Don't Stop Believing (TV series)

Don't Stop Believing is a British television talent show that aired on Channel 5 in summer 2010. It was inspired by the musical comedy-drama Glee,[1] which airs in the United States on the Fox network. The series featured live shows in which musical performance groups competed against each other, with viewers voting on the winner. Solo singers were also sought to join a group to represent the United Kingdom on the American glee club circuit. The show was hosted by Emma Bunton, and judged by Anastacia, Duncan James, Tamzin Outhwaite and Charles "Chucky" Klapow. The programme was shown in simulcast on Irish TV channel 3e and repeated a week later on parent channel TV3 Ireland. The show was not renewed for a second series due to low ratings.

This article is about the British talent show. For the Journey song, see Don't Stop Believin'. For other uses, see Don't Stop Believin' (disambiguation).

Don't Stop Believing
GenreReality television
Directed byStuart McDonald
Presented byEmma Bunton
Phil Clifton (backstage)
JudgesDuncan James
Anastacia
Tamzin Outhwaite
Charles Klapow
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series1
Production
Production locationThe Maidstone Studios
Production companiesShine TV
Group M Entertainment
DistributorWarner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original networkChannel 5
Picture format16:9
Original release18 July (2010-07-18) –
22 August 2010 (2010-08-22)
Chronology
Related showsGlee
Don't Stop Believing (Australian TV series) (unaired)
External links
Website
Production website

Development

Don't Stop Believing was produced by Shine TV and GroupM Entertainment. Based on the popularity of Glee and High School Musical,[2] and billed as Glee meets The X Factor,[3] the show intended to combine elements of both singing and dancing competitions.[2] Five's controller Richard Woolfe stated: "There's an explosion in musical performance groups and Don't Stop Believing will tap into that exciting groundswell. This will be the first series to combine both singing and dancing to create an amazing entertainment spectacle which will completely capture the viewers' imagination.".[4] By May 2010, over 3,000 groups had applied to take part in the show via the Five website.[3]

Social networking website MySpace is the show's online hub, featuring exclusive content including video webchats with the judges, highlights of the show and choreography tutorials. Users are able to purchase tracks from the programme directly through MySpace. Sophie Rouse, director of marketing at MySpace UK stated: "As a platform dedicated to the discovery of new content, MySpace can add an extra dimension to big events like these, giving fans the opportunity to interact directly with the talent and exclusive content from the show." [5]

Format

Established and new musical performance groups compete in a series of live shows, performing well-known songs in new arrangements.[2] Contestants perform in front of celebrity judges, with viewers voting for the winner. Alongside the main competition, solo singers are invited to join a group to represent the United Kingdom on the American glee club circuit. Auditions are held while the series airs, with new members joining each week.[6][7]

Judges and host

The show is hosted by Emma Bunton. Five's head of entertainment Donna Taberer stated that she was "utterly thrilled" to have Emma as part of the project, deeming her the "perfect host" due to her singing, dancing and presenting experience.[8] Bunton commented: "Like millions of others I'm currently obsessed with musical performance groups so I am beyond excited",[3] telling The Belfast Telegraph that she is a "huge fan" of Glee.[9] The show's judges are former EastEnders actress Tamzin Outhwaite, Blue member Duncan James, singer Anastacia and High School Musical choreographer Charles "Chucky" Klapow.[10]

Heats

Heat 1 (18 July 2010)
OrderActSongOriginal artist(s)/showResult
1Dice"Do Your Thing" / "Voulez-Vous"[11]Basement Jaxx / ABBATop three, wild card[12]
2The ClasSix"Video Killed the Radio Star"[13]The BugglesEliminated[14]
3Step Up"Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" / "Think"[15]Stevie Wonder / Aretha FranklinEliminated[14]
4Manchester Show Choir"Bad Romance" / "Poker Face"[16]Lady GagaTop three,[12] eliminated[14]
5Singer Station"True Colors"[17]Cyndi LauperThrough to final[12]
6Eschoir"Sex on Fire"[18]Kings of LeonEliminated[14]

Heat 2 (25 July 2010)
OrderActSongOriginal artist(s)/showResult
1Dawson's Academy"I Want You Back" / "Back for Good"[19]The Jackson 5 / Take ThatEliminated[20]
2Roulette"Take On Me" / "Starry Eyed"[21]a-ha / Ellie GouldingEliminated[20]
3SingLive"Radio Ga Ga" / "One Vision"[22]QueenTop three, wild card[23]
4Redroofians"We Are Golden"[24]MikaEliminated[20]
5BLOK"Something Kinda Ooooh"[25]Girls AloudTop three, eliminated[23]
6Three Spires"Total Eclipse of the Heart"[26]Bonnie TylerThrough to final[23]

Heat 3 (1 August 2010)
OrderActSongOriginal artist(s)/showResult
1Swish"Angels" / "Let Me Entertain You"[27]Robbie WilliamsTop three, wildcard[28]
2Jacobs Street"We're All In This Together"High School MusicalEliminated[29]
3Bridgwater Show Choir"Fascination"AlphabeatEliminated[29]
4Love Soul Choir"Shackles"Mary MaryEliminated[29]
5Original Talent"Crazy" / "Billie Jean"[30]Gnarls Barkley / Michael JacksonTop three, eliminated[28]
6DaleDiva"The Power of Love" / "Single Ladies"[31]Jennifer Rush / Beyoncé KnowlesThrough to final[28]

Heat 4 (8 August 2010)
OrderActSongOriginal artist(s)/showResult
1The Songtimers"Keep Holding On" / "Man In The Mirror"Avril Lavigne / Michael JacksonThrough to final[32]
2Fusion Theatre"Walking On Sunshine "Katrina And The WavesTop three, eliminated[32]
3Powerplay"Bat Out of Hell"Meat LoafEliminated[33]
4Sorority"Wow" / "Spinning Around" / "Can't Get You Out of My Head"Kylie MinogueEliminated[33]
5Musicality"Beggin'"MadconEliminated[33]
6MT4UTH"Feeling Good"Nina SimoneTop three, wildcard[32]

Heat 5 (15 August 2010)
OrderActSongOriginal artist(s)/showResult
1Elements"9 to 5" / "Walk This Way"Dolly Parton / AerosmithEliminated[34]
2Cherish"Teenage Dirtbag "WheatusTop three, wildcard[34]
3ToneAcity"Waiting For a Star to Fall"Boy Meets GirlEliminated[34]
4TCC"Every Breath You Take"The PoliceEliminated[34]
5Funky Little Choir"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"Wham!Top three, eliminated[34]
6True DynaMIX"Free Your Mind" / "Vogue"En Vogue / MadonnaThrough to final[35]

Heat five also featured repeat performances from the series' five wildcards, hoping to secure a place in the final. This place was won by Swish.[35]

Final (22 August 2010)
OrderActSongOriginal artist(s)/showResult
1Swish"The Loco-Motion" / "Shout"Little Eva / The Isley BrothersRunners-up[36]
2The Songtimers"Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down "Alicia KeysOut of the running[37]
3Singer Station"Starmaker"FameOut of the running[37]
4True DynaMIX"Don't Stop the Music" / "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)"Rihanna / C+C Music FactoryOut of the running[37]
5Three Spires Musical Society"One Night Only"DreamgirlsOut of the running[37]
6DaleDiva"No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" / "Hot Stuff"Donna Summer & Barbra Streisand / Donna SummerWinners[36]

Reception

Ratings

The debut episode was watched by 1.46 million viewers; 6.8% of the viewing audience.[38] The second episode was watched by 1.09 million viewers; 4.8% of the viewing audience.[39] Episode three was down 433,000 viewers.[40] It was watched by 587,000 viewers; a 2.4% audience share. The episode was moved from the 7 pm–8.30 pm timeslot to the 8 pm-9.30 pm slot to avoid a scheduling conflict with Cricket on Five, and was down 51.5% on the channel's average audience share in the slot.[41]

Critical response

Carrie Dunn of The Guardian described Don't Stop Believing as "like Glee without the budget". Dunn felt that Five's "novice status" at producing live shows was evident, "with sound cutting in and out and jagged camera work." She noted, however: "the lack of production polish seemed quite fitting as the contestants were also endearingly amateur."[42] The Herald's Graeme Virtue commented: "If, like me, you fell for Glee despite having a desiccated black fossil where your heart should be, it was most likely because the dementedly life-affirming musical numbers were punctuated by some smart, often prickly drama. However calculated Don't Stop Believing might be, by focusing wholly on the singin’-and-hoofin’ dimension, it still risks reaching dangerous levels of non-cynicism that could irreversibly damage our national psyche in the long-term."[43] Emma Love of The Independent called the show "bang on the money", praising it for "tapp[ing] into Glee fever" and "pick[ing] up on a particular moment in culture with its all-singing, all-dancing groups."[44] Andrea Mullaney of The Scotsman deemed the series: "a predictable mash-up of the talented and deluded on their own 'journeys' being patronised and sniggered at by a judges who seem like they've just been introduced to each other 30 seconds before filming began."[45]

Australian adaptation

The Ten Network in Australia had announced that it would produce its own adaptation of the Don't Stop Believing as part of its line-up for 2011.[46] However, the network disclosed in November 2010 that it had halted all production on the series indefinitely, saying only that it "may return at a later date."[47][48]

References
  1. Hunt, Danni (22 July 2010). "Laura Broad on Glee inspired show Don't Stop Believing". BBC News. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  2. "About the Show". Channel 5. Archived from the original on 31 January 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
  3. Kilkelly, Daniel (17 May 2010). "Emma Bunton to host Five talent show". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi Médias. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
  4. French, Dan (18 March 2010). "Five plots 'Glee'-like reality series". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi Médias. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
  5. McEleny, Charlotte (17 June 2010). "Five and MySpace team up for talent show web content". New Media Age. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
  6. "Don't Stop Believing". Shine TV. Archived from the original on 31 January 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
  7. "Emma Bunton interview". Five. Archived from the original (video) on 31 January 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
  8. McCabe, Maisie (17 May 2010). "Bunton to present GroupM's 'Don't Stop Believing' on Five". Media Week. Haymarket Media Group. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
  9. "Emma Bunton shows glee over Glee". The Belfast Telegraph. Independent News & Media. 21 May 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
  10. Kilkelly, Daniel (11 June 2010). "Five's 'Don't Stop' judges revealed". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi Médias. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
  11. "Dice's Performance - Don't Stop Believing". Five. Archived from the original (video) on 22 July 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  12. "Singer Station through to the DSB Final!". Five. Archived from the original on 21 July 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  13. "The ClasSix's Performance - Don't Stop Believing". Five. Archived from the original (video) on 22 July 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  14. "Catch Up - Don't Stop Believing". Five. Archived from the original (video) on 16 July 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  15. "Step Up's Performance - Don't Stop Believing". Five. Archived from the original (video) on 22 July 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  16. "Manchester Show Choir's Performance - Don't Stop Believing". Five. Archived from the original (video) on 22 July 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  17. "Singer Station's Performance - Don't Stop Believing". Five. Archived from the original (video) on 22 July 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  18. "Eschoir's Performance - Don't Stop Believing". Five. Archived from the original (video) on 22 July 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  19. "Dawson's Academy's Performance". Five. Archived from the original (video) on 30 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  20. "Don't Stop Believing Series 1 - Episode 2". Five. 26 July 2010. Archived from the original (video) on 6 August 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  21. "Roulette's performance". Five. Archived from the original (video) on 31 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  22. "Sing Live's performance". Five. Archived from the original (video) on 31 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  23. "Three Spires through to the DSB Final!". Five. 25 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  24. "Redroofian's performance". Five. Archived from the original (video) on 29 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  25. "BLOK's performance". Five. Archived from the original (video) on 29 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  26. "Three Spires Musical Society". Five. Archived from the original (video) on 29 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  27. "Swish - Don't Stop Believing". Five. Archived from the original (video) on 5 August 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  28. "DaleDiva win the third live show!". Five. 1 August 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  29. "Don't Stop Believing Series 1 - Episode 3". Five. Archived from the original (video) on 5 August 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  30. "Original Talent - Don't Stop Believing". Five. Archived from the original (video) on 7 August 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  31. "DaleDiva - Don't Stop Believing". Five. Archived from the original (video) on 5 August 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  32. "The Songtimers win the fourth live show". Five. 8 August 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  33. "Watch episode Four" (video). Five. 8 August 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  34. "Watch episode Four" (video). Five. 15 August 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  35. "True DynaMIX win the fifth live show". Five. 15 August 2010. Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  36. "DaleDiva win the DSB Grand Final!". Five. 22 August 2010. Archived from the original on 25 August 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  37. "Watch the Grand Final". Five. 22 August 2010. Archived from the original (video) on 27 August 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  38. Plunkett, John (19 July 2010). "More than 4m watch Open golf finale". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  39. Millar, Paul (26 July 2010). "Sherlock premieres to 7.5m". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi Médias. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  40. Laughlin, Andrew (2 August 2010). "'Sherlock' dips to 6.4m". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi Médias. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  41. Deans, Jason (2 August 2010). "Sherlock on the case with 6.4m". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  42. Dunn, Carrie (19 July 2010). "Don't Stop Believing: like Glee without the budget". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  43. Virtue, Graeme (19 July 2010). "The TV talent show that's full of Glee". The Herald. Glasgow: Newsquest. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  44. Love, Emma (19 July 2010). "Judgement day for the great pretenders". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  45. Mullaney, Andrea (19 July 2010). "TV review: Taggart – Don't Stop Believing". The Scotsman. Johnston Press. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  46. "Ten announces new entertainment series". The Spy Report. Media Spy. 14 July 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
  47. "Ten stops believing". The Spy Report. Media Spy. 12 November 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
  48. David Knox (12 November 2010). "TEN cancels Don't Stop Believing". TVTonight.com. Retrieved 31 January 2011.

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