STRICTLY COME DANCING 2024.

[Cleoriff]

It's that time of year again.

@sheepdogcomes out of hibernation to join me and others like @RunrigForever  to comment on BBC's 'flagship' entertainment show. SCD.

I did wonder if it would take place this year as it's had some really bad press recently.

Two of the male professionals, Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Prima have been accused of abusive teaching methods. Giovanni has denied any wrongdoing. Last year he danced with Amanda Abington, who dropped out of the show. Graziano danced with Zara Larsson and he admitted kicking her. He was sacked immediately.

The BBC  have said they will be putting advisors into the training rooms to monitor all training and ensuring the welfare of the celebrities. So away we go again.

It doesn't start until September so I'll be adding to this thread as and when other celebs are revealed.

The first two contestants have been announced;

CHRIS McCAUSLAND - COMEDIAN

Chris is a really funny guy. He's also totally blind. As he said, this should be a laugh. 😂

The next contestant is JB GILL (from the boy band JLS)

[jonsie]

Nigel Winterburn on the left

[MI5]

Martin Hayes and Nigel Winterburn are the other two Arsenal players who visited Hinckley for a fund raising event.

[jonsie]

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@Cleoriff wrote:

@MI5 

I can see Paul Merson 3rd from the left. If there's any other famous faces in the photo, I have no idea. 🤣

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3rd from the right methinks 🤔

[Cleoriff]

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@jonsie wrote:

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@Cleoriff wrote:

@MI5 

I can see Paul Merson 3rd from the left. If there's any other famous faces in the photo, I have no idea. 🤣

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3rd from the right methinks 🤔

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Or 3rd from right as you said 😂

(Me laughing at myself, as I just snipped the picture, wrote 1, 2, 3 and LEFT at the

top of the page....then realised it was RIGHT) ......Senile old bat 🦇 Lol

[sheepdog]

Montell and Johannes: Tango to One Night Only from Dream Girls

Punan and Gorka : Couples Choice to Bole Chudiyan from Kabhi Khushi Khabie Gham 

Sam and Nikita : Paso Doble to Elevation from Tomb Raider

Sarah and Vito:  Viennesse Waltz to Hedwigs Theme from Harry Potter.

Oh dear, that Bollywood number is rather irritating and you know the DAO singers are going to butcher it. Cue lots of cheesey bollywood moves which is basically the same one repeated. Ah I see, so playing to Punam's ability then.  Oh no, does that mean we'll be getting backing dancers?

I was thinking the other day, have I seen Dream Girls or not? I'm not sure so I'll dig around for it or find a Japanese monster movie. Godzilla v Kong doing the tango would be worth watching. Yeah not a tango tune though. 

Think the Paso may go either well or a visit to the dance-off for Sam.

Are we expecting a disaster from Sarah? Nope but I question the tune to a VW. 8's again. 

Tasha and Aljaz : Rumba to What was I Made For from Barbie

Toyah and Neil: Samba to Poor Unfortunate Souls from Little Mermaid 

Jamie and Michelle : Quickstep to  I'm Still Standing from Rocketman

JB and Amy : American Smooth to Pure Imagination from Wonka.

Tuneless tune for Tasha but she should pull it off quite well. 

Oh good, this tune for Toyah is devoid of any musically which seems to be a perfect match. In what parallel universe is that ever a Samba? Exit stage left.

Lots for Jamie to impress us for this week. He needs to. As does Michelle or she's the backup dancer next series. 

Another big tick in the box for JB so expecting high scores on this one. 

Nick and Luba : Charleston Rain on the Roof from Paddington 2

Paul and Karen : Cha Cha To The Magnificent 7 theme.

Pete and Jowita : Samba to George Of The Jungle Theme

Hmm another tone deaf choice of tune for Nick by the producers. It's a good tune but not a Charleston but more AS. Cue instrumental version as exhibit A shall demonstrate:

Will his injury hamper him or not is the bigger question given the Charleston has essential lifts? Technique may save him if no lifts. 

Don't know why I'm questioning Nick's being in the dance-off when Paul Merson gets an absolute howler of a mis-match. Question is: will he be meeting Toyah in the dance-off?

Pete on the other hand can use this one and really go for it. Possibly best entertainment of the night? 

Shayne and Nancy : Viennese Waltz to If I can Dream from Elvis

Wynne and Katya : Cha Cha. to Papa's Got A Brand New Bag from Mrs Doubtfire

Chris and Dianne : Jive to Waynes World Theme from Waynes World.

No prizes for saying Shayne has a perfect match for topping the board this weekend. 

We are either going to fall about laughing at Wynne's outfit from the start or at the outfit getting in the way of the limited technique and causing chaos. This tune is a good one for cha-cha but you know, we're not going to get a cha-cha. 

Plus point, Wayne's World theme does seem to suit a jive. This one is going to be hard for Chris but let's see how the timing works. 

Also: no green paint. There's always Halloween week...

[Cleoriff]

Movie Week.

Judges: I recognised Cap'n Jack and Mary Poppins. Anton and Motsi? Clueless about those two!

Nick had an accident so was given a bye.

Montell and Johannes. Tango

It wasn't as good as I expected. Frame needed improvement. Score : 28

Toyah and Neil. Samba.

Oh dear. Poor footwork. I knew judges would offer a lot of praise.

Thankfully the marking was correct Scored : 15

Chris and Dianne . Jive.

Chris amazes me every week. Great dance. Footwork and timing excellent. Scored : 30

Tasha and Aljaz. Rumba.

I really enjoyed this dance. Probably needed to pull her bottom in a bit more. Great leg action Scored: 34

Paul and Karen. Cha Cha.

It was better than last week, although not many cha cha moves. Or hip action! Scored 19

Sarah and Vito. Viennese Waltz.

This was a tribute to Maggie Smith and was beautifully danced. Very emotional Scored 33

Pete and Jowita. Samba.

Very amusing costume. Judges thought he was improving. I didn't think there was much Samba Scored: 26

JB and Amy. American Smooth. Lovely dance although needed to stride more. I enjoyed it Scored : 32.

Shayne and Nancy. Viennese Waltz. My dance of the night. I really couldn't fault it. Scored : 33

Sam and Nikita. Paso Doble. I really enjoyed this. Sam seemed to be in character. Judges comments didn't match marks. Scored: 30

Wynne and Katya. Cha Cha. Great choreography. Very amusing dance helped by characterisation. Hip action needed improving. Scored 30.

Punam and Gorka. Couples Choice. I'm not a fan of Bollywood and I thought the preamble before the dance was a bit OTT. I didn't enjoy it much but the judges did. Scored 33

Jamie and Michelle. Quickstep. The dance was ok but a lot of overacting. Not consistent. Scored 30.

Not sure what happened after last dance as I had to change channels quickly. 😂

[sheepdog]

@Cleoriff Anton was Zoolander "Blue steel":

Motsi on the other hand, took me a while and still haven't worked it out just yet . Oh and Claudia in red was good. I'll give a tick to Tess in glittery blue jumpsuit but anything less than glittery would have been awful. 

Hmm, Minion style opening routine. Yeah I got this one totally because Jason Gilkerson wasn't involved. Guess someone found a cupboard full of yellow paint in wardrobe...

Montell and Johannes. Tango: Could see she found it hard but still managed a decent routine. Fortunate to discover this now and correct the problems whilst the weaker celebs are still in means plenty of time to improve. 

Toyah and Neil. Samba: Well she looked good. More arm-o-graphy like last week but in defence, there wasn't a lot you could dance to in this tune. Still hopeless. 

Chris and Dianne . Jive: Polar opposite of Toyah. Really surprised me with the footwork and keeping in sync. Whatever Diane is doing, keep it going. 

Tasha and Aljaz. Rumba: This was very good. Tuneless though which made it hard for her. Given the musical range is on the higher end of the spectrum heard only by dogs, you can't fault her for fluidity. Argentine Tango could be a 10 routine. 

Paul and Karen. Cha Cha: Um yes, well wasn't expecting much and achieved that. Oddly it wasn't a disaster and he's at least trying to do the dance. Likely to beat Toyah in the dance off on technique. 

Sarah and Vito. Viennese Waltz: No mention of the solo twirl which was fantastic. Some minor issues on placement but it was minor. Consistently good 3 weeks in a row. 

Pete and Jowita. Samba: Wow, fun routine with oh let's just ignore the errors and clunkiness when he threw himself into the dance. Awesome. 

JB and Amy. American Smooth: I had high expectations for this one but alas, didn't quite reach the level I wanted. Maybe it was the speed of the music and dance but still one of the better male celebs. 

Shayne and Nancy. Viennese Waltz: Channelling Shane Ritchie. Agree with Anton as he was leaning forward a little but yeah, proving he's going to go far. 

Sam and Nikita. Paso Doble: I'm in two minds over this routine. Didn't like the outfits which may have been detrimental to the movement and flow which you kind of expect in a Paso to add to the atmosphere. Probably in danger of going home in about 3 weeks. 

Wynne and Katya. Cha Cha: Wasn't expecting much but oh was I wrong. Great footwork and acting the part. Bonus marks for dancing with the vacuum cleaner. 

Punam and Gorka. Couples Choice: Director's agreed it was an anti-climax by putting her second to last and you could see why. More arm-o-graphy and prancing like the last two weeks. Playing the Gran(pa) card though kind don't get why she said she never saw Indian culture on TV when I know you could get bootleg Bollywood videos in the mid 80's sourced from the Indian community (usually from Birmingham). 

Jamie and Michelle. Quickstep: Was this supposed to be the showstopper? Sadly not. Good in places and the flamboyancy helped but a big improvement over last week. Might find himself competing against Sam in the dance-off in a few weeks. 

Tomorrows MMA is called Alexi French. Hmm youtube'd it and we may be in for a very pleasant surprise. 

[Cleoriff]

Totally missed the opening number, sorry I forgot to mention that.

@sheepdogThanks for reminding me it was Zoolander.
Re Bollywood : Now you must have forgotten they lived in Scotland and 'were very poor and had nothing'.
In other words they couldn;t afford pirated videos about Bollywood. 😶

There were plenty of outrageous outfits in Rocketman. A few of those would have suited the dance more than the one with the 'dutch cap' 😂

[Cleoriff]

At last,  the right two in the dance off

Paul and Karen

and

Toyah and Neil.

All 4 judges saved Paul and Karen

The MMA was not mediocre at all. Really enjoyed Alexis French.

 No comments on anything else. Roll on next week 😂

[sheepdog]

Alexis French was rather good and way too short! Why is it the classical acts are far better on this show than the ones in need of an album or tour promo?

Anyway, the Rom-com pro-dance was enjoyable too though for some reason my mind drifted off to bank accounts part way through. Probably a sub-conscious reminder to pay a couple of bills.