Author: Fred Bronson

NBCUniversal

The live television performance of The Sound of Music brought plenty of snark to the internet on Thursday night, but all those attitudinal jabs aside, there was plenty of impressive moments to the ambitious undertaking. THR runs down five highlights from NBC’s production.

THE CURTAIN RISES

It was a moment television viewers waited over a year to experience — Carrie Underwood as Maria von Trapp in the beloved stage musical, The Sound of Music. Since NBC issued its press release on Nov. 30, 2012, the anticipation for this live event has been steadily building, lending an extra jolt of electricity to the opening moments of the show. With the realization that after all of the promotion, casting, rehearsing, set-building, choreography and everything else it takes to mount a three-hour broadcast, it was finally happening. Cue the nuns of Nonnberg Abbey and let’s see if anyone makes a mistake in real time.

ROLE OF A LIFETIME

It was impossible to watch The Sound of Music Live without being conscious of the fact that this was a dream role for Carrie Underwood. Already living the life of a fairytale princess thanks to her American Idol win in 2005, the lead role in the beloved family tale just added more enchantment to her story. Growing up, she watched the 1965 film with her mother many times, and now, as an adult, this woman with the golden voice whose life is guided by her faith in God is playing a musical nun who unexpectedly falls in love and marries. Will she ever find a more perfect role?

PHOTOS: Broadway Musicals That Have Sung Their Way to the Big Screen

AN ANGELIC VOICE

Most people have only heard Underwood sing country songs, though Idol viewers who remember season four will recall the blonde girl from Checotah, Oklahoma, performing Heart’s “Alone” and Pat Benatar’s “Love Is a Battlefield,” as well as “Hello, Young Lovers” from The King and I (that same evening, Underwood’s buddy Anthony Fedorov sang “Climb Ev’ry Mountain”). On Thursday’s airing of The Sound of Music Live, Underwood reminded even the most untrained ear that she can sing any song she chooses and sing the heck out of it. There wasn’t only one voice in the show, of course, and the voice of Audra McDonald was notably stunning, especially on that song about the Mountain.

MAGICAL TRANSITIONS

The show’s transitions — a challenge for any live production — was almost like Underwood’s favorite TV series in real life, Star Trek: The Next Generation, where people beam from one location to another. Twice during the three-hour broadcast, viewers were creatively transported, first from the von Trapp estate to the Abbey, and again from the family’s home to the concert hall, draped in banners displaying swastikas. It was a clever and surprising stage move that was much more magical then a simple cut or dissolve.

AUDIO: Listen to NBC’s ‘Sound of Music’ Soundtrack

IT’S NOT THE MOVIE

It’s only natural that viewers compare the 2013 TV production to the beloved film starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, but this was a different animal. Wisely, the producers resisted any temptation to retain the reordering of songs in the movie. It might have seemed strange to hear “My Favorite Things” sung by Maria and the Mother Abbess early in the show and “The Lonely Goatherd” in the bedroom during the thunderstorm with Maria and the children instead of during a puppet show, but that’s how it was in the original Broadway musical. Also, thankfully, songs featuring Max and Elsa that were deleted from the movie were restored, turning the spotlight on Christian Borle and Laura Benanti on “How Can Love Survive?” and “No Way to Stop It.” One song added to the motion picture was preserved, so the producers did, indeed, do “Something Good.”

THR contributor Fred Bronson is the author of The Sound of Music Family Scrapbook, the story of the seven actors who portrayed the von Trapp children in the Robert Wise-directed motion picture.

Twitter: @fredbronson

Anthony Matula

When Melinda Doolittle released her first album in 2009, the songs were selected by her record label. For her new EP, You’re the Reason, issued digitally today (Nov. 12), the season six alum sought to make it a much more personal project and was involved from inception to the final mix. “I wanted to record something I felt was me,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter.

For the first time in her career, Doolitle turned to songwriting to fashion the songs she would record. “I started writing with my producer, Tre’ Corley, with the idea that I didn’t want to lose the R&B/soul vibe of the first album but I love the pop sound, too. I went to Tre’ because he understood me enough to marry the two genres very well.” Doolittle also recorded songs for the EP that were written by other composers, including Michael Ricks and Randy Davis.

Doolittle says she approached this project “from the aspect of love. It’s what shapes my life daily. I wanted to be transparent and honest. It’s about never giving up and dealing with criticism, including the words people said to me when I was on American Idol all the way up to now. Some people said great things but it was the negative words that stuck with me the most.”

PHOTOS: ‘American Idol’ Judges Past and Present: The Good, the Bad and the Boring

The EP features five songs, including the title track and the first single, “Never Giving Up.” There are also two bonus tracks. “I’m very excited about one of the bonus songs, ‘Home.’ People have been asking for a recording of that song for the longest time. It’s one of my favorites.”

Doolittle sang “Home” during the top 12 week of her season, when contestants were asked to perform a selection from the Diana Ross songbook. “I’ve known the musical The Wiz my whole life. My mom took me to see it when I was a child and I was scared of Evillene (the wicked witch of the west). When I was on Idol and they told me it was Diana Ross week, it was a no-brainer. The song said everything I was going through at the time.” Singing the Broadway tune on Idol, Doolittle purposefully deleted the lyric, “I wish I was home.” She explains, “I did it because I didn’t want America to send me home.”

STORY: ‘American Idol’ on the Charts: Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Red’ Brings Early ‘White Christmas’

Recording the EP took nine months. “I equate it to giving birth,” says the season six finalist. “You go through the pains of what works and what doesn’t work, finding the perfect thing you want to present to people. After nine months you’ve got to get this thing out.”

You’re the Reason is being released independently. “It’s more work but it’s worth it,” says Doolittle, who has been involved with every aspect of production, including working with Nashville-based graphic designer/photographer Anthony Matula and selecting the album cover. “Every part of this recording represents me.”

Doolittle is planning to tour in 2014 to promote the album. This year, she’ll be performing at the charity event “Music with a Mission” in Nashville on Nov. 17, and will team up with season eight finalist Matt Giraud for “Finalists at Sea,” a live show on board the Celebrity Summit cruise ship in December.

Twitter: @fredbronson

Dusk was falling when The Hollywood Reporter arrived at the Pink Motel and adjacent Cadillac Cafe, a popular retro film location in Sun Valley, Calif., where season 11 top 10 finalist HeeJun Han and a crowd of 60 extras were on set with director Sylvain White and some classic cars for a nighttime shoot for Han’s debut single, “Bring the Love Back.”

The song, written and produced by the hot team of Kadis & Sean, will be Han’s first single for the Korean-based Polaris label and will be released internationally, including in the U.S. and Korea. After Han’s season on American Idol, he says he recognized that, “After the tour, maybe one of 10 signed to a label, and I realized this is something you have to hustle for. No one is going to come up and ask you to record, so I went back to Korea.”

Han lived in Korea prior to his time on Idol, but found life difficult when he couldn’t get a record deal. Things were different this time.

“I had meetings with 10 labels,” says Han. “I pursued [Polaris] for three months. They wanted to release my album in Korea, but I told them I was confident of being successful in the States. I said, ‘Why don’t you guys fund and support the whole project?’”

VIDEO: ‘American Idol’: Season 11’s Top 10 Interview Each Other

Label execs agreed and Han returned to the U.S. and went right to work in the studio. “Kadis and Sean were playing music and I wasn’t really feeling it. We were about to go home. Then they played this one song and I said, ‘Play it again.’ It was an amazing song.”

At first, Kadis and Sean didn’t think “Bring the Love Back” was right for Han, but he kept after them for a month until they agreed to cut the track with him in their recording studio in Studio City, Calif. “Their studio was really, really vintage,” says Han, who laid down his vocals over two days. “It was very small and had no air conditioning. I went into a small boutique booth and sang it not like I was trying to be a star, but just trying to deliver a message to the audience, to the world. It was a magical moment when I recorded it.”

Asked to explain the meaning behind “Bring the Love Back,” Han elaborates, “When you watch the news, there’s a really important thing that’s missing in our lives. It’s love. I feel like we have to somehow bring the love back into our society and into the world. The song is talking about bringing my girl back to my heart, but I’m talking about bringing the love back to the people who haven’t had it.”

Is the song slow, mid or up-tempo? Han says that was a topic of discussion during the recording session. “Should we do a slow jam? A fast song? I said, ‘Why don’t we go country, hip-hop, dubstep and everything?’ The song is like riding a roller coaster. It’s just like going up and down and up and down. It’s really friendly radio pop.”

AUDIO: ‘American Idol’ Alum Kristy Lee Cook Debuts Duet with Randy Houser

Han isn’t kidding about the hip-hop part. When the producers wanted a rapper to add vocals, Han was thrilled when he found out the featured guest would be an Island Def Jam artist signed to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music imprint. Says Han: “I love Pusha T. I’ve been a big fan of him since he was in a group called Clipse in New York. That was the anthem back in my day when I was in high school. Every day and every night they would play that song. Back then, I didn’t even speak English and I liked that song. We reached out to him and he said he would do it. He’s been really supportive and cooperative. It’s an honor to have him on the track and here on the set.”

While the single will have an imminent release, Han is already looking ahead. “We’re thinking of releasing an EP right after the single. So we’ll record four more songs.”

Talking to Han in his trailer between takes, the subject turns to the success of another Korean artist, Psy, who has garnered over 1.7 billion YouTube views for his hit “Gangnam Style.” Psy has been credited for calling worldwide attention to the phenomenon known as K-Pop music. “My first language is Korean,” says Han. “I eat Korean food every day. Trust me, I can’t eat non-Korean food. Deep down inside, I’m most Korean in this Korean world. But I am not a K-Pop singer. I’m an American. I’m an artist who also happens to be Korean.”

It’s time to return to the set, but as THR and Han leave the trailer, some familiar Idol faces are waiting outside. Soyon An, who was a stylist and costume designer on Idol, is here as a design consultant and Nappytabs — the husband and wife team of Napoleon and Tabitha D’umo, who worked on Han’s season of Idol — are here as choreographers. The season 11 finalist is clearly happy to be working with familiar Idol faces. “It’s like bringing back the old crowd and having a family party.”

Twitter: @Idol_Worship