Strictly 2021

[sheepdog]

So Strictly come Dancing is back this autumn with a new old judge (Anton du Beke), a new old presenter for It takes Two (Jenette Manrara), four new pro's who won't be involved and obviously even less money than ever before!

First three of the bottom of the barrel scrapings are:

Tom Fletcher - ex boyband member now writing children's books

Robert Webb - slightly creepy comedian looking for work

AJ Odudu - obligatory "Who's that, never heard of her"

Also there are 15 people defined as celebs this year. I'm half expecting Kathryn Ryan to be involved as she seems to be on every other program for no reason. Also no Blackpool week either. 

Sadly, looks like were stuck with the un-dynamic duo of Daly & Winkleman.

[sheepdog]

Week 4 dances to questionable music choices interpreted by the DAO:

Adam & Katya: Argentine Tango to Tango in the Night by Fleetwood Mac

AJ & Kai: Samba to Don't Go Yet by Camila Cabello

Dan & Nadiya: Cha Cha Cha to U Can't Touch This/Superfreak by MC Hammer/Rick James

Greg & Karen: Samba to Macarena by Los Del Rio

Er considering U can't touch this is basically the hook from Superfreak why the mash-up? It better have MC Hammer pants. Macarena might either be fun or flat or a dance-off contender. Questionable to whether doing an AT this early is beneficial but could be a good one.  AJ will likely be top of the board though I have never heard of the song. 

John & Johannes: American Smooth to I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) by George Michael and Aretha Franklin

Judi & Graziano: Waltz to Hero by Mariah Carey

Rhys & Nancy: Salsa to Butter by BTS

Rose & Giovanni: Cha Cha Cha to Raspberry Beret by Prince

90% chance of another synchronised routine with Johannes! Great song not a great match to the dance. I'm not sure which is going to be worse: whether Judi going to be dragged around the floor or that the singing is going to be awful. No idea what BTS is these days but Rhys, another fast moving dance? I really hope the more technical dances are going to be equally as good. Rose will be interesting, again not a great choice of song match in my opinion.

Sara & Aljaž: Tango to Por Una Cabeza by Carlos Gardel

Tilly & Nikita: Paso Doble to Diablo Rojo by Rodrigo y Gabriela

Tom & Amy: Foxtrot to Fly Me to the Moon by Frank Sinatra

I'm going to say that these 3 will be up there on the night given they've got almost perfect songs to match the dance. 

Strictly is on for 2 hours starting at 7pm. Great, more extended VT's full of Family/Gran/Kids/Pets/Emotional cards being played to pad out the gaps 😴

[Cleoriff]

Thanks for this @sheepdog ....completely slipped my mind 😂

Far too early for an Argentine Tango, particularly for the one who scored the lowest last week. Let's face it, the public are keeping him in due to his heroics in the Olympics.

Although the music choice is great for Sara, will she be?

By the way, this is Butter by BTS. Not sure where they find this rubbish music from?

[sheepdog]

OMG, that BTS is awful. Sort of an 80's vibe but with added blandness. Its like the equivalent of having food with reduced sugar and you wouldn't want to try it again. I think this deserves a major howl 🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺

[Cleoriff]

@sheepdog  Funnily enough I watched Graham Norton last night and Coldplay were the live musical act.

As they were singing, around the top of the set were this BTS on video. They are from Korea and they said they would like to feature on any song on his album. The song they performed was the one they were on.

So in the space of a day, I have heard of BTS twice.

This is them with Coldplay (another band I can't stand)

[sheepdog]

Coldplay v BTS: a match made in mediocrity 😂

Never understood the appeal of Coldplay unless you were miserable. 

For a few seconds given that Coldplay are out and about virtue signalling their upcoming money grab tour, I thought they would be prime candidates on the sunday results show. But no, the BBC have got none other than the Boyzone tribute act: Westlife. I think I need a pack of wolves. 

[Cleoriff]

We have more in common than you realise @sheepdog 😂

I have always called Coldplay, 'a band to make you miserable'.

Apparently this tour is a 'triumph in a net-zero carbon footprint, working in conduction with direct air capture specialists, Climeworks. The British band is aiming to reducing their tour-related emissions by 50 per cent, the remaining unavoidable emissions will be removed by a portfolio of carbon removal solutions'

So there you have it. Goody two shoes AND miserable.

As for Westlife? I thought they had retired again (and again)

[Anonymous]

What is going on here - Coldplay and BTS?  Have I fallen in to an alternative universe? 

[Cleoriff]

Let me start by saying I rarely comment on Tess and Claudia's outfits. Tonight I will. Tess looked great in that dress. Claudia?? FGS what a terrible throwback to the 70's, Awful!!

Rose and Giovanni Cha Cha Cha. A very good dance. Shirley mentioned mistake. I didn't see it. Scored 27

Tom and Amy. Foxtrot. I thought it was a lovely dance. Scored 29

Tilly and Nikita. Paso Doble. Really excellent Paso. Enjoyed it. Scored 32

Greg and Karen. Samba. Mistakes made. Not good at all. Scored 19

John and Johannes. American Smooth. I didn't like this much. I feel just like Craig. Scored 29.

Rhys and Nancy. Salsa. Very well done. Enjoyed it. Scored 31

Sara and Aljaz. Tango. Wow I didn't expect that. Just so good. Scored 36

Dan and Nadiya. Cha Cha Cha. No MC Hammer pants but plenty of his moves. I liked it! Scored 26

Judy and Graziano. Waltz. I think too much emotion and not enough waltz, that's all I can say. Scored 24.

Adam and Katya. Argentine Tango. Too many lifts but a damn good dance. Scored 32

AJ and Kai. Samba. Oh AJ. Such a shame, mistakes made. Not good. Scored 28 (overmarked if honest)

[sheepdog]

Well, first thought on the dresses: Curtains week! Tess wore that velour well but as for Claudia, lets say the 70's are calling and they don't want that back. I was pleasantly surprised at the DAO not ruining any of the music interpretations this week. Even Hero which I hate. 

Really weird marking tonight. Rose especially who was good and compared to others, didn't make mistakes and undermarked. Nice tribute to the Raspberry Beret video and those tassel trousers were hypnotic! Wrong song choice though. 

Tom was excellent though it looks like he needs a bit less of a stiff neck. Tilly good and bad, mostly good. Think she needs to work on her posture as she's looks hunched at times which is noticeable in a dance like this where you need that "dominance". Nikita is an excellent addition to the pros. 

Greg: went down hill after 1 second. Not fun, totally flat and going home this week. Karen is a good teacher but chances of improvement diminishes every week now. Unless he pulls a massive improvement or the other dance-off contender messes up big time, there's no hope. Also: worst dad dancing ever.  

Johannes and Johannes: we didn't like it either. Far too much of Johannes now and not enough of John. Almost a rehash of last weeks dance. Possibly a flaw in Johannes's ability to teach and we might see him in the bottom two in the next couple of weeks. Motsi really didn't get the reference to "Dancing in Heaven" by Craig, did she 😂

Rhys: good but ungainly at times. Nancy needs to reign him in now as he needs more control otherwise he might be facing John in the dance-off soon.

Sara: where did that come from? A little off balance which the judges picked up on with the head placement but second time top of the leaderboard in 4 weeks says she's not going to go without a fight. 

Dan: yes, was disappointed in the lack of MC Hammer pants but oh boy, that wasn't missed! Highly enjoyable and some of the details just added to the fun factor. Also undermarked. 

Judy: played the Emo card very well. Far too well for the judges to be openly critical. Saying that, apart from Graziano running around her, a competent job. Would be deservedly safe in a dance-off with Greg. Which doesn't say much for the height of the barrier.

Adam: if this was in the show dances of old, its right up there with the lifts. Total lack of AT in there and the DAO did a fantastic job.

AJ: disappointing and her worst dance so far. Though its more control than anything. We'll see this one again in the final as "to do again". A real back handed compliment by Anton at the end that went over a few peoples heads! Kai another excellent addition to the series. 

Would the male celebs stop wearing vests please. It's just one can of Stella away from Rab C. Nesbitt look.

[Cleoriff]

Please tell Claudia NOT to wear white high heels with a little black dress (a particular hate of mine!)

I enjoyed the Michael Jacksonesque opening number. Superb timing.

The less said about Westlife the better!!

The first couple in the dance off

Judy and Graziano

and the 2nd couple

Greg and Karen (no surprise)

Greg and Karen are out (even though Shirley would have saved them)

So let's just say if Judy is in the dance off next week, she'll be gone. Good.

PS @sheepdog. Next weekend, Formula One is in the USA and it clashes with SCD. We then have Mexico and Brazil so the same will happen. Not sure of all the timings but I think I'll be watching some SCD after it's been recorded.