Stars in Their Eyes
Stars in Their Eyes is a British television talent show that ran on Saturdays nights from 21 July 1990 until 23 December 2006 in which contestants impersonate showbiz stars. It was made by Granada Television (later ITV Productions for ITV, based on Joop van den Ende's Dutch format, Soundmixshow.
It remains one of the UK's most successful shows 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 Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard, Cher, George Michael and Madonna.
Overview
Stars in Their Eyes is a talent show where contestants get the chance to appear and sing, 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.
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 (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 series finale, the live grand final.
In the live grand final, the winners of each show return and perform once more. At the end of the performances, the phone lines open and the viewing public get the chance to phone in and vote for their favourite. The winner is announced later the same evening in a separate broadcast.
Over the years the show saw a lot of changes: changes from the 1990 set designed by Nick King; a new set in 1998, also designed by Nick King and the newest set in 2002; the logo also changed over the years. There have been five hosts: Leslie Crowther, Russ Abbot (one-off emergency host after Leslie's car accident), Matthew Kelly, Davina McCall and Cat Deeley. There have been several spin-off versions of the show as well, including:
- Stars in Their Eyes Elvis Special
- Stars in Their Eyes Kids
- Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes
- Christmas Stars in Their Eyes
- Coronation Street Stars in Their Eyes
- Stars in Euro Eyes
Series 2000 winner Gary Mullen received the most ever votes in the history of Stars in Their Eyes when he received 864,838 votes. Gary now performs at theatres and arenas around the world as Freddie Mercury with his One Night of Queen show.
Overseas Format
New Zealand: In 2008, a New Zealand version of Stars in Their Eyes began screening on TVNZ, TV ONE The show, hosted by former children's television presenter and game show host Simon Barnett, is filmed in Auckland and produced by 'Imagination' TV. Season One winner was Deryn Trainer singing Billy Joel's "Piano Man". A second series began screening on TV ONE on April 28, 2009
Italy: A show with the same format shows on Canale 5, called Sei un mito ("You are a myth").
Sweden: The formate was translated to Swedish television by TV4 with the name Sikta mot stjänorna ("Aim for the stars")
Transmissions
Original series
| Series |
Start date |
End date |
Episodes |
|
1
|
21 July 1990
|
25 August 1990
|
6
|
|
2
|
8 June 1991
|
13 July 1991
|
6
|
|
3
|
22 February 1992
|
28 March 1992
|
6
|
|
4
|
22 May 1993
|
24 July 1993
|
10
|
|
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
|
Junior series
| Series |
Start date |
End date |
Episodes |
|
Pilot
|
21 July 2001
|
1
|
|
1
|
31 August 2002
|
5 October 2002
|
6
|
|
2
|
5 April 2003
|
31 May 2003
|
9
|
|
3
|
20 March 2004
|
15 May 2004
|
9
|
|
4
|
21 January 2006
|
18 March 2006
|
9
|
Specials
| Date |
Entitle |
|
28 December 1991
|
Christmas Special
|
|
15 February 1992
|
Stars in Their Eyes Special
|
|
2 January 1993
|
Elvis Special
|
|
1 January 1994
|
New Year's Special
|
|
7 May 1994
|
Stars in Their Eyes Special
|
|
24 December 1994
|
Winners' Special
|
|
23 December 1995
|
Christmas Special
|
|
2 December 1998
|
Celebrity Special
|
|
9 October 1999
|
Celebrity Special
|
|
30 October 1999
|
Champion of Champions Special
|
|
1 January 2000
|
Celebrity Special
|
|
1 July 2000
|
Celebrity Special
|
|
16 September 2000
|
Celebrity Special
|
|
26 December 2000
|
Christmas Special
|
|
14 April 2001
|
Stars in Euro Eyes
|
|
6 October 2001
|
Popstars in their Eyes Special
|
|
24 November 2001
|
Coronation Street Special
|
|
25 December 2001
|
Christmas Special
|
|
4 May 2002
|
Celebrity Divas Special
|
|
11 May 2002
|
Coronation Street Special
|
|
17 August 2002
|
Popstars Special
|
|
12 October 2002
|
Celebrity Special
|
|
26 October 2002
|
European Championship Part 1
|
|
2 November 2002
|
European Championship Part 2
|
|
28 December 2002
|
Celebrity Christmas Special
|
|
1 February 2003
|
Legends Special
|
|
8 February 2003
|
Coronation Street Special
|
|
22 February 2003
|
Soapstars Special
|
|
16 August 2003
|
I'm a Celebrity Special
|
|
23 August 2003
|
Soapstars Special
|
|
27 December 2003
|
Christmas Celebrity Special
|
|
24 April 2004
|
Celebrity Special
|
|
1 May 2004
|
Soapstars Special
|
|
8 May 2004
|
Celebrity Special
|
|
26 June 2004
|
Celebrity Special
|
|
3 July 2004
|
Soapstars Special
|
|
17 July 2004
|
Celebrity Special
|
|
18 December 2004
|
Celebrity Special
|
|
2 April 2005
|
Celebrity Special
|
|
23 July 2005
|
Celebrity Special
|
|
30 July 2005
|
Soapstars Special
|
|
6 August 2005
|
Reality TV Stars Special
|
|
13 August 2005
|
Celebrity Special
|
|
24 December 2005
|
Celebrity Duets
|
|
7 January 2006
|
Family Special
|
|
25 March 2006
|
Celebrity Special
|
|
1 April 2006
|
Celebrity Special
|
|
8 April 2006
|
Celebrity Special
|
|
23 December 2006
|
Celebrity Special
|
1998
1999
2000-2001
Celebrities who performed during episodes during this period. The first one is a complete episode. The second one is a list of celebrities who appeared on the show during the period. There are at least two episodes featured in the list as Tracie Bennett and Claire Sweeney have won their show.
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
Note: This episode was filmed in 2006 but has not yet aired, although there are many reports that Roxanne Pallett was the winner of this particular show.
External links