[Flux]

It just 'lacks' something compared to the Graham Norton / ALW vehicles from the BBC days

If they were so desperate to shove Alan Carr in it as a bit of an apology for BGT then stick him in the host role instead of Zoe Ball, not make him a judge simply because (and I quote) 'I've been on more stages than you've had hot dinners'

There looks to be a live final on 10th December for it

I think it’s lacking any authority and therefore stakes. In the ALW shows, Andrew Lloyd Webber had a strong presence and you felt impressing him could lead to a myriad of future opportunities - as a competitor you weren’t just going for the lead role, you were banking on making an impact. Cameron Mackintosh was involved in the Nancy show to add to that hierarchy. It felt connected and relevant to the real West End casting process. Sure Judy Cramer is out in Greece to try and sprinkle some of that authority, but for some unclear reason she’s sat at the cheap seats in the back making notes on a clipboard whilst 4 judges - none of whom have ever been involved in casting a stage musical, two of whom have very little understanding of what performing in a stage musical demands - gush over performances which are above and beyond anything the two characters on offer ever actually do in the show.
Which leads to the second issue - the actual roles on offer. They’re “nothing” roles. Sophie, arguably, has a bit of a journey but on the whole they’re not Maria, Joseph, Nancy-style meaty leads with standout numbers and emotional gravitas. They’re secondary, fluffy parts. Of course you need talent to play them, but by the end of the opening group number in episode 1 all those competitors proved they had enough ability to do at least a passable job. The drawn out format of singing different group songs each week isn’t proving anything relevant. Even if it was loose at times, with Maria etc each performance could realistically target and demonstrate a different range, depth, skill or growth suited to the character’s demands. Sophie and Sky need to look pretty, learn some group choreography and hold a couple of tunes whilst whoever plays Donna (currently the incredible Mazz Murray) and the other older cast members carry the show around them.
It’s quite a clever move from a production perspective really as the casting of those two roles don’t have much bearing on the success of musical itself. I doubt they’d allow Donna and other roles to be cast with such little input from the show’s creatives, but the young roles are so generic that leaving the decision to largely irrelevant judges (and maybe the public if there’s a live final?) isn’t setting up a potential disaster. Unfortunately, the low stakes translate to the screen so it all just falls flat.