Yahoo News TV highlights – Sat 7-Fri 13 July
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TV Highlights
Superstar (Sat, 7.25pm and Sun, 8pm, ITV1)
Andrew Lloyd Webber is searching for Jesus: for his revival of hit musical ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’. It’s pretty much a re-tread of the format that has so far found him a Jason, a Maria and an Oliver. Honestly, guy that rich? You’d think he could afford to hire a casting director instead of getting ITV to do the sorting and sifting for him, no? But this is fun, for several reasons. Firstly, great tunes. Secondly, the judges: Jason Donovan, Melanie C, West End casting luv David Grindrod (yes, really), Dawn French and of course, the Lord himself are an intriguing blend of personalities. Amanda Holden, now firmly established as the queen of these talent hunt affairs, is a compassionate and engaging host. Up for grabs is the chance to star in an arena production alongside Melanie C, Tim Minchin as Judas and Chris Moyles as Herod. On Saturday, it’s the initial auditions (always good loon territory) and the 100 who got call-backs are whittled down to 40 at the Brixton Academy. On Sunday, an intensive boot camp style ‘Superstar Island’ sees further hopefuls eliminated (no resurrection for these, sadly) before live shows begin next week.
[Related gallery: Interview with the stars of Sinbad ]
Andrew Lloyd Webber is searching for Jesus: for his revival of hit musical ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’. It’s pretty much a re-tread of the format that has so far found him a Jason, a Maria and an Oliver. Honestly, guy that rich? You’d think he could afford to hire a casting director instead of getting ITV to do the sorting and sifting for him, no? But this is fun, for several reasons. Firstly, great tunes. Secondly, the judges: Jason Donovan, Melanie C, West End casting luv David Grindrod (yes, really), Dawn French and of course, the Lord himself are an intriguing blend of personalities. Amanda Holden, now firmly established as the queen of these talent hunt affairs, is a compassionate and engaging host. Up for grabs is the chance to star in an arena production alongside Melanie C, Tim Minchin as Judas and Chris Moyles as Herod. On Saturday, it’s the initial auditions (always good loon territory) and the 100 who got call-backs are whittled down to 40 at the Brixton Academy. On Sunday, an intensive boot camp style ‘Superstar Island’ sees further hopefuls eliminated (no resurrection for these, sadly) before live shows begin next week.
[Related gallery: Interview with the stars of Sinbad ]
Our TV expert Alan Tyers gives us his pick of this week’s TV highlights…
