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."CBC fall season reflects reduced budget". CBC News, May 10, 2012. The series was hosted by Daryn Jones. Arlene Phillips, Thom Allison, and Louise Pitre served as judges alongside Webber.Over the Rainbow Judges
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."Over the Rainbow viewers pick Danielle to play Dorothy", CBCnews, 6 November 2012Ahearn, Victoria. "Over the Rainbow winner realizing she's not in La Salle, Ont., anymore", The Province, Canada.com, 7 November 2012 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".Ahearn, Victoria. "Danielle Wade lands Dorothy role after winning popular vote on Over the Rainbow", National Post, 6 November 2012
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"."Toto Auditions. 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.Simcoe, Luke. "Ontario pooch Linzy wins Over the Rainbow Toto contest", Metro, Free Daily News Group Inc., 6 October 2012
Finalists 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 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 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 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 The show performances were:
Group performances: "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead" (from the musical The Wizard of Oz) "Defying Gravity" (from the musical Wicked)
+ 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 The show performances were:
Group performances: "The Merry Old Land of Oz" (from the musical The Wizard of Oz) "Anything You Can Do" (from the musical Annie Get Your Gun)
+ 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 The show performances were:
Group performances: "If I Only Had a Part" (from the musical The Wizard of Oz) "I Enjoy Being a Girl" (from the musical Flower Drum Song)
+ 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 The show performances were:
Group performances: "Don't Rain on My Parade" (from the musical Funny Girl) "Mamma Mia! Medley" with Louise Pitre
+ 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 The show performances were:
Group performances: "Together (Wherever We Go)" (from the musical Gypsy) "You Can't Stop the Beat" (from the musical Hairspray) "The Trolley Song" (from the musical Meet Me in St. Louis) with Thom Allison
+ 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 The show performances were:
Group performances: "Don't Stop Believin'" (from the musical Rock of Ages) "Seasons of Love" (from the musical Rent) "Something's Coming" (from the musical West Side Story)
+ 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 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
External links Official Program Website at cbc.ca