Post by Test Card Girl on Oct 23, 2006 9:29:26 GMT 10
I know no-one would have seen this series because it was on the same time as Idol but think Idol for opera singers. About a year ago, 2000 people sent in audition videos to the ABC and they were judged by a panel who picked 110 people from the videos. They then travelled around the country to hear these 110 people live and picked 20. These 20 people spent an intensive weekend singing, acting etc and 6 finalists were chosen. After more vocal coaching, performing and acting coaching we have a winner and 2 runner ups.
The drama in the series was the various backgrounds of the singers and their hopes and dreams. eg one was a plumber who sang in his backshed. There was a girl from the country - her father is a farmer who wanted a son and ended up with 4 daughters and he taught them to shoot adn other "masculine" pursuits. There was another girl who works at the bar at her father's pub.
Just the process of it all and seeing the changes in their voices with the coaching was interesting in itself. There was also a moment when one of the judges got very emotional on camera when she realised that her favourite singer - the one that she was hoping to go through to the opera house - just wasn't going to cut the mustard.
Also the judges were amazing. Yvonne Kenny is an Australian opera star and has a fantastic voice and what a privilege it must have been for these guys to have worked with her.
Anyway, the winner was this amazing bass who works in IT and hadn't had much vocal coaching or experience before but what a natural! And what a rare voice. This ws an amazing journey for the 6 finalists and they all had talent.
I really liked the red-haired girl and don't know why she wasn't chosen as a runner-up. She had a better stage presence and a lovelier voice IMO. The girl from the country has a lovely lovely voice but it isn't suited for opera - I hope the judges gave her the advice to look at Baroque or early music.
Looking forward to watching Rigoletto next Sunday with the winner and the 2 runner-ups.
My mother-in-law heard an interview with someone who was involved in the UK Operatunity and they were saying that the BBC received less auditions than the ABC which is interesting considering the difference in populations. Also the UK finalists became good friends and were so supportive of each other (this came out in the TV series) but the Aus finalists were definite rivals. Unfortunately the opera world can be quite bitchy.
Nesh, if you think Kram would be interested in this post could you pass it on to him? thanks
The drama in the series was the various backgrounds of the singers and their hopes and dreams. eg one was a plumber who sang in his backshed. There was a girl from the country - her father is a farmer who wanted a son and ended up with 4 daughters and he taught them to shoot adn other "masculine" pursuits. There was another girl who works at the bar at her father's pub.
Just the process of it all and seeing the changes in their voices with the coaching was interesting in itself. There was also a moment when one of the judges got very emotional on camera when she realised that her favourite singer - the one that she was hoping to go through to the opera house - just wasn't going to cut the mustard.
Also the judges were amazing. Yvonne Kenny is an Australian opera star and has a fantastic voice and what a privilege it must have been for these guys to have worked with her.
Anyway, the winner was this amazing bass who works in IT and hadn't had much vocal coaching or experience before but what a natural! And what a rare voice. This ws an amazing journey for the 6 finalists and they all had talent.
I really liked the red-haired girl and don't know why she wasn't chosen as a runner-up. She had a better stage presence and a lovelier voice IMO. The girl from the country has a lovely lovely voice but it isn't suited for opera - I hope the judges gave her the advice to look at Baroque or early music.
Looking forward to watching Rigoletto next Sunday with the winner and the 2 runner-ups.
My mother-in-law heard an interview with someone who was involved in the UK Operatunity and they were saying that the BBC received less auditions than the ABC which is interesting considering the difference in populations. Also the UK finalists became good friends and were so supportive of each other (this came out in the TV series) but the Aus finalists were definite rivals. Unfortunately the opera world can be quite bitchy.
Nesh, if you think Kram would be interested in this post could you pass it on to him? thanks
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