How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? (Canadian TV series)
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? was a Canadian reality competition television series that aired on CBC Television. It premiered on June 15, 2008 at 8pm EDT, and concluded on July 28, 2008. The show is based on the series of the same name which aired on BBC One in the United Kingdom in 2006. The Canadian version was cancelled after one season.
The premise of the contest was to find a Musical theatre performer to play the role of Maria von Trapp in the 2008 Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Mirvish revival of The Sound of Music at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto. Initial auditions were held in seven Canadian cities. The show was hosted by Gavin Crawford and featured Simon Lee, Elaine Overholt, and John Barrowman as the judges for the show.
The first episode of the show featured the top 50 auditioners at the show's Maria School being cut to 20. The second episode had the Marias performing in front of Lloyd Webber in London, and then the 20 were cut to 10 with his input. Beginning June 22, the Marias performed live in Toronto every Sunday night with a live orchestra. The voting results aired on the following night.
Finalists
Ten contestants made it through the audition rounds and performed during the live shows.| Finalist | Age* | From | Apron Color | Status |
| Alison Jutzi | 29 | Guelph, Ontario | Burgundy | Eliminated 1st in Week 1 |
| Allie Hughes | 22 | Toronto, Ontario | Dark Blue | Eliminated 2nd in Week 2 |
| Katie Kerr | 19 | Windsor, Ontario | Baby Pink | Eliminated 3rd in Week 3 |
| Kyla Tingley | 24 | Dartmouth, Nova Scotia | Hot Pink | Eliminated 4th in Week 3 |
| Donna Lajeunesse | 22 | Bowmanville, Ontario | Orange | Eliminated 5th in Week 4 |
| Tamara Fifield | 21 | Truro, Nova Scotia | Sky Blue | Eliminated 6th in Week 4 |
| Marisa McIntyre | 25 | Waterloo, Ontario | Dark Green | Eliminated 7th in Week 5 |
| Jayme Armstrong | 24 | Richmond, Ontario | Red | Third place |
| Janna Polzin | 24 | Woodstock, Ontario | Lime Green | Second place |
| Elicia MacKenzie | 23 | Surrey, British Columbia | Purple | Winner |
Results summary
Live shows
The live shows saw the finalists eliminated one by one following both individual and group performances. Once eliminated, the leaving contestant ended the program by leading a performance of "So Long, Farewell" from The Sound of Music with the remaining contestants.Week 1 (June 22, 2008)
Following the first week of the competition, Alison was the first Maria to be eliminated from the competition. The show performances were:- Group performances:
- *"How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?"
- *"I Have Confidence"
| Contestant | Order | Song | Result |
| Allie Hughes | 1 | "It's Oh So Quiet" | Safe |
| Kyla Tingley | 2 | "Torn" | Safe |
| Elicia MacKenzie | 3 | "Color My World" | Safe |
| Donna Lajeunesse | 4 | "I Am Changing" | Safe |
| Tamara Fifield | 5 | "Over the Rainbow" | Safe |
| Jayme Armstrong | 6 | "Son of a Preacher Man" | Safe |
| Marisa MacIntyre | 7 | "Jolene" | Bottom 2 |
| Katie Kerr | 8 | "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" | Safe |
| Janna Polzin | 9 | "My Baby Just Cares for Me" | Safe |
| Alison Jutzi | 10 | "I'm Every Woman" | Eliminated |
- Sing-off:
- *Marisa MacIntyre and Alison Jutzi were in the sing-off, and performed "Take That Look Off Your Face" from the musical Tell Me on a Sunday.
- *Simon Lee chose to save Marisa and bid farewell to Alison.
Week 2 (June 29, 2008)
For their individual performances, the contestants sang songs by Canadian artists to celebrate Canada Day.
The show performances were:
- Group performances:
- *"My Favorite Things"
- *"Ain't No Mountain High Enough"
| Contestant | Order | Song | Result |
| Donna Lajeunesse | 1 | "Something to Talk About" | Safe |
| Jayme Armstrong | 2 | "Constant Craving" | Bottom 2 |
| Marisa MacIntyre | 3 | "Seven Day Fool" | Safe |
| Elicia MacKenzie | 4 | "Black Velvet" | Safe |
| Tamara Fifield | 5 | "Complicated" | Safe |
| Allie Hughes | 6 | "I Will Remember You" | Eliminated |
| Janna Polzin | 7 | "Turn Off the Light" | Safe |
| Katie Kerr | 8 | "Insensitive" | Safe |
| Kyla Tingley | 9 | "Dance Me to the End of Love" | Safe |
- Sing-off:
- *Jayme Armstrong and Allie Hughes were in the sing-off, and performed "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" from the musical Evita.
- *Simon Lee chose to save Jayme and bid farewell to Allie.
Week 3 (July 6, 2008)
The show performances were:
- Group performances:
- *"Do-Re-Mi"
- *"Seasons of Love"
| Contestant | Order | Song | Result |
| Katie Kerr | 1 | "Easy to Be Proud" | Eliminated |
| Elicia MacKenzie | 2 | "Cabaret" | Safe |
| Marisa MacIntyre | 3 | "If I Were a Bell" | Safe |
| Janna Polzin | 4 | "Defying Gravity" | Safe |
| Tamara Fifield | 5 | "You Must Love Me" | Bottom 3 |
| Jayme Armstrong | 6 | "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" | Safe |
| Kyla Tingley | 7 | "All That Jazz" | Eliminated |
| Donna Lajeunesse | 8 | "Out of My Dreams" | Safe |
- Sing-off:
- *Katie Kerr, Tamara Fifield and Kyla Tingley were in the sing-off, and performed "Superstar" from the musical Jesus Christ Superstar.
- *Simon Lee chose to save Tamara and bid farewell to Katie and Kyla.
Week 4 (July 13, 2008)
The show performances were:
- Group performances:
- *"The Lonely Goatherd"
- *"Don't Rain on My Parade"
| Contestant | Order | Song | Result |
| Elicia MacKenzie | 1 | "Shout" | Bottom 3 |
| Donna Lajeunesse | 2 | "Bang Bang " | Eliminated |
| Janna Polzin | 3 | "California Dreamin'" | Safe |
| Jayme Armstrong | 4 | "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" | Safe |
| Tamara Fifield | 5 | "You Don't Own Me" | Eliminated |
| Marisa MacIntyre | 6 | "Downtown" | Safe |
- Sing-off:
- *Elicia MacKenzie, Donna Lajeunesse and Tamara Fifield were in the sing-off, and performed "Tell Me on a Sunday" from the musical Tell Me on a Sunday.
- *Simon Lee chose to save Elicia and bid farewell to Donna and Tamara.
Week 5 (July 20, 2008)
The show performances were:
- Group performances:
- *"I Have Confidence"
- *"It's a Grand Night for Singing"
- *"Sway"
| Contestant | Order | Song | Result |
| Janna Polzin | 1 | "Anyone Who Had a Heart" | Safe |
| Elicia MacKenzie | 2 | "You Needed Me" | Safe |
| Jayme Armstrong | 3 | "I Say a Little Prayer" | Bottom 2 |
| Marisa MacIntyre | 4 | "River Deep Mountain High" | Eliminated |
- Sing-off:
- *Jayme Armstrong and Marisa MacIntyre were in the sing-off, and performed "As If We Never Said Goodbye" from the musical Sunset Boulevard.
- *Andrew Lloyd Webber chose to save Jayme and bid farewell to Marisa.
Week 6 (July 27, 2008)
The show performances were:
- Group performances:
- *Finalists: "Anything You Can Do"
- *Finalists: "My Favorite Things"
- *Finalists and former Marias: "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?"
- *Elicia and Janna: "The Sound of Music"
| Contestant | Order | Andrew Lloyd Webber song | Order | Song of the Season | Result |
| Jayme Armstrong | 1 | "I Don't Know How to Love Him" | N/A | N/A | Eliminated |
| Janna Polzin | 2 | "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" | 4 | "Defying Gravity" | Runner-up |
| Elicia MacKenzie | 3 | "Memory" | 5 | "Cabaret" | Winner |
- After being announced as the season winner, Elicia concluded the season with a performance of "The Sound of Music".
After the show
On August 14, 2008 it was announced that runner-up, Janna Polzin, had been cast as an "alternate Maria" for the Toronto stage production. Janna played Maria twice a week, while Elicia will perform the role six times weekly.
Some viewers of the show have claimed that the panel and Lloyd Webber favored Polzin over the other performers in the competition. However, Elicia MacKenzie ended up beating Polzin in the final.