Classical Star - new BBC2 TV series 16 Oct 2007

[dazza]

Hi Everyone,

The final tonight, it is going to be interesting to see who wins.

Unfortunately I will be unable to watch it as the TV is going to be occupied so I will have to watch it online afterwards.

May the best musician win. Come on Sophie!

Dazza

[roger]

Your wish is granted, Dazza - Sophie won!

Roger

[Dave]

Hi guys,

I've just uploaded the final of Classical Star... so if you can't get it on the BBC website, here it is:

Classical Star Episode 5 - Final

I was going to keep the result a secret for a bit longer but the cat's out of the bag now! However, I won't comment on the show just yet.

Cheers, Dave

[dazza]

Hi Everyone,

I watched it last night before I went to bed.

Congratulations to Sophie, I am delighted that she has won.

Although I believe that Ian was extremely unlucky on the day as I thought his performance was outstanding. All three of them were excellent.

Dazza

[Stephany]

Hi everyone,

I was delighted to see Sophie win the show 'Classical Star'. Admitely, she didn't seem at her best during the final. She seemed very uncomfortable talking to the audience but when she started to play, I was once again blown away by her talent. Ian and Karen have nothing too regret - they were both brillant and I hope that they will go very far.

Looking forward to buying Sophie's CD. Do you think that she will be managed by Steve A.?

Best wishes,
Stephany

[dazza]

Hi Stephany,

I was worried when Sophie did her talk, she seemed uncomfortable, I do think that nerves on the night made it seem worse than it is though.

I am glad that it was the music that came out on top, and her being shy and lacking a little self confidence in front of an audience wasn't used against her. Hopefully because of this, she will gain more confidence as she goes along and will start to feel more comfortable talking in front of people.

She does her talking with the piano, the music is the most important part and that is an area where she certainly doesn't lack confidence.

I am looking forward to her CD and seeing more of her in the future.

Dazza

[Dave]

Hi Dazza and Stephany,

I am so pleased Sophie won but I was worried when the commentator kept emphasising the problems she was having with her timing. Her speech made me even more worried but i hoped her performance would come "right on the night" and it did.

However... I have since read a post on the BBC website by someone who attended the final in person and she said that Sophie's speech was much better than it appeared - and she thinks the programme editors deliberately made it look disjointed so the viewers (us!) would be surprised or relieved by the result. She also said she thinks that's why they kept going on and on about Sophie's apparent timing problems... for dramatic effect when she won.

Sad to say but I believe her... I think this kind of thing is commonplace in TV to try and increase the drama. So you see, we had no need to worry at all and I am sure Sophie will do very well out in the big wide World of CD recordings and also concerts, where she may have to make short speeches.

TV producers have a lot to answer for! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Cheers, Dave

[dazza]

Hi Dave,

That is very sad if it is true about them editing the programme to make it appear different to how it actually was just for the sake of having a dramatic effect. It is not only unfair on viewers but also to the contestants taking part.

At least Sophie won in the end though and I am looking forward to seeing more from her.

Dazza

[Stephany]

Hi Dazza and Dave,

If what you said is true Dave, I find it quite unfair to Sophie. It was a little bit the same in the previous episode when they clearly emphasised on her 'problems' to play with a full orchestra. Having said that, the dramatic effect worked on me very well I was relieved to see Sophie win.

She may not have been the best during the final but she clearly was on the long-run. It will be interesting to see how her career evolves in the months and years to come.

Stephany

[Martin]

Hi All
I think it was quite clear even before the final epispode that Sophie would win. Steve Abbot needed an artist (and instrument) that could be marketed and in my opinion that had to be Sophie. Karen and the Oboe were therefore a non starter from this perspective and Ian, whilst a close second, would be less commercial.

Martin

[Dave]

I'm very surprised at how little press coverage there has been of Sophie's win (though i've seen articles about the two losing finalists). Perhaps it's because she is Irish and this was a UK TV show? But she studies in London! Whatever the reason, there is at last an article today at HotPress.com and here it is:

Irish pianist scoops top prize
16 Nov 2007

A 19-year-old Dublin pianist has won first place in a BBC talent competition called Classic Star.

Sophie Cashell, from Balbriggan in north County Dublin, beat hundreds of hopefuls to the top prize of a recording contract.

Sophie, who has been playing the piano since she was just five-years-old, said: “I’m just delighted to win. I was up against fantastic competition and to be here is an honour.

“I started playing the violin when I was four-years-old mainly because my siblings are musicians. When I was five I began piano and realised that I preferred it.”

Sophie, who is attending the Royal Academy of Music in London, also scooped first place earlier this year at the Mabel Swainson Pianoforte Award at the Dublin Feis Ceoil. She also headlined her own recital at the National Concert Hall.

Cheers, Dave

[Stephany]

Hi Dave,

Thank you very much for the article. Like you, I have seen very little publicity of Sophie's win. However, I have seen quite a number of articles from Scotland about Ian and how according to the Scottish press he *should* have won the title of 'Classical Star'. I have also seen a very long article about Jeanine but she was more talking about her relationship with Ben (now her boyfriend) than about her music.

Do you know if the show was a success in terms of number of viewers?

Stephany

[Dave]

Hi Stephany,

Mediaguardian:

For the second week running BBC2's music talent show Classical Star trailed in last out of the five terrestrial channels in the 9pm hour. The series scored a lowly 1.6 million viewers and a 7% share.

Well you did ask!

Still, it was always going to be a minority interest series, I guess... that's classical music and when you consider that classical CD sales represent only around 5% of the market, it is in fact a very good audience. Media Guardian just don't understand that.

Cheers, Dave

[dazza]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the article about Sophie.

I am not surprised regarding the TV ratings compared with the other channels... the final alone was up against Spooks (BBC1), I'm A Celebrity (ITV), Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (Ch 4) and CSI: Miami (Five)... it was always going to come last.

I also feel that some people may have watched some episodes online afterwards rather than on TV, I had to do that myself once or twice.

However, it should be judged on its own merits rather than in comparison to other channels, as Dave pointed out, for classical music there was a very good audience and it still got a prime time spot on one of the main BBC channels. I hope that there will be more series in the future.

Dazza

[James]

james said:

I have to say I'm very impressed by the Irish pianist (Sophie I believe was her name).

I continued to be impressed by Sophie throughout the series and I'm glad she won. I had a feeling while watching the last show that Ian may sneak it - his choice of Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez was inspired, but then his final piece I felt let him down, and it was not a piece with which I'm familiar. Maybe a better known piece would have helped him.

It doesn't surprise me what Dave says about the editing, these programs are always edited to show what the producers want to show. However, Sophie may not yet be the best public speaker or the most confident at introducing her music, but her piano playing speaks for itself and for that reason she deserved to win. Ian also has a great future, and I'm sure he will benefit from another couple of years practice - after all he is a couple of years younger than Sophie and I'm sure that makes some difference at this stage.

Although the TV audience share was small, I'm sure more people watched it on the internet, and if only 1 in 20 viewers actually bought the album, that would be a great achievement for an album of this type.

Well done Sophie and Best Wishes in your musical career.

James