Charlestons given to weakest couples early on .

Posy · 30/09/22 - 15:17

Perhaps I’m wrong but the weakest couples get Charlestons early on. It’s not an easy dance but there is an opportunity for them to have some fun before they are eliminated. Have any real contenders dancing a Charleston in the early weeks of a series?

Mrs Checks · 30/09/22 - 16:04

Off the top of my head:

Joe Sugg & Dianne did a week 2 Charleston.
Edit: so did Frankie & Kevin!!

Kelvin Fletcher & Oti
Claudia & AJ
Gemma & Aljaz

all did Movie Week (week 3) Charlestons.

jadebry · 30/09/22 - 16:05

Tilly got a Charleston in week 2 last year (I don’t think she was classed as a contender but she certainly wasn’t a duffer)

DutchDancingFan · 30/09/22 - 16:20

wouldn't call Kaye weak, her tango last week she showed quite a lot of potential, and this weeks training footage again very promising and the teases of cartwheel, lifts also promises something of a masterpiece showdance, oldest contestant being open minded to tricky moves such as the cartwheel, respect

cwickham · 30/09/22 - 16:37

Week 2 Charlestons

2013: Tony (13/40, eliminated), Sophie (36/40)
2014: Gregg (18/40, eliminated), Frankie (30/40)
2015: Anita (27/40), Daniel (23/40)
2016: Ed (23/40), Tameka (29/40)
2017: Susan (22/40), Ruth (20/40)
2018: Joe (31/40), Lauren (22/40)
2019: Chris (26/40)
2020: None
2021: Tilly (34/40)

So 2017 was something of an outlier in terms of any of them actually being any *good*, but it produced Sophie's obviously, and it jump-started the journeys of a few people who weren't looking hugely promising after the first week (Ed, Chris and Tilly).

POTD · 30/09/22 - 16:47

The "duffer" Charleston that sticks in my mind is Anneka Rice's in 2019 in week 3, which scored 11

MaggieMcGee · 30/09/22 - 22:21

Tameka did her best dance with a week two charleston when partnered with Gorka. She coined the phrase Gorka the corker 😁

tabithakitten · 30/09/22 - 22:29

What it seems that we can glean from previous evidence is -

Charlestons have been given, from week 2, fairly indescriminately to all and sundry since series 11.

Clarkie66 · 01/10/22 - 07:00

I do think they have given Kaye and Tony Charlestons early so that they have a fun dance with less emphasis on technique before they are voted off.

Sue_Howarth · 01/10/22 - 07:15

When a contestant is clearly not in it for the long haul, the focus is more on them having a great experience So dances they really want to do and fun dances need to be scheduled for early in the run

Monsieur23 · 01/10/22 - 08:32

I’ve no complaints with contestants who clearly have a sell-by date in October getting to do the fun dances early on; a run of Tango-Cha-Cha-Foxtrot-Rumba-Waltz would be outright deathly to watch if I knew they weren’t going to survive until the dances they actually wanted to do.

POTD · 01/10/22 - 09:56

Sue_Howarth wrote: »

When a contestant is clearly not in it for the long haul, the focus is more on them having a great experience So dances they really want to do and fun dances need to be scheduled for early in the run

I guess the problem is when the celeb actually turns out to be better than expected, and they've then burnt all the "fun" dances early! And sometimes you don't know how good the celeb is going to be anyway, that comedy duffer might turn out to be a moderately good ballroom dancer, unless they get the chance, we'll never know.

Plus if I was a duffer, I'd be really proud that to have gone on Strictly and mastered a "proper" dance. Yes I did a Charleston, and a Cha-cha-cha while dressed as a werewolf, BUT I also did a semi-decent Waltz which shocked the judges in a good way, before departing.

Mrs Checks · 01/10/22 - 10:00

Sue_Howarth wrote: »

When a contestant is clearly not in it for the long haul, the focus is more on them having a great experience So dances they really want to do and fun dances need to be scheduled for early in the run

Also, to be fair, giving the lower scoring contestants the typically higher scoring dances helps even out the playing field a bit more.

It is a entertainment show after all, and some of that entertainment comes from the competitive element.

Sue_Howarth · 01/10/22 - 10:41

POTD wrote: »

Sue_Howarth wrote: »

When a contestant is clearly not in it for the long haul, the focus is more on them having a great experience So dances they really want to do and fun dances need to be scheduled for early in the run

I guess the problem is when the celeb actually turns out to be better than expected, and they've then burnt all the "fun" dances early! And sometimes you don't know how good the celeb is going to be anyway, that comedy duffer might turn out to be a moderately good ballroom dancer, unless they get the chance, we'll never know.

Plus if I was a duffer, I'd be really proud that to have gone on Strictly and mastered a "proper" dance. Yes I did a Charleston, and a Cha-cha-cha while dressed as a werewolf, BUT I also did a semi-decent Waltz which shocked the judges in a good way, before departing.

What the contestant wants might not be a "fun" dance though. Deborah Meaden really wanted to learn the fox trot and secretly her husband learned the dance as well,so that was part of her journey on the show
I am wondering if Bill Baily would have expected half way? he had some crowd pleasers early on, but the shorter season makes it hard to really tell

DutchDancingFan · 01/10/22 - 13:53

the first boots who failed with this dance, Tony Jacklin, Gregg Wallace well that was more because of Aliona in her most lacklustre mode and basically exposing her partners their weaknesses

can never forget Jacklin's it don't mean a thing when it ain't got that swing the irony in that song, when that performance had no swing whatsoever it literally oozed ''give us absolutely nothing'' energy (a shame because his waltz was more or less decent at least)

as for Gregg, the couple of all time with the least amount of chemistry, i felt bad for him

Barbrafanclub · 01/10/22 - 15:01

MaggieMcGee wrote: »

Tameka did her best dance with a week two charleston when partnered with Gorka. She coined the phrase Gorka the corker 😁

I thought Len Goodman first used that phrase. But I may be wrong

kevin7774 · 01/10/22 - 23:05

The first few dances for each couple are picked quite a bit in advance, from what I've picked up on stuff like it takes two.
But Charleston probably is one of the "easy" ones for pros to throw in if they fear they have a duffer, and also its crowd pleasing so might pull the votes on a very important week.

Mrs Checks · 01/10/22 - 23:11

DutchDancingFan wrote: »

the first boots who failed with this dance, Tony Jacklin, Gregg Wallace well that was more because of Aliona in her most lacklustre mode and basically exposing her partners their weaknesses

can never forget Jacklin's it don't mean a thing when it ain't got that swing the irony in that song, when that performance had no swing whatsoever it literally oozed ''give us absolutely nothing'' energy (a shame because his waltz was more or less decent at least)

as for Gregg, the couple of all time with the least amount of chemistry, i felt bad for him

Gregg Wallace is a horrible, horrible man (have had to deal with him personally) and there have been plenty of rumours of him treating Aliona to more than a bit of inappropriateness, so it’s Aliona I’d feel sorry for in that partnership.

I still think he’s the celeb who refused to wear underwear 🤮

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Charlestons given to weakest couples early on .

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