Superstar audience dwindles to 3m

Andrew Lloyd Webber has seen his audience almost halve after deserting the BBC for ITV to launch his latest TV talent hunt, Superstar.

The series - to find a leading man for his revival of stage musical Jesus Christ Superstar - found itself hammered by BBC One's Countryfile last night, which drew almost double the viewers.

Saturday night's edition of the show was the least-watched yet with an average of just three million viewers, while BBC One had 4.3 million for an edition of National Lottery: Secret Fortune.

Superstar's viewing figures are a sharp contrast to the sort of figures Lloyd Webber has seen for his run of BBC talents shows.

His 2007 show Any Dream Will Do had an average audience of 6.2 million, while I'd Do Anything, the following year, landed six million.

However, by his final BBC series he had already begun to see a dip in fortunes with a series average of 5.4 million as he hunted for a Dorothy to star in The Wizard Of Oz.

Last night Superstar saw a tiny improvement on the previous night's show with an audience of 3.2 million, but it was still trounced by the rural magazine show Countryfile which had 6.1 million viewers.

Superstar viewers are now voting for the first elimination from the series which will take place during tonight's show.

Eleven performers are battling it out to take the lead in a touring version of Jesus Christ Superstar which will visit a number of arenas later this year.