Any Dream Will Do final - Lee Mead wins, Keith Jack goes back to the supermarket

Well, we’re finally here. After months of watching effeminate young men lisp their way through the auditions, Joseph school and then the live shows, we’re down to the last two Joseph hopefuls, Lee Mead and Keith Jack. Lee was an obvious stand out from the early shows, but Keith has been a surprise. He got a lot of criticism in the early shows and didn’t look like a contender, but you’ve got to give him props for getting to the final.

The two finalists had to choose to repeat what they considered their best performances from the previous live shows. Keith Jack chose Elvis Presley’s Always On My Mind. You know, Keith wasn’t the best looking Joseph of the twelve finalists, but he’s a damn fine singer and always sings in key.

Lee Mead chose the Rolling Stones’ Paint It Black which was an odd choice as Lee is always fighting his tendency to be moody and intense. He couldn’ve chosen a lighter number.

Both their moms were in the audience and Graham Norton made us all cringe by asking them to do a pitch for their sons. Keith’s mom was in the audience, wearing a ridiculous multicoloured coat and reminded us how Keith had been working in a supermarket a few weeks ago. Lee’s mom just said that whatever makes Lee happy is fine with her. Um, I guess that bit wasn’t rehearsed. Jason Donovan was also in the audience but he wouldn’t be drawn on his favourite. Well, you just wouldn’t, would you? Not when they’re standing in front of you. Well, I would, but they don’t invite me on for some reason.

All ten eliminated finalists came back to sing a final group number, The Boys Are Back In Town. Didn’t Ben, Anthony and Rob look good? It was good to see my three favourite hunks back again. I do hope Ben Ellis gets some work out of this, I’d like to see him again.

Keith and Lee then had to sing Jesus Christ, Superstar for their last song. What can you say? They were both terrific of course. I wish the series had used more songs from musicals. C’mon, a show like this is bound to attract an audience that enjoys show tunes so it was a shame that we had to suffer through so many pop or rock songs. I don’t think the Josephs were thrilled about it either.

Before announcing the winner, Graham Norton presented a montage of the past few weeks with all the tears and there sure were a lot of those! Andrew Lloyd Webber said that they hadn’t been expecting as many tears as the previous year when they were finding a Maria for The Sound of Music, but he said that the boys had cried even more than the Marias had. Lord Webber has been bitching and moaning about the namby pamby boys over the weeks, but he can hardly talk. He’s not exactly butch himself.

Right, so let’s get to the good stuff. Graham stood between Lee and Keith, who both looked so nervous that they’d wet themselves, and announced that Lee Mead was the winner. Poor Keith! He didn’t look too bothered though and just looked happy to be there in the final. Lee managed to crack a smile for the first time in weeks and ended the show in his new Joseph multicolour coat and sang Any Dream Will Do. At the very end, Ben and Rob lifted Lee up. Ah, those boys!

Well, that’s it. Yet another compulsive reality TV show over. There was talk of Lord Webber doing a search for Jesus Christ, Superstar, either here in the UK or in the US, but that hasn’t been confirmed yet. He’s teasing us.

I do enjoy this format of show though and they could do so many. Oh, just imagine a search for Mama Rose for Gypsy. They could call it Coming Up Roses. Even if Lord Webber doesn’t do another one, there’s bound to be another producer who sees money in them musical theatre hills. The publicity for the theatre production has been huge and ticket sales have been very healthy. Ka-ching!

Any Dream Will Do final with Lee, Lewis and Keith

Lee Mead, Lewis Bradley and Keith Jack were out final three Joseph hopefuls but they were joined last night for a group number by all the eliminated finalists, dressed again in their Joseph coats to sing the opening number Go Go Go Joseph. It was lovely to see our boys all back together again, but the poor previously eliminated Josephs obviously haven’t been humiliated enough as they had to line up and the end and go through the ritual of giving up their coats yet again and hand them over to presenter Graham Norton. Graham looked very enthusiastic about stripping off their coats and revealing their pecs.

We saw a clip of what happened after the show last week. The three finalists were flown off to Majorca to relax. Andrew Lloyd Webber had the three Josephs at his hideaway villa in Majorca, drinking champagne, eating Lewis’s birthday cake and lounging around shirtless on a yacht. It all looked very cosy!

Lewis Bradley sang first. He’s obviously chuffed to be in the final. He’s been in the bottom two three times and been saved from elimination three times. Lewis sang Prince’s Kiss. Um, Lewis tried his best but all that bumping and grinding had little effect on me. I dunno what you think, but Lewis hardly oozes sex appeal. Keith Jack sang For Once In My Life and he was as terrific as ever, but it was an odd song choice, kinda old fashioned and a bit cabaret. Lee Mead sang Elvis Presley’s Devil in Disguise with some serious tuning issues but the judges seemed to forgive him so I think he got away with it. I doubt opening night critics would be so kind.


The second round was themed with big band numbers, which is probably my least favourite genre of music. They always do it on the X-Factor and American Idol and it just leaves me cold. Lewis sang Bobby Darrin’s Beyond The Sea and was another Joseph with pitching issues. Keith Jack sang Van Morrison’s Moondance and he was right on key. Lee Mead sang Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York and started off in trouble with the lower notes, but ended up much better.

It’s really hard to choose between anyone when it gets to this stage of any talent competition. My choice of winner would be Keith, mainly because he’s developed so much from the early weeks and, vocally, he’s so good. He’s got a big ol’ voice that really suits musical theatre. He looks a bit funny though. Maybe. A little bit.

Anyway, at the end of the first show, Lewis was eliminanted, which of course made him cry and cry and then cry some more, leaving Keith Jack and Lewis Mead in the final. Ooh, who’s is gonna be? Probably Lee though I’d love Keith to win.

Any Dream Will Do semi-final results show

After a brief introduction with more shameless self-promotion from the boys, we were treated to yet another group number. The Josephs sang Queen and David Bowie’s Under Pressure, featuring some very shaky falsetto from Lewis.

This week, the Josephs were sent off to the West End to meet the cast of The Lord of the Rings musical. Yes, there is a musical version of The Lord of the Rings. Betcha didn’t see that one coming. One of the actors said that he’d be very wary of someone from a reality TV show getting a part in a West End show. The boys didn’t look too pleased at that. Better get ready for some backstage bitchin, fellas.

Lewis Bradley and Ben Ellis were in the sing off, which I guess was appropriate as they’ve been in the bottom two more than any of the Josephs through the series. Presenter Graham Norton revealed that Ben had the lowest votes. Ben!

They had to sing I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables and Lewis’ mom cried and cried throughout the performance. It’s a very difficult song, full of high notes, then low notes and it never really took off, but Ben gave the more emotional performance, just as he’s done each time he’s been in the sing off.

Be that as it may, Lord Webber decided to save Lewis. Lewis! Ah, poor Ben. I can’t believe he’s not in the final. He was my favourite from the beginning, but always had difficulty getting the public vote and attracted some overly harsh criticism from the judges. Ah well, hopefully this won’t be the last time we see the lovely Ben Ellis.

Any Dream Will Do – the last four Josephs in the semi-final

We’re down to the last four Josephs hopefuls: Ben Ellis; Keith Jack; Lee Mead and Lewis Bradley. They started off with a song from the show, which was a welcome change as I’m a bit confused by the endless pop songs we have to suffer through. I want to hear how our boys sound when singing a show tune, not a McFly song!

This was the last chance for Andrew Lloyd Webber to select a Joseph. Next week, it’s all down to he public vote. By the way, how much cleavage was vocal coach Zoe showing tonight? I almost fell into her breasts! She was dressed up like a dog’s dinner. Oh dear oh dear.

Keith Jack sang first. In his taped introduction, he said that he didn’t think he’d ever reach the semi-final. He’s not the only one. I’m kinda surprised too. He snuck in beneath our noses. He performed Donna Summer’s disco version of Barry Manilow’s Could It Be Magic. He started off slowly, then revved things up, Take That stylee. It was just about as camp as you could possibly get, with disco spins, heartfelt, pained grimaces to the camera and two gyrating Josephine’s, wearing the shortest possible sequined mini-dresses. The judges all liked it but Lord Webber asked Keith to “blow him away”. I guess that’ll happen backstage during the interval..

Ben Ellis talked about being in the bottom two sing off three times. Ben said how much he enjoys entertaining people and making them smile. Ben can come over and entertain me any day he likes, I’d be guaranteed to smile! Ben sang Ease On Down The Road from the musical, The Wiz. You know The Wiz, don’t you? It was the black version of The Wizard of Oz back in the seventies. I appeared in it years ago when I was in school, except our version was totally white, which kinda defeated the point. Anyway, I’ve had a soft spot for this show since, and I’ve also got a soft spot for the lovely Ben Ellis too. Ben sang with two Josephines and looked totally at ease with them. He’s the only guy in the show who looks like he actually knows how to interact with a lady. He bounced about all over the stage and ended up nice and sweaty. The judges were critical though, the bitches! Only John Barrowman spoke up for Ben. Hmm, looks like someone else has a soft spot for the gorgeous Ben too.

Keith and Ben also had to sing a duet. They sang some godawful song from Starlight Express, which was originall written for a farther and son. Well, a father and son railway carriages. But this being Any Dream Will Do, which is the gayest TV show in the world ever, it came across as a thinly veiled homoerotic song about repressed desires and longing. Aw, Keith even kissed and hugged Ben at the end. Hands off, Keith Jack. Ben’s mine! Lord Webber liked both of them but Denise Van Outen said that although her eyes are drawn to Ben, her ears are drawn to Keith.

Next up was Lewis Bradley, at seventeen the youngest hopeful left. No wonder he’s so spotty and cries all the time, his balls have barely dropped. Lewis performed Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline, but I wasn’t thrilled, but then again, I don’t like that song. His scary Grandma Gina (with that hideous fright perm) was back in the audience again and was her enthusiastic, overbearing self. By the way, I didn’t even know that you could still get a perm these days. I’d better not say anything else about Lewis, I’m too scared that Grandma Gina will come around and slap me about. I mean, she looks the sort, doesn’t she?

Lee Mead sang last. He talked about being an understudy in the theatre for the last few years. There has been a lot of talk about Lee being a professional, compared to supermarket worker Keith for example. Lee also cried during his intro, which is an obvious, eye-rolling ploy for votes. Luckily, Lee sang Bon Jovi’s Livin’ On A Prayer which is one of the best songs ever and hard to ruin, unless you’re Jordin Sparks. He did bugger it up at the end though, ending the song before the musicians did and having to repeat the last section. Now, the main issue I have with Lee is that I don’t think he’s right for the part, although he’s obviously very talented. He’s just as good now as he was at the beginning, but he hasn’t really improved. Lee came ready prepared. He’s an instant leading man, just add water.

Lewis and Lee also had to sing a duet. They sang Oh, What a Circus from Evita. It wasn’t much of a duet though, as they spent all their time trying to outdo and upstage the other. Lewis surprised me, I thought he was really good singing a show tune. However, I don’t like these group songs and duets, I don’t see the point. I’d rather watch the guys sing solo.
So, who’s gonna go? Um, it’s so hard to pick at this stage, but I’d say probably Lewis, though don’t tell Grandma Gina!