Strictly Come Dancing 2012 - who's getting excited?

[CeliaFate]

Just read that Katya Virshilas isn't returning to the show, a new dancer Karen Hauer is taking her place.

Who will be in this year's line up?

Dilys That is so funny!

Pan don't get the joke about the nappies

Just watching on playback and Jerry Hall is FAB, love her.

Right. Only just caught up (we wait til DCs are in bed, food is consumed, fairy lights are on and cava, most importantly, is OPEN).

Anton and Erin are, IMHO, basically only in the show to advertise their own tours. So neither of them ever actually wants to win, because then they'd be tied up for too long. Anton once said in an interview that they have a say in which slebs they get, so all the 'poor Anton, why can't he have someone good for a change' stuff is bull.

I predict some 'hilarious' VT where Victoria Pendleton and James are either on a tandem or doing a spinning class together.

I think Lisa Riley referred to herself as a 'chubber' because that's what larger women feel they have to do - make the fat 'jokes' before someone else does. See all of Jo Brand's stand-up routines, ever.

Can't believe we have to wait three weeks. Harrumph.

Minnie - yeah, I know WHY Lisa Riley did it, I just wish she'd didn't feel she had to

I'd like her to have had a 'what of it' attitude

I think Pan is implying that Aliona is his other half.....

Vulgar - sorry, Aliona is the mother of our twins, and I am the SAHD, changing nappies every 2 mins - about as long as it is going to take for her to be dumped out of the competition. Hopefully.

Jerry - will be able to walk much better than she can dance. ( like Kylie M.)

Surely DvO has a bit of a head start? One doesn't get to lead in Cabaret by sitting down all of the time.

Young thingy from Girls Aloud is looking well placed?

Jerry = Cruella da Ville.

DVO infuriated me with her disingenuous bs interview. 'I had to sit down in Chicago as I was that bad' or words to that effect. I saw her in Chicago and there was a lot of dancing and she seemed pretty damn good to me. She has had a lot of training. But I guess Girls Aloud bird and Tracy Beaker (ex stage school?) may have done as well.

DVO went to stage school. I imagine dancing was on the curriculum.

Agreed about Erin's Latin ability. My dance teacher says both Anton (who she knows) and Erin are weak in their Latin. Their Ballroom is very good, if not quite world class - if you want to see world class ballroom google Chris Hawkins and Hazel Newberry - divine!

notyummy - i'm completely with ya on the disingenuous bs interview. I didn't see her in Chicago, but I've seen the show so I know what dancing her role had to do.

Also wasn't she in Legally Blonde the musical too?

At least Kimberley Aloud gave a straight up interview where she said she had a big tap routine in Shrek.

The Tracey Beaker actress may have gone to stage school but she was acting v young, so I reckon any training she had was years ago.

It seems that DVO will get all the flack for being a ringer whilst Girls Aloud girl will get away with it, despite actually being even more advantaged. I tend to be Team Denise cos I fancy her husband, but I suspect they will both be Box Office Poison .

Oh, and my spidey senses tell me that Victoria P will be simply unable to dance worth a damn - along the lines of Kelly Holmes on Dancing on Ice . Just a guess though.

The Girls Aloud girl is soo pretty. Why does Cheryl get all the attention?

I've said it before but DVO is quite hard these days. The sparkly smile never quite reaches the eyes.

Does anybody else think that Dani Harmer looks more or less a carbon copy of Louisa Lytton and that her and Vincent will be a copy of that year?

I can't take to DVO. I like Kimberley, she could be good at latin, judging by the way she shook her hips in the group dance. Looking forward to seeing what Brendan can do with Victoria. Not particularly excited about the male celebs this year.

I like DVO and I love James so I'm really pleased with their pairing .

I feel like a real bitch, but was anyone else a bit underwhelmed by Darceys American smooth? I thought it would be fab, but it seemed a bit disjointed? Or have I just forgotten what to look for ( have missed a couple of seasons due to having ds's who grew out of sequins!)

DP looked in briefly last night "Johnny Ball! - he has gone bald since I last saw him on TV!" absolute denial he is just a couple of years away from 50

talkingnonsense, you're right because it wasn't a proper American Smooth! It was a "look! I know all about ballroom/latin dancing" moment. For gods sake there were Paso, Samba and Rumba figures in the routine! American Smooth my arse!

To be, slightly, fair to DVO and Kimberley Walsh, the jazz/pop style dancing they've done on the stage bears little resemblance to ballroom/latin dance. Yes they'll have rhythm and timing, but ballroom, in particular, is not just about learning a routine, you have to understand precise foot positions (hence Len always commenting on things like heel leads) and room alignments. Latin is much easier to "fake" - you just shake your arse a bit more!

Why do they say ' x is dancing an american smooth' when it isn't ? It could have just been 'x is dancing with y'

Hazel Newberry was a pro years ago wasn't she? I'm pretty sure she still holds the lowest score record, the poor thing.

Actually, I'm not sure if the pros are quite as high calibre as they used to be. I mean much as you might not like her, Karen Hardy was a fantastic Latin dancer and the Cutlers were highly ranked. Some of the others in the first two series were really good too, Paul Killick and I cant think of the others!

I'm looking forward to it though, most of the pairings suit me. I hope Erin does well this year, I always think she must be one of the best teachers, but never seems to quite manage it!

Every single year my opinions on most of the contestants change over the course of the series.

Those I thought I liked I end up disliking and vice versa.

My beloved Pasha is with Kimberley Walsh, so I might end up warming to her.

I am very open to having my opinion of DVO changed. I have never warmed to her so you never know. She seems a bit hard to me, I hope to see a softer side.

Scatter, yes poor Hazel got lumbered with Quentin Wilson. Hannah Kartunan (sp?) got Christopher Parker, she went to to become World Freestyle Champion.

My teacher has said more than once that Darren and Lilia had the potential to become World Champions, but they gave up their competitive career for Strictly.