Strictly Come Dancing live: Paul Merson’s Vindaloo nightmare leaves fans divided over week one dance
The pressure is on as celebrity contestants perform live for the first time this season
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Strictly Come Dancing has returned to our screens for the first live show of the series.
The new season kicked off last week with a dazzling pre-recorded show to mark the beginning of its 20th anniversary series after months of scandal surrounding the programme’s professional dancers.
However, the pressure will rise this week as the 15 celebrity contestants perform live for the first time before the voting – and first elimination of the series – happens next weekend.
This week’s routines include three cha chas, two foxtrots, two tangos, two sambas and a Viennese waltz.
Comedian Chris McCausland and his partner Dianne Buswell perform a cha cha to “Twist and Shout”’ by The Beatles, with TV doctor Punam Krishnan and Gorka Márquez performing the same style to Kylie Minogue’s “Love at First Sight”.
Former Love Island contestant Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec danced a cha cha to Sabrina Carpenter’s summer anthem, “Espresso”.
As announced last week, former Arsenal/England player Paul Merson paid homage to his sport by performing the intriguing combination of an American Smooth to the popular football chant song “Vindaloo” by Fat Les.
Gladiators star Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe foxtrotted to “Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby?” by Dinah Washington, while Olympic Hockey player Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin also performed a foxtrot to The Supremes’ hit “Where Did Our Love Go”.
Tango-ing this week Olympic swimmer Tom Dean and Nadiya Bychkova danced to Harry Styles’s “Golden”, while Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones performed to Madonna’s “Ray of Light”.
In the samba corner were Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu, dancing to Stevie Wonder’s “Do I Do”, and Wynne Evans and Katya Jones performing Tom Jones’s “Help Yourself”.
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TOWIE’s Pete Wicks and his partner Jowita Przystał performed a paso doble to “Breathe” by The Prodigy.
EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas danced a Viennese Waltz to Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” and JLS’s JB Gill and Amy Dowden performed a classic waltz to “When I Need You” by Leo Sayer.
That was one for the Strictly history books to place alongside Ed Balls’ rendition of “Gangnam Style”. That was an American Smooth that was neither American nor smooth.
Paul and Karen’s scores are in
2, 4, 5 and 6 for Paul and Karen, totting up to 17 in total. The highest score, inevitably, came from Anton, who can always be counted on to be a bit of a wild card in the scoring stakes.
Jamie and Michelle’s scores are in
6, 6, 5 and 6 for Jamie and Michelle... plus some glowing praise from Craig!
I’m still quite haunted by that “Vindaloo” nightmare. It’s just something you can’t unsee, isn’t it?
Some fans, though, were loving a bit of Paul Merson’s take on Fat Les... It’s safe to say reactions have been divided.
Chris and Dianne’s routine leaves Shirley ‘very emotional'
Comedian Chris McCausland is Strictly’s first ever blind contestant, and pulled off an impressive routine to The Beatles’ “Twist and Shout”, a nod to his Scouse roots. He and dance partner Dianne got the second standing ovation of the night, with Shirley getting all emotional and Anton hailing their cha cha as “one of the most extraordinary things I’ve seen in my entire life.” As for Craig? Chris was simply “too knackered” to care about his verdict (which was complimentary, in any case).
And that’s a 4, 6, 6 and 7 for the pair, giving them 23 points in total.
Tasha Ghouri reveals how deafness causes ‘concentration fatigue’ during training
Earlier in the show, Tasha revealed how she has to deal with “concentration fatigue” during dance rehearsals due to her deafness
Tasha Ghouri reveals how deafness causes ‘fatigue’ during Strictly training
‘When you grow up with deafness you learn how to adapt,’ the reality star said
Montell and Johannes impress the judges
6, 7, 6 and 7 – it’s a solid start indeed for team MoJo with 30 points. Two further points of business: how sweet is Montell’s mum? And who wouldn’t want JoJo to teach them how to walk, Strictly style?
Poor old Wynne Evans drew a bit of a short straw here, having to take on the notoriously tricky samba as their first routine. They’re getting around it with some, ahem, interesting staging, including Wynne popping up from underneath a giant silver dish on a banqueting table. Only on Strictly, hey?
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