Op zoek naar Mary Poppins


Op zoek naar Mary Poppins is a 2009 talent show-themed television series produced by the AVRO in the Netherlands and broadcast on AVRO.
It premiered in late August 2009. The show searched for a new, unknown lead to play Mary Poppins in a Dutch production of the Dutch musical Mary Poppins.
It was the third Dutch talent show to be produced by the AVRO/Willem Nijholt, after Op zoek naar Evita which aired in 2007 and Op zoek naar Joseph which aired in 2008. Op zoek naar Zorro aired in late 2010, Op zoek naar Annie aired in 2012, Op zoek naar Maria aired in 2021 and Op zoek naar Danny & Sandy aired in late 2022.
The show was hosted by Frits Sissing with Willem Nijholt again overseeing the programme.
In the final, on 24 January, Noortje Herlaar was announced as the winner of the series.
WWW avro.nl/tv/programmas_a-z...

Format

Expert panel

To assess and train the potential Marys and judge them during the live shows, an expert panel was chosen. The panel included:

Weekly format

The show opens with a group number by the Marys. Each Mary then performs a song, with feedback provided by the panel and Nijholt. The public votes for the contestant they wish to keep in the show. After the results of the public vote have been processed, the two Marys with the fewest votes enter a "sing-off". Nijholt then chooses which Mary from the "sing-off" to save each week. The eliminated Mary has her umbrella and coat stripped off by the surviving Mary and then takes the lead in their sing-out medley of "Een klein schepje suiker '" and "Alles kan '".

Finalists

Eleven potential Marys made it through the audition rounds and performed during the live shows.
FinalistAge & Date of Birth *Coat colourStatus
Eefje Thomassen27 Light pinkEliminated 1st in week 1
Suzanne de Heij28 LilacEliminated 2nd in week 1
Bente van den Brand26 OrangeEliminated 3rd in week 2
Angenita van der Mee22 Dark pinkEliminated 4th in week 3
Simone Breukink22 Lime greenEliminated 5th in week 4
Carmen Danen21 RedEliminated 6th in week 5
Willemijn de Vries24 BlueEliminated 7th in week 6
Irene Borst26 GreenEliminated 8th in week 7
Rosalie de Jong24 PurpleThird place
Sophie Veldhuizen26 Pale BlueSecond place
Noortje Herlaar24 YellowWinner

* at the start of the contest

Live shows

Week one (6 December)

Eefje was the first Mary to be eliminated in the Results show on Sunday followed by Suzanne who was the second Mary to be eliminated.
The show performances were:

Week two (13 December)

Bente was the third Mary to be eliminated in the Results show on Sunday
The show performances were:

Week three (20 December)

Angenita was the fourth Mary to be eliminated in the Results show on Sunday.
The show performances were:

Week four (27 December)

Simone was the fifth Mary to be eliminated in the Results show on Sunday
The show performances were:

Week five (3 January)

Carmen was the sixth Mary to be eliminated in the Results show on Sunday.
The show performances were:

Week six (10 January)

Week six was the quarter-final stage of the series.
Willemijn was the seventh Mary to be eliminated in the Results show on Sunday.
The show performances were:

Week seven (17 January)

Week seven was the semi-final stage of the series.
Irene was the eighth Mary to be eliminated in the Results show on Sunday – the last time Nijholt has any say in the vote.
The show performances were:

Week-eight (24 January)

Week eight was the final week of the show and the Grand-final when the winning Mary was revealed. Both shows aired live on Sunday with the main show and the Results show. The finalists were Noortje Herlaar, Rosalie de Jong and Sophie Veldhuizen. Noortje was the winner.
With all the decisions now being from the public vote, the voting lines opened at the start of Show One. At the end of Show One, the finalist with the lowest number of viewers votes, Rosalie was eliminated and therefore finished third. The voting lines then re-opened to vote for the series winner, with all the votes cast for the remaining two Marys carried over. Then in Show Two the final two Marys went head-to-head before the winner was announced as Noortje.
All eleven Mary finalists also performed. In Show two both Noortje and Sophie performed "Alles kan als jij het '".
The show performances were:
The final vote was then announced and it was revealed that the winner was Noortje Herlaar.