How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? - Episode 10

We open with Streisand’s Don’t Rain on My Parade. The six finalists are in great voice. Even better, they’ve got some choreography that isn’t an embarrassment. Great job.

We get a montage of last night that includes Elaine using the phrase, “Our Lord Andrew,” which I missed last night. The judges get introduced and a recap of last night’s show is presented. We learned the producer have already chosen their top four: Donna and Tamara out, Jayme, Marisa, Jenna and Elicia in.

The results are announced in the usual stilted style:
“Elicia, please wait where you are.
Jenna, please wait where you are.
Marisa, you will be singing in next weeks show, congratulations.
Donna, please wait where you are.
Jayme, congratulations, you’re through to next week.”

Tamara, Donna, Elicia and Jenna meet on the stage. Jenna is told she has made it through. Tamara, Elicia, and Donna are left. Simon can save one. Unless we’ve been set up, according to what we learned in last night’s show Tamara and Donna are gone. Simon will save Elicia.

The three sing Tell Me On a Sunday. Such a sweet song. There is little to distinguish the women, one from the other, so uniform is their excellence.

Simon says:

“Donna, who has been our larger than life big-belt brassy, sassy, all the qualities that are so exciting in musical theatre. She knows, I know that I haven’t always felt that those were qualities for Maria. She showed us a soprano voice that I perhaps haven’t always appreciated as much as I might have. But I do not want to take away from her virtues, which are legion and she would be an asset to any company.

Tamara, you’ve always had the soprano voice that is the vocal thing we are looking for. There are other areas we were exploring because Maria is more than just that color. That’s the principle color. And I love your purity and your honesty and always have.

And Elicia has shown us so much what she has learned in such a short period of time, as have everybody. I’m feeling a little pressed…. The person I am going to save, that I am going to nail my colors to the mast for, is Elicia.”