I think the "swap" if it happened will have been prompted with Artem's Visa. If the BBC knew he was going to America they maybe engineered to get someone back over, an offer Tristan, one would assume, would be all too glad to take, given the way new pros on Strictly tend to get contenders (Janette was the only one not to last year, but that was when we had 4 newbie, Kevin, Anya and Aljaz all made it to the Semi-Finals, and two of them were the final 2!)
it can't have happened that Tristan was a "swop" for Artem *if*, as Tristan says, the new showrunner, Rob Wade, arranged it. He wouldn't have been there -- he wasn't even working on the show then -- when Artem started.
You're probably right, Elsa, but I suppose there's a possibility that Artem wasn't 'permanent' after the Spring season. When he was asked on AfterBuzz about whether he was staying (on Dwts) he was suitably vague (he could hardly do otherwise) but said he'd have to be offered something before he could think about that (wtte). I got the impression it was up in the air at any rate.
ETA: Probably better taken to the Dwts forum , but was CG really fired? And because of the thing with Sean?
You're probably right, Elsa, but I suppose there's a possibility that Artem wasn't 'permanent' after the Spring season. When he was asked on AfterBuzz about whether he was staying (on Dwts) he was suitably vague (he could hardly do otherwise) but said he'd have to be offered something before he could think about that (wtte). I got the impression it was up in the air at any rate.
ETA: Probably better taken to the Dwts forum , but was CG really fired? And because of the thing with Sean?
Nobody's permanent on DWTS Well, maybe Derek. Even Maks was dropped from a season within a week of the cast announcement (and less than a month before the show started), due to a dust-up with Conrad. Well, a "rumoured" disagreement with Mr. Green. I think Maks was angry that he wasn't getting a good enough partner - I believe that's why Gleb Savchenko (same height - similar looks) was called in to be with who Maks was supposed to get - some Housewives of Beverly Hills person, Lisa Vanderpump(?)
Anyway, I need to stay on subject!! It's just all tangentially twisted into the story of Tristan coming to Strictly, imo. And I wish Artem all the best - hopefully it's a less malicious environment with Rob in charge, but he was there the first 11 seasons, and they were all mud-slinging matches as well, so... well, quoting someone on this board recently, "If you want a friend in Hollywood, get a dog."
I like the competition to be real. I want them to have specific dances to learn and I prefer the original idea behind Strictly that they learn the 10 dances and they learn to do them right. I think they should be hiring pros who are capable of teaching the ten dances to the level of the celeb's potential. I would prefer them then to have confidence in the properly qualified pros to give them a big say in the music and choreography.
I agree soooooooooo much with all of that - but unfortunately the BBC is constantly chasing ratings and competing with the X Factor, and the show has sadly gone way beyond the original idea. Hopefully they can resist the temptation to have more themes as they are annoying - the DWTS one about doing it for that special person in your life was inclined to be rather vomit-inducing, not to mention that quite a few of the themes gave the celebs a chance to allow their eyes to fill with tears One thing I always liked about DWTS though was the quality of their guest acts, I suppose the Beeb don't have the same access to them.
SCD first started the year we started to learn to dance, and we had so much fun trying to spot the few steps we knew - as we progressed we could pick them out more, but what was fun was that so many people who didn't dance started learning what to look out for too. Then Bruce's jokes got bluer, the whole camp thing with Bruno and Craig got camper, and it amazes me sometimes that they still call it a family show. Hopefully with Bruce gone, things might change a little. I would love to see it get back to being more about the dancing.
I agree soooooooooo much with all of that - but unfortunately the BBC is constantly chasing ratings and competing with the X Factor, and the show has sadly gone way beyond the original idea. Hopefully they can resist the temptation to have more themes as they are annoying - the DWTS one about doing it for that special person in your life was inclined to be rather vomit-inducing, not to mention that quite a few of the themes gave the celebs a chance to allow their eyes to fill with tears One thing I always liked about DWTS though was the quality of their guest acts, I suppose the Beeb don't have the same access to them.
SCD first started the year we started to learn to dance, and we had so much fun trying to spot the few steps we knew - as we progressed we could pick them out more, but what was fun was that so many people who didn't dance started learning what to look out for too. Then Bruce's jokes got bluer, the whole camp thing with Bruno and Craig got camper, and it amazes me sometimes that they still call it a family show. Hopefully with Bruce gone, things might change a little. I would love to see it get back to being more about the dancing.
Bib the problem is xfactor. Originally strictly had better guest acts but once x-factor saw them as competition they told acts they had to pick of course they are going to pick the music show and one year they stopped acts signed to bmg/Sony from coming on altogether but that didn't last long.
SCD first started the year we started to learn to dance, and we had so much fun trying to spot the few steps we knew - as we progressed we could pick them out more, but what was fun was that so many people who didn't dance started learning what to look out for too. Then Bruce's jokes got bluer, the whole camp thing with Bruno and Craig got camper, and it amazes me sometimes that they still call it a family show. Hopefully with Bruce gone, things might change a little. I would love to see it get back to being more about the dancing.
Have we been watching the same show? I know lots of people have been critical of ol' Brucie but I didn't know that one of the complaints was that his jokes were too blue
So getting the thread back on topic (sorry...............)
What sort of celebs do you think the new additions will get?
I think Joanne will get a potential winner. Not so sure about Tristan. (Maybe with Artem's departure, but they may select the best dancer for Pasha or Alijaz (or less likely Kevin or Brendan). No chance that Robin or Anton will get them).
Have we been watching the same show? I know lots of people have been critical of ol' Brucie but I didn't know that one of the complaints was that his jokes were too blue
Well maybe it's just me, but the constant stream of gay innuendo between Bruce, Craig and Bruno, plus Bruno's constant suggestive drooling over various male contestants, added to what I considered to be many jokes by Brucie which were inappropriate for a teatime show, meant to me that it was moving away from being for the whole family.
So getting the thread back on topic (sorry...............)
What sort of celebs do you think the new additions will get?
I think Joanne will get a potential winner. Not so sure about Tristan. (Maybe with Artem's departure, but they may select the best dancer for Pasha or Alijaz (or less likely Kevin or Brendan). No chance that Robin or Anton will get them).
Depends on whether they're interested in being fair or not.
Over previous years, the new male pros (bar Robin) have tended to get someone who has a decent chance. Alijaz got Abbey, Pasha got Chelsee, Artem got Kara, Kevin got Susanna. Both Artem and Pasha also followed that up with decent partners the following year as well (Holly and Kimberley).
Pasha, despite the fact that Rachel wasn't good last year, should get someone older and Kevin should probably get someone younger even though Susanna was decent. Alijaz could get anyone - no real indications there; Sarah Manners, Gloria Hunniford, Christine Bleakley and Holly Valance are the partners given to male pros following a win.
Tristan should get someone good if only for his lengthy apprenticeship with non-contenders on DWTS. Plus he's pretty and everyone else has had a decent shot (Robin aside but he's not as pretty) . And Anton but he's Anton.
Interesting topic to ponder. I figured they'd give Kevin a no-hoper to counterbalance the Clifton effect with gorgeous Joanne on board....however, Kev's good and CLEVER enough to pizzazz up fat old bags to the last half, if not Blackpool, WITHOUT use of cannons, flying equipment or using them as floor dry mops. Newbies bound to get Good Contenders to justify hiring them. Suspect Brendan & Anton will still get the early losers--not a bad deal as they've earned the Fame but can get exposure/regular wage/nice group dances without all the Pressure.
So getting the thread back on topic (sorry...............)
What sort of celebs do you think the new additions will get?
I think Joanne will get a potential winner. Not so sure about Tristan. (Maybe with Artem's departure, but they may select the best dancer for Pasha or Alijaz (or less likely Kevin or Brendan). No chance that Robin or Anton will get them).
Good idea to get the thread back on track (!), but if I could just shoehorn in a little SCD/DWTS comparison, I think another way in which the two shows differ is how they allocate the celebs to their pro partners.
As I understand it (correct me if I'm wrong, please), the DWTS pros are paid on results - if they go out early, they don't get paid so much, whereas the Strictly pros are paid for the whole series, whether they fill that with weeks and weeks of training or not. In addition, people like Derek Hough are stars in their own right, and demand (and get) the contenders. Strictly doesn't work like that - it had no qualms in ditching extremely popular pros (Darren, Lilya, Ian, Matthew) and bringing in new talent.
So I think that the Strictly producers will have zero interest in being 'fair' to their pro dancers. It will be nobody's 'turn' to have a contender, nor will somebody who got a good partner last year be fated to have a duff one this year. I just don't believe it works like that. They will look at the celebs and find the right pro for each one. Or, at least, the best they can manage given that they have already announced the pro line-up. I concede that, historically, new pros have tended to have been given contenders (at least on paper) but that is likely to have been to give the public more of an opportunity to get to know them, rather than from any concept of fairness.
Somehow, though, I doubt other forum members will agree with me and we are destined to read countless threads over the next few months arguing about which pros 'deserve' a contender this year...
Good idea to get the thread back on track (!), but if I could just shoehorn in a little SCD/DWTS comparison, I think another way in which the two shows differ is how they allocate the celebs to their pro partners.
As I understand it (correct me if I'm wrong, please), the DWTS pros are paid on results - if they go out early, they don't get paid so much, whereas the Strictly pros are paid for the whole series, whether they fill that with weeks and weeks of training or not. In addition, people like Derek Hough are stars in their own right, and demand (and get) the contenders. Strictly doesn't work like that - it had no qualms in ditching extremely popular pros (Darren, Lilya, Ian, Matthew) and bringing in new talent.
So I think that the Strictly producers will have zero interest in being 'fair' to their pro dancers. It will be nobody's 'turn' to have a contender, nor will somebody who got a good partner last year be fated to have a duff one this year. I just don't believe it works like that. They will look at the celebs and find the right pro for each one. Or, at least, the best they can manage given that they have already announced the pro line-up. I concede that, historically, new pros have tended to have been given contenders (at least on paper) but that is likely to have been to give the public more of an opportunity to get to know them, rather than from any concept of fairness.
Somehow, though, I doubt other forum members will agree with me and we are destined to read countless threads over the next few months arguing about which pros 'deserve' a contender this year...
BIB^^^ On DWTS, a lot of celebs request particular pro partners and those requests tend to be accommodated as far as possible.
Would be good to know what criteria they use to divvy up the contestants.
* Height would be one, you'd think, except for mismatch of Kristina / Salmon.
* Personality (with a view to harmony, fireworks or 'chemistry')
* Learning style of contestant / teaching style of Pro -- would they go into this?
* Recent history of Pro on show (AKA 'deserving'. Sorry peeve! ;-))
* Ego of Pro / Contestant
* Who is on the Tour?
* Perceived 'types' eg Does Natalie get the best out of sports men?? Does Robin like older strong-minded women??
* Controversy/annoying DS
* Pure chance
???
BIB^^^ On DWTS, a lot of celebs request particular pro partners and those requests tend to be accommodated as far as possible.
I don't think that's true. I think there have been few, if any, celebs who have been able to get who they ask for, unless it coincidentally fit what the producers have planned out for the season. If Bill Clinton or someone of that stature came on, sure, but for the most part, they give their star pros the best, every time, and it's used as one of the favored pros' negotiating tools (Derek every time - and it's why Maks was back - he was promised Meryl.)
This one or that one will say that had asked for Derek -- well, every celebrity is quizzed about who they might like, and nearly every one of them says Derek or Maks (because they're uber-famous and/or WIN nearly every time), so later they can say it was arranged because they asked for that pro, but it's 99% up to the producers, who just want to have the show go the way they want it to go (and please Derek.)
I think Strictly has a storyboard too and they imagine how they want the show to go, and who they want in the finals, and assign the celebrities to reach that goal, just like in the US, but without the "golden boys" syndrome. Thank heavens!
I agree with Peeve that 'fairness' doesn't come into it. In any case often the publicity goes to the pairing which have the extrovert but slightly oddball celeb. So I remember the winners, and then pairings such as Anton and Nancy/Ann, Krisitina and John, but not so much the middle of the road celebs.
I do think Joanne will get someone 'hot' for her first series, and so I agree with White tigress that Kevin will probably get someone more mumsy to counterbalance this, but that his personality is well adapted to cope with this. Tristan should get someone reasonable for a first series, but as I said, unless they are really good and memorable, that may not be to his advantage.
(As a ballroom fan I do hope Joanne gets someone with nice, even slightly slopey, shoulder line, good ankles, and who doesn't have a sticking out bottom, to put it politely. :-D )
I think the "swap" if it happened will have been prompted with Artem's Visa. If the BBC knew he was going to America they maybe engineered to get someone back over, an offer Tristan, one would assume, would be all too glad to take, given the way new pros on Strictly tend to get contenders (Janette was the only one not to last year, but that was when we had 4 newbie, Kevin, Anya and Aljaz all made it to the Semi-Finals, and two of them were the final 2!)
This sounds feasible and of course they have to keep Janette as she is Alijaz's partner.
Had a bit of a laugh at him commenting on his "Vintage" partners, particularly Nancy, given she was his most successful partner! x
I think Tubridy tried to get him to comment on his partners' age, but Tristan switched the conversation to the type of personalities they had, to dodge that aspect of the subject. He's always very complimentary of his ex-partners, except maybe saying Nancy was a bit "difficult" (a vast understatement, but then he goes on to say that's what he loved about her and the relationship)
I'll always miss my favourite pros Vincent and Flavia but I'm glad they've moved on to something that is more satisfying for them personally and professionally & given the direction the show took last year I'm glad they made the decision to step down.
Last year was a bad series for me and I'm not really looking forward to the next series with the same enthusiasm as before - I'm not holding out much hope for the 'celeb' line up & given how the producers conducted the last series I'm not holding out much hope they'll do the next one with any degree of fairness either........so I'm pinning my hopes that the pros will create some interesting partnerships and routines.
Anyway - the new additions, firstly Joanne - without wanting to sound like a UKIP supporter I do think they badly needed a female British pro in the line up so I'm glad they've invited her - perhaps producers will manage to avoid another Daily Heil article on all their 'eastern European' dancers with a xenophobic subtext. I don't know much about her other than what I've seen on youtube and read on here but she seems to have the right credentials for strictly - a strong ballroom background with showdance themes so I think she'll fit in well - I hope they give her a contender so we can see what she can do.
I also think it's a good move to invite Tristan - I've seen him on DWTS in which I think he always came across very well - I think he'll be a big hit with the audience here especially as I think strictly has a big Irish following - I'm sure Marian Keyes will turn out to be a fan ;-) I'd like to see him with someone younger and more potential than the celebs he had on DWTS.
The relatively new pros - I'm really, really glad that Janette has been invited back. I understand some think she lacks experience but I like her dancing and personality well enough - she is one fiesty little lady. I really don't think you can properly judge her on what she did with Julian - he has to be one of the most annoying contestants on strictly ever and I think she did what she could with him given his short attention span and his lack of popularity. Just as another aside, it's all very well not liking her as a pro but I think she copped a lot of unnecessary flak about her personal life - some nasty, malicious comments from a certain fan group and some posted directly to her on her twitter page which she was dignified not to respond to. I'm hoping she gets a contender - as she's a salsa specialist - I really want to see a proper salsa on Strictly with proper salsa music as it's one of my favourite dances - not some disco psuedo salsa rubbish!
Happy that Iveta is back - really liked her with Mark last year and it was one of the few partnerships on the show that I could engage with. I hope she gets a contender this year. As for Aljaz - despite being the 'winner' I didn't like Abbey - didn't really get all the hype about her - so as a result I found it difficult to warm to him. I hope he's given someone more to my liking this year so I can see him in a different light. Same with Kevin - wasn't keen on Susanna - although I didn't share the strong dislike of her some people have but Kevin came across as a pleasant enough personality - so I hope he's given a more likeable 'celeb' this year.
The established pros - I don't like Anton but I understand he fulfils a role in the show and he's popular so is more or less a permanent fixture. Really pleased Pasha is back - he's my favourite pro in the current male line up. I'm glad Natalie has recovered from her injury - it'll be great to see her back. Really liked Brendan with Sophie last year - so over the moon he's back. Robin, Kristina and Ola - I do like them but if I'm honest I'm surprised they're back - perhaps they didn't want to make too many changes to the line up but I do wonder what the producers will do with them this year given that they don't seem to want to given Robin a contender and I'll be surprised if Kristina and Ola will get one - although I said that last year and they both ended up getting not contenders but celebs that were considered the better male signings...........perhaps they'll give Kristina one last shot with a contender but I will be very suprised if Ola gets one. I'm glad Aliona's back, it'll be interesting to see who the producers will give her - I think she'll either be given a middler or a popular 'joke' contestant. I like Karen so happy she's back - not sure she'll get a contender either as I think the newer female pros will be favoured but it'll be interesting to see who she gets.
I think Aliona has a wicked sense of humor , so I would love to see her with comedy celebratory. Although Iveta did rather throw down the gauntlet on that one last year
Have just seen Joanne Clifton on You Tube dancing a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers number (even same white dress), with Paolo Bosco. It's fabulous. Hope to see something like that from her.
Have just seen Joanne Clifton on You Tube dancing a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers number (even same white dress), with Paolo Bosco. It's fabulous. Hope to see something like that from her.
Agree--she seems truly stunning and inspired. Can't wait to see her weekly/as a teacher.
Comments
You're probably right, Elsa, but I suppose there's a possibility that Artem wasn't 'permanent' after the Spring season. When he was asked on AfterBuzz about whether he was staying (on Dwts) he was suitably vague (he could hardly do otherwise) but said he'd have to be offered something before he could think about that (wtte). I got the impression it was up in the air at any rate.
ETA: Probably better taken to the Dwts forum , but was CG really fired? And because of the thing with Sean?
Nobody's permanent on DWTS
Anyway, I need to stay on subject!! It's just all tangentially twisted into the story of Tristan coming to Strictly, imo. And I wish Artem all the best - hopefully it's a less malicious environment with Rob in charge, but he was there the first 11 seasons, and they were all mud-slinging matches as well, so... well, quoting someone on this board recently, "If you want a friend in Hollywood, get a dog."
I agree soooooooooo much with all of that - but unfortunately the BBC is constantly chasing ratings and competing with the X Factor, and the show has sadly gone way beyond the original idea. Hopefully they can resist the temptation to have more themes as they are annoying - the DWTS one about doing it for that special person in your life was inclined to be rather vomit-inducing, not to mention that quite a few of the themes gave the celebs a chance to allow their eyes to fill with tears
SCD first started the year we started to learn to dance, and we had so much fun trying to spot the few steps we knew - as we progressed we could pick them out more, but what was fun was that so many people who didn't dance started learning what to look out for too. Then Bruce's jokes got bluer, the whole camp thing with Bruno and Craig got camper, and it amazes me sometimes that they still call it a family show. Hopefully with Bruce gone, things might change a little. I would love to see it get back to being more about the dancing.
Bib the problem is xfactor. Originally strictly had better guest acts but once x-factor saw them as competition they told acts they had to pick of course they are going to pick the music show and one year they stopped acts signed to bmg/Sony from coming on altogether but that didn't last long.
What sort of celebs do you think the new additions will get?
I think Joanne will get a potential winner. Not so sure about Tristan. (Maybe with Artem's departure, but they may select the best dancer for Pasha or Alijaz (or less likely Kevin or Brendan). No chance that Robin or Anton will get them).
Well maybe it's just me, but the constant stream of gay innuendo between Bruce, Craig and Bruno, plus Bruno's constant suggestive drooling over various male contestants, added to what I considered to be many jokes by Brucie which were inappropriate for a teatime show, meant to me that it was moving away from being for the whole family.
Depends on whether they're interested in being fair or not.
Over previous years, the new male pros (bar Robin) have tended to get someone who has a decent chance. Alijaz got Abbey, Pasha got Chelsee, Artem got Kara, Kevin got Susanna. Both Artem and Pasha also followed that up with decent partners the following year as well (Holly and Kimberley).
Pasha, despite the fact that Rachel wasn't good last year, should get someone older and Kevin should probably get someone younger even though Susanna was decent. Alijaz could get anyone - no real indications there; Sarah Manners, Gloria Hunniford, Christine Bleakley and Holly Valance are the partners given to male pros following a win.
Tristan should get someone good if only for his lengthy apprenticeship with non-contenders on DWTS. Plus he's pretty and everyone else has had a decent shot (Robin aside but he's not as pretty)
Good idea to get the thread back on track (!), but if I could just shoehorn in a little SCD/DWTS comparison, I think another way in which the two shows differ is how they allocate the celebs to their pro partners.
As I understand it (correct me if I'm wrong, please), the DWTS pros are paid on results - if they go out early, they don't get paid so much, whereas the Strictly pros are paid for the whole series, whether they fill that with weeks and weeks of training or not. In addition, people like Derek Hough are stars in their own right, and demand (and get) the contenders. Strictly doesn't work like that - it had no qualms in ditching extremely popular pros (Darren, Lilya, Ian, Matthew) and bringing in new talent.
So I think that the Strictly producers will have zero interest in being 'fair' to their pro dancers. It will be nobody's 'turn' to have a contender, nor will somebody who got a good partner last year be fated to have a duff one this year. I just don't believe it works like that. They will look at the celebs and find the right pro for each one. Or, at least, the best they can manage given that they have already announced the pro line-up. I concede that, historically, new pros have tended to have been given contenders (at least on paper) but that is likely to have been to give the public more of an opportunity to get to know them, rather than from any concept of fairness.
Somehow, though, I doubt other forum members will agree with me and we are destined to read countless threads over the next few months arguing about which pros 'deserve' a contender this year...
* Height would be one, you'd think, except for mismatch of Kristina / Salmon.
* Personality (with a view to harmony, fireworks or 'chemistry')
* Learning style of contestant / teaching style of Pro -- would they go into this?
* Recent history of Pro on show (AKA 'deserving'. Sorry peeve! ;-))
* Ego of Pro / Contestant
* Who is on the Tour?
* Perceived 'types' eg Does Natalie get the best out of sports men?? Does Robin like older strong-minded women??
* Controversy/annoying DS
* Pure chance
???
I don't think that's true. I think there have been few, if any, celebs who have been able to get who they ask for, unless it coincidentally fit what the producers have planned out for the season. If Bill Clinton or someone of that stature came on, sure, but for the most part, they give their star pros the best, every time, and it's used as one of the favored pros' negotiating tools (Derek every time - and it's why Maks was back - he was promised Meryl.)
This one or that one will say that had asked for Derek -- well, every celebrity is quizzed about who they might like, and nearly every one of them says Derek or Maks (because they're uber-famous and/or WIN nearly every time), so later they can say it was arranged because they asked for that pro, but it's 99% up to the producers, who just want to have the show go the way they want it to go (and please Derek.)
I think Strictly has a storyboard too and they imagine how they want the show to go, and who they want in the finals, and assign the celebrities to reach that goal, just like in the US, but without the "golden boys" syndrome. Thank heavens!
I do think Joanne will get someone 'hot' for her first series, and so I agree with White tigress that Kevin will probably get someone more mumsy to counterbalance this, but that his personality is well adapted to cope with this. Tristan should get someone reasonable for a first series, but as I said, unless they are really good and memorable, that may not be to his advantage.
(As a ballroom fan I do hope Joanne gets someone with nice, even slightly slopey, shoulder line, good ankles, and who doesn't have a sticking out bottom, to put it politely. :-D )
Had a bit of a laugh at him commenting on his "Vintage" partners, particularly Nancy, given she was his most successful partner!
This sounds feasible and of course they have to keep Janette as she is Alijaz's partner.
I think Tubridy tried to get him to comment on his partners' age, but Tristan switched the conversation to the type of personalities they had, to dodge that aspect of the subject. He's always very complimentary of his ex-partners, except maybe saying Nancy was a bit "difficult" (a vast understatement, but then he goes on to say that's what he loved about her and the relationship)
Last year was a bad series for me and I'm not really looking forward to the next series with the same enthusiasm as before - I'm not holding out much hope for the 'celeb' line up & given how the producers conducted the last series I'm not holding out much hope they'll do the next one with any degree of fairness either........so I'm pinning my hopes that the pros will create some interesting partnerships and routines.
Anyway - the new additions, firstly Joanne - without wanting to sound like a UKIP supporter I do think they badly needed a female British pro in the line up so I'm glad they've invited her - perhaps producers will manage to avoid another Daily Heil article on all their 'eastern European' dancers with a xenophobic subtext. I don't know much about her other than what I've seen on youtube and read on here but she seems to have the right credentials for strictly - a strong ballroom background with showdance themes so I think she'll fit in well - I hope they give her a contender so we can see what she can do.
I also think it's a good move to invite Tristan - I've seen him on DWTS in which I think he always came across very well - I think he'll be a big hit with the audience here especially as I think strictly has a big Irish following - I'm sure Marian Keyes will turn out to be a fan ;-) I'd like to see him with someone younger and more potential than the celebs he had on DWTS.
The relatively new pros - I'm really, really glad that Janette has been invited back. I understand some think she lacks experience but I like her dancing and personality well enough - she is one fiesty little lady. I really don't think you can properly judge her on what she did with Julian - he has to be one of the most annoying contestants on strictly ever and I think she did what she could with him given his short attention span and his lack of popularity. Just as another aside, it's all very well not liking her as a pro but I think she copped a lot of unnecessary flak about her personal life - some nasty, malicious comments from a certain fan group and some posted directly to her on her twitter page which she was dignified not to respond to. I'm hoping she gets a contender - as she's a salsa specialist - I really want to see a proper salsa on Strictly with proper salsa music as it's one of my favourite dances - not some disco psuedo salsa rubbish!
Happy that Iveta is back - really liked her with Mark last year and it was one of the few partnerships on the show that I could engage with. I hope she gets a contender this year. As for Aljaz - despite being the 'winner' I didn't like Abbey - didn't really get all the hype about her - so as a result I found it difficult to warm to him. I hope he's given someone more to my liking this year so I can see him in a different light. Same with Kevin - wasn't keen on Susanna - although I didn't share the strong dislike of her some people have but Kevin came across as a pleasant enough personality - so I hope he's given a more likeable 'celeb' this year.
The established pros - I don't like Anton but I understand he fulfils a role in the show and he's popular so is more or less a permanent fixture. Really pleased Pasha is back - he's my favourite pro in the current male line up. I'm glad Natalie has recovered from her injury - it'll be great to see her back. Really liked Brendan with Sophie last year - so over the moon he's back. Robin, Kristina and Ola - I do like them but if I'm honest I'm surprised they're back - perhaps they didn't want to make too many changes to the line up but I do wonder what the producers will do with them this year given that they don't seem to want to given Robin a contender and I'll be surprised if Kristina and Ola will get one - although I said that last year and they both ended up getting not contenders but celebs that were considered the better male signings...........perhaps they'll give Kristina one last shot with a contender but I will be very suprised if Ola gets one. I'm glad Aliona's back, it'll be interesting to see who the producers will give her - I think she'll either be given a middler or a popular 'joke' contestant. I like Karen so happy she's back - not sure she'll get a contender either as I think the newer female pros will be favoured but it'll be interesting to see who she gets.
Agree--she seems truly stunning and inspired. Can't wait to see her weekly/as a teacher.