"Load of tosh innit" remarked Stoat disconsolantly, poking the fire beneath the cawldron with a burnt stick "But on a wet Tuesday stuck in Twm Sion Cati's Cave there ain't a lot to do, I like that Alex James and his wild eyes though, I got a Blur cd somewhere"

"Life is just a blur to you sometimes" remarked Badger

"Yeah" riposted Stoat "And you only wanted to see Jane Asher fall flat on her arse"

"Something like that" muttered Badger hastily leaving the cave.

On that showing, I'd audition several sopranos out of the LSO Chorus.

I think that's my cue to try and get rid of my reputation, so I'll keep it zipped for a bit.

I think I'll persevere with Maestro.  Whether the results are good bad or indifferent, I like seeing how the students have changed from week to week.  And as time goes by we may get to see more of the learning than the 'performing'.

I thought Goldie was worse this week than last, and yet the judges rewarded him for learning some technique - I think to make up for being harsh last week.  I thought Walsh was way better than James.  Derham had a toughie with the Mozart, but could have elicited the same response about pulling out shapes from the orchestra that Asher got, who at least she didn't make a complete a**e of herself this week.  Perkins was fine, in fact very good.

Overall I think I agree with Martlew's observations - she obviously has it in for Asher and Derham, and although we weren't privy to the eleven identical repetitions of Asher's rehearsal, I can fully see that it may well be the case.  The other thing I hate about Asher's waving is that it is so limp wristed - she needs to move more from the upper arm.

Sad to see Walsh go instead of James.  Asher and James should have been in the orchestra vote.  Walsh at least had a beat that moved like a proper conductor's.

Tommo

I wanted to learn as much as I could about conducting, but I'm afraid it just bores the pants off me now.   The first episode was really good and I was pleasantly surprised, but now it's.... well.......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Now now, you can say all you like about his conducting but I won't stand by sliently and have Blur slated.  This may be slightly coloured by the fact that I was a student when they were at the height of their fame and I have happy memories of bounding around a nightclub to Song 2 and Girls and Boys.  They were good at what they did - you can't deny that, even if you didn't like it.   

That said, he is so out next week, I never thought he'd escape last night. He appears to have no control of his arms and he looks terrified. 

I'd say Asher and James on the basis that I think I heard them say that two leave next week.

I caught up with this on iPlayer this morning. I thought Katie Derhem actually did quite well on the basis that she had to deal with four different choral parts coming in at different times and she paid some attention to the orchestra.

Have been watching a bit of tonight's show. Ugh.

The thing that strikes me is this: 99% of conducting success is down to rehearsal technique. Anyone in the business will tell you that. What happens on the podium in performance is largely window dressing, and the real skill is in getting the most out of a few hours in rehearsal with a large group of people, many of whom turn up late anyway with lame excuses. And yet we don't get to see how the candidates handle rehearsals (do we?).

Also, I wonder what the deal with the BBCCO is over rehearsal time. I know these are Beeb-contracted players, but the in-house economy of the BBC these days makes retaining them for more than one three-hour rehearsal pretty costly. I very much doubt any episode got more time than that.

And finally, I know a couple of people in that orchestra, both of whom tell me it's a total farce: the players take practically no notice of what happens on the podium, and are playing on autopilot, without thinking and with a view to the bonus on their paychecks. Sad but true, I fear.

Pah! After a very good start that showed us lay bods some really very informative behind the-scenes stuff. it's just fallen flat on it's face. And now, the final vote is to be decided by the viewers.Beeb window dressing ,signifying bugler all. Katie Derham's frock performed well though. The orchestra and singers could have performed blindfold without the aid of a 'conductor'. Probably have done all the way through. Classical Idol.