New Couples 2013

Well a fèw predictable couples a few surprises

Sophie & B.rendan! Had to be a tall male! Bet B.rendan is happy 8/10
Deborah & Robin A safe partnership could be another Lisa! 6/10
Natalie & Artem someone hold Kara back!!! 8/10
Rachel & Pasha, Bambi meets dancer. 7/10

Patrick & Anya well new dancer high hopes. 7/10
Ashley & O.la! Put the hose on!!! A great match. 9/10
Julian & Janette! His flamboyance may carry them through. 6/10
Tony & Aliona!!! Omg what have they done! 4/10

Abbey & Alyash? on paper looks great. 8/10
Fiona & A.nton! Bless a safe bet. 6/10
Vanessa & J.ames! We all guessed it! 5/10
Suzannah & Kevin! A sweet match! 7/10. darkhorse couple

Ben & Kristina! Yes a chance for Kristinia! love Ben. 9/10
Dave & Karen a not sure couple love him thou 6/10
Mark & Iveta I like his humour 5/10


Poor Aliona invited back as a last minute replacement & given Tony shows the producers/ Aliona not at ease
Why has Artem got yet another high hope¿?
A.nton looked a lot slimmer! is he ill?
O.la looked like the cat who has the clotted cream,lingerie & champagne!!!

so here we go 2013

Sax

Just got back from London and have yet to watch the show but I walked in at the end of the programme and noticed James and Vanessa? Another JamVan?

First impressions? Well get the feeling Natalie Gumedy (Coronation Street actress) could be another Denise Van Outen in the making. Denise was criticised as she had done stage work and it was felt she had an unfair advantage with past dance experience. According to newspapers Natalie is similar and went to dance classes when younger and watching her in tonight's group dance you could see it I reckon.

Couples I will be hoping do well:-

Tony and A.liona
Rachel and P.asha
Patrick and Anya
Fiona and A.nton
Suzannah and Kevin

Couples who already look like they'll be strong contenders:-

Sophie and B.rendan
Natalie and Artem
Ashley and O.la
Abbey and Alyash
Ben and Kristina

My take on the Aliona situation is that she is already committed later in the year and has agreed to stand in but only for a couple of weeks.

We should have a few laughs in the first half of the competition, I'm looking forward to it.

Am I the only person who's already secretly a little bit in love with Kevin? And is he really from Grimsby?

Hi Fifty! I too thought Kevin from Grimsby!!!! However he seemed very enthusiastic & quite sweet in his nature!! Its lovely to have homegrown talent! Maybe next year Marie from Accrington Stanley!!

Sax

fiftynotout wrote:
Am I the only person who's already secretly a little bit in love with Kevin?  And is he really from Grimsby?

First answer is No you're not the only one.

Saw him the other night on the red carpet event on the red button when he introduced himself.
When he said I'm Kevin from Grimsby I thought he was auditioning for Blind Date and expected Cilla running on to the screen,but it was just the way he delivered it.

Hi ginger! Hi fifty!

I'm joining the Kevin fanclub

This is a lovely photo of him and Karen on the red carpet: https://twitter.com/karen_hauer/status/375575131739136000/photo/1

It will be very interesting to watch what the likes of Kevin and the other new pro dancers will bring to the show in terms of choreography etc. Hopefully, it will soften the blow of Vincent going for you Sid.

CaledonianCraig wrote:It will be very interesting to watch what the likes of Kevin and the other new pro dancers will bring to the show in terms of choreography etc. Hopefully, it will soften the blow of Vincent going for you Sid.

I'm sure it will C.raig

Fresh talent will breathe new life into the show, and Vinnie will be back to perform later in the series so it's all good

My old dance coach knows Kevin well! How dare she not tell me that immediately! Not so surprising actually as she's based in Wakefield and all the dancers round that part of the world tend to know each other. (I should add that she's only "old" in the sense that she doesn't teach us any more - she'd kill me if she thought I was implying she's a pensioner!  ).

Anyway she confirms that Kevin is a lovely person and she says that Karen's very nice too when you meet her. Says that she doesn't think she came across very well in Strictly last year, but apparently she was very nervous to begin with. One interesting piece of information, anyone remember the illegal lift Karen choreographed near the beginning of last year's show? Well, according to my coach, Karen wasn't told that she shouldn't include lifts - in fact she was rather encouraged to believe otherwise, but didn't think it was worth making an issue of it. Does make you wonder of the Beeb manipulate things sometimes to create drama, I've always suspected that this was the case.

Ooh mauve you have a famous contact!! I could quite see the team saying "Lifts oh yes no probs!!" to Karen to create drama!! I am in the Kevin fan club too!! Good to have home grown talent! & the fish in Grimsby is superb!

Tina Sparkle wrote:
Anyway she confirms that Kevin is a lovely person and she says that Karen's very nice too when you meet her.   Says that she doesn't think she came across very well in Strictly last year, but apparently she was very nervous to begin with.   One interesting piece of information, anyone remember the illegal lift Karen choreographed near the beginning of last year's show?  Well, according to my coach, Karen wasn't told that she shouldn't include lifts - in fact she was rather encouraged to believe otherwise, but didn't think it was worth making an issue of it.   Does make you wonder of the Beeb manipulate things sometimes to create drama, I've always suspected that this was the case.

Interesting! Maybe she was deliberately stitched up to create a bit of drama on her first dance?

I think it was difficult for Karen being a newbie last year, for a couple of reasons. Usually, a bunch of new pros start together whereas she came in on her own to replace Katya. There was nobody else in the same boat as her. Such an established and close-nit group must have been a little bit intimidating. Also, she was partnered with Nicky who (maybe because he was worried about appearing disrespectful to his wife) came across as a little bit stand-offish at times, there wasn't much of a connection there.

Although she might not get as far, hopefully this series will allow Karen to endear herself to viewers more. The Hairy Biker seems like a right laugh and very warm-hearted

I must confess that I was in the 'don't like Karen' group last year - but looking back, perhaps it was the partnership that I didn't like because you are right - there wasn't much of a connection with Nicky. I never liked Katya and I think I thought Karen was similar, but I felt we never really got to know her last year. I have to say I really didn't like Nathalie Lowe the first year - and I know that there are others of you who felt the same - however, come the next year I felt totally different and have been a big fan ever since....................just shows that sometimes it takes us longer to warm to a dancer - I'll certainly be looking at Karen with an open mind this year, particularly as Kevin is her pro partner and as Sax says, it is nice to see some home grown talent on the show As for Dave Myers - I love him but can't quite work out how it will go for them - I fear it will either be 'early bath' or a long run with lots of humour..........................

First training vid of Sophie and Brendan looks good!

I´ve got my eye on Ashley and O.la! And Ben and Cristina!

Reports suggesting that new pro dancer Aljas may be a tough taskmaster. He is instilling in Abbey Clancy on their first day's training that she must try harder.

Hi Sax, Ginge, Sid et al!

Getting close now guys, can hear that taffeta rustling, see the sequins sparkling, anticipate the inevitable spats between C.raig and B.rendan. Bring it on!

My faves are Patrick and, yes, new boy Kevin (can't even remember who he's dancing with!).

Hi Fifty! Yes getting closer! Excitement & anticipation bubbling already!! & a double weekend show!? Kevin with Suzannah! (darkhorse couple) Ashley & Patrick have a golden chance! Bet O.la loving winding James up!

Sax

Again today Coronation Street actress Natalie Gumede has moved to deny she has any advantage over the rest of the contestants. She admits to having attended dance school prior to taking up acting but says she only did modern dance and ballet and no ballroom so she is learning like everyone else. Hmmm 2013's answer to Denise Van Outen?

It does CC sound awfully suspicious a few lessons/dance school! Yes another DVO again!! I wonder if the BBC think we the viewers won't mind or notice dance school etc!! I know lets invite Arlene back as a contestant! Never mind past work as a choreographer etc etc!

Sax

saxonsiren wrote:It does CC sound awfully suspicious a few lessons/dance school! Yes another DVO again!! I wonder if the BBC think we the viewers won't mind or notice dance school etc!! I know lets invite Arlene back as a contestant! Never mind past work as a choreographer etc etc!

Sax

The worrying thing is I watched her closely in the group dance last Saturday and she looked a natural - too natural if you see what I mean.

It is an unfair advantage over the other contestants.After last years fury re DVO & dance experiences! You would have thought old auntie Beeb might have paid heed! Not a bit! I didn't notice anyone really in the group dance! Im going to try & watch the training footage & compare celebs progress.

Sax

Hi there, fifty,sid,sax,cc,tango,mauve,tina and everyone else (((waves))).

Not seen any of the training vids yet so not sure who's hot and who's not but as soon as I saw this years list of casualties my pin went into Ben, so thats where this years bet has gone. I may have just scuppered his chances but never mind I had to pick someone.


So poor Natalie is this years ringer is she? There always has to be one doesn't there? I thought she might have got pushed off because she was on Corrie but no, she's getting her story ready for ITT.

I think where any spats with C.raig are concerned B.rendan and J.ames may have to push Vannessa out of the way first. God that woman can go on and on and on and on and you get the picture.

I got the feeling last year that K.aren and her lifts were a bit scripted, maybe as a replacement for A.liona. This year, although I like what I have seen to date I think K.evin may be a replacement for A.nton.

The first vid of Dave and Karen looks good, I think they´re going to be very popular!

Ooh now I have to go & see the clips!!! Wish we had a training clip thread!

Sax

salsarae wrote:The first vid of Dave and Karen looks good, I think they´re going to be very popular!

Hope so. I think they're great fun! And even though he might not be very good, Dave looks like he's giving it his all. That's all you can ask from a complete dance novice with things like age and fitness against them.