It Takes Two 2016

Enjoyed the first show tonight - I know it's always a bit hectic the first few weeks but great to start getting to know the couples and I enjoyed the little segments introducing us to the new dancers.

I think B rendan and Anastacia are already my favourites! I also warmed to AJ and Claudia and thought them a very sweet couple - I do still think that they need to dial back on the gymnastics and leave it for the dances where lifts are allowed - and there are a few of these that they should be able to capitalise on - I pretty much think that they will pull the votes in but I don't want them to get told off for putting the lifts and tricks in where they shouldn't be and it could wear a bit thin - anyway, with a waltz coming up this week it will give us a chance to see the true potential.

Thought Ed was charming and natural (especially for a politician) I so hope that he doesn't go out first, although having the Charleston is the classic stitch up that they always seem to give the more mature men on the 2nd week!

I did laugh when Karen Hardy said she found Judge Rinder's faces disconcerting. I mean, has she seen some of her own

I like Will and (the other) Karen's sense of humour. Shaping up to be a great partnership.

Yes I really like Will and I think that the partnership between Karen and him should be a good one. Enjoyed Louise Redknapp - one of my hopes for this series is that perhaps she can make Kevin tone down some of his kooky routines and to come out and do a more sophisticated dance that speaks for itself, instead of having to have a constant theme - it is almost wearing and he surely needs to have a rethink as it hasn't won him the glitterball so far - despite many desperate attempts to appeal to GBP.

I felt a bit sorry for Melvin who seems a really nice bloke and I found myself hoping that he has a better time this week. Liked the little snippets of music that were played in the preview for next weekend - thus far I am really enjoying the music and another hope for this series is that the music will be an improvement on last year.

Karen seems to be increasingly manic each year but I think she would make a good judge.

mauveangel09 wrote:Enjoyed Louise Redknapp - one of my hopes for this series is that perhaps she can make Kevin  tone down some of his kooky routines and to come out and do a  more sophisticated dance that speaks for itself, instead of having to have a constant theme - it is almost wearing and he surely needs to have a rethink as it hasn't won him the glitterball so far - despite many desperate attempts to appeal to GBP.

This is my hope too, mauve. On a related note, I find Kevin's quite hyper as it is and can mistakenly try to overcompensate with a more restrained partner like Frankie or Louise instead of toning it down to nearer their performance level. Was noticeable in parts of that Jive. As Karen H said, Louise has quite a genteel nature and I think Kevin would do well to take that into account both in terms of the kinds of routines he puts together (which you pointed out) and his own performance style so that he complements hers.

Hi everyone

What has everyone thought of the first week of ITT?   I must say I think all the couples are my favourites at this stage!!!!  Tonight is going to be very difficult and C raig sent the message last night that the gloves will be off in terms of the scoring tonight   - I do however think that if they are going to be 'fluffy bunny' it should perhaps extend across the first two shows and get tough on the third show after the first elimination - just a thought!    I must say the whole of SCD seems to have renewed polish about it this year - although some years are more vintage than others and I think we are in for one of those.

As usual I don't like the idea of some of the dances that will be done at this early stage - when I heard that the judge was doing the American Smooth - I thought Nooooooo!!   I did think that the training clips looked ok but I just don't want to see these sort of dances at this stage - as we always say, it is good for us as the audience to see something different and more complex later on and it is good for the couples too as they can execute a better dance................same with the Charleston -  I was not surprised that Temeka was given this dance in her second week -  she's being cast in the comic role but she has got a great personality although I feel that she and Gorka need to work on the chemistry a bit.    

I note that Ed Balls has been given the classic mature man 'stitch up' for the second week by being given the Charleston - I'm sure they did this to Tony Jacklin and possibly someone else?    Again, I thought he was doing quite well in the training clip and I find myself really hoping that he doesn't go out.

Just another side observation - Ore seems like he could be a bit of a handful - having only seen him as a sports presenter I never picked up this about him before.

Enjoyed the Friday panel last night -  Daniel O Donnell always cracks me up - and it is nice to see the ex Strictly celebs involved in the programme, such as Gethin - I hope we see more of them in the weeks ahead.

I'm really looking forward to tonight and I feel that it is so close that it will really come down to fan bases and first impressions I think - therefore the person voted off might be someone unexpected who may have quite good potential but who just can't quite poll the number of votes required.

Finally.................Some good music choices seem to be out there again for tonight..............

See you tonight

So far it's been a good week on ITT bet hard on Zoe thou re the press comments about marriage. I do find it hard to focus on all 15 couples squashed in a few minutes interview. Not sure about Daisy at first still not but ill see as I do like Alijaz. Joanne grrr too ott for me calm down woman please.
Judge and Greg and Will looking forward to watching.

Is it me or a 2 hr plus show too long? They could have split it again Friday night (The sat night group from last week) then Saturday night (with Friday group) then a break and results on Saturday not FAKE Sunday.?

It's sad to see that Melvin wasn't able to do the dance off as he clearly wanted to give it a go. Barring the likes of Lesley or perhaps Naga at the bottom two, he would not have won the DO. Even if the injured Anastacia, if she was 'well enough' to do the DO, Melvin would probably not be chosen by the judges to go through to next week. He's a nice, chilled bloke, and the ITT exit interview showed that side of Melvin to us abundantly.

I always look forward to Monday ITT if only just for the backstage hustle and bustle on Saturday performance night. It's rather indicative that in it Laura seemed really, really close to Giovanni (more so than when Georgia was with Giovanni last year, whom I thought their chemistry was restricted to just the dancing, how wrong was I?). There is definitely something going on between L&G this year!

Also, it's rather surprising that when Danny and Oti being interview pre Saturday show, regarding how they feel regarding the first couple to leave on Saturday.

Oti: It's going to be really, really sad to see somebody go! (making sad faces)
Danny (rather unironically): It'll probably be easier (for us) to go than to see somebody else go.
Oti (quickly interrupts): No! *pointing a finger of rebuke towards Danny* No!
Danny (a little taken aback by Oti's reaction, points his finger back at Oti and laughed incredulously).

What do you guys think of Danny's comments and Oti's reaction?

cellar-door wrote:
I always look forward to Monday ITT if only just for the backstage hustle and bustle on Saturday performance night. It's rather indicative that in it Laura seemed really, really close to Giovanni (more so than when Georgia was with Giovanni last year, whom I thought their chemistry was restricted to just the dancing, how wrong was I?). There is definitely something going on between L&G this year!

Also, it's rather surprising that when Danny and Oti being interview pre Saturday show, regarding how they feel regarding the first couple to leave on Saturday.

Oti: It's going to be really, really sad to see somebody go! (making sad faces)
Danny (rather unironically): It'll probably be easier (for us) to go than to see somebody else go.
Oti (quickly interrupts): No! *pointing a finger of rebuke towards Danny* No!
Danny (a little taken aback by Oti's reaction, points his finger back at Oti and laughed incredulously).

What do you guys think of Danny's comments and Oti's reaction?

Re: Laura and Gio - Yes the thought struck me about these two CD - If there is anything going on then he is a fast worker
He does strike me as someone who would want to get intense with his partner and is naturally tactile - (can't wait to see him cope with a mature lady!! ) I must say I really liked both of their costumes - I loved Laura's dress, it was quite an unusual shade for SCD - I think it was my favourite celeb costume of the night (N ats Tango dress was my favourite pro girl costume). I also thought that Gio looked good.

Re: Oti and Danny - I saw the comments - I thought he was just trying to sound tactful - he must know how good he is - whereas she obviously didn't really get it and doesn't want anything less than fighting talk.................... Just a thought

I sort of wish Janette was completely obnoxious so I wouldn't feel like such a git pointing out how lame her choreography consistently is! I thought she and Melvin handled the nature of their elimination admirably tho. Such a contrast to the Jordans who, since the result, have continued to show all the class of an unflushed toilet.

Louise is lovely but I hope she can learn to savour the performances more instead of just seeing them as something to 'get through'.

Sid wrote:I sort of wish Janette was completely obnoxious so I wouldn't feel like such a git pointing out how lame her choreography consistently is! '.

All good points S id - and I feel the same way about her choreography as you do - and always have done.
It just shows that you can be absolutely brilliant at doing something yourself but it isn't a given that you will be able to interpret it or teach it to others.

I'm hoping we have a good competing skill half way thru the competition on ITT. .. will it be a Guineas world record again! I'd like to see a little cooment from wardrobe re the low slung jeans look etc. Why are we hitting this teenroundthebotyom look for the males on the last few shows?

I love Will but I thought he was dressed as though he was going to do the shopping on Saturday night - it was a bit too low key for me and didn't suit the 'Rock around Clock Theme' or match with Karen's costume IMO. After the socks the week before I thought we might have seen something a bit more quirky.............

Just caught up on two nights of ITT before going to zzzzz

Some good interviews particularly with Lesley and A nton

I do like Anastacia - hopefully the VW won't aggravate the injury too much.

I think Naga made a great point when she said that for those who have no stage experience it is about learning to perform as well as learning to dance - the double whammy. I think she is someone who wants to learn and I thought she made a reasonable start the first week with the waltz, she is very elegant, but I think the cha cha done 'in character' was a bit much for her and a more basic routine done well would have been better for her confidence -I feel that although he didn't do it last year with Carol, in the past P asha has had a tendency to give choreography that is quite advanced, regardless of his partner's ability - Rachel was a case in point.

Really enjoyed the Friday Panel this week. "It took me til week 6 to pull dancer face" - Sophie's the best!

I totally agree S id - Sophie is one of my all time SCD favourites - she is so down to earth as well. I also enjoyed the Friday Panel.

Just watched Monday's show - loving Karen's observations and reflections on the dance - this section could be longer for me. Great stuff, and the way she is so full of enthusiasm after all these years, bless her.

Wonder if Karen will be the new judge?

suzeworld wrote:Just watched Monday's show - loving Karen's observations and reflections on the dance - this section could be longer for me.  Great stuff, and the way she is so full  of enthusiasm after all these years, bless her.

I agreed wholeheartedly with what she had to say about Rinder in particular. His comedy shtick's gonna get old fast and he doesn't need it - he can dance, so if he just knuckled down on that aspect he could go really far. At the moment I think he's almost too desperate to be entertaining.

I didn't really enjoy the Judge's routine on Saturday night - it was one of my least favourite and it felt a bit forced.  I am looking forward to seeing him doing some ballroom again and you are right, K aren was spot on with saying that he should dial it back a bit as he is quite graceful in ballroom and a good natural mover.

I think K aren would make an excellent judge Sax - I think she would more than hold her own and provide a balance to the other judges - we absolutely must have someone in the mix who can judge on pure ballroom and latin technique.

saxonsiren wrote:Wonder if Karen will be the new judge?

Do we need a new judge? I didn't realise... Who's leaving?

Sid wrote:

I agreed wholeheartedly with what she had to say about Rinder in particular. His comedy shtick's gonna get old fast and he doesn't need it - he can dance, so if he just knuckled down on that aspect he could go really far. At the moment I think he's almost too desperate to be entertaining.

No 'almost' about it - I think you have hit the nail on the head as to why he irritates me. Desparation. Just shut up and dance (I know a song about that... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JCLY0Rlx6Q )

Zoe said that Jeremy Vine is going to be on the Friday panel this week- Yay he was one who really embraced the whole Strictly experience

diamondsandpearls wrote:No 'almost' about it - I think you have hit the nail on the head as to why he irritates me. Desparation. Just shut up and dance (I know a song about that... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JCLY0Rlx6Q )

diamondsandpearls wrote:Do we need a new judge? I didn't realise... Who's leaving?

L.en's calling it a day at the end of this series diamonds...

allsewnonbyhand wrote:Zoe said that Jeremy Vine is going to be on the Friday panel this week- Yay he was one who really embraced the whole Strictly experience

AND Strictly devotee Marian Keyes who's one of my absolute favourite people (her Strictly-related tweets are a hoot!).

Double yay then, Sid - she's one of my faves too! I'm getting that Friday feeling!

I thought the tribute to Peggy Spencer on ITT tonight was marvellous. She was a great lady and her influence is everywhere in the world of ballroom and latin American dancing. She was well known in the area where I live - my parents were taught by her and I attended one of the dance schools that she ran when I was little. The Penge Latin American Formation team are one of the things I remember about 'Come Dancing'.

I thought it was really good that the programme did the tribute - and interesting to see a young Karen Hardy and Ian Waite on 'Come Dancing'.....................