Any Dream Will Do - Rob will need to build a different dream now

Tonight it seemed as if we were watching a totally different show to last week – the performances, on the whole, were confident and polished. The boys had all been set the task of performing outside their personal comfort zones and nearly all of them rose to this challenge admirably.

The show opened with Rob the builder singing Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run.” Unfortunately, this was the low point of the evening, his lack of training really showing now and to me he appeared to shout his way through the entire song. However, he received positive comments from the judges who commented on his enthusiasm. Andrew Lloyd Webber, however, still said that his “raw” talent needed longer in the oven to make it in the West End.

He was followed by Daniel Boys. Challenged by the rock classic, “Maggie May,” Daniel finally dropped the cheesy grin and showed us he can act, anger and bitterness evident in his facial expressions tonight – impressive if just slightly overdone. Andrew Lloyd Webber commented it was the best performance of “Maggie May” he had ever heard – expect Rod Stewart will be overjoyed to hear that!!

The next pair of Josephs to sing were Lewis and Lee. Lewis had had a visit from his mum this week to boost his confidence and a pep talk from the judges who told him he needed to enjoy what he was doing on stage, the worry was showing. Lewis performed, “I’m A Believer,” and the judges rewarded him with good comments, Bill Kenwright saying he’d come out fighting and smiling, was comical, musical and believable. However, I have yet to hear Bill give any sort of negative comment! Andrew commented that Lewis had made a real turnaround from last week. Personally, I feel Lewis has the looks but not the voice to go much further in this competition.

Lee bounced back from his “pretty rubbish” comment from Zoe last week. His performance of Will Young’s “Leave Right Now” showed once again why he is the favourite with the bookies. Bill told him he could interpret a song as well as anyone and Zoe called him phenomenal. In his VT, Lee revealed how upset he'd been this week, that the comments last Saturday had been the lowest point of his career. Hopefully tonight's comments will boost his confidence right back up to where it belongs.

Underdog Craig performed next. Singing a musical theatre song, “This is the Moment,” he proved that he can move out of the cabaret zone and show real emotion. He moved himself to tears during his performance and the judges were very impressed – Andrew even going so far as to call him brilliant!!! He is proof of the fact that this show nurtures talent, he has improved so much since Week 1 and whilst he may not be the strongest contender, he will almost certainly go far once the show is over.

The final pair were Ben and Keith. Ben’s confidence is growing week by week, so much so he was warned tonight not to be over-confident. He bravely (rashly???) declared that Andrew Lloyd Webber “didn’t’ know what he was talking about” !!!!! Tonight he sang Tom Jones’ “Help Yourself,” an upbeat poppy number which suited him perfectly – Andrew told him it was his best performance to date.

Keith moved Denise (and lots of other people I suspect) to tears tonight singing “Always on my Mind.” He had been told he had to show his grown-up side tonight and this song was beautifully performed, showing again how strong a contender this boy is. His image still seems to be a bit of a problem, whether he looks adult enough to play the older Joseph remains a problem. However, even if he fails to become Joseph, I would think his future is pretty assured in the industry.

Once the voting lines closed, it was revealed that Lewis and Rob were the least popular with the viewers and following the sing-off (the beautiful “Tell Me It’s Not True” from Blood Brothers) Andrew chose to save Lewis. Andrew bizarrely commented to Rob that it was “around this time in the Maria show that I had to send Aiofe Mulholland home who is now doing two shows a week when Connie is off”. Andrew may be slightly confused here, because Aiofe actually finished 4th in the Maria show, not 7th – personally I could not begin to compare Aiofe and Rob, but it’s Andrew’s show!!!

Next week six become five and the competition is really hotting up – you can discuss the show in Any Dream Will Do forum