Op zoek naar Evita
Op zoek naar Evita was a 2007 talent show-themed television series produced by the AVRO in the Netherlands. It documented the search for a new, undiscovered musical theatre performer to play the role of Eva Peron in the 2008 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Evita.
The show was hosted by Frits Sissing who announced Brigitte Heitzer as the winner of the final public telephone vote on 21 October 2007 and masterminded by Willem Nijholt.
It became the first of a series of the Dutch themed talent contests to be produced by the AVRO in collaboration with Willem Nijholt. Op zoek naar Joseph followed in 2008 to find a new male lead for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and in 2009 it will be followed by Op zoek naar Mary Poppins searching for a new lead to play Mary Poppins in a production of the musical Mary Poppins.
Format
Expert panel
To assess and train the potential Evitas and judge them during the live shows, an expert panel was chosen. The panel included:- Willem Nijholt – actor and singer.
- Peter Van de Velde – Flemish actor from Belgium
- Erwin van Lambaart –
- Pia Douwes –
Live finals
Nijholt had no say in the final casting decision, when in the concluding edition of the series it was left to the public to choose who should play Evita out of the final two contenders, Brigitte Heitzer and Suzan Seegers. After more votes were cast, the winning entrant was revealed as Heitzer, who won a contract to play Evita at the Nieuwe Luxor Theater in Rotterdam.
Finalists
Ten potential Evitas made it through the auditions process to perform during the live shows.| Finalist | Age* | Date of birth | Dress colour | Status |
| Tineke Blok | 25 | 21 April 1982 | Light pink | Eliminated 1st in week 1 |
| Sabina Petra | 26 | 23 April 1981 | Light green | Eliminated 2nd in week 2 |
| Sophie Veldhuizen | 24 | 6 March 1983 | Dark pink | Eliminated 3rd in week 3 |
| Babette Holtman | 26 | 27 May 1981 | Orange | Eliminated 4th in week 4 |
| Wieneke Remmers | 28 | 12 August 1978 | Light blue | Eliminated 5th in week 5 |
| Anne Stalman | 25 | 29 November 1981 | Dark green | Eliminated 6th in week 6 |
| Marleen van der Loo | 37 | 2 January 1970 | Dark blue | Eliminated 7th in week 7 |
| Marjolein Teepen | 27 | 6 August 1980 | Yellow | Third place |
| Suzan Seegers | 26 | 13 November 1980 | Purple | Second place |
| Brigitte Heitzer | 28 | 23 August 1979 | Red | Winner |
Results summary
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 receiving a suitcase and leading a performance of "Dag en bedankt nog '\Jij blijft bij mij '" from Evita with the remaining contestants.Week 1 (September 2, 2007)
Following the first week of competition, Tineke was the first Evita to be eliminated from the competition. The show performances were:- Group performances:
- *"Dreamgirls"
- *"Rhythm of the Night"
| Contestant | Order | Song | Result |
| Marjolein Teepen | 1 | "Flashdance... What a Feeling" | Safe |
| Anne Stalman | 2 | "One Moment in Time" | Safe |
| Sabina Petra | 3 | "Als ze mij zo zouwen zien '" | Safe |
| Wieneke Remmers | 4 | " One Day I'll Fly Away" | Safe |
| Tineke Blok | 5 | "These Boots Are Made for Walking" | Eliminated |
| Marleen van der Loo | 6 | "Inspiratie" | Safe |
| Brigitte Heitzer | 7 | "It's Oh So Quiet" | Safe |
| Babette Holtman | 8 | "The Way We Were" | Safe |
| Sophie Veldhuizen | 9 | "Cabaret" | Bottom 2 |
| Suzan Seegers | 10 | "Because of You" | Safe |
- Jury's favourite Evita:
- *Erwin van Lambaart: Suzan
- *Pia Douwes: Suzan
- *Peter Van de Velde: Brigitte
- Sing-off:'
- *Tineke Blok and Sophie Veldhuizen were in the sing-off, and performed "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from the musical Jesus Christ Superstar''.
- *Willem Nijholt chose to save Sophie and say "Goodnight and Thank You" to Tineke.
Week 2 (September 9, 2007)
- Group performances:
- *"Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend"
- *"Can't Help Falling in Love"
| Contestant | Order | Song | Result |
| Anne Stalman | 1 | "Think" | Bottom 2 |
| Sabina Petra | 2 | "Geen kind meer" | Eliminated |
| Marleen van der Loo | 3 | "Fever" | Safe |
| Suzan Seegers | 4 | "Minutenwals" | Safe |
| Sophie Veldhuizen | 5 | "Send in the Clowns" | Safe |
| Brigitte Heitzer | 6 | "I Am What I Am" | Safe |
| Marjolein Teepen | 7 | "Over the Rainbow" | Safe |
| Babette Holtman | 8 | "I'm Every Woman" | Safe |
| Wieneke Remmers | 9 | "New York, New York" | Safe |
- Jury's favourite Evita:
- *Erwin van Lambaart: Marleen
- *Pia Douwes: Wieneke
- *Peter Van de Velde: Sabina
- Sing-off:
- *Anne Stalman and Sabina Petra were in the sing-off, and performed "Memory" from Cats.
- *Willem Nijholt chose to save Anne and say "Goodnight and Thank You" to Sabina.
Week 3 (September 16, 2007)
- Group performances:
- *"Get the Party Started"
- *"Mijn pakkie an '"
| Contestant | Order | Song | Result |
| Babette Holtman | 1 | "Misschien dit keer '" | Safe |
| Brigitte Heitzer | 2 | "Margherita" | Safe |
| Sophie Veldhuizen | 3 | "Waarom zeggen ze nee '" | Eliminated |
| Suzan Seegers | 4 | "All by Myself" | Safe |
| Anne Stalman | 5 | "Na die ontmoeting '" | Bottom 2 |
| Wienke Remmers | 6 | " Telkens weer" | Safe |
| Marjolein Teepen | 7 | "Geen wolken voor mijn zon '" | Safe |
| Marleen van der Loo | 8 | "I Will Always Love You" | Safe |
- Jury's favourite Evita:
- *Erwin van Lambaart: Suzan
- *Pia Douwes: Marleen
- *Peter Van de Velde: Wieneke
- Sing-off:'
- *Sophie Veldhuizen and Anne Stalman were in the sing-off, and performed "Beauty and the Beast" from the same title''.
- *Willem Nijholt chose to save Anne and say "Goodnight and Thank You" to Sophie.
Week 4 (September 23, 2007)
- Group performances:
- *"We Go Together"
- *"Take a Chance on Me"
| Contestant | Order | Song | Result |
| Suzan Seegers | 1 | "Ik geloof '" | Safe |
| Marleen van der Loo | 2 | "Stuff Like That There" | Safe |
| Marjolein Teepen | 3 | "Ik hou van jou" | Safe |
| Babette Holtman | 4 | "Als ik jou niet krijg '" | Eliminated |
| Anne Stalman | 5 | "Raise the Roof" | Safe |
| Wienke Remmers | 6 | "Take That Look Off Your Face" | Bottom 2 |
| Brigitte Heitzer | 7 | "Hij kan niet zonder mij '" | Safe |
- Jury's favourite Evita:
- *Erwin van Lambaart: Babette
- *Pia Douwes: Babette
- *Peter Van de Velde: Babette
- Sing-off:
- *Babette Holtman and Wieneke Remmers were in the sing-off, and performed "Heel alleen '" from Les Misérables.
- *Willem Nijholt chose to save Wieneke and say "Goodnight and Thank You" to Babette.
Week 5 (September 30, 2007)
- Group performances:
- *"Don't Stop Me Now"
- *"Rainbow High"
- *"It's the Hard Knock Life"
| Contestant | Order | Song | Result |
| Wieneke Remmers | 1 | "Dat zegt het hart '" | Eliminated |
| Anne Stalman | 2 | "Jij woont in mijn hart '" | Bottom two |
| Brigitte Heitzer | 3 | "A Piece of Sky" | Safe |
| Marjolein Teepen | 4 | "De man van La Mancha '" | Safe |
| Marleen van der Loo | 5 | "Het Dorp" | Safe |
| Suzan Seegers | 6 | "Big Spender" | Safe |
- Jury's favourite Evita:
- *Erwin van Lambaart: Marjolein
- *Pia Douwes: Marjolein
- *Peter Van de Velde: Marjolein
- Sing-off:
- *Wieneke Remmers and Anne Stalman were in the sing-off, and performed "Thuis '" from The Wiz.
- *Willem Nijholt chose to save Anne and say "Goodnight and Thank You" to Wieneke.
Week 6 (October 7, 2007)
- Group performances:
- *"Shout"
- *"Foxtrot "
| Contestant | Order | First song | Order | Second song | Result |
| Brigitte Heitzer | 1 | "Al die jazz '" | 6 | "Somebody to Love" | Safe |
| Marleen van der Loo | 2 | "Tegen alle verwachtingen in" | 7 | "Whatever Lola Wants" | Bottom 2 |
| Suzan Seegers | 3 | "Ik ben een brassband '" | 8 | "Somewhere" | Safe |
| Marjolein Teepen | 4 | "Ik weet het nu '" | 9 | "Let Me Dance for You" | Safe |
| Anne Stalman | 5 | "Mannen '" | 10 | "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" | Eliminated |
- Jury's favourite Evita:
- *Erwin van Lambaart: Marjolein
- *Pia Douwes: Marleen
- *Peter Van de Velde: Brigitte
- Sing-off:
- *Marleen van der Loo and Anne Stalman were in the sing-off, and performed "De winnaar krijgt de macht " from Mamma Mia.
- *Willem Nijholt chose to save Marleen and say "Goodnight and Thank You" to Anne.
Week 7 (October 14, 2007)
- Group performances:
- *""
- *"Ik ben uitzonderlijk goed voor u '" featuring Roberto de Groot, who will play as Juan Perón in the upcoming Dutch revival of Evita
| Contestant | Order | First song | Order | Second song | Result |
| Marleen van der Loo | 1 | "Met één blik '" | 6 | "Woman in the Moon" | Eliminated |
| Suzan Seegers | 2 | "This Is My Life" | 5 | "Jij speelt een spel '" | Safe |
| Brigitte Heitzer | 3 | "Waar bleef die zomer? '" | 8 | "Proud Mary" | Safe |
| Marjolein Teepen | 4 | "Mein Herr" | 7 | "Astonishing" | Bottom 2 |
- Jury's favourite Evita:
- *Erwin van Lambaart: Suzan
- *Pia Douwes: Suzan
- *Peter Van de Velde: Brigitte
- Sing-off:
- *Marleen van der Loo and Marjolein Teepen were in the sing-off, and performed "Één van ons " from Mamma Mia.
- *Willem Nijholt chose to save Marjolein and say "Goodnight and Thank You" to Marleen.
Week 8 (October 21, 2007)
- Group performance:
- *Finalists and former Evitas: "There's No Business Like Show Business"
- *Finalists: "One Night Only"
- *Brigitte and Suzan: "Buenos Aires "
- *Brigitte and Suzan: "Huil niet om mij, Argentina '"
| Contestant | Order | Song | Result |
| Marjolein Teepen | 1 | "Mijn leven is van mij '" | Eliminated |
| Brigitte Heitzer | 2 | "Het is over" | Winner |
| Suzan Seegers | 3 | "Een nieuw leven '" | Runner-up |
- Jury's verdict on who is Evita:
- *Erwin van Lambaart: could not choose between Suzan and Brigitte
- *Pia Douwes: could not choose between Suzan and Brigitte
- *Peter Van de Velde: Brigitte
- *Willem Nijholt: Suzan
- After being announced as the series winner, Brigitte concluded the series with a performance of "Huil niet om mij, Argentina '".
After the series