Maybe.

Just think whoever gets Paso / Jive week 1 gets a lucky escape from the later stages as those dances usually get you eliminated or near the bottom of the leaderboard.

she is joannes godmother

a lot of the music choices this week are fit for purpose all the waltzes, jives and cha cha's are fine having listened to tangos still think they are odd choices

Yep but if it doesn't go well she'd have the pressure on to do well on week 2 to put her up the leaderboard and get her to avoid the 1st elimination so it may not garuntee her a lucky escape

Agreed.

Plus, I'd imagine it's far easier to impress with a waltz or Cha-Cha than a theatrical, intense and precise paso that usually appears when celebs have eased into the competition a bit more.

On the contrary, paso doble and jive are two of the safest dances on the entire show.

I don't think the thought process behind Tameka doing a paso is anything more complicated than 'Gorka's Spanish'.

Lesley dancing to the Birds of a Feather theme tune

Maybe Andre's miraclous escape after his dire Jive has clouded my memory

Which is the worst dance for eliminations??

if they were trying to mix it up then why not give some or the others a different dance instead of 5 cha chas and 5 waltzes etc but giving one a different dance makes it a stand out whether good or bad

Bit disappointed in Judge Rinder's song.

I preferred the DWTS song choice for Nancy Grace. Cry Baby by Cee Lo Green.

As of the end of last series it's American Smooth. although the Dreaded Samba is still up there.

The worst Samba I remember seeing was Pendledrama and I am amazed at the score she got and also how she avoided elimination.

I think samba can be a dance of doom - so hard to get samba action right best of times without some of the music they have to dance to

Sounds good to me.

yes it is easier to impress with a Cha-Cha or Waltz than it is with like a Jive or Paso Doble so maybe she wanted a challenge& that's the reply

Gabby Logan vs. Penny Lancaster-Stewart springs to mind

The upside though of a terrible Samba is it can be quite hilarious in a trainwreck way. Plus, the audience might be more sympathetic.

I would say American Smooth is the dance of doom because a lot of casual viewers find it boring of the ballroom dances. You could do well / bad and viewers would not care.

Haven't you heard - it's confirmed that two ancestors from each line married.

Absolutely! Let's have Gorka the Corker doing his thing in the opening show

Maybe I simplified things too much but this is exactly what I thought. Gorka>Spanish>Paso. That's it.

and me

👋👋👋 Exactly. 💃🏿

Pasos are usually quite entertaining and so I would guess they just want to create an extra buzz for the opening show, and as said above, it is a good way of introducing Gorka.

Yeah, none of my favourites have ever done a great AS (well, except the one during votegate; but that is tainted).

Out of the American Smooths there have ever been on Strictly, I can only remember 3.