Stars in Their Eyes

Stars in Their Eyes
Genre	Talent show
Created by	Joop van den Ende; Henny Huisman
Presented by	Leslie Crowther (1990–1992); Russ Abbot (1993 Elvis special); Matthew Kelly (1993–2004) ; Davina McCall (2003 specials); Cat Deeley (2003–2006); Harry Hill (2015)
Voices of	Peter Dickson; Sally Lindsay; Andrew Brittain
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	17 (main series); 4 (kids series)
No. of episodes	172 (main series); 33 (kids series) (list of episodes)
Production
Production location(s)	Granada Studios (1990–2006); Elstree Studios (2015)
Running time	30 minutes (1990–93); 45 minutes (1994–2006); 65 minutes (2015)
Production company(s)	Granada in association with J. E. Entertainment and Action Time (1990–2006); Initial (2015)
Distributor	ITV Studios; Endemol UK
Release
Original network	ITV
Picture format	4:3 (1990–2000); 16:9 (2001–06, 2015)
Original release	Original series; 21 July 1990 – 13 March 2006; Revived series ; 10 January 2015 – 14 February 2015
Chronology
Related shows	Soundmixshow; Your Face Sounds Familiar
External links
	Official website
	Production website

Stars in Their Eyes is a British television talent show, based on Joop van den Ende’s Dutch format Soundmixshow. It featured a singing contest in which members of the public impersonate showbiz stars. Each contestant would walk through ‘smoky’ doors before instantly reappearing dressed up as their chosen star. A number of celebrity specials and a childrens’ spin-off series have also aired during the original run.

The show premiered on 21 July 1990 and ran until 23 December 2006. It was produced by Granada for ITV and originally presented by Leslie Crowther. Matthew Kelly took over in May 1993, before he was replaced by Cat Deeley in 2004. An Elvis Presley special hosted by Russ Abbot aired in January 1993, as well as 2003 specials hosted by Davina McCall. A six-part revival hosted by Harry Hill ran from 10 January 2015 to 14 February 2015, before it was reported on 17 April that it had been axed by ITV due to low ratings.^[1]

It remains one of Britain's most successful shows of all time, attracting around 13 million viewers for the live grand final at the end of each series. It has one of the most memorable catchphrases in TV history: "Tonight (presenter name), I'm going to be..." and was named most popular entertainment show at the National Television Awards in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000.

The most impersonated stars are Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, Cher, George Michael, Celine Dion, Kylie Minogue and Madonna.

History

In February 1990, Leslie Crowther was chosen as the host of the show which began airing on 21 July 1990. Crowther hosted the first three series, and a Christmas Special in 1991. At the time of his car accident in October 1992, he was booked to record an Elvis Presley special hosted by Russ Abbot and a fourth series hosted by Matthew Kelly in 1993.

It then became apparent that Crowther would not be able to return and he later died in 1996. Therefore, Kelly hosted the show until 13 March 2004. However in January 2003 Kelly was arrested by police over allegations of child sex abuse resulting in Davina McCall temporarily hosting the show before Kelly returned in August 2003 after the charges were dropped. Kelly also hosted the 2001 pilot episode and first series of the kids version (in 2002).

Cat Deeley, who previously took over as host of the kids version in 2003, was Kelly's replacement for the final adult series in 2005. Deeley also hosted a number of specials in 2004. Deeley hosted the show until its final episode in December 2006.

Overview

Stars in Their Eyes is a talent show where contestants get the chance to appear and sing live as a famous singer. The show is most importantly a 'soundalike' show, but they are also dressed up to look as close as possible to the singer they are impersonating, often with wigs and heavy makeup.

Format

Heats

The contestants appear firstly as themselves, talking briefly to the host about their lives and giving clues as to who they are going to be performing as, finishing with the now famous catchphrase 'Tonight [presenter name] I'm going to be...' The contestants then disappear through the equally famous doors, and reappear as the famous singer they are going to impersonate about five minutes later (The word 'singer' could be used loosely as in 1997 Julian Clary who is not known for his vocal skills was impersonated on the show by Steve Edward).

At the end of the show, the studio audience vote for their favourite, and the winner is announced. The winners from each show in the series return for the grand final to perform once more.

Grand Final

1990–1992

In the original Leslie Crowther version, the grand finals were pre-recorded and the winner of the whole series was voted for by the studio audience.

1993–2006

When Matthew Kelly took over, the grand finals were broadcast live and the winner of the whole series was voted for by the viewing public through the phone lines and in some years online as well. The winner was announced later on that same evening in a separate broadcast.

The same process applied during Cat Deeley's tenure as host.

2015

Harry Hill took over on 10 January 2015, with all episodes pre-recorded by BBC Studios and Post Production at the BBC's Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, and the winner of each show again voted for by the studio audience. The revival proved divisive - fans of the original format were critical of it, saying that Harry Hill had made the show about him rather than the contestants; while others acknowledged that the revival was a post-modern parody of the original, with its knowing ridicule of talent show cliches such as terrible performances being overpraised, and the actions of the presenter receiving high editorial focus to distract from the outdated performance element being thinly stretched.^[2] Each episode features Harry being pursued by Adele (really a look-alike) for being in possession of her baby and would comically chase him until she got the baby back.

In April 2015, it was announced that due to poor viewing figures, ITV would not be renewing the show for another series, and it was axed.^[3]

Episode guide

Transmissions

Series

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes	Host
1	21 July 1990	25 August 1990	6	Leslie Crowther
2	8 June 1991	13 July 1991	6
3	22 February 1992	28 March 1992	6
4	22 May 1993	24 July 1993	10	Matthew Kelly
5	14 May 1994	16 July 1994	10
6	6 May 1995	8 July 1995	10
7	2 March 1996	25 May 1996	13
8	15 March 1997	7 June 1997	13
9	21 March 1998	13 June 1998	13
10	13 March 1999	5 June 1999	13
11	11 March 2000	20 May 2000	11
12	23 September 2000	2 December 2000	11
13	5 May 2001	14 July 2001	11
14	16 February 2002	27 April 2002	11
15	3 January 2004	13 March 2004	11
16	15 January 2005	26 March 2005	11	Cat Deeley
17	10 January 2015	14 February 2015	6	Harry Hill