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)

[sheepdog]

Suffering a bit with power cuts so ended up having the ipad and iplayer to watch the show over 4G in the middle of the living room table. 

Glamorous Tess is back for a Saturday night and even Claudia looked good in glittery black jacket. Have to say neither annoyed me tonight. DAO absolutely on fire with all the tunes. Almost forgot, Motsi reminded me of long curtains circa 1975. 

Tasha and Aljaz. SalsaThat dress and that hair - perfect match! Agree some of the transitions needed to be smoother but everything else can't be faulted unless you compare it to JB's salsa then....

2nd Dance Waltz.  Absolutely gorgeous. Like one of those musical ballerinas on a jewellery box. 

JB and Lauren. Paso Doble.And more than equal to Tasha's Paso from Blackpool though if he'd done that in Blackpool, it would have been a 40. 

2nd Dance. Salsa.Step forward into the final, that's a perfect dance. I just want him to do September by Earth Wind & Fire! Also too short, I wanted more!

Chris and Dianne. Charleston. The only reason it seemed less energetic is because we've been spoiled with several very very good Charlestons this series. Took a while to get going but that was clean and clear. 

2nd dance. Viennese Waltz Who'd deny him a place in the finals after this? Well I doubt it will be the public. 

Sarah and Vito. Tango. Loved this routine. She went on with a bang and it never stopped till the end. Couldn't see the shoulders but given my ipad is 12.9" and was in the middle of my living room, I'll take their word for it. 

2nd dance. Jive.Not quite there but utterly relentless. Yet a score of 36 happens to be the best jive of the series which says quite a lot even with faults. Judges went on about it being hard but given the song is a driving beat, I disagree with the judges as it was to the beat. Extremely rare appearance by people other than her mother or cat in the VT. 

Pete and Jowita. Foxtrot.Could Pete match the quality of the previous 4 tonight? Nope. But not bad and for a potential finalist, probably not enough on tonights quality. 

2nd dance. Argentine Tango. Agree with Craig on this one. The end lift was good but it was Jowita doing the walking all over him to disguise the lack of content and technique throughout. One of those dances where if he'd done it earlier in the series, he'd be up in the top half of the leaderboard. 

So the leaderboard:

 

Obviously it should be Pete in the dance-off again and the permutation calculator says if Pete tops the public vote, he'll be safe and we'd be looking at the totally wrong outcome of Tasha and Sarah in the dance-off. 

If Pete gets second highest on the public vote he's in the dance-off along with either Tasha or Sarah.

I'm going Sarah v Pete though Sarah needs to do the Tango to make sure she goes through.

Never heard of Raye and a quick youtube says I probably won't like her stuff. Becky Hill I can't stand and she's been on before so I'm expecting not have my mind changed.  

[Cleoriff]

RESULTS SHOW

Well Becky Hill a bit poor. Forgettable I thought.

Mind you I wasn't keen on that song by Raye either...and I normally like her!! (Except when it's jazz)

First two through: Sarah +Vito and Chris + Dianne.

In the Dance Off:

Tasha and Aljaz

V

Pete and Jowita AT LAST!!

Needless to say Tasha and Aljaz are through.

Next week its the FINAL and showdances.

[sheepdog]

Tess in her glamorous pant based outfit of the series. I liked it. Claudia in "I get paid a million by the BBC and I can't be bothered" pub outfit. 

Oh dear Becky Hill. You can't sing. Rather you try to sing all of the scales to show your range to prove you are a singer. All that does is demonstrate you can't really carry a tune. Which was also lacking in this segment. 

Reye on the other hand was marginally better but all I could hear in my brain was "She's a scatman". Ad-libbing works but oh dear, read the room. Band on the other hand were good and unfortunately she's back next week for a "special collaboration". Since nobody ever comes back for a second week, I'll throw in a theory she's got something on the producers. Also: it will be pre-recorded.

So Tasha got zero votes again but there was no way the judges were going to kick her out after a 40. Nice run Pete. 

Onto the final and I think Chris will win it. I'll just point out Hamza and Bill Bailey plus lets face it, Chris is what Strictly is about and doing it blind is remarkable. Sarah will literally throw herself into it and give it a good go whilst Tasha will no doubt wow us and JB will throw doubt into my prediction. 

Looking forward to (hopefully) a great final. 

[Cleoriff]

@sheepdog 

I did say ages ago that Chris was the bookies favourite to win and I agreed. I've not changed my mind on that. It was the same when Rose won with Giovanni. People admired Rose for being able to dance well despite being profoundly deaf. The public admire Chris for his dance ability even though he's blind. Personally I do think Chris has done marvellously. No, he's not the best dancer but his achievements surpass the other finalists.

DANCES AND MUSIC FOR FINAL.

JB and Lauren

Showdance to a Motown Medley.

Samba to Mas Que Nada by Sergio Mendes

Viennese Waltz. To Let's Go Fly A Kite from Mary Poppins

Chris and Dianne

Showdance to You Get What You Give by New Radicals

Couples Choice to Instant Karma (We All Shine On) by John Lennon

Waltz to You'll Never Walk Alone by Gerry and the Pacemakers.

Sarah and Vito.

Showdance to Cabaret by Metropole Orkest.

American Smooth to Proud by Heather Small

Cha Cha Cha to Like A Prayer by Madonna

Tasha and Aljaz.

Showdance to Sing Sing Sing by Benny Goodman

Couples Choice to What About Us by Pink.

American Smooth. to Someone You Loved By Lewis Capaldi.

Bit unusual that they haven't shown the Judges pick or the Couples favourite dance this year?

Oh well, maybe we'll be told on the night?

[sheepdog]

Bit disappointed in JB re-doing the VW from last week and the show dance may be a bit lacklustre. I mean there's loads of Motown tunes but too many moves to too many tunes? Mega mashup by DAO inbound. 

Chris's show dance is one of those upbeat downbeat tunes of youth that is er, Chris's swansong to the series in the literal lyrical sense. I'm going to guess they'll cut out the last verse due to time constraints. Like most of the radio stations did back in the day. 

Let's see how Sarah has improved with her standard dances but the showdance is going to be all out no prisoners taken in the name of musical theatre.  

A case of which ones do we pick for Tasha but the AS looks to be a safe choice as the CC & the show dance will be quite energetic. 

Really surprised we're not seeing picks from the early shows as picked by the judges. It is an absolute to see the improvement to now as that's the "journey". Then again, whilst we've haven't the big name celebs, the quality has been rather high for these finalists throughout the series that the judges can't agree. 

[Cleoriff]

@sheepdog 

I see the Wiki chart you linked to, does say:

Week 13 (Finals): Judges' choice, showdance & favourite dance of the series.

Obviously missed from the article I read which showed the final 3 dances. 🙄