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]

@RunrigForever yep, definitely a blame Nikita for that one when it should have been a waltz in the park (oh that was an unintended pun!). But stood no chance against Montell who is far superior. Nice to see Jamie admit he was lucky and he was but he would have been saved against anyone except Montell. AT for him next week so some hard work this week. 

Top half of Tess's outfit was ok but why the pants again? Claudia looked good with her hair ponytailed. Really needs to layoff the pink lipstick and fake tan though. Well Johannes is remarkable in high heels and he was relishing every moment. Pity the medley tune was awful. 

Now Dear Alice were just awful. So bad I it reminded me of this classic Boyzone appearance:

And just to point out what a wasted trip to Korea that was, this was Take That in 1992 performing on the rather dubious late night cult classic Hitman & Her:

[RunrigForever]

Oh dear ! ..... Judges Fighting amongst Themselves ..... except Anton who kept his Gentlemanly Demeanour.

All her, is it Sarah's, fans are totally gutted and blaming Johannes. 

All twozzas on Social Media backing Craig saying Shirley always cuts Craig off and then she'd let him get round to the 'positive comments' ... = ... Total Twaddle ....... CRH has several times on SCD has said he makes a note of 3 things on his no doubt top of the range personal designer iPad with Bespoke hand held Stylus ....... what do you call someone who always has to have the last word ..... Total!y - uU*pP - Ttemzel!vez ....... Poor Man's Diva.

[sheepdog]

@Cleoriff @RunrigForever 

And week 10 brings us the un-requested and un-loved dance-a-thon back in the form of  who the **** asked for a Samba-thon? 

Anyway, back to week 8 being the pre-Blackpool begging the audience to get them to Blackpool, here's the list that at this stage of the series, is going to see a surprise in the dance-off:

• Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe - Paso Doble to Lola’s Theme by The Shapeshifters
• Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola - American Smooth to Proud by Heather Small
• Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec - Quickstep to Fantasy by Mariah Carey
• Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell - Couple’s Choice to Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) by John Lennon
• Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas - Argentine Tango to Do I Wanna Know? by Arctic Monkeys
• JB Gill and Lauren Oakley - Samba to Mas Que Nada by Sergio Mendes
• Pete Wicks and Jowitza Przystal - Couple’s Choice to The Best by Nicotine Dolls
• Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu - Rumba to Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper
• Wynne Evans and Katya Jones - American Smooth to Grace Kelly by MIKA

Prime candidate for the dance-off is Jamie with a nowhere near an AT tune. Could he look good on the dancefloor?  Following him could be Shayne, sadly its the rumba so a high probability of that. 

JB now has Lauren due to Amy pulling out with "a foot injury". Engaging conspiracy mode: from feeling unwell to a foot injury? Tune may be on the dull side for a samba but is a samba tune. Outside bet for the dance-off if he wears a big puffy ruffled shirt. 

Tasha/Sarah just need to execute without errors as they'll both be in the upper part of the leaderboard. However, playing it safe will cost them points. 

Wynne should play this one to good effect as its ridiculously perfect in dance/tune and for him. Not sure on Montell's tune for a Paso but the show really needs to stop doing dance remixes for a paso. Given literally nobody voted for her last week, at risk if its not outstanding. 

Two CC's which may not be a good thing for the show and listening to both tunes, could be two interesting dances. Also, why is Yoko Ono knitting with a blindfold?

[Cleoriff]

@sheepdog @RunrigForever 

Some weird music choices there.

Sadly as Shayne is doing the dance of death (Rumba) he may well be in the bottom two.

Re Amy. I think she may have returned to the show far too soon, which is why Lauren is taking her place again.

Useless tunes for both the Paso and the Argentine Tango.

When are Dianne's parents meant to be coming over from Australia? Initially there was a lot of talk from both Chris and Dianne about 'him staying in until the parents came'. Not been mentioned for last 2 weeks (unless I missed it flicking through SCD after F1? )

[RunrigForever]

@Cleoriff @sheepdog 

Some definitely some very strange mixes of music with dance ..... but ..... now't new there.

*** / fgs JHC ..... DAO ... Get a Grip ... !!!

You are Totally Destroying the Pleasure of the Dancing to Live Music for Me ....... 'Fettle Up ... !!!

Brendan (Bad Boy) Cole has commented = 'Stop the Spoiler' ....... he just for example says about the lad who totally convinced us as George Michael last week's SCD ... & ... he reckons Shayne gets regularly undermarked ....... Remember Brendan won 'hands down' the very 1st SCD with BBC One newsreader Natasha Kaplynski ....... he is now married with a family, I believe ....... Lissten to the Professional dancers = they came straight off the Professional IDTA (International Dancing Teaching Association) competition circuit ..... = ..... they all knew each other ... & ... still do ..... most are now married +/- children.

I would love to know if SCD has revived couple dancing for the younger age people inspired by SCD ...?

I shall have to pm my old contacts on FB.

Am on FB Strictly Come Dancing Sequins and Gossip ..... = ..... more like SCD Tantrums & Tiaras ... ?!

[Cleoriff]

@RunrigForever @sheepdog 

Jane I have to agree with you re the DAO and singers. Pretty much ruined every song.

Not keen on Motsi with blonde hair. Actually she gets on my wick a bit.

Tasha and Aljaz. Quickstep. A lovely dance with great timing. Score 37

Shayne and Nancy. Rumba. I thought it was good in parts. Feeling he's a dance off candidate Score 30

Sarah and Vito. American Smooth. I enjoyed this although personally I thought there were too many lifts. 33

Pete and Jowita. Couple Choice. A lovely emotional dance in memory of his Nan Score 36

JB and Lauren Samba. What a great samba. Lauren is a much better partner than Amy. who I think came back too soon Scored 37

Jamie and Michelle. Argentine Tango. Quite a poor AT. Stiff and overplaced at times. Scored 30

Wynne and Katya. American Smooth. Not really over impressed with this. Also not impressed with Mika at the end. Scored 32

Montell and Johannes. Paso Doble. What a superb Paso. Very dramatic and intense. Scored 36

Chris and Dianne Couples Choice.  Lovely effort and such trust between these two. Loved the studio going dark and great lifts. Undermarked with 33.

Next week it will be lovely to hear Alfie Boe and Michael Ball.

[RunrigForever]

WOW !!! ....... the BBC actually putting some of their Licence Fee (which We the Proletariat aka Us Plebs Pay For) into to some Top Class Music Stars of the London west end stage ..... Little Miss RF is Speechless ... !!!

Will DAO ruin it for us all ... ?

Thank you @Cleoriff & @sheepdog for your usual impeccable unbiased observations ....... You always have High Consistent Standards ... = ... unlike ...'The Judges' 

Time to Wish All ... Goodnight ... Sleep Tight ... & ... Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite ....... XX .......

[sheepdog]

For a change, I've watched it later due to being away all day! Gosh isn't it fun clicking the skip 20 seconds for the cringe segments on iplayer!

Well pre-Blackpool week got the promo within a couple of seconds by fish scale Tess and flat black Claudia. Or was it faux-crocodile like the faux-blonde hair? Definite no for Motsi's white wig but dressed better than Tess for a change. She does move well though. This weeks game, how many mentions of Blackpool will the judges say.

Tasha and Aljaz. Quickstep. On first which means.....curse broken. Alijaz: please stop the goldfish expression when dancing please. My criticism, probably a bit too fast in places which looked more liked Alijaz was dragging her around to get to the next phase. Less is more as they say.  Judges Blackpool mentions: 2. Good job on the Mariah Carey remix. Stood next to Nadiya and you could be misled to think they were sisters!

Shayne and Nancy. Rumba. Er no. Too many set pieces with no flow into each move almost rushed to get there. Blame Nancy on that one as it was too fast. Still a step above a great deal of male rumbas. Judges Blackpool mentions: 0. Tess doesn't count.

Sarah and Vito. American Smooth. Oooohh, wind machine. Interesting. But didn't blow me away. 

Mostly good (had to watch it a second time) but a bit messy at times running around making it not so smooth. Shirley got it right with the feet making it a bit masculine in not so many words. Hmmm, very close to a health & safety show dance which bodes well should she get that far. Judges Blackpool mentions: 2.5. Half point for Motsi giving tips for the "next few weeks"

Pete and Jowita. Couple Choice. Emo & Gran card played to good effect. Best dance for him by far. and away. The tug of material was surprisingly well done with emotion in the context of the dance.  Judges Blackpool mentions: 0 but with this score, he's there. 

JB and Lauren Samba. About the best samba I've seen. Footwork made it spectacular. Top class. Judges Blackpool mentions: 0. Zero? Zero chance of being back on the Turkey farm next week.

Jamie and Michelle. Argentine Tango. Wasn't the rumba the dance he wanted to do all series? Well Michelle definitely got my attention which was probably the mask to cover the lack of dancing technique from Jamie. Just needed that technique to make it good. Judges Blackpool mentions: 3 but more like negative 3.

Wynne and Katya. American Smooth. I liked it and did suit his character. But needs to "walk" rather than waddle. Jamie or Shayne should to be worried if either gets him in the dance-off. Judges Blackpool mentions: 1 because the judges want him there. Blackpool may be a good week to exit though.

Montell and Johannes. Paso Doble. Terrible choice of music for a paso. Presumably Johannes realised it and just taught the Paso as it should be done. Judges Blackpool mentions: 0 well she's there even if she is the other dance-off contestant. 

Chris and Dianne Couples Choice.  Go for it he did indeed. Not so obvious prompts from Dianne but needs a bit more work on his foot control. Judges Blackpool mentions: zero but nudge nudge wink wink. 

Leader board by actual points or Blackpool mentions. So not looking good for Jamie unless he has the entire cast of EE voting for him and Craig gets a visit by the Mitchell brothers and Wellhard. Has Jamie mentioned he really wants to be at Blackpool dancing his favourite variation of the rumba?

No trophy for the MMA double act as they are class acts who never disappoint on SCD. Now will they be up there for best of the series though? 

[Cleoriff]

@sheepdog @RunrigForever 

I forgot to mention that I get a bit racked off with the judges feeling the need to mention 'Amy's input' every time JB  dances with Lauren. Amy was NOT responsible for the way JB danced that superb samba. She had no input into the choreography either, She's at home putting her 'feet up'.

I've always admired Lauren's choreography, so every time Amy is mentioned, I feel it's a slap in the face for Lauren. So judges, give it a rest please!!

[Cleoriff]

I can hardly write for shock!

Firstly, I loved the group dance. Quite lovely.

Also Alfie Boe and Michael Ball

In the dance off was Shayne and Nancy v Wynne and Katya.

I felt that Shayne was by far the better dancer. Wynne made more than one mistake.

Craig and Motsie voted to save Shayne. Anton Wynne...then we came to the head judge Shirley, who voted to save Wynne her favourite!.

Can't believe it. How one judge can overturn 2 judges votes, beggars belief!

Enough said from me. Off to sulk!!