Meet the Contestants of 'Over The Rainbow' Search for New Dorothy

As BBC One's series 'Over The Rainbow' begins its search for a 'Dorothy' to star in Andrew Lloyd Webber's West End production of 'The Wizard of Oz', the Telegraph profiles the 20 contestants who are hoping they will be selected to fill the ruby slippers.

The contestants include:

Bronte Barbe, 18, from Cheshire
Barbe trained in classical singing, and as youngster she used to sing songs from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and idolised Truly Scrumptious.
She has been a volunteer assistant drama teacher at her former drama school for a number of years and last summer took a lead role in Youth Music Theatre's UK production of A Winter's Tale.

Tasheka Coe, 28, from West Midlands
Married with 21-month-old twin children, Coe began singing at the age of 14, following in the footsteps of her musician father, whose reggae band toured Europe.
She almost signed a record deal when she was 19 and was part of girl group Mosaic.

Stephanie Davis, 17, from Merseyside
Davis lives with her parents and two younger brothers and has had small roles on a number of TV shows including Doctors, Holby City and The Outsiders, but aims to be a West End star.
She has already starred in musicals at the Liverpool Empire Theatre.

Amy Diamond, 22, from Cheshire
Diamond discovered her talent for singing after singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow to her music teacher at the age of six.
She has danced on cruise ships, modelled for The Sun and Nuts magazine and had a small role BBC1's Hustle.

To read the rest of the profiles in The Telegraph, click here.

Following the success of How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, Any Dream Will Do and I'd Do Anything, Over The Rainbow reunites host Graham Norton and Andrew Lloyd Webber, who, along with a brand new panel of experts (Sheila Hancock, Charlotte Church and John Partridge) and BBC One viewers, will choose a Dorothy to perform in the West End production of The Wizard Of Oz next year. The show transmits with a weekend special on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 March, then the live studio shows start on Saturday 3 April (time tbc).

Viewers will see thousands of hopefuls turning up at open auditions across the country in Friday night's show, in a bid to become the newest star of the West End.

As the selection process continues, Saturday's show will showcase the final 20 "Dorothys" in a studio-based "sing-off"' - judged by the panel and Andrew, who will make a selection down to 10 girls.

In a surprise "wild card" element of the show, after the panel - led by Andrew Lloyd Webber - has agreed upon the 10 finalists, viewers will be invited to vote to save one of the girls who doesn't get through the panels' vote, to return next week.

Telephone lines will open for a set amount of time after these 10 girls have all performed a sing-off song and the contestant with the most votes will be revealed the following week, in the first live show to air on 3 April.

Viewers will find out the results of the "wild card" vote, and the 10 Dorothys will perform for their chance to stay in the competition and be critiqued by the panel and Andrew.

Viewers have the opportunity to cast their votes and the outcome will be announced in the results show. The two contestants with the least amount of votes will perform a "sing-off" and Andrew Lloyd Webber will decide which contestant he wants to remain in the competition.

Andrew Lloyd Webber commented: "I would like to bring something new to The Wizard Of Oz. I'm searching for a modern Dorothy, who can take the role much further, and continue to appeal to a wide audience.

"The film worked fantastically but we need some new songs for the stage show in addition to the much-loved originals from the movie. Over The Rainbow is of course one of the greatest songs ever written."

Andrew Lloyd Webber is also searching for a Toto, for a one-off gala performance of The Wizard Of Oz, when it hits the West End stage next year.

Jodie Prenger (winner of 2008's I'd Do Anything and soon to play Lady Of The Lake in Spamalot on tour) will lead the search for Toto in April, at two open audition days. Viewers will be able to follow the dogs' progress across the series, as they do their best to charm dedicated cat man, Andrew Lloyd Webber!

Photo Courtesy of BBC One