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- Strictly Come Dancing: Craig Revel Horwood on new hosts, shock exits and who will reach the final
Strictly Come Dancing: Craig Revel Horwood on new hosts, shock exits and who will reach the final
In Strictly’s game of chess, who are the kings and queens of the ballroom – and who’ll be knocked off the board? Craig Revel Horwood delivers his verdict
MASSIMILIANO GIORGESCHI
- Craig Revel Horwood
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I’m really loving this new series of Strictly, and I love the new hosts. I think they provide an extra oomph of energy. Josh is very funny, and Emma is the ultimate professional. And it’s great that we’ve got JoJo upstairs, who can demonstrate a bit of dancing as well. He’s the first host we’ve ever had who’s an accomplished dancer.
Josh Widdicombe, Emma Willis, Johannes Radebe. BBC/Guy Levy
Of course, it was a little bit tentative at first without Tess and Claudia. It’s a jolt, like changing your family members. On the first show this year, we were all thinking, “Oh, how’s this going to go? What’s going to happen?” And I feel like we’ve got over all of that, and everyone knows what they’re doing. Like all good relationships, it takes time to develop. And I think it’s developed really nicely.
We’ve also had new twists like the three-way dance-off on Halloween. It was a very different atmosphere judging to send someone home, rather than save them – normally there would be, for instance, applause after you save someone. But when you’re judging to send someone home, it adds tension. And I liked it!
Craig Revel Horwood. BBC/Ray Burmiston/BBC Creative
I think change is what breathes fresh life into the production. People’s tastes change every year – fashion, music, culture – and Strictly is always keeping up with that. I think that’s what holds it at the top of its game, because it’s constantly moving with the times, and introducing new dances, styles and types of dancers every year.
I’ve given it 22 years of my life so far. It was original, and we created it all together. We didn’t know for one minute that it was ever going to work. In fact, Len Goodman – bless him, and rest his soul – and I both said together, “We give it three weeks”. We thought it would be off air after that. But it won the hearts and minds of the nation. There’s something to be said of human nature – people love dancing and have done since the beginning of time.
The original judging panel on Strictly’s first show in 2004, Bruno Tonioli, Arlene Phillips, Len Goodman and Craig Revel Horwood. BBC
How can this year’s celebrities get to the final? Learning the dance routines and getting a perfect score is one thing, but it doesn’t matter unless you’ve won over the audience. You need the fifth judge at home to vote for you. It’s about being who you are. You can’t falsify that, people see through it. The important thing is to tell your life story and dance that!
Dani Dyer and Nikita Kuzmin
MASSIMILIANO GIORGESCHI
Greatest strength Dani is prepared to throw herself all in and I think that’s really, really important. Even if it’s something that she doesn’t think she can do, she will put her whole mind and body and spirit into it.
Biggest weakness She judges herself too much.
Her next move To beat the competition, Dani needs to go in with a confident and forward-thinking opinion about the dance, so she can really
jump on the back of it, and try to nail
all the technique.
Delta Goodrem and Kai Widdrington
MASSIMILIANO GIORGESCHI
Greatest strength Delta’s a performer, and used to performing in large arenas. And she’s got very good timing. Her other strength is that she’s got the length of bone to create those beautiful, long, elongated lines, which really helps in ballroom and when she’s in hold.
Biggest weakness Ironically, Delta’s greatest strength is also her biggest weakness – she’s got very long limbs that she’s got to control. That is harder for a taller person. In fact, that was my own battle as a dancer, because I have very long arms.
Her next move Improving her footwork would take her dancing to the next level.
Cach Mercer and Maddie Ingoldsby
MASSIMILIANO GIORGESCHI
Greatest strength Cach is fantastic. His greatest strength is that he’s a naturally gifted and talented dancer.
Biggest weakness He’s experienced in one style but he has to get out of that and go into the ballroom world, which is the total opposite. He’s used to dancing into the ground, and what you’ve got to do in ballroom is glide across the floor.
His next move He needs to completely get to grips with the technique of each dance, and throw himself into the technical side of it a little bit more than he has been.
Will Best and Dianne Buswell
MASSIMILIANO GIORGESCHI
Greatest strength Will’s strength is his personality. He really puts 100 per cent into absolutely every dance he does, whether it looks crazy or not. But he also really tries to get the technique down.
Biggest weakness He can be a little bit mechanical. He needs to get more rhythm.
His next move He should calm things down a little bit. He can be quite wild on the dance floor. He needs to make a concentrated effort to apply just a little bit more grace to his dancing.
Lacey Turner and Vito Coppola
MASSIMILIANO GIORGESCHI
Greatest strength Lacey’s done really, really well. She was very nervous, and that was stopping her from dancing brilliantly. And then suddenly she found a dance – the Charleston – that she loved, and she did that with great success. I think she’ll fly through the rest of the competition.
Biggest weakness Her weakness before the Charleston was her lack of confidence. She just needed to believe in herself, and get one fantastic dance under her belt. I absolutely loved that dance. She got the full swivel. She was on time. And her lifts were spectacular.
Her next move I think she’s going to approach each dance with more love, and that’s what I would ask her to apply to herself.
Jaime Winstone and Carlos Gu
MASSIMILIANO GIORGESCHI
Greatest strength Jaime’s such a fantastic dancer. She needs to believe in herself a little bit more, and know that she can do it.
Biggest weakness I think she gets terribly nervous and that stops her from performing to her best ability.
Her next move She needs to mentally prepare for the journey to come, because you can get halfway in the competition and start doubting yourself. She needs to trust herself and her judgements.
Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu
MASSIMILIANO GIORGESCHI
Greatest strength Bethany’s enjoyment of dancing. She really loves it, and that is 50 per cent of the battle. Even if you don’t love that week’s dance, pretend to. What Bethany’s great at is falling in love with the dance itself and that really helps her portray it on the dance floor.
Biggest weakness A lack of technique. Because she’s naturally gifted and really loves dancing, the next step for her would be to concentrate on technique and master it.
Her next move To continue what she’s doing, but just give 10 per cent more on the dance floor.
Graeme Hall and Lauren Oakley
MASSIMILIANO GIORGESCHI
Greatest strength He’s great at adapting and he has extremely good timing and rhythm. And he seems to be able to cope with most of the styles of the dances.
Biggest weakness He dances, sometimes, a bit small. He needs to dance a bit bigger. And he needs to control his arms better.
His next move He should avoid closing in on himself in solo bits. When he does his solo dances, he needs to really take the floor by storm.
Tabby Stoecker and Mark Karmalita
MASSIMILIANO GIORGESCHI
Greatest strength She’s bubbly, she’s excitable. That really comes across on the dance floor. And she is so gorgeous to watch.
Biggest weakness She can be sometimes a little bit timid. She dances in a very small, personal way. I would say that hampers her a little bit.
Her next move Going forward, if she creates more of an impression and is more explosive on the dance floor, I think she’ll win the day.
John Nellis and Katya Jones
MASSIMILIANO GIORGESCHI
Greatest strength John will give anything a go and that’s what I love about him. He’s very approachable. He listens carefully and really wants to get it right.
Biggest weakness He’s not as naturally gifted as some of the others, and has to work a lot harder at nailing the routines. So, he needs to commit and rehearse probably a bit more than other people in order to get the styles.
His next move He should keep working hard on technique and on his acting. He needs to better portray the characters in every dance.
Celebrity checkmate
Craig on why these rookies went home
Chris Appleton
BBC/Ray Burmiston
Chris was an adorable character and he really committed to it. But the fact of the matter is, he clearly didn’t win over the audience.
Melanie Walters
BBC/Ray Burmiston
She was great, but I think she struggled with a lot of the different styles of dance. And in Strictly, it’s really important that you can do all of them well. She was a bit more of a ballroom babe than a Latin lover.
Dame Sarah Storey
BBC/Ray Burmiston
She had great energy, she was fantastic and gave us some really spectacular routines. But I don’t think she could keep up with the rest of the dancers in the competition. She came to a full stop.
Shaun Wright-Phillips
BBC/Ray Burmiston
Shaun was good, but sadly not good enough! I think he probably hit the limit of what he was capable of achieving.
Lawrence Robb
BBC/Ray Burmiston
I loved Lawrence and really wanted him to go further in the competition, but he was up against two extremely good celebrities. And sadly, he went wrong in his dance-off.
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AS TOLD TO HUW FULLERTON
Authors
Craig Revel Horwood
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