Op zoek naar Maria

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Op zoek naar Maria
Starring
Country of originBelgium, Netherlands
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes10-11
Production
ProducerEyeworks
Release
Original networkVTM (Flemish), AVROTROS (Dutch)
Original release25 March (2009-03-25) (Flemish), 21 February 2021 (2021-02-21) (Dutch) –
3 June 2009 (2009-06-03) (Flemish), 4 April 2021 (2021-04-04) (Dutch)
Chronology
Preceded by
External links
Website

Op zoek naar Maria (Looking for Maria) is a talent competition program that aired in Belgium on VTM. It premiered on 25 March 2009. The premise of the series was to find a musical theatre performer to play the role of Maria von Trapp in the 2009  [nl] and revival of The Sound of Music at the Efteling Theatre. The show is hosted by Koen Wauters and featured  [nl], Linda Lepomme, and Peter de Smet as the judges for the show.

Following a public telephone vote, 27-year-old  [nl] was chosen as Maria with 25-year-old Fleur Brusselmans as the runner up and Liv Van Aelst in third place.

A commercial advertising the show, featuring over 200 dancers in it, seemingly spontaneously, to "Do-Re-Mi" in Antwerpen-Centraal railway station, has received over 20,000,000 hits on YouTube.[1]

A similar format of Op zoek naar Maria has been used as well in The Netherlands in 2021 taking an unknown singer and placing the winner in the lead role of Maria for the 2021 performances in The Netherlands. The show is hosted by and featured Pia Douwes, Jamai Loman, Carline Brouwer and Richard Groenendijk as the judges for the show. It was the fifth Dutch talent show to be produced by AVRO, 10 years after Op zoek naar Evita, Op zoek naar Joseph, Op zoek naar Mary Poppins, Op zoek naar Zorro and Op zoek naar Annie. In the final, on 4 April, Nandi Van Beurden was announced as the winner of the series.

A similar format has been used as well in the United Kingdom in 2006, with the show How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria? taking an unknown singer and placing the winner in the lead role for the 2006 performances in the West End. On 16 September 2006, Connie Fisher was announced the winner of this show.

Belgium[]

Finalists[]

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

Finalist Age* From Dress Colour Status
Dorien Ackx 25 Geel Pink Eliminated 1st in week 1
Helen Geets 33 Merksem Green Eliminated 2nd in week 2
Ellen Vandervieren 28 Beveren Yellow Eliminated 3rd in week 3
Sandra Paelinck 23 Mortsel Dark Blue Eliminated 4th in week 4
Marian Van Klaveren 31 Lede Purple Quit in week 5
Elisabeth Herman 26 Wetteren Red Eliminated 5th in week 6
Elke Buyle 23 Duffel Light yellow Eliminated 6th in week 7
Katrien Smets 22 Tienen Light Blue Eliminated 7th in week 8
Liv Van Aelst 34 Brasschaat Orange Third place
Fleur Brusselmans 25 Ghent Lavender Second place
Deborah De Ridder 27 Antwerp Pale Blue Winner

* at the start of the contest

Results summary[]

Place Contestant Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Final
1 Deborah Safe Bottom 2 Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Winner
2 Fleur Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Bottom 2 Runner-up
3 Liv Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Bottom 2 Bottom 2 Safe Third Place
4 Katrien Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Eliminated Eliminated
5 Elke Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Eliminated Eliminated
6 Elisabeth Bottom 2 Safe Safe Bottom 2 Safe Eliminated Eliminated
7 Marian Safe Safe Safe Safe Quit Quit
8 Sandra Safe Safe Bottom 2 Eliminated Eliminated
9 Ellen Safe Safe Eliminated Eliminated
10 Helen Safe Eliminated Eliminated
11 Dorien Eliminated Eliminated

Live shows[]

The live shows saw the finalists eliminated one by one following both individual and group performances. Once eliminated, the leaving contestant ended the program by leading a performance of "Adieu, vaarwel (So Long, Farewell)" from The Sound of Music with the remaining contestants.

Week 1 (April 8, 2009)[]

Following the first week of the competition, Dorien was the first Maria to be eliminated from the competition. The show performances were:

  • Group performances:
Contestants' performances on the first live show
Contestant Order Song Result
Dorien Ackx 1 "Sweet About Me" Eliminated
Elisabeth Herman 2 "All by Myself" Bottom 2
Marian van Klaveren 3 "Over the Rainbow" Safe
Fleur Brusselmans 4 "I Kissed a Girl" Safe
Deborah De Ridder 5 "" Safe
Liv van Aelst 6 "So What" Safe
Elke Buyle 7 "Chasing Pavements" Safe
Katrien Smets 8 "Samson" Safe
Ellen Vandervieren 9 "I Say a Little Prayer" Safe
Sandra Paelinck 10 "Mad About You" Safe
Helen Geets 11 "Flashdance... What a Feeling" Safe
  • Sing-off:
    • Dorien Ackx and Elisabeth Herman were in the sing-off, and performed "One of Us" from the musical Mamma Mia.
    • Albert Verlinde chose to save Elisabeth and bid farewell to Dorien.

Week 2 (April 15, 2009)[]

The show performances were:

Contestants' performances on the second live show
Contestant Order Song Result
Deborah De Ridder 1 "It's Oh So Quiet" Bottom 2
Liv van Aelst 2 "Licence to Kill" Safe
Marian van Klaveren 3 "9 to 5" Safe
Ellen Vandervieren 4 "Stepping Stone" Safe
Sandra Paelinck 5 "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" Safe
Helen Geets 6 "One Moment in Time" Eliminated
Elisabeth Herman 7 "Fever" Safe
Fleur Brusselmans 8 "Hopelessly Devoted to You" Safe
Katrien Smets 9 "Love Song" Safe
Elke Buyle 10 "I Don't Want to Dance" Safe
  • Sing-off:
    • Deborah De Ridder and Helen Geets were in the sing-off, and performed "I Know Him So Well" from the musical Chess.
    • Albert Verlinde chose to save Deborah and bid farewell to Helen.

Week 3 (April 22, 2009)[]

The show performances were:

Contestants' performances on the third live show
Contestant Order Song Result
Katrien Smets 1 "Sparkling Diamonds" Safe
Sandra Paelinck 2 "One Day I'll Fly Away" Bottom 2
Elke Buyle 3 "Dag vreemde man" Safe
Ellen Vandervieren 4 "Cabaret" Eliminated
Marian van Klaveren 5 "Sway" Safe
Liv van Aelst 6 "Because of You" Safe
Fleur Brusselmans 7 "The Boy Does Nothing" Safe
Deborah De Ridder 8 "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" Safe
Elisabeth Herman 9 "Papa" Safe

Week 4 (April 29, 2009)[]

The show performances were:

  • Group performances:
    • "The Sound of Music" (from the musical The Sound of Music)
    • "Dreamgirls" (from the musical Dreamgirls)
Contestants' performances on the fourth live show
Contestant Order Song Result
Fleur Brusselmans 1 "Big Spender" Safe
Liv van Aelst 2 "Hij kan niet zonder mij (As Long as He Needs Me)" Safe
Elisabeth Herman 3 "If I Were a Boy" Bottom 2
Deborah De Ridder 4 "Mannen (Men)" Safe
Sandra Paelinck 5 "Al de jazz (All That Jazz)" Eliminated
Marian van Klaveren 6 "Afscheid nemen bestaat niet" Safe
Elke Buyle 7 "Mamma Mia" Safe
Katrien Smets 8 "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" Safe
  • Sing-off:
    • Elisabeth Herman and Sandra Paelinck were in the sing-off, and performed "For Once in My Life" by Stevie Wonder.
    • Albert Verlinde chose to save Elisabeth and bid farewell to Sandra.

Week 5 (May 6, 2009)[]

The show performances were:

Contestants' performances on the fifth live show
Contestant Order Song Result
Elke Buyle 1 "Non, je ne regrette rien" Safe
Liv van Aelst 2 "I Feel Pretty Safe
Elisabeth Herman 3 "Shout" Safe
Katrien Smets 4 "Na Die Ontmoeting (Now That I've Seen Her)" Safe
Fleur Brusselmans 5 "Brussel" Safe
Marian van Klaveren 6 "Makin' Whoopee" Withdrew
Deborah De Ridder 7 "When You Believe" Safe
  • Sing-off:
    • Due to Marian van Klaveren's withdrawal, there was no sing-off that week.

Week 6 (May 13, 2009)[]

The show performances were:

  • Group performances:
    • "I Have Confidence" (from the musical The Sound of Music)
    • "Do-Re-Mi" (from the musical The Sound of Music) featuring the children, who will play as the Von Trapp children in the upcoming Flemish revival of The Sound of Music
    • "Cell Block Tango" (from the musical Chicago)
Contestants' performances on the sixth live show
Contestant Order Song Result
Deborah De Ridder "Ik leef voor jou" Safe
Elisabeth Herman "Het is over" Eliminated
Elke Buyle "Huil niet om mij, Argentina (Don't Cry for Me Argentina)" Safe
Fleur Brusselmans "I Could Have Danced All Night" Safe
Katrien Smets "Hij speelt een spel (May Be I Like It This Way)" Safe
Liv van Aelst "Roxanne" Bottom two
  • Sing-off:
    • Elisabeth Herman and Liv van Aelst were in the sing-off, and performed "De roos" by Ann Christy.
    • Albert Verlinde chose to save Liv and bid farewell to Elisabeth.

Week 7 (May 20, 2009)[]

In the quarter-final, the seventh Maria to be eliminated was Elke. The show performances were:

Contestants' performances on the seventh live show
Contestant Order First song Order Second song Result
Deborah De Ridder "Buenos Aires" " (On My Own)" Safe
Elke Buyle "Meisje en het beest (Beauty and the Beast)" "Good Morning Baltimore" Eliminated
Fleur Brusselmans "Jij woont in mijn hart (You'll Be in My Heart)" "Popular" Safe
Katrien Smets " (I'm a Brass Band)" "Maybe This Time" Safe
Liv van Aelst "Get Happy" "Al je koffers op de gang maar weer (Another Suitcase in Another Hall)" Eliminated
  • Sing-off:
    • Elke Buyle and Liv van Aelst were in the sing-off, and performed "The Winner Takes It All" from the musical Mamma Mia.
    • Albert Verlinde chose to save Liv and bid farewell to Elke.

Week 8 (May 27, 2009)[]

In the semi-final, the eighth and final Maria to be eliminated was Katrien. The show performances were:

Contestants' performances on the eighth live show
Contestant Order First song Order Second song Result
Deborah De Ridder "Minutewals" "Memory" Safe
Fleur Brusselmans "Het glipt door m'n vingers (Slipping Through My Fingers)" "If You Hadn't, But You Did" Bottom 2
Katrien Smets "Love You I Do" "Zalig zijn (Wouldn't It Be Loverly)" Eliminated
Liv van Aelst "Anyone Who Had a Heart" "Een nieuw leven (A New Life)" Safe
  • Sing-off:
    • Fleur Brusselmans and Katrien Smets were in the sing-off, and performed "Let It Be " by The Beatles.
    • Albert Verlinde chose to save Fleur and bid farewell to Katrien.

Week 9 (June 3, 2009)[]

The show performances were:

  • Group performances:
    • Finalists and former Marias: "Kunnen we iets beginnen met Maria (How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?)" (from the musical The Sound of Music)
    • Deborah and Fleur: "Ik kan heel de wereld aan (I Have Confidence)" (from the musical The Sound of Music)
Contestants' performances on the ninth live show
Act Order Song of the Series Order The Sound of Music song Order Song Result
Deborah De Ridder "Voor wie gelooft (When You Believe)" "De boer en de boerin (The Lonely Goatherd)" "Astonishing" Winner
Fleur Brusselmans "The Boy Does Nothing" "Do-Re-Mi" (Dutch version) "Ik ben de perfectie" (Practically Perfect)" Runner-up
Liv van Aelst "Hij kan niet zonter mij (As Long as He Needs Me)" "Iets waar ik zielsveel van hou (My Favorite Things)" N/A N/A (already eliminated) 3rd Place (Eliminated)

Netherlands[]

Finalists[]

Finalists
Finalist Age & Date of Birth * Dress Colour Status
Sylvia Boone 29 (3 July 1991) Royal Blue Eliminated 1st in week 1
Willemijn Maandag 25 (25 December 1995) Light Pink Eliminated 2nd in week 2
Sanne Den Besten 29 (23 May 1991) Bright Green Eliminated 3rd in week 3
Renée De Gruijl 27 (22 March 1993) Hot Pink Eliminated 4th in week 4
Anouk Van Laake 25 (5 October 1995) Yellow-Green Eliminated 5th in week 5
Jolijn Henneman 29 (14 September 1991) Purple Eliminated 6th-7th in week 6
Valerie Curlingford 31 (3 December 1989) Daisy Yellow Eliminated 6th-7th in week 6
Tessa Sunniva Van Tol 29 (9 September 1991) Sea Blue Third place
Natascha Molly 25 (25 December 1995) Salmon Orange Second place
Nandi Van Beurden 30 (18 February 1991) Italian Red Winner

Live shows[]

The live shows saw the finalists eliminated one by one following both individual and group performances. Once eliminated, the leaving contestant ended the programme by leading a performance of "Bergen of Dalen" (Climb Every Mountain) from The Sound of Music with the remaining contestants, Unlike the Flemish version of Op zoek naar Maria and the British and Canadian versions of How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria, which their elimination song was "So Long, Farewell" (Tot snel, vaarwel) from The Sound of Music. After being announced as the winner, Nandi concluded the show with a performance of "Iets Waar Ik Zielsveel Van Hou" (My Favorite Things).

Jury's favourite Maria[]

Liveshows Carline Brouwer Richard Groenendijk Jamai Loman
Liveshow 1 Natascha Molly Sanne den Besten Nandi van Beurden
Liveshow 2 Nandi van Beurden Nandi van Beurden Renée de Gruijl
Liveshow 3 Valerie Curlingford Natascha Molly Nandi van Beurden
Liveshow 4 Nandi van Beurden Jolijn Henneman Nandi van Beurden
Liveshow 5 Tessa Sunniva Van Tol Tessa Sunniva Van Tol Nandi van Beurden
Liveshow 6 Natascha Molly Natascha Molly Natascha Molly
Liveshow 7 * Natascha Molly Nandi van Beurden
  • (*) Carline couldn't make a choice

Elimination chart[]

Place Contestant Show 1 Show 2 Show 3 Show 4 Show 5 Show 6 Show 7
1 Nandi Van Beurden Winner
2 Natascha Molly Runner-up
3 Tessa Sunniva Van Tol Btm 2 Btm 3 Third Place
4 Valerie Curlingford Btm 2 Btm 2 Elim
5 Jolijn Henneman Elim
6 Anouk Van Laake Btm 2 Elim
7 Renée De Gruijl Elim
8 Sanne Den Besten Elim
9 Willemijn Maandag Btm 2 Elim
10 Sylvia Boone Elim

Performances[]

Nandi Van Beurden

Natascha Molly

Tessa Sunniva Van Tol

Valerie Curlingford

Jolijn Henneman

Anouk Van Laake

Renée De Gruijl

  • Week 1 - Somebody to Love
  • Week 2 - Hopelessly Devoted To You
  • Week 3 - Geef mij nu je angst
  • Week 4 - Zeur Niet

Sanne Den Besten

Willemijn Maandag

Sylvia Boone

  • Week 1 - Duurt Te Lang

Opening songs

Group songs

Group of 3 people songs (Week 5 only)

  • Nandi, Natascha & Valerie - Love Me Just A Little Bit More
  • Tessa, Jolijn & Anouk - Candyman

Sing-offs

  • Week 1 - Sylvia & Willemijn - Hallelujah
  • Week 2 - Willemijn & Anouk - Laat Me
  • Week 3 - Sanne & Tessa - Zonder jou
  • Week 4 - Valerie & Renée - I Know Him So Well
  • Week 5 - Anouk & Valerie - Avond
  • Week 6 - Valerie, Jolijn & Tessa - Nog één kans

The Bottom 2 or 3 Marias voted by the public each week had to sing a contrasting song, then Pia Douwes would choose one of them to carry on in the competition.

References[]

  1. ^ Matthias De Boeck (23 March 2009). "Sound of Music - Central Station Antwerp (Belgium)". Archived from the original on 20 December 2021 – via YouTube.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""