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Strictly 2018 - the return

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zico
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Strictly 2018 - the return

#167536

Postby zico » September 19th, 2018, 7:35 pm

Just catching up on Strictly and I'll be abroad when the proper voting stuff starts, but will catch up again from early October.

Strictly is becoming such a British tradition it can only be a matter of time before the date of the first episode appears on calendars.

The first episode is also a tradition where we get introduced to our new celebs, see how many of them we've ever heard of (usually about 4 of them), hear them described as "stars of stage and screen" and watch the dancers do their over-compensating jumping about as a way of pretending to be delighted with their celebrity pairings.

Episode kicks off with the outside of BBC HQ being turned into some kind of glittery village fete with this year's celebs being announced in a blaze of tinsel.
Next we're in the studio to see another great Strictly tradition in the form of Tess's Bacofoil dress and Claudia with very black clothes and very red lipstick. Claudia talks about the "mythical" glitterball trophy while the actual physical glitterball is 2 feet away from her - let's hope she's being ironic.

This year's celebs seem particularly un-famous, but I think I know 4 - Kate somebody (a BBC newsreader), Katie Piper (acid-attack victim) Susanna (What Not to Wear) and Sean (comedian) who I think might have been in an Irish sit-com playing an imaginary friend, but maybe I imagined it. I've Googled their proper names to avoid referring to them as "blond shouty person" or similar.

On to individual VT introductions of our new celebs who will surely tell us how excited, wild, wacky and lovable they are, and how none of them even know what this "dancing" thing is, or have ever done any dancing as part of an acting career.

Kate Silverton (BBC Newsreader). An occupational hazard of being a BBC newsreader is that sooner or later, you'll be roped into Strictly, and now it's Kate's turn. She's paired with Aljaz, so which at least means she isn't this year's older-lady joke contestant who gets stuck with Anton.

Vick Hope (Capital One breakfast show). Presumably she was christened Vicky, but decided it had too many syllables. Vick seems to think she's a real treat. I'm not so sure. She's well matched with new dancer Graziano who also looks to have a high opinion of himself, combined with carefully arranged beard. This could be a fun pairing, for all the wrong reasons.

Susannah Constantine (What Not to Wear). Susannah tells us she lost her confidence at 50 but is now through her menopause, and has got her mojo back. Fortunately she doesn't say "I hope the producers don't consider me the "past-it" comedy overweight older lady who gets paired with Anton Du Beke and is relentlessly ridiculed by him" because that might have upset her new partner. When introduced, Anton does his thing of picking her up and then pretending to have hurt his back. Such a charmer.

Faye Tozer (singer from Steps). All the backing singers from bands of yesteryear look the same, and Faye is no exception. I like her self-deprecating stuff about how dance routines in Steps consisted mostly of standing and pointing. She seems likeable and is paired with Giovanni. Can Giovanni be nice for 2 seasons running? It'll be a stretch for him.

Ryan Lee (former Blue singer, now East Enders megastar). Ryan is trying hard to convince us he's wild, wacky and daffy - it's an easy sell. He seems annoying. Even more annoyingly, he's paired with glamorous Nadija, the one who looks like Rod Stewart's wives.

Danny John-Jules (Red Dwarf). Danny is quite an old geezer, but looks smooth, seems fun, and he does seem to have a few good moves. He's paired with Amy (one of the new dancers from last year) which can only be a step up for Amy after being paired last year with Brian Conley. He could be a surprise finalist if the Great British public take to him.

Joe Sugg (Internet blogger). Joe looks about 12 and apparently has 14 million followers on YouTube. He tells us he has only ever danced when drunk (surely this applies to most of us?) and his nan used to dance at Blackpool Tower. He's just like, you know, so, like, annoying (insert emoticon here) LOL. Diane is one of the newish dancers who isn't yet established enough to avoid being paired with someone like Joe.

Dr Ranj Singh (Good Morning TV). Dr Ranj is a real doctor with a very mobile face who is particularly wild, wacky and zany. Possibly a nice person behind all the annoying mugging. He gets Janette, so let's hope he's popular and Janette stays in as long as possible.

Katie Piper (Model, presenter). Katie was badly disfigured in an acid attack and after a lot of surgery, had battled back to recover, though still has health problems and is now on TV and prominent in plastic-surgery type charities encouraging people to get back in public after being disfigured. Good for her, and she'll get lots of public support no matter what. Paired with Gorka.

Stacey Dooley (Investigative reporter). Stacey is a mass of contradictions - glamorous, gor blimey wotcha accent, and investigative reporter tackling dangerous people. Looks like a young Jane Asher. She gets Kevin.

Lauren Steadman (Triathlete). Lauren is a paralympian with one arm missing below the elbow. She seems grimly competitive and determined to win. She's paired with AJ who throws her about a bit and nearly drops her.

Ashley Roberts (Pussycat Dolls dancer). There has never been a more obvious ringer in the history of Strictly than Ashley from the dance group Pussycat Dolls (Nicole Schzzzzz did all the actual singing). She gamely tries to convince us that her dance training and experience doesn't count as the Dolls never actually did Argentine Tango or Viennese Waltz. She's paired with Pasha - a bit of a waste of Pasha's kindness and gentleness as Ashley isn't going to struggle with dancing.

Seann Walsh (Comedian). First impression are that Seann is the kind of comedian who finds it necessary to tell you he's a comedian. Throughout the selection process, Katya ("Gangnam Style") has been looking like she's being held hostage, and maybe this is because she knew all along who she'd be paired with. Seann might actually be good fun, you never know with Strictly, that's part of the charm of it.

Charles Venn (Casualty). Charles is a Poundshop Idris Elba, but clearly thinks Idris secretly dreams of being Charles Venn. He doesn't actually say "Phwoarr!" when looking at his potential partners, but does everything short of that. Karen has been looking dischuffed throughout the show, and actually hugs herself and slightly turns away when he leers over at her. When they are paired, Charles looks approvingly at Karen from the chest downwards. He also refers to himself in the 3rd person. Oh dear.

Graham Swanne (Cricketer). I know the name, but didn't recognise him. He looks like a scaled-down version of Greg Davies ("Man Down"). He was once memorably described as "the funniest man in the world - for the first 3 minutes". He seems to have a fixed daft grin and a general attitude of "I'm daft as a brush, honest I am." Brings his children into it even before the scoring starts, which is way too early. He's paired with Oti. Hopefully there's time for the BBC to change the voting system in such a way so that we can keep Oti and lose Graham.

Group dance at the end. Red Dwarf guy looks very smooth, and Susannah looks very lumpy.

Overall impressions are that this year's bunch are a bit lack-lustre, but hopefully we'll see some characters develop and have Journeys.

cavebat
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Re: Strictly 2018 - the return

#167584

Postby cavebat » September 19th, 2018, 11:19 pm

zico wrote:Danny John-Jules (Red Dwarf). Danny is quite an old geezer, but looks smooth, seems fun, and he does seem to have a few good moves. He's paired with Amy (one of the new dancers from last year) which can only be a step up for Amy after being paired last year with Brian Conley. He could be a surprise finalist if the Great British public take to him.



I put a bet on Danny to win/make the final as soon as he was announced. The guy is already a dancer, it's how he got the part of Cat in Red Dwarf.

cavebat

zico
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Re: Strictly 2018 - the return

#167684

Postby zico » September 20th, 2018, 1:24 pm

Danny looks like a shrewd bet - what odds did you get for him?

Just realised that after the first dances last year, I predicted Joe as last year's winner, so I'll have another go at predictions - in order of elimination.

First out - Charles (let's hope!), then Joe, Sean, Kate, Susannah, Lauren, Vick, Doctor, Graham, Ryan, Katie, Faith, Danny, Ashley, Stacey (winner).

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Re: Strictly 2018 - the return

#167698

Postby cavebat » September 20th, 2018, 2:22 pm

zico wrote:Danny looks like a shrewd bet - what odds did you get for him?


7/1 for outright win, 9/4 for top 3 - with William Hill.

I see he's still at 7/1 for winner, but 2/1 for top 3.

cavebat

dionaeamuscipula
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Re: Strictly 2018 - the return

#167974

Postby dionaeamuscipula » September 21st, 2018, 4:39 pm

zico wrote:Danny looks like a shrewd bet - what odds did you get for him?

Just realised that after the first dances last year, I predicted Joe as last year's winner, so I'll have another go at predictions - in order of elimination.

First out - Charles (let's hope!), then Joe, Sean, Kate, Susannah, Lauren, Vick, Doctor, Graham, Ryan, Katie, Faith, Danny, Ashley, Stacey (winner).


Hi Zico

There is a long standing tradition that we do not discuss strictly odds on here. I forget who requested it.

DM :-)

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Re: Strictly 2018 - the return

#168201

Postby Slarti » September 22nd, 2018, 6:55 pm

zico wrote:Danny John-Jules (Red Dwarf). Danny is quite an old geezer, but looks smooth, seems fun, and he does seem to have a few good moves. He's paired with Amy (one of the new dancers from last year) which can only be a step up for Amy after being paired last year with Brian Conley. He could be a surprise finalist if the Great British public take to him.


Danny is (was?) also in "Death in Paradise", "Maid Marian and her Merry Men" and "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and so should be well known to quite a wide spread of people. I am aware of a number of people who are going to watch Strictly for the first time because of him.

Oh, and he was in the original West End production of "Starlight Express"



Hopefully he'll become Dwain Dibbly for the Halloween edition :twisted:

Slarti


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