, Philippa, Sarah, Tasheka and Tegan performed "Over the Rainbow" to be chosen as the wildcard and eleventh contestant in the live finals.

The studio guest was Jodie Prenger, who played Nancy in Oliver! after winning I'd Do Anything in 2008, and she performed "As Long as He Needs Me" from Oliver!.

Week 1 (3/4 April) The first of the live finals on Saturday, 3 April saw the 11 finalists perform to stay in the competition. Emilie was announced as the wildcard contestant following the vote at the end of the previous programme. The girls' mission this week was to work on a farm, and they were judged by Countryfile's Adam Henson. He selected Bronte to win the mission; her prize was an extra performance during the results programme and she chose Amy, Emilie and Jessica to join her. Top 20 contestants: "The Merry Old Land of Oz" (from The Wizard of Oz) Group mash-up: "Anything You Can Do / Broken Heels" (Annie Get Your Gun / Alexandra Burke) Bronte (mission winner) with Amy, Emilie, Jessica and the remaining contestants: "Love Machine" (Girls Aloud)