How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? (Canada)

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? (CBC)
Created by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Starring Gavin Crawford
(Host)
Simon Lee
(Judge)
Elaine Overholt
(Judge)
John Barrowman
(Judge)
Country of origin Canada
No. of series 1
No. of episodes 6
Production
Producer(s) Temple Street Productions
Release
Original network CBC Television
Original release June 15 – July 28, 2008

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? was a talent competition program that aired in Canada on CBC Television. It premiered on June 15, 2008 at 8pm EDT, and concluded on July 28, 2008. The show is based on the series of the same name which aired on BBC One in the United Kingdom in 2006.

The premise of the series was to find a musical theatre performer to play the role of Maria von Trapp in the 2008 Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Mirvish revival of The Sound of Music at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto. Initial auditions were held in seven Canadian cities. The show was hosted by Gavin Crawford and featured Simon Lee, Elaine Overholt, and John Barrowman as the judges for the show.

The first episode of the show featured the top 50 auditioners at the show's Maria School being cut to 20. The second episode had the Marias performing in front of Lloyd Webber in London, and then the 20 were cut to 10 with his input. Beginning June 22, the Marias performed live in Toronto every Sunday night. The voting results aired on the following night.

Finalists

Performances

Elicia Mackenzie

Janna Polzin

Jayme Armstrong

Marisa MacIntyre

Tamara Fifield

Donna Lajeunesse

Kyla Tingley

Katie Kerr

Allie Hughes

Alison Jutzi

Opening Songs

Group Songs

Sing-offs The Bottom 2 or 3 voted by the public each week had to sing with one or two other marias a contrasting song from a musical, then Simon Lee (Weeks 1, 2, 3 & 4) or Andrew Lloyd Webber (Week 5) would choose one of them to carry on in the competition. In the final, the first viewer's vote put Jayme & Elicia in the bottom two, but they didn't have to do a sing-off, Andrew made a decision to save Elicia and eliminate Jayme. Janna Polzin was the only one not to have done a sing-off.

Elimination chart

Bottom Two/Three Eliminated
Week: Jn 23 Jn 30 Jl 7 Jl 14 Jl 21 Jl 28
Place Contestant Result
1 Elicia MacKenzie Btm 3 Winner
2 Janna Polzin Elim
3 Jayme Armstrong Btm 2 Btm 2 Elim
4 Marisa MacIntyre Btm 2 Elim
5 Tamara Fifield Btm 3 Elim
5 Donna Lajeunesse Elim
7 Kyla Tingley Elim
7 Katie Kerr Elim
9 Allie Hughes Elim
10 Alison Jutzi Elim

Elicia MacKenzie won the most votes, as announced prematurely on the Canadian Press wire at 7:30pm, July 28, half an hour before the show aired in the Toronto area.

On August 14, 2008 it was announced that runner-up, Janna Polzin, has been cast as an "alternate Maria" for the upcoming Toronto stage production. Janna will play Maria twice a week (Wednesday evenings and Saturday matinees), while Elicia will perform the role six times weekly (Tuesday evenings, Wednesday matinees, Thursday through Saturday evenings and Sunday matinees).[1]

Some viewers of the show have claimed that the panel and Lloyd Webber favoured Polzin over the other performers in the competition. However, Elicia MacKenzie ended up beating Polzin in the final.

References

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