Strictly may have had a makeover, but the format is still the same as ever, thankfully.

Before I get to my commentary on the dances themselves, I just wanted to point out where changes have been made. Tess and Claudia have gone. New hosts Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe, and Johannes Radebe took charge, and one thing immediately was obvious to me: this show does not work with 3 hosts. It’s a format that’s so obviously designed for 2 and the 3 person format comes over very laboured. Emma was as smooth as butter, Josh brought humour, but Johannes sadly I feel is not a natural at this game, and I do think his talents were better utilised in the pro lineup. I especially don’t think Johannes is right for the upstairs role (it’s all rather stilted up there currently, and that role should at least have some sort of ad-libbing skills attached to it), that’s where Josh’s comedic abilities could shine.

Speaking of the pro lineup, there’s been change in that direction beyond Johannes’ role shift. We’ve had to say goodbye to 5 familiar faces. Karen Hauer, one of my personal favourites, has departed after 14 series, but is statistically the longest serving female pro of all time, and a 14 series run is nothing to be sniffed at, especially without a single benching.

Elsewhere on the female side, Nadiya Bychkova, Luba Mushtuk, and Michelle Tsiakkas have all waved goodbye to the show after 9, 8, and 4 respective series as professionals. I think these decisions were made by those higher-up rather than the dancers’ own decisions. These 3 pros had all been benched before (Nadiya twice, Michelle three times, and Luba four times), but I do think they provided some value to the lineup. They all brought a bit of balance to the show, a cool, calm and collected vibe (and all in 3 completely different ways) that I think was somewhat missing from the show this week. Indeed, Nadiya and Luba’s removals this year in particular are pretty baffling to me, because they were the two tallest female professionals, and it’s quite a tall batch of male celebrities this year. Nadiya has had successful partnerships in years gone by with Davood Ghadami and Dan Walker (a Week 11 finish with both of them) so we know with the right partner, she can capture the public’s imagination. Luba meanwhile has had quite a different partner draw, consisting of people with significant physical limitations… she’s clearly a very patient teacher, but I would have liked to have seen her with somebody with proper dance potential for a year. She’s probably the only pro of those who were involved in the previous series not to have had one. Even Michelle, who was only partnered in one series of four, had a pretty decent run getting to Week 10, whilst Luba’s best ever finish was Week 7… she was the only one of the 20-strong pro lineup last year to have never made Blackpool. I do hope she can be invited back to the show one day, just to see what she can do with somebody without those limitations placed in them. 

And then back to the male side, it’s not just Johannes that we’re saying goodbye to.. it’s Gorka too. Gorka Marquez, in my opinion, is one of the strongest choreographers Strictly has had. He has an EXCELLENT track record, 3 finals and a plethora of tens. He didn’t appear in the majority of last year’s series due to him being a judge on the Spanish incarnation of the show which unfortunately clashed with Strictly, leading to what was essentially an enforced benching, and Gorka only being able to appear on the UK show for the final two weeks. The Spanish version is on at the same time of year THIS year too, which means bidding Gorka farewell. That arrangement may have worked as a one-off but it was never going to be sustainable unless Spain moved their show to a different time of year, so Gorka is gone too.

That’s 3 VERY popular pros gone in Karen, Gorka, and Johannes, a moderately popular one in Nadiya, and a couple of perhaps underused ones in Michelle and Luba. I think having a significant cull of professional dancers coincide with the departure of both your long-term hosts was misguided. Not only that, but even the spin-off show has been revamped. Fleur and Janette are no longer, and it’s now Ellie Taylor hosting. Ellie will probably do a good job don’t get me wrong, but so many departures in one fell swoop isn’t good for the show if you ask me. They needed to try and retain as many as possible so that the revamp could still succeed. The ratings for the first week sadly show that. If you’re losing both your main anchors, then I personally think it’s best to make sure the familiar faces stay intact. I’m fairly certain that’s the most departures of any series in the show’s history, which is certainly a risk. I just hope the big ratings drop was a one-time dip…

Elsewhere, there’s a new logo (the background looks great, I really like the red and purple colour scheme- the logo itself meanwhile, not so much- it looks like a graphic design team have used a child’s drawing of the Strictly logo as inspiration) some new titles… they’ve been shortened quite significantly (only about a second for each couple… you can’t see their opening moves clearly anymore which is a shame), and gone are the days of the couple’s “main move” in the foreground and miniature versions of them dancing in the background… shame to see. And an extra two second bar of music at the end of the titles before the glitterball appears- it just sounds really clunky and stop-start. You can add new concepts to Strictly and evolve it, but doing it all in one fell swoop just isn’t the natural evolution.

However, that’s enough party-pooping about the revamp for now- all 4 judges are still there, the band are still there, a good number of familiar pro faces are still there (with 5 new ones- Cristian, Lethabo, Aleksandra, Mark, and Maddie, though only the latter two getting partnered up. Aleksandra looks a lot like Nadiya)- in fact 13/14 returning pros got partnered (poor Neil) and so are the ballroom and Latin dances. 

First up were presenter Will Best and his partner Dianne Buswell doing a Samba…

The chemistry between him and Dianne (now with a softer red hue) I personally thought this was very cheesy and came over as dad dancing. He was clearly enjoying himself but I personally thought it very stompy, but he did have decent musicality which may help in future. He landed a dance that didn’t suit him first one out the gate. I don’t think the song helped either- this would fit a cha-cha a lot more than a samba, so a 4 from me. The judges went 4, 5, 4, 5 for a total of 18- I’ve seen a few comments online that Will was undermarked but I don’t think so. I think 4s and 5s were fair. Dianne did manage to incorporate a lot of basic samba in there and Will did give it a lot of personality, but at times it looked like Dianne herself was leading… very easy to tell who the professional was here- there is definitely still a lot of potential to unlock there. I think Will will probably be very popular in the votes too.

   

Winter Olympian Tabby Stoecker and Mark Karmalita- Jive.. in Week 1, this is tricky but Tabby does have natural ability. Mark is the new boy on the block and looks very similar to a certain Mr Pritchard who danced on the show in the past, and I thought he choreographed a good routine for his debut. HOWEVER, I do think there was lots of faffing about before getting to the main jive section, but they were perfectly in sync throughout, her kicks and flicks were decent- the enthusiasm on her face seemed a little bit forced at times, she’s not quite used to the acting side of it yet. Bizarrely, this was only an issue for me in the main jive- the faffing about beforehand I thought her performance quality was pretty strong. She did make quite a noticeable mess-up at the end too. For me, it’s the partnership itself I’m not quite feeling yet. Will and Dianne came out as a fully fledged partnership, whilst these two still feel like they’re in the getting to know each other stage. It’s a 6 from me. The judges went 4, 6, 5, 7- some odd individual scores in there (it was never a 4) but it probably totalled to about the right amount for 22. The jury’s out on Mark so far too- not quite sure what to make of him just yet. You get some pros like Kai, like Nikita, like Jowita, who just slot in instantly, and whilst i think Mark did a respectable job, I don’t think he’s quite at that stage yet.  I didn’t agree with Anton saying it was as good as Karen Carney’s jive last year… it wasn’t, but it was still a decent first attempt, and aesthetically this couple do go together, they look very well matched.

Paralympian Sarah Storey and Julian Caillon doing the Quickstep- I liked the traditional feel of this. Julian’s definitely a bit of a purist, but I quite like that… this feels like it could’ve easily slotted into the Strictly of 15 years ago. She’s not terrible, she has a decent sense of rhythm and just the right level of acting for the quickstep, she’s not hamming it up too much. She did have a struggle maintaining her frame (which is a shame because when it was good it was BRILLIANT) and some moments of stiffness throughout, but all in all, a solid effort. A 5 from me. Judges went 3, 4, 4, 4. I feel that’s overly harsh personally- it wasn’t a 3. I think if I’m being very critical, Julian could perhaps push the boat out more, with Sarah’s challenges- what worked for Balvinder last year won’t necessarily work for Sarah but all in all, I’m looking forward to seeing what she does next.

Emmerdale actor Lawrence Robb and Jowita Przystal… he did a recognisable Paso Doble, he brought drama, he brought chemistry, he brought strong acting skills, and Jowita choreographed a strong Paso.. his shaping needed a bit of work and it was SLIGHTLY stompy in places, though because when he was thrown off, it did look a little awkward. There’s also a massive elephant in the room here: there’s about a foot’s difference between them. Again, of all the years for Strictly to dump their two tall ladies? He was good but I think the expectations were that he’d be great, and I do think the height difference was a hindrance and getting Paso the first week was a bit mean- something a bit more side by side like a jive would’ve been a better way to work around it first. It’s a 6 from me- judges scores were 4, 5, 5, 6. Which is slightly low I think (it wasn’t a 4… Craig seems to use that as his go to paddle when he can’t think of a number) but not too bad. My main issue I have with this piece of scoring is that Jowita’s previous Paso last year, got 19 (4, 5, 5, 5)… remember, the one with Ross King stomping about as a Thunderbird? You can’t tell me this was only one point better than that. But Paso just isn’t Jowita’s forte sadly. Hamza didn’t do one, Jody Cundy got 16/40 for his, Pete Wicks got 17, Ross got 19, and Lawrence 20. Jowita and Paso don’t really mix sadly.

Footballer Shaun Wright Phillips and Alexis Warr (who’s also had a hair makeover from the soft ginger of last year to a neon orange this year)… sorry to say he was crap, but he was crap… it was completely devoid of any rhythm you could see him trying to remember the steps as he was dancing. This was just bad. Not even funny bad. However having said that, I will give credit to Alexis for choreographing a proper Cha-Cha. I think Shaun may be more at ease in a ballroom style… so let’s see what he draws next week. 2 from me. Judges scores were 2, 4, 4, 5- this was never a 5 in a million years.

Actress Bethany Anthonia and Nancy Xu doing a quickstep-  I’m glad to see Nancy off the bench, and I think this partnership works. I like all the lead switching, the technique was strong, but I think there’s a common problem with Nancy where she gets a bit too lost in the storytelling and the routine suffers slightly. It’s a 6 from me here but I think these two will be a force to be reckoned with in Latin. Judges went 6, 7, 6, 7- 26 seems fair for me. I think they could easily go a long way.

Actress Lacey Turner and Vito Coppola- the partnership CLICKS. She was very noticeably nervous and there were some moments you could see those nerves creeping in, but she had the character down to a T, the choreography was great, she had musicality… there’s still work to do but I’m interested to see how this develops. Judges went 7, 6, 7, 7. I think I’m with Motsi on the 6 too, but she definitely exceeded expectations- she’s yet another one I think has finalist potential. Tough contest this year.

Hairdresser Chris Appleton and Amy Dowden Tango- Amy did choreograph a proper tango which is much appreciated, but Chris’s nerves really affected his posture… he did capture the moody character well, to his credit, and I thought his timing was decent… but it felt like he needed to let loose a bit more on the performance side. The scores were 3, 4, 4, 5- the 3 was a little bit harsh but 4s and 5s about right. I’d go a 5 for this I think, it’s the sort of routine that if somebody was being voted off this week, I could see him really improving on in the dance-off.

Actress Melanie Walters and Aljaz Skorjanec- they have an utterly charming partnership, and she has very much a warmth about her: with Karen gone I think Aljaz is the current pro who GETS Strictly the best- he always wants to give his partners a fun time and this I thought was pretty good. Some lovely character moments there, she had rhythm… yes there was some shoddy footwork at times, but all in all decent enough. I think she’s endearing enough to get the vote and again, a ballroom might be more up her street. For me though, I’d go 5.5, but let’s round up to a 6. The judges went 2, 4, 4, 5 which I think is ridiculously undermarked. There’s absolutely no way this was the same level as Shaun.

Reality star Cach Mercer and Maddie Ingoldsby- a lot of thoughts here. Maddie is a new pro… she is very young at 21, and I do think the inexperience shows. Craig was a bit OTT with his criticism, but I do see where he was coming from. Cach does have movement ability… but he seemed to be dancing a completely different dance to the quickstep he was assigned, and sadly half the blame for that lies on Maddie. Now I’ll be fair to Maddie, she is very young at 21, and performing to millions of people for the first time which must be nerve-wracking, she’s clearly a very good dancer as she wouldn’t be there otherwise… but if the dance you were supposed to have choreographed was a Quickstep, you should KNOW what steps that entails… sometimes less is more- trying TOO hard to impress in the first dance can backfire sometimes. I agree with Motsi, get the basics down and learn the rules first, before breaking them. It’s a tricky one because on one hand I want to support new young dancers and then on the other I’m thinking “we lost 4 brilliant female dancers for this?”…. I do think the quickstep that was in there, Cach executed very well, there just wasn’t a lot of it. However, the looser Latin dances, and couple’s choices etc I think Cach will excel in that. The quickstep he did do was very good but it made up such a tiny portion of the routine that it is tricky to critique, and obviously that lies with the choreographer. But misfires can happen with first dances.. I remember Karen Hauer struggling to adapt to Strictly in her infancy, so Maddie still has potential yet, but she needs to get Cach to get the ballroom/latin basics down before adding freestyle to it. 5 from me, judges went 3, 6, 5, 6- the 3 was an insult, but the total of 20 was about right.

Dog expert Graeme Hall and Lauren Oakley were next, and may I say, I don’t think anybody was expecting this? Lauren is great at getting the best out of her partners, and Graeme is no exception- he was having so much fun with it, it was a proper Cha-Cha, the musicality was great, the chemistry was there. His arms were a bit wild in places, which I think could make it look a bit dad-dancey at certain points but overall, what a surprise. 6.

Actress Jaime Winstone and Carlos Gu dancing Tango. She has rhythm, and absolutely has bags of personality but there’s lots of work to do. This was an OKish effort, but her frame was really rather bad and droopy, so she needs to straighten that out, and Carlos choreographed an illegal lift in there which again for Week 1, I don’t really think you should be doing- the song also just really wasn’t fitting for this style of dance. “I Feel Love” is a Cha Cha song, it doesn’t suit the aggression of tango. But overall there’s a lot of potential in Jaime. My score would be a 5, judges went 5, 5, 5, 6 for 21, which is about right.

Then we had reality star Dani Dyer and Nikita Kuzmin, who returned to the floor after having to drop out shortly after the launch show last year, having never competed in the series proper. This has happened once before with Jamie Laing, albeit he got a different partner. Dani got Nikita again, and I’m glad… her and Nikita have fantastic chemistry, she was joyous, and brought lots of personality to it. You could tell she’s been looking forward to this opportunity again for over a year, I think she’s going to be very strong in Latin. I wasn’t too keen on the TikTok move they added, but it was only a few seconds, and I do think you can get away with more free styling in a Latin. This is a 7 for me, but judges went 6, 5, 5, 6- I think the 5s were definitely too low. 

YouTuber John Nellis and Katya Jones- John’s routine was understated elegance, and Katya is always good at getting the best out of her partners- if this is how he’s performing Week 1, I look forward to seeing how he dances in future week. I just hope this foxtrot wasn’t a one-time fluke where his first dance just happened to suit him really well. I didn’t know John so didn’t have many expectations from him but he was a surprise package, he moved with ease, it looked effortless. I wasn’t a massive fan of the song or the arrangement used, but the dance itself was fantastic. I wasn’t sure whether to give this a 7 or an 8, so let’s say 7.5 and round up or down depending on what you’d prefer. Judges gave it 7, 8, 8, 8… and I would probably agree with that. 31 is a very good week 1 score.

Singer Delta Goodrem and Kai Widdrington- I loved this dance. This was traditional Brazilian samba to traditional music… to all those people who say “it’s boring when they stick to traditional themes”… I beg to differ. This was really good for the first week, technically it was faultless, and I do think she sold the performance pretty well too, but I do think she needs to work on getting more personality across in her facial expressions… that’s basically it though. Best dance of the night- 8.

In conclusion, I thought that first show was OK- I don’t think it was a vintage one, but it wasn’t terrible either. I think the presenting isn’t great and too many familiar faces have disappeared (Karen Hauer always knew the right moment to lighten the mood! I think her sheer presence could’ve brought more out of Johannes), but this cast do have a lot of potential- some underwhelmed for the first week and they definitely saved the best for last with John and Delta. I think Delta had the best DANCE but John’s dance will stick with me more because it completely exceeded expectations. Kai and Katya were the strongest choreographers for me for the week, and as far as the weakest go, I think Carlos had a disappointing post-win debut, and a bit of a slump, and I think Maddie is also having major teething troubles, though I don’t want to seem like I’m slating either of these two individuals personally, it is purely choreographically. But fingers crossed they can work on those, and get the best out of their partners.

I think if I had to pick a first eliminee so far, it would probably be Shaun, as he was the only outright BAD celebrity Week 1, but who knows where the public vote will go? There’s been many cases of weaker dances getting through because the public got behind them. I think John, Tabby, Delta and Lacey will probably be the final 4 based off how they danced Week 1 and just gauging opinion from the public. One thing’s for sure- this will be an unpredictable series.