Buffy The Vampire Slayer

SUNDAY 21/12/2003 10:03:03 Buffy up for music accolade

An all singing episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer is in the running to be named the greatest musical of all time.

It will battle it out with productions such as Chicago, Cabaret and The Sound Of Music for a Channel 4 special.

The shows are among those in the top 20 for the station`s countdown of The 100 Greatest Musicals to be screened later this week.

The channel today unveiled the 20 most popular choices of viewers who voted online, but not ranked them in order.

They include the unusual Buffy episode in which the feisty, ass-kicking heroine battles with a music-making demon. The entire cast burst into song for the edition although star Sarah Michelle Gellar hated the show so it remained just a one-off.

It is the only TV entry in the top 20, and there is just one animation, The Lion King.

The most recent film is Moulin Rouge from 2001, while the oldest is The Wizard Of Oz (1939).

Julie Andrews sees two of her films in the upper reaches with both The Sound Of Music and Mary Poppins.

And mother and daughter stars are among the top choices, with Judy Garland up there in Wizard Of Oz and Liza Minnelli in Cabaret.

The final order will be revealed in two special countdown programmes with Part one on Boxing Day at 9pm and part two the following evening, Saturday December 27, at 8.25pm.

Here are the top 20 musicals voted for by viewers in alphabetical order:

Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Once More With Feeling (2002)

Bugsy Malone (1976)

Cabaret (1972)

Chicago (2002)

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

Grease (1978)

Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (stage show)

Les Miserables (stage show)

Mary Poppins (1964)

Moulin Rouge (2001)

My Fair Lady (1964)

Oliver (1968)

Phantom Of The Opera (1986)

Singin` In The Rain (1952)

The Lion King (1994)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

The Sound Of Music (1965)

The Wizard Of Oz (1939)

West Side Story (1961)

Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971)