Stars In Their Eyes, 1990
Stars In Their Eyes actually started life in 1989 as a series of non-televised pilot episodes hosted by Chris Tarrant. When the show was commissioned hosting duties fell to Leslie Crowther who hosted the the show from 1990 – 1992. Crowther took a break in 1992 following a tragic car accident, regretfully he never returned.
Initially Russ Abbott took over hosting duties for a one off Christmas special dedicated to the many contestants who had applied to impersonate Elvis Presley.
Matthew Kelly took over presenting duties from series three in 1993 and continued after Crowther announced his retirement in 1994. In 2004 Kelly announced he was leaving the show to concentrate on his acting career.
Cat Deeley took over from Mathew Kelly presenting the final two series. A number of celebrity specials were produced over the run these were hosted by Davina Mc Coll in 2003 and Cat Deeley in 2004. There were also four junior series produced between 2002 and 2006.
In 2015 the show was resurrected for what turned out to be a final six part run, This time comedian Harry Hill took over hosting duties.
The show itself was made by Granada Television for ITV and was based on Joop van den Ende’s Dutch format, Soundmixshow.
Despite being axed Stars In Their Eyes 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.
Summary
Contestants would first appear as themselves, initially this was on set with the presenter, in later series a short film of the person going about their daily business was shown before they appeared on set. Then it was a walk through those famous doors, appearing as their chosen singer at the other side.
In the heats the audience decided the winner of each show who would go on to the Grand Final.
In the first two series hosted by Leslie Crowther, the grand finals were pre-recorded and the winner of the whole series was voted for by the studio audience.
From 1993, 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. The winner was announced later on that same evening in a separate broadcast.
Clips
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Hosts
Leslie Crowther (1990–1992)
Russ Abbot (Elvis Special)
Matthew Kelly (1993–2004)
Davina McCall (Celebrity specials)
Cat Deeley (2004–2006)
Harry Hill (2015)
Details
Channel: ITV
Created By:
Joop van den Ende and Henny Huisman
Produced By: Granada Television
Original Transmission Dates:
original series: 21st July 1990 – 23rd December 2006
revival: 10th January 2015 – 14th February 2015