# Fame: The Musical (Irish TV series)

Fame: The Musical is a singing and dance contest in Ireland, produced by Screentime ShinAwiL for RTÉ. The audition and Fame Bootcamp stages were filmed around Ireland and in London.
The shows aim was to find actors for the parts of "Nick" and "Serena" for the highly successful stage production of Fame. On 13 June 2010 it was announced that Ben Morris would play the part of Nick and Jessica Cervi would play the part of Serena in the Irish tour of Fame.

## Personnel
### Judges

| Judge | Note |
| Robert C Kelly | Producer of Fame seeking an actor & actress to play Nick & Serena |
| Erica Gimpel | Present for the live shows only. Starred in the subsequent TV series |
| Simon Delaney | Irish television and theatre director |
| Jacinta Whyte | Judge for the auditions and final only. Vocal coach Live Show 6 |

### Host

Derek Mooney

## The Show
### Results summary

Colour key:
* Indicates that the contestant did not perform and was immune from the vote
* Contestant was safe.
* Contestant was in the bottom two and had to sing again in the final duet
* Contestant was in the bottom two and was immediately eliminated (no judges' vote)
| Contestant | Live Show 1 | Live Show 2 | Live Show 3 | Live Show 4 | Live Show 5 | Live Show 6 | Semi-Final | Final |
| Jessica Cervi | Safe | — | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Serena |
| Ben Morris | Safe | — | Safe | Bottom two | Safe | Safe | Safe | Nick |
| Séan Carey | — | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Runners Up |
| Sarah O'Conner | Bottom two | — | Bottom two | Safe | Safe | Bottom two | Safe | Runners Up |
| Roísín Magee | Safe | — | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom two | Eliminated (Semi-final) |
| Michael Joseph | — | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom two | Eliminated (Semi-final) |
| Conleth Kane | — | Bottom two | Safe | Safe | Bottom two | Bottom two | Eliminated (Week 6) | Eliminated (Week 6) |
| Caoimhe Garvey | — | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom two | Eliminated (Week 5) | Eliminated (Week 5) | Eliminated (Week 5) |
| Hollie O'Donoghue | — | Safe | Safe | Bottom two | Eliminated (Week 4) | Eliminated (Week 4) | Eliminated (Week 4) | Eliminated (Week 4) |
| Stuart Pollock | Safe | — | Bottom two | Eliminated (Week 3) | Eliminated (Week 3) | Eliminated (Week 3) | Eliminated (Week 3) | Eliminated (Week 3) |
| Philomena Fitzpatrick | — | Bottom two | Eliminated (Week 2) | Eliminated (Week 2) | Eliminated (Week 2) | Eliminated (Week 2) | Eliminated (Week 2) | Eliminated (Week 2) |
| Drew Millar | Bottom two | Eliminated (Week 1) | Eliminated (Week 1) | Eliminated (Week 1) | Eliminated (Week 1) | Eliminated (Week 1) | Eliminated (Week 1) | Eliminated (Week 1) |
| Final Duet | Drew | Philomena | Stuart | Hollie | Caoimhe | Conleth | No judges' vote or final duet; public votes alone decide who is eliminated and who ultimately wins | No judges' vote or final duet; public votes alone decide who is eliminated and who ultimately wins |
| Final Duet | Sarah | Conleth | Sarah | Ben | Conleth | Sarah | No judges' vote or final duet; public votes alone decide who is eliminated and who ultimately wins | No judges' vote or final duet; public votes alone decide who is eliminated and who ultimately wins |
| Simon's vote to save | Drew Miller | Conleth Kane | Sarah O'Conner | Ben Morris | Conleth Kane | Sarah O'Conner | No judges' vote or final duet; public votes alone decide who is eliminated and who ultimately wins | No judges' vote or final duet; public votes alone decide who is eliminated and who ultimately wins |
| Erica's vote to save | Sarah O'Conner | Conleth Kane | Sarah O'Conner | Ben Morris | N/A | Sarah O'Conner | No judges' vote or final duet; public votes alone decide who is eliminated and who ultimately wins | No judges' vote or final duet; public votes alone decide who is eliminated and who ultimately wins |
| Robert's vote to save | Sarah O Conner | Conleth Kane | Stuart Pollock | N/A | Conleth Kane | Conleth Kane | No judges' vote or final duet; public votes alone decide who is eliminated and who ultimately wins | No judges' vote or final duet; public votes alone decide who is eliminated and who ultimately wins |
| Eliminated | Drew 1 of 3 votes | Philomena 0 of 3 votes | Stuart 1 of 3 votes | Hollie 0 of 2 votes | Caoimhe 0 of 2 votes | Conleth 1 of 3 votes | Michael | Sarah & Séan |
| Eliminated | Drew 1 of 3 votes | Philomena 0 of 3 votes | Stuart 1 of 3 votes | Hollie 0 of 2 votes | Caoimhe 0 of 2 votes | Conleth 1 of 3 votes | Roísín | Ben & Jessica |

### Episode 1

Judges Robert C Kelly, Simon Delaney and Jacinta Whyte travel around Ireland looking for the next "Nick" and "Serena". 53 were chosen to go on to the Fame Bootcamp.

### Episode 2

A group of young singers, actors and dancers attend The Fame Bootcamp. The three judges choose 12 to go forward for the live shows. Stuart Pollock, Ben Morris, Michael Joseph, Conleth Kane, Drew Millar and Séan Carey will battle it out for the role of "Nick", while Jessica Cervi, Philomena Fitzpatrick, Sarah O'Connor, Caoimhe Garvey, Hollie O'Donoghue and Susan Hall will audition for the role of "Serena". Susan Hall turn down the opportunity to audition for the role at the last minute leaving the 6th and final contestant to be revealed on the night of the first Live show.

### Live Show 1

Erica Gimpel replaced Jacinta Whyte and joined Simon and Robert for the live shows as a judge at the Helix. As Susan Hall dropped out in episode 2 the judges choose Róisín Magee to replace her.
* Theme: Songs from musicals
* Group performances: Fame and Starmaker (led by Drew)
Contestants' performances on the first live show :
| Performer | Order | Song | Musical | Result |
| Róisín Magee | 1 | "Maybe This Time" | Cabaret | Safe |
| Stuart Pollock | 2 | Lady's Choice | Hairspray | Safe |
| Drew Millar | 3 | Empty Chairs and Empty Table | Les Misérables | Eliminated |
| Jessica Cervi | 4 | I Can Hear The Bells | Hairspray | Safe |
| Ben Morris | 5 | Who I'd Be | Shrek the Musical | Safe |
| Sarah O'Connor | 6 | Don't Rain on My Parade | Funny Girl | Bottom two |
Final duet details :
| Performers | Song | Eliminated |
| Sarah & Drew | Let's Play A Love Scene | Drew |

#### Judges' vote to save

* Gimpel: Sarah O'Connor - thought that Sarah had performed better
* Delaney: Drew Millar - avoided being parochial
* Kelly: Sarah O'Connor - thought it would be unfair to keep Drew in a competition that he couldn't win.

### Live Show 2

Michael Joseph, Conleth Kane, Séan Carey, Philomena Fitzpatrick, Caoimhe Garvey and Hollie O'Donoghue all take to the stage for the first time.
* Theme: Songs from musicals
* Group performances: Fame and Starmaker (lead by Philomena )
Contestants' performances on the second live show :
| Performer | Order | Song | Musical | Result |
| Conleth Kane | 1 | The Winner Takes It All | Mamma Mia! | Bottom two |
| Caoimhe Garvey | 2 | Let's Hear It for the Boy | Footloose | Safe |
| Hollie O'Donoghue | 3 | Astonishing | Little Women | Safe |
| Séan Carey | 4 | Ain't That a Kick in the Head? | Fools Rush In | Safe |
| Michael Joseph | 5 | Somewhere | West Side Story | Safe |
| Philomena Fitzpatrick | 6 | The Diva's Lament (Whatever Happened To My Part?) | Monty Python's Spamalot | Eliminated |
Final duet details :
| Performers | Song | Eliminated |
| Philomena & Conleth | Let's Play A Love Scene | Philomena |

#### Judges' vote to save

* Kelly: Conleth Kane - based it on the whole rehearsals and live shows but ultimately on the final duet
* Gimpel: Conleth Kane - already stated she had had issues with Philomena's pitching
* Delaney; Conleth Kane - based it on the final duet

### Live Show 3

* Group performances:Circle of Life (The Lion King) and Starmaker (lead by Stuart.)
Contestants' performances on the third live show :
| Performer | Order | Song | Result |
| Hollie O'Donoghue | 1 | Never Forget You | Safe |
| Sarah O'Connor | 2 | Chasing Cars | Bottom two |
| Michael Joseph | 3 | Viva la Vida | Safe |
| Stuart Pollock | 4 | Shine | Eliminated |
| Séan Carey | 5 | Fight for this Love | Safe |
| Caoimhe Garvey | 6 | Put Your Records On | Safe |
| Conleth Kane | 7 | Broken Strings | Safe |
| Jessica Cervi | 8 | Cry Me Out | Safe |
| Ben Morris | 9 | Breakeven | Safe |
| Róisín Magee | 10 | Rain on Your Parade | Safe |
Final duet details :
| Performers | Song | Eliminated |
| Stuart & Sarah | Let's Play A Love Scene | Stuart |
* As the results were called out by Derek Mooney mistakenly saved Stuart only to have stop the show the let the audience know that he had made a mistake and that Conleth had been saved by the public vote.

#### Judges' vote to save

* Kelly: Stuart Pollock - gave no reason
* Gimpel: Sarah O'Conner - gave no reason
* Delaney: Sarah O'Conner - gave no reason

### Live Show 4

* Group performances: One Voice (Barry Manilow) and Starmaker (lead by Hollie).
Contestants' performances on the fourth live show :
| Performer | Order | Song | Musical | Result |
| Michael Joseph | 1 | Cabaret | Cabarat | Safe |
| Róisín Magee | 2 | I Cain't Say No | Oklahoma! | Safe |
| Conleth Kane | 3 | Some Enchanted Evening | South Pacific | Safe |
| Hollie O'Donoghue | 4 | Wherever He Ain't | Mack & Mabel | Eliminated |
| Caoimhe Garvey | 5 | There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This | Sweet Charity | Safe |
| Ben Morris | 6 | If I Loved You | Carousel | Bottom two |
| Sarah O'Conner | 7 | My Funny Valentine | Babes in Arms | Safe |
| Séan Carey | 8 | Miracle of Miracles | Fiddler on the Roof | Safe |
| Jessica Cervi | 9 | Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man | Show Boat | Safe |
Final duet details :
| Performers | Song | Eliminated |
| Ben & Hollie | Let's Play A Love Scene | Hollie |

#### Judges' vote to save

* Gimpel: Ben Morris - stated that Ben "put his heart on the stage"
* Delaney: Ben Morris - stated that it was a difficult choice
* Kelly: was not required to vote as the judges reached a majority verdict but commended both contestants.

### Live Show 5

* Group performance: "A Star Is Born" and "Starmaker" (lead by Caoimhe)
Contestants' performances on the fifth live show :
| Performer | Order | Song | Result |
| Conleth Kane | 1 | Dancin' Fool | Bottom two |
| Jessica Cervi | 2 | At Last | Safe |
| Caoimhe Garvey | 3 | Sway | Eliminated |
| Michael Joseph | 4 | Secret Love | Safe |
| Sarah O'Connor | 5 | Nobody Does It Like Me | Safe |
| Séan Carey | 6 | The Lady Is a Tramp | Safe |
| Róisín Magee | 7 | Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries | Safe |
| Ben Morris | 8 | Cry Me a River | Safe |
Final duet details :
| Performers | Song | Eliminated |
| Conleth & Caoimhe | Let's Play A Love Scene | Caoimhe |

#### Judges' vote to save

* Delaney : Conleth Kane - gave no reason
* Kelly : Conleth Kane - gave no reason
* Gimpel: was not required to vote as the verdict was already declared but said that Caoimhe could hold her head high for getting this far

### Live Show 6

* Theme: Judges Choice
* Group performance: Starmaker (lead by Conleth)
* Vocal coach: Jancinta Whyte.
Contestants' performances on the sixth live show :
| Performer | Order | Song | Introduced by | Result |
| Séan Carey | 1 | Footloose | Simon | Safe |
| Ben Morris | 2 | Home | Erica | Safe |
| Róisín Magee | 3 | As Long as He Needs Me | Robert | Safe |
| Conleth Kane | 4 | Maria | Erica | Eliminated |
| Sarah O'Connor | 5 | Defying Gravity | Simon | Bottom two |
| Jessica Cervi | 6 | When You Got It, Flaunt It | Erica | Safe |
| Michael Joseph | 7 | The Impossible Dream | Robert | Safe |
Final duet details :
| Performers | Song | Eliminated |
| Conleth & Sarah | Let's Play A Love Scene | Conleth |

#### Judges' vote to save

* Gimpel: Sarah O'Connor - said Conleth grew right throughout the series
* Kelly: Conleth Kane - said he had always praised both Conleth and Sarah
* Delaney: Sarah O'Connor - stated it was "an impossible choice" and there was nothing between them

### Semi-final

* Theme: Contestants Choice
* Group performance: One Night Only and Starmaker (lead by Michael & Roísín)
* Vocal Coach: Erica Gimpel
Contestants' performances on the semi-final :
| Performer | Order | Song | Result |
| Ben Morris | 1 | Somebody to Love | Safe |
| Róisín Magee | 2 | Out Here on My Own | Eliminated |
| Michael Joseph | 3 | Come What May | Eliminated |
| Sarah O'Connor | 4 | Memory | Safe |
| Jessica Cervi | 5 | And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going | Safe |
| Séan Carey | 6 | This is the Moment | Safe |
* Two acts were eliminated from the semi-final (one boy & one girl) and for the first time in the series, there was no final duet. The three remaining girls were brought out first and Róisín Magee was voted out by public vote. Then the three remaining boys were brought out and Michael Joseph was voted out by the public. After the announcements, Róisín and Michael bid farewell by leading a group performance of "Starmaker".

### Final

* Jacinta Whyte returned and joined Robert, Erica and Simon for the final show.
* Themes: Westend Duet; Contestants favorite performance
* Group performances;
** Group 1 (Eliminated Contestants) - "Don't Stop Believin'"
** Group 2 (Finalists) - "The Time of My Life"
* Duet performances:
** Noel Sullivan with Sarah O'Conner/Jessica Cervi
** Susan McFadden with Séan Carey/Ben Morris
Contestants' performances on the final show :
| Performer | First Song | Second song | Result |
| Sarah O'Connor | Don't Rain on My Parade (Week 1) | Suddenly, Seymour (duet with Noel) | Runner-Up |
| Ben Morris | Can You Feel the Love Tonight (duet with Susan) | Cry Me a River (Week 5) | Nick |
| Jessica Cervi | You're the One that I Want (duet with Noel) | At Last (Week 5) | Serena |
| Séan Carey | Fight for this Love (Week 3) | Smile (duet with Susan) | Runner-Up |
* All the finalists returned to the stage and Derek Mooney announced Ben & Jessica as the winners of the parts of Nick & Serena respectively. Ben & Jessica then closed the series with a performance of Let's Play A Love Scene.

## Reception

The Evening Herald gave the show 3 out of 5 stars stating "The show has been criticised for putting the vote to the public, hence turning what should be a talent contest into a popularity contest. However, there's no doubt that the biggest voices in the competition made it to the final last night. Yes, it was cheesy and over-sentimental, but Fame: The Musical was the type of show that many tuned into in spite of themselves".
Audience figures were below that of previous RTÉ reality talent shows, however the final was watched by over 500,000 viewers.

## Finalists

Twelve contestants made it through the audition rounds and performed during the live shows.

### The Boys

| Finalist | Age* | From | Status |
| Ben Morris | 23 | Tallaght, Dublin | Nick |
| Séan Carey | 18 | Dunshaughlin, County Meath | Runner-up |
| Michael Joseph | 26 | Waterford | Third Place |
| Conleth Kane | 26 | Lurgan, County Armagh | Eliminated (Week 6) |
| Stuart Pollock | 20 | Rathgar, Dublin | Eliminated (Week 3) |
| Drew Millar | 22 | Glasgow, Scotland | Eliminated (Week 1) |
* at the start of the series

### The Girls

| Finalist | Age* | From | Status |
| Jessica Cervi | 19 | East Wall, Dublin | Serena |
| Sarah O'Connor | 20 | Lucan, Dublin | Runner-up |
| Róisín Magee | 24 | Newry, County Down | Third Place |
| Caoimhe Garvey | 19 | Tralee, County Kerry | Eliminated (Week 5) |
| Hollie O'Donoghue | 21 | Limerick | Eliminated (Week 4) |
| Philomena Fitzpatrick | 22 | Ballybrack, Dublin | Eliminated (Week 2) |
| Susan Hall | | | Withdrew |
* at the start of the series