ITV & Andrew Lloyd Webber's Search For A SUPERSTAR: Liveblog, Episode 1

 

8.25pm: 40 will become 30 after that round of auditions, then, and the next show is tomorrow night - when I'll be back here blogging it all again. Join me then!

8.24pm: So apparently that's the end of callbacks, with 40 men now going to ALW's lovely home on "Superstar Island" for an intensive training week.

8.21pm: Montage of more people we will never get to know any better, and moving on to the final singer of the day, David. He seems to be surprised that it's tough to make a living in the music industry. Still, he sings well and the judges already adore him, and I'm fairly sure he knows that from the start. He's through!

8.18pm: Back from the break. So who's not going through? Mel C drags out the drama but eventually reveals that Gareth will not be progressing in the competition.

8.14pm: Three of the Tenors are through, one is not. SUCH DRAMA! So that means it's time for an ad break.

8.10pm: We meet the Rock Tenors, men with a really original and innovative line in band names. All of them are auditioning, which should kindle some drama. Also, Jonathan Williams is there. His occupation is listed as "barman". 

8.07pm: Composer Tim Prottey-Jones turns up next! Then John, someone who likens himself to "Billy Elliot" due to having no training. And being Geordie, obviously.

8.06pm: Oh. He's not going through. I don't have to waste time being infuriated by him then. Good good.

8.05pm: A man called Matthew is attempting to argue that if Jesus was around today he would be working in law or PR - he wants to be a "corporate Jesus". Words fail me.

8.03pm: Mel C is assuming Denise Van Outen's mantel of picking out the best-looking men because "the girls will like them".

8pm: Mel C is fighting the corner of a Spice Girls fan named Ben.

7.58pm: Back after another ad break. Ansell's fate still hangs in the balance, and it looks like we won't be finding out what happens to him for a while, as we have a montage of other nameless people.

7.53pm: Jonathan Ansell of G4 and recent star of A Tale Of Two Cities fame! Apparently his first audition was not great. This time round he's singing Queen's Somebody To Love. He drops to the floor with either the effort or the emotion. His face goes very red indeed. Then Jason grills him about being in A Tale Of Two Cities - if he goes through, then he won't be able to be in that show. (That's why Antony Hansen shared the role with him.) (And I interviewed the show's director Paul Nicholas shortly after this second audition - he said he would never have stood in Jonathan's way to be part of Superstar.)

7.48pm: Montage of poor performances. We don't get to learn their names. We will not be seeing them again. ALW sulks about people taking liberties with the melody of Gethsemane.

7.46pm: Model and retail assistant Sam is not working this week because he is growing a beard, and he is supposed to be clean-shaven for his job. He then opts for Live and Let Die as his audition song, which is just growly and bizarre. Grindrod asks him why on earth he chose it, and Sam wonders if it was an error. Er, yes. Yes, it was. Mel is thoroughly unconvinced but would like to be proved wrong, and he goes through too.

7.44pm: We're back with one of the single greatest excerpts I have ever seen on reality TV. Jason Donovan tells Steve he should be more focused, and then adds, "Jesus was focused." Are they all going to have to channel Jesus? If so, this is not going to end well with a show full of men with Messianic complexes.

7.39pm: Steve is a builder by trade. He loves singing. He's not so hot on the acting, which is unfortunate. He is a pretty good singer but he has absolutely no stage presence, just trotting about the place, much to the judges' amusement. ALW says he is confused about Steve, who they agree will be "a challenge". Will he go through? You'll have to wait until after the first ad break to find out.

7.35pm: Sorry, I laughed when Jason Donovan got called a "pop legend" by the voiceover. Anyway, they're all off to the Brixton Academy (because it's a rock venue, don't you know) to whittle down the longlist. We meet Rory, who's in a band, and whose bandmates are a little bit wary of him auditioning for the show. Jason Donovan tells him very seriously, "You've got no training." Hey ho, he goes through anyway. Mel C thinks he looks like Orlando Bloom. (Rory, not Jason.)

7.32pm: ALW admits that 'Gethsemane' is probably the hardest song to perform he has ever written. Lots of auditionees attempt that famous high note and fail. Another one does some odd melisma, but ALW and Grindrod seem to like it.

7.30pm: Some girls audition. As do some men who are not very good at singing. They get rejected.

7.29pm: There are some very familiar faces in the montages - so many I can't even name them all and keep up with what's happening. There is a boy who wanders into his audition clutching his phone. Seriously? ALW reminds us he is looking for charisma. Grindrod encourages one auditionee with a gleeful "YEAH!" I feel slightly sorry for a red-headed boy who is clearly joking when he says that Jesus understood the persecution faced by "the ginger race" but edited down to make it look like he was serious. The dangers of reality TV, my friend.

7.27pm: Lots of earnest young men look very serious. And mostly very hairy. We're reminded of our judges - Mel C, Jason Donovan and Dawn French. And Amanda Holden is hosting. What an eclectic bunch! Ooh, and I spot David Grindrod in there as well.

7.25pm: Ready? Cue the titles! Or at least the advertising bumpers!

7.22pm: I'll confess here and now that I've been sceptical about this revival from the start because I adore Steve Balsamo's performance as Jesus so much. But then I suppose people were sceptical about him playing the role before he did so, so...

6.30pm: It's the first episode of Superstar on ITV1 tonight, airing in the UK from 7.25pm. And we're liveblogging it! Join us for the first hour-long show.

There are some big West End names who have been linked to the series, and some have confirmed they've auditioned. It'll be interesting to see how many we recognise...the musical theatre branch of the performing arts didn't do so well in The Voice this year, and I get the feeling Andrew Lloyd Webber wants to go back to basics with his Jesus for the new tour - a rock-style vocalist, a la Ian Gillan of Deep Purple, who initially recorded the role. (If you've not heard his performance, they're about to release a digitally-remastered version of the recording.)

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