Strictly 2022 Thread 2 - Who's your favourite...

[xsquared]

Hello folks,
Last one filled up and I was surprised another hadn't been started for a while.

First thoughts:
I like this year's cohort and I recognise a few faces.

• Jayde reminds me of Dawn French. Wasn't expecting her to be paired with Karen.

• Carlos and Vito will be interesting to watch in their debut. Molly went to Sylvia Young Theatre, so she could be a ringer.

• I've seen Jowita in The Greatest Dancer and she was phenomenal. Hamza looks like he'll be good fun.

• Luba looked amazing during John Legend's performance and it's a shame that neither her celebs went very far. Maybe she's better suited to dancing in the background.

• When Helen Skelton mentioned needing someone who could understand a northern accent, I immediately guessed it was Gorka.

• Ellie and Johannes look good together. She's absolutely delighted with him, and I hope we get to watch them for a good while.

• Matt Goss seems rather subdued, but I think he'll have a good work ethic and deliver a good performance.

Nadiya did a Samba to Staying Alive with Davood back in 2017.

I wonder what they will do with Hamza's hair. I don't think he will get away with having it down for the Jive.

Ellie Taylor and Johannes Radebe - Paso Doble, 'Les Toreadors' (Georges Bizet) flamboyant/traditional/Susanna and Kev's big shoes to fill
Kym Marsh and Graziano Di Prima - Viennese Waltz, 'Runaway' (The Corrs) yawn/also triggers flashbacks to being on hold to Ryanair for an hour
Matt Goss and Nadiya Bychkova - Samba, 'Night Fever' (Bee Gees) looking forward to it, can add to Davood SA and Abbey YSBD for medley
Tony Adams and Katya Jones - Charleston, 'My Old Man’s A Dustman' (Foster & Allen) has Katya written all over it. Might save him for a week
Richie Anderson and Giovanni Pernice - Quickstep, 'Dancin’ Fool' (Barry Manilow)
yet another outing for this song after Jason/Joe. Or Gio shading Richie?!
Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystal - Jive, 'Blinding Lights' (The Weeknd) choon
Helen Skelton and Gorka Márquez - Cha Cha, 'Rain On Me' (Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande) should work nicely for a cha cha
Jayde Adams and Karen Hauer - Tango, 'Rumour Has It' (Adele) choon but I wasn't keen on it when used for Dani's tango. Rumer Willis used it on DWTS for a chacha - Rumer has it! Crowbar
Will Mellor and Nancy Xu - Salsa, 'Never Too Much' (Luther Vandross) ooh, this is my DD's recent jam, she'll love it. Slick, smooth salsa please
Tyler West and Dianne Buswell - Jive, 'Hit The Road Jack' (Buster Poindexter) No, this belongs to Scott Maslen and Natalie - gavel
Molly Rainford and Carlos Gu - Quickstep, 'Love On Top' (Beyoncé) wouldn't have used for a QS and not my favourite from Bey
Ellie Simmonds and Nikita Kuzmin - Waltz, 'Can’t Help Falling In Love' (Elvis Presley) Brave. Thought they would avoid the traditional waltz entirely like Terra did, whose VW was armography twirls rather than hold
Fleur East and Vito Coppola - Viennese Waltz, 'Glimpse Of Us' (Joji) oh, I didn't know this song, but it is beautiful
Kaye Adams and Kai Widdrington - Charleston, 'Music! Music! Music!' (Dorothy Provine) ah, relying on the Charleston like Tony but I think Tony will be looser than this not-so-loose woman. Prepared to be surprised by Gurny La Touche or whatever character is concocted this week

Based on the above, I'd guess it might be Battle of the Charlestons but Molly and Kym will need points not to be pretty but forgettable.

Gurny La Bouche

<Graham Norton voice> Bouche = mouth. Gurning mouth. Do you see? Do you see what I did there? it is neither as funny nor clever as I think it is if I have to explain it, merde

Terribly sorry asked for a delete, post meant for Book Chat

The woman he took up with has an Instagram account selling Preloved items. Every single day there's several items of designer stuff up for sale costing an arm and a leg, worn once or never worn at all.

Where did she keep all this stuff in the first place I wonder? I've never known anyone have so much stuff. You'd need an aircraft hangar.

Can’t see Amy and James there?

James Bye and Amy Dowden - Tango, 'Bad Habits' (Ed Sheeran)

Richie and Gio seem to be getting on very well, relaxed and jokey on the sofa, obviously working hard.
The rumours obviously not true.

If that's the case, he has a vote from me!

Not sure if anyone has mentioned it but can't we just stop with the "boop" business between Karen and Jayda. It's so cringe 😬

I said that!

Have you seen her dance videos? Massive unfair advantage but we'll see how she does?

I can't find the judge rumour can someone IM me?

Nikita and Ellie were just on This Morning and he was talking about the adaptations that needed to be made.

He seem excited about it though - figuring it out and what needs to be changed to make it work

Did they say how they're dancing things like this week's waltz and other dances with a lot of hold work?

He talked about the challenge with the choreography (in a positive way) but didn't discuss how challenging it was to dance per se.

Ellie did say she was struggling massively at the start of the week but seems she has gotten into it more as the week has gone on.

I do worry a bit for his back and neck! And Ellie's neck and shoulders, for that matter, if she's having to crane to look up at him a lot.

Ellie's 4 foot, which is the average height of a 6/7 year old? I've danced with children before and you don't stoop. You adjust the hold, so your right arm curves down and the girl's left arm only comes to your elbow and you don't have body contact. (For really tiny ones aged 4 or so you usually hold both hands instead.)

Obviously it'll be different in terms of the power of movement she has, and probably limb proportion. But that's what I'd guess, a lower, more circular hold and not much body contact.

But he looked like he was stooping?

catwithflowers · Yesterday 20:26
Not sure if anyone has mentioned it but can't we just stop with the "boop" business between Karen and Jayda. It's so cringe 😬

What’s the “boop” business? I haven’t seen any ITT yet.

Amen to that

The clue was Ride on Time in Blackpool.
This was back in 2017 I believe and they won that series.

He definitely was in the cha, I'm just saying that isn't how you'd "normally" dance with that sort of height difference.

I agree, he was stooping.