Don't Stop Believing (TV Series)
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''Don't Stop Believing'' is a British television
talent show A talent show or talent contest is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are p ...
that aired on Channel 5 in summer 2010. It was inspired by the musical comedy-drama ''
Glee Glee may refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 3000 album) * ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album) * Gle ...
'', which airs in the United States on the
Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...
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 A glee club is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs by trios or quartets. In the late 19th century it was very popular in ...
circuit. The show was hosted by
Emma Bunton Emma Lee Bunton (born 21 January 1976) is an English singer, songwriter, media personality, and actress. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the Pop music, pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Baby Spice, reflecting the ...
, and judged by
Anastacia Anastacia Lyn Newkirk ( ; born September 17, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter. Her first two studio albums, '' Not That Kind'' (2000) and '' Freak of Nature'' (2001), achieved chart success with the singles " I'm Outta Love", " Not That Ki ...
, 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 Virgin Media One, also called Virgin One, is an Irish free-to-air television channel owned by Virgin Media Ireland (part of Liberty Global), operated through its subsidiary Virgin Media Television. The channel launched on 20 September 19 ...
. The show was not renewed for a second series due to low ratings.


Development

''Don't Stop Believing'' was produced by
Shine TV Shine TV is a British media production company and part of Banijay Entertainment with offices in London and Manchester. Shine was founded in March 2001 by Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch. The company was 80 ...
and GroupM Entertainment. Based on the popularity of ''
Glee Glee may refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 3000 album) * ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album) * Gle ...
'' and ''
High School Musical ''High School Musical'' is a 2006 American Musical film, musical television film produced by and aired on Disney Channel as part of the network's List of Disney Channel original films, slate of original television films. The first installmen ...
'' and billed as ''Glee'' meets ''
The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...
'', the show intended to combine elements of both singing and dancing competitions. 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.". By May 2010, over 3,000 groups had applied to take part in the show via the Five website. Social networking website
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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."


Format

Established and new musical performance groups compete in a series of live shows, performing well-known songs in new arrangements. 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 A glee club is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs by trios or quartets. In the late 19th century it was very popular in ...
circuit. Auditions are held while the series airs, with new members joining each week.


Judges and host

The show is hosted by
Emma Bunton Emma Lee Bunton (born 21 January 1976) is an English singer, songwriter, media personality, and actress. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the Pop music, pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Baby Spice, reflecting the ...
. 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. Bunton commented: "Like millions of others I'm currently obsessed with musical performance groups so I am beyond excited", telling ''
The Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media, which also publishes the Irish Independent, the Sunday Independent and various other newspapers and magazines in Ireland. Its ed ...
'' that she is a "huge fan" of ''Glee''. The show's judges are former ''
EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...
'' actress Tamzin Outhwaite,
Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...
member Duncan James, singer
Anastacia Anastacia Lyn Newkirk ( ; born September 17, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter. Her first two studio albums, '' Not That Kind'' (2000) and '' Freak of Nature'' (2001), achieved chart success with the singles " I'm Outta Love", " Not That Ki ...
and ''High School Musical'' choreographer Charles "Chucky" Klapow.


Heats


Heat 1 (18 July 2010)


Heat 2 (25 July 2010)


Heat 3 (1 August 2010)


Heat 4 (8 August 2010)


Heat 5 (15 August 2010)

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.


Final (22 August 2010)


Reception


Ratings

The debut episode was watched by 1.46 million viewers; 6.8% of the viewing audience. The second episode was watched by 1.09 million viewers; 4.8% of the viewing audience. 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. Episode three was down 433,000 viewers.


Critical response

Carrie Dunn of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' 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.". '' The Herald'' 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.". Emma Love of ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' called the show "bang on the money", praising it for "tapp nginto ''Glee'' fever" and "pick ngup on a particular moment in culture with its all-singing, all-dancing groups.". Andrea Mullaney of ''
The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...
'' 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.".


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. 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." As it turned out, the show was cancelled without an episode even being made.


References


External links

*{{IMDb title, 1717307. 2010 British television series debuts 2010 British television series endings Channel 5 (British TV channel) reality television shows British English-language television shows British music television shows British reality television series Singing talent shows