OLIVIERS 2015: Natalie O'Donoghue's TV Recap!

By: Apr. 13, 2015
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Some of the excitement of the ITV broadcast is lost due to the awards not being screened live. Winners have already been announced on Twitter which takes a little bit of the shine off.

The ceremony opened with Katie Brayben performing the title track and I Feel The Earth Move from Beautiful. I enjoyed the performance but it doesn't have the same impact as when you watch the musical in its entirety. That said, from this one performance I am sorely tempted to book another trip to the Aldwych!

The second performance of the evening was Best Supporting Actress nominee Nicole Scherzinger singing Memory. I must confess that Cats is my least favourite musical of all time so I didn't manage to see her in the role myself (though I made the exception for Kerry Ellis) but enjoyed this performance. I would personally have preferred her to do it in costume - but I guess that detracts from the glamour!

The second award was for Best Comedy. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any of the nominees in this category - but I've heard such good things about The Play That Goes Wrong that I'm thrilled for them.

The performance from Sunny Afternoon doesn't really do anything for me; while I like The Kinks' music, the musical didn't manage to hold my interest.

Quick montage of certain winners for what they obviously thought were the less exciting categories. The creative people behind the productions clearly aren't viewed as attractive to an audience as the actors.

The cast of Memphis were up next. It's no secret that this is one of the best musicals that I have seen in recent years and I personally think it deserves every single award it was nominated for! The sound seems a little off on this performance but I still loved it.

I'm biased for the Best Actress category as I have only seen Gillian Anderson's performance (in the cinema broadcast) but I was disappointed she didn't win as I thought she was excellent.

The This Morning audience winner seemed almost obvious due to the legion of dedicated fans but I really am so glad that Wicked won. I have seen all the nominees and while all were worthy, Wicked was my clear winner!

A View From The Bridge did so well tonight, I am so disappointed I never got a chance to see it as I've only heard good things.

Another montage of winners. I'm not sure why they decided that Dame Angela Lansbury didn't deserve to have her entire segment shown!

I can't pretend I'm not disappointed with John Dagleish winning Best Actor In A Musical. I was almost positive this award belonged to Killian Donnelly.

I am so thrilled for Katie Brayben winning Best Actress In A Musical. I adored Beautiful and her performance was outstanding. I must admit to tearing up slightly during her acceptance speech!

Best Musical was another category that really confused and disappointed me. I felt that both Beautiful and Memphis were such strong contenders and I can't quite believe that Sunny Afternoon won.

The Lifetime Achievement Award, which was given to Kevin Spacey, was also quite an emotional affair. Dame Judi Dench's speech was wonderful and he seemed very moved by it. The ceremony closed with a fairly incredible duet of Bridge Over Troubled Water with Spacey and Beverley Knight!

While I don't agree with some of the winners, I loved this year's Olivier Awards. It is so important to recognise the hard work that goes into these shows. I hope the broadcast will also encourage audiences to go and see shows they hadn't considered before!


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