Op zoek naar Maria (Looking for Maria) is a talent competition program that aired in Belgium on VTM. It premiered on 25 March 2009. The premise of the series was to find a musical theatre performer to play the role of Maria von Trapp in the 2009 Albert Verlinde and Roel Vente revival of The Sound of Music at the Efteling Theatre. The show is hosted by Koen Wauters and featured Frank Van Laecke, Linda Lepomme, and Peter de Smet as the judges for the show. Following a public telephone vote, 27-year-old Deborah De Ridder was chosen as Maria with 25-year-old Fleur Brusselmans as the runner up and Liv Van Aelst in third place. A commercial advertising the show, featuring over 200 dancers in it, seemingly spontaneously, to "Do-Re-Mi" in Antwerpen-Centraal railway station, has received over 20,000,000 hits on YouTube. A similar format of Op zoek naar Maria has been used as well in The Netherlands in 2021 taking an unknown singer and placing the winner in the lead role of Maria for the 2021 performances in The Netherlands. The show is hosted by Frits Sissing and featured Pia Douwes, Jamai Loman, Carline Brouwer and Richard Groenendijk as the judges for the show. It was the fifth Dutch talent show to be produced by AVRO, 10 years after Op zoek naar Evita, Op zoek naar Joseph, Op zoek naar Mary Poppins, Op zoek naar Zorro and Op zoek naar Annie. In the final, on 4 April, Nandi Van Beurden was announced as the winner of the series. This was followed by Op zoek naar Danny & Sandy in late 2022, which was won by Tristan van der Lingen and Danique Graanoogst. A similar format has been used as well in the United Kingdom in 2006, with the show How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria? taking an unknown singer and placing the winner in the lead role for the 2006 performances in the West End. On 16 September 2006, Connie Fisher was announced the winner of this show.

Belgium

Finalists

Eleven contestants made it through the audition rounds and performed during the live shows.

• at the start of the contest

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 "Adieu, vaarwel (So Long, Farewell)" from The Sound of Music with the remaining contestants.

Week 1 (April 8, 2009)

Following the first week of the competition, Dorien was the first Maria to be eliminated from the competition. The show performances were: Sing-Off

Week 2 (April 15, 2009)

The show performances were: Sing-Off

Week 3 (April 22, 2009)

The show performances were: Sing-Off

Week 4 (April 29, 2009)

The show performances were: Sing-Off

Week 5 (May 6, 2009)

The show performances were:

Week 6 (May 13, 2009)

The show performances were:

Week 7 (May 20, 2009)

In the quarter-final, the seventh Maria to be eliminated was Elke. The show performances were:

Week 8 (May 27, 2009)

In the semi-final, the eighth and final Maria to be eliminated was Katrien. The show performances were:

Week 9 (June 3, 2009)

The show performances were:

Netherlands

Expert panel

An expert panel provided advice to the contestants throughout the series, and provided comments during the live shows. The panel was made up of:

Finalists

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 programme by leading a performance of "Bergen of Dalen" (Climb Every Mountain) from The Sound of Music with the remaining contestants, Unlike the Flemish version of Op zoek naar Maria and the British and Canadian versions of How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria, which their elimination song was "So Long, Farewell" (Tot snel, vaarwel) from The Sound of Music. After being announced as the winner, Nandi concluded the show with a performance of "Iets Waar Ik Zielsveel Van Hou" (My Favorite Things).

Jury's favourite Maria

Elimination chart

Performances

Nandi Van Beurden Natascha Molly Tessa Sunniva Van Tol Valerie Curlingford Jolijn Henneman Anouk Van Laake Renée De Gruijl Sanne Den Besten Willemijn Maandag Sylvia Boone Opening songs Group songs Group of 3 people songs (Week 5 only) Sing-offs The Bottom 2 or 3 Marias voted by the public each week had to sing a contrasting song, then Pia Douwes would choose one of them to carry on in the competition.