Strictly 2012

Good summing up there BtB

My summing up!

• Fern Britton  - Won't get very far as she really blotted her copy book with GBP by lying about her weight loss.  Never bothered me but it pee'd off lots of people
• Dani Harmer - She'll struggle, doesn't seem very interesting an her fan base are too young to be watching Strictly
• Victoria Pendleton - Should do well on back of Lympix but there are a number who seem to be slating her for whinging a lot (not my opinion, I think she's fab!)  Will certainly be able to cope with the training, whether she can dance we've yet to see
• Sid Owen -  will be popular, he made me smile while watching it.
• Nicky Byrne - Should be able to dance and will certainly breeze through the early weeks
• Johnny Ball  - Seems popular and will even get some reflected glory from Zoe.  Can't see him lasting too long though
• Kimberly Walsh - Nice girl and will go far I think
• Jerry Hall - Really can't say, could go either way.  Antons fans will keep her in for the early stages
• Lisa Riley - Sadly she won't be able to execte some of the moves and not sure her bubble personality will keep her in longer than a few weeks
• Denise Van Outen - too much early suspicion of being a dancer alreay will stop a lot of GBP voting for her.  Also a lot of people don't like James so he can't guarantee her staying longer.  I suspect she will be the first 'shock' exit
• Michael Vaughan - Hope he does well, that's maybe 'cos I'm a massive cricket fan.  He was always light on his feet as a batsman.  If he can survive the first weeks (amzing how many of GBP don't know much about cricket/ers!) and he can dance, he will do well
• Louis Smith - Should do well (remember Matt was a gymnast!) but I sort of see 'nervousness' in his demeanour and think his dancing may be excellent but wooden.  Hope not though.
• Richard Arnold - Gets on my nerves so hope he's out before long.
• Colin Salmon - Gorgeous sex on legs with a gorgeous voice (not much help in dancing!)  Didn't realise he was quite so tall.  Kristina is good with choreography and I bet he can move so my guess is he will go far.

Watcher TopSec  - top summing up.
I’m a cricket fan too and have always had a soft spot for Michael Vaughan. He was psychologically astute as a captain, and is a good communicator - might not seem like dance skills but in competition terms will certainly help. Probably won’t be plagued with Vicky style self doubt. Hope I warm to Natalie as a dancer - I kind of hoped Vaughnie would get one of my favourites, which she's not. Too chinny. How unreasonable can I get? Very.

Like you I love Vicky P. I don’t think she whinges  - many of her criticisms about the cycling set up have been on hold till now. She’s surprisingly supportive of other women. She tries to be true to herself which gathers opprobrium when it doesn’t conform with stereotypes and I can’t help loving her for that. Gorgeous, fantastically physically talented, articulate, hard working …and plagued with self doubt  - what’s not to like?

OH Raffo and I both agreed about Richard Arnold. Possibly so annoying because he insists on making not very amusing quips all the time? Get rid!

So you don’t reckon Daniiiii will be another Chelseeeeeeeee. A poster elsewhere said her two girls were delighted by the Beakerette’s presence as she was only celeb they recognised.

Also surprised Colin S isn’t partnered by one of the taller dancers. I thought Natalie too, or Erin - who always strikes me as quite tall. Might not be though.

xine if you look in again and have time can you say what about Singin in the Rain you didn't like?

Any more darrrrrnce news fellow twinkletoes?

Hi All!

sharkie - sorry about late reply! I was mainly unimpressed with the quality of acting in Singin In The Rain, which I thought was unbelievably hammy (obviously musical theatre is generally OTT, but other productions manage to do it with charm, this didn't), and too few dance numbers. I thought it would actually be a more 'dancey' interpretation of the film, certainly some of the early reviews gave me that impression. The actual rain dance at the end of first act was quite good, so perhaps if you can get cheap tickets just leave during the interval.

Seperate post to break it up, my early thoughts:

• Fern Britton  - Could go either way, I can't imagine her having much natural talent or athleticism but she wasn't too bad on one of the specials (can't remember which - Children In Need, Xmas Special??) Has the benefit of Artem as professional partner, granted he's been teamed with good celebrities so far, but he seems like an excellent choreographer who will work to showcase his partner's abilities rather than push them into routines that don't suit.
• Dani Harmer - No idea. I do like Vincent, and again, he works with his partners to emphasise their strengths - I thought he did well with Natalie Cassidy a few years ago - but his choreography can be a little too safe (/boring) when he doesn't have a partner with natural talent.
• Victoria Pendleton - I really, really want her to do well as I like her enormously but I fear that she might turn out to be this year's Michelle Williams - the one that everyone expects to do well but who just can't dance. Very atheltic and used to putting in the hours in training, but that doesn't necessarily translate to talent on the dancefloor. The public vote should carry her through the first few weeks regardless
• Sid Owen -  will wait and see, he hasn't had many opportunities for foxtrotting around Albert Square and likely to be a big hit with the viewers thanks to Eastenders
• Nicky Byrne - Hmm ... a bit of a wildcard - you'd think a boyband member would be quite good, at least in the first few weeks because they are used to learning some kind of choreography, but do Westlife dance much? I thought it was all sitting on stools and shooting brooding looks at the camera.
• Johnny Ball  - I think he'll be good at the dances that call for lots of poise and elegance - waltz, foxtrot etc - and there is so much public goodwill towards him.
• Kimberly Walsh - I really like her, she seems very down to earth - I liked her comment about never beating Westlife before so she had to try this time! I would expect her to be used to following simple choreography, so shouldn't be too much of a stretch to get her head around the first few weeks. I think she'll be brilliant at Latin dances like cha cha, but might need to tone it down a bit for ballroom.
• Jerry Hall - Not sure, I thought she'd be quite graceful but she didn't seem it what I saw of her in the group dance. I'm not sure about Anton as partner either, he can be very good but he has a tendency to play up the comedy/slapstick element of his routines when his partner isn't so good whereas someone like Flavia manages to balance the comedy with charm and some actual dance steps!
• Lisa Riley - Not sure at all, first impression is that it will be difficult for her to manage the technical aspect of some of the dances simply due to her size (btw, I loved her comment about doing it for the chubbers!) , but then again she's paired with Robin who should be strong enough to lift her. Just because they might not be able to do some of the more advanced lifts, doesn't mean that she won't be a good dancer. One of my favourite contestants on DWTS - Kyle Massey - made it to the finals despite not being as athletic as some of the other male contestants.
• Denise Van Outen - I think James might be on to a winner this year!
• Michael Vaughan - I don't know enough about him to make a guess, but Natalie Lowe is one of my favourite professionals and I think she's another one who is particularly mindful of her partners strengths/weaknesses.
• Louis Smith - My favourite, I think he's got more natural ability than Denise but it can be harder for the

Ahh! Lost the end of my post! To finish up ...

* Louis Smith - my favourite! I think he'll do very well and I'm excited to see what Flavia comes up with now that she's got a partner with real potential. But I think it's harder for the male celebrities because they don't have the advantage of it being acceptable to be led around the dancefloor by their partner. He'll need to look in control of the dances to be in with a shot at the glitterball.

• Richard Arnold - I think he's trying to be this year's Chris Hollins and I didn't like the fact that he won a few years ago when Ricky Whittle was BY FAR the better dancer.
• Colin Salmon - I can imagine he'll be excellent at ballroom and dances like tango and paso (my favourites!) where he really has to LEAD. Jive and charleston might be tricky as typically they are harder for very tall contestants, but Scott Marsden danced a brilliant jive a couple of years ago, and Gilles Marini - my favourite DWTS contestant. EVER (YouTube his tango videos!) - was also great despite being very tall.

Roll on the 5/6th October - only 17 days to go!

Had a email from the NIA yesterday to say that priority booking for the Live show was starting tomorrow. Friday is the day for everyone else.

Just thought the thread needed bouncing as we are getting near 

Watched some of the training clips on BBC and most of them are looking OK, think this years is going to be a tough one

I haven't watched many of the training videos but I saw an early snippet of Kimberley and Pasha. I'm pleased that she's got the cha cha as her first dance, should showcase her talent nicely and also gets it out of the way early in the competition as the judges get much harsher when judging it as the weeks go by.

I think this is going to be a tough one to call, but if I was going to bet it would be on Louis and Denise to reach the final with Denise to just snatch the win.

No news on my audience tickets yet - looks like I will be watching it all from the sofa

I wouldn't normally watch something like Strictly, but I think I'll tune in for Victoria Pendleton

Really can't stand Bruce Forsyth, so I'm going to have to record it and fast-forward through the bits where he tells his "jokes".

Oh oh oh oh oh I'm SOOOO excited

My thoughts:

• Fern Britton - never really warmed to her and I'm not expecting much to be honest. 
• Dani Harmer - my 8 year old daughter is thrilled that she is in it! I think she might have more fans that you'd expect...
• Victoria Pendleton  - everything about her sets my teeth on edge, I'm afraid, I'm hoping she has 2 left feet...
• Sid Owen - who knows?! He seems a good contender for "cheeky cahppie" of the series - wil probably do well on that alone!
• Nicky Byrne - ah bless his little Irish socks. Popular with the ladies, I'll bet. 
• Johnny Ball - a childhood hero! I hope he wins
• Kimberly Walsh - eye candy for my husband! I'm expecting her to be really good.
• Jerry Hall - really, really not sure at all! 
• Lisa Riley - I reckon Lisa can move....but she will probably be marked down if the routines have to be adapted so that she can physically do them. Might be an unexpected hit with the viewers!
• Denise Van Outen - meh. That's all...
• Michael Vaughan - aww bless him, I like him but I don't think he is a Ramps! 
• Louis Smith - he'll be amazing, and his bum will look amazing in the outfits
• Richard Arnold - who?! No idea..
• Colin Salmon - I recognised his face when I looked him up. Reckon he could be a bit like Rory last year - good mover, will get to halfway, but won't be able to compete with the pretty boys!

Crumbs Len - did you read my notes ???? I agree with everything

Haven't seen any training snippets or anything else as stupid hours at work currently and not even sure will be able to watch Friday 

I'm not a huge fan of Brucie by any means but I prefer him to Tess and can appreciate the old fashioned skills he brings to the job which means he doesn't fall to pieces and stand there looking gormless when things to pear-shaped!

*shimmies into thread*

I have red wine and a Gu chocolate pud for tonight. V. excited

I'd forgotten it all kicks off tonight! I don't have anywhere near enough glitter ready!!

You can never have too much glitter!

I'm hoping that Colin will dance as beautifully as he sounds, such a gorgeous voice

I can pop to the shops in my lunch break and buy more glitter. And maybe one of those sparkly feather boas, too

What's the format for tonight then? Do we know who's dancing yet? I can't believe I don't know these things already!

Ahh, so excited! Two consecutive nights of Strictly 

TopSec - I think we're overdue a female winner and I reckon that Denise might just do it. I agree she'll get a bit of the "previous dance experience" critique but I think Louis will also suffer from the "dancing isn't gymnastics" criticism that seems to crop up around 3/4 of the way through the series, usually from Len, asking for proper dance steps and less flashy cartwheels. BUT who knows, at this stage any of them could be the wildcard.

Right, off to buy some glitter  

sarah the bookworm wrote (see)

I can pop to the shops in my lunch break and buy more glitter. And maybe one of those sparkly feather boas, too

What's the format for tonight then? Do we know who's dancing yet? I can't believe I don't know these things already!

+1 - does anyone know who is dancing tonight? Do you think it'll be a mix or will they do boys tonight, girls tomorrow. Oh the excitement!

Do you think I'll be ok with just glitter or do I need to get a ridiculous spray tan too?

According to the website, six are dancing tonight. It doesn't say who though!

Spray tan and tooth whitening kit added to the shopping list