Which songs/themes have been overused or underused on Strictly?
jadebry
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Since it often comes up, which songs and themes do you think are overused and are there any underused?
In terms of overused, The Lion King has been overused just this series - personally, I don’t want to see a movie repeated in musicals, and they should’ve definitely thought of something that didn’t screw Richie over.
I also think Grease needs a few years break, although it made sense this year in tribute to Olivia. I’d like to see different teen movies used though - surprised we haven’t seen Mean Girls or Legally Blonde, especially as both have musicals now.
It doesn’t just have to be linked to themed weeks though - it can be generally e.g. I can live without every slow Whitney song being used!
PS this isn’t a thread to bash everything about Strictly now, there’s enough threads on that.
In terms of overused, The Lion King has been overused just this series - personally, I don’t want to see a movie repeated in musicals, and they should’ve definitely thought of something that didn’t screw Richie over.
I also think Grease needs a few years break, although it made sense this year in tribute to Olivia. I’d like to see different teen movies used though - surprised we haven’t seen Mean Girls or Legally Blonde, especially as both have musicals now.
It doesn’t just have to be linked to themed weeks though - it can be generally e.g. I can live without every slow Whitney song being used!
PS this isn’t a thread to bash everything about Strictly now, there’s enough threads on that.
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We’ve also had Cabaret performances in 5/6 of the past six years if you include Helen & Gorka this week and also count pro dances, which seems heavy (2x Musicals Week pro dances in 2016 and 2021, Joe & Katya Musicals Week in 2017, Michelle & Gio Movie Week in 2019, Helen & Gorka this weekend).
Maybe Dirty Dancing too — we’ve had two songs from the soundtrack this year alone!
Underused — soooo many!
I’d like to see more suitable uses of movie themes; when they’re used well, they are very effective (see Joe & Katya’s Dr Zhivago VW, Seann & Katya’s Matrix Paso and Bill & Oti’s The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Paso).
I’d also like to see the use of more musicals that aren’t movies. It does feel like the producers shy away from this, possibly because the wider audience is usually more familiar with the movie version than the stage version… but if you think about it, there are often songs danced to on regular weeks that audiences don’t know well, so why let familiarity hold the creative back?
Definitely agree on using more of the lesser known musicals - it’s interesting for me too as idk much about them so it introduces me to new ones!
I think 2020 did a good job of balancing familiar favourites (like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Phantom of the Opera) with some newer, ‘lesser known’ ones (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, even though that may be more for the name pun lol, and Waitress).
If somone has done a great or an aweful dance to a song then it's going to taint it for the next couple.
Beauty and the Beast is borderline overused, but it has had a bit of a break now so could see it being used next year for Movies/Musicals.
I'm amazed how little Wicked has been utilised, and even then the most memorable use of Defying Gravity was in Hallowe'en Week rather than Musicals.
I think the main example of a musical used a lot, but not overused is West Side Story. It's been used a few times, but doesn't feel overdone, and the extra pro dance in 2016 to it was superb!
I don’t fully agree with a song shouldn’t be used more than once, especially if it’s a traditional song that fits a dance (e.g. for the Paso Doble or Argentine Tango). But I can see why they’ve steered clear of some songs that might be compared to who did it before, like You Never Can Tell and Magalenha!
I think Saffron was meant to get Wicked if she made it to musicals week? At least it was the musical they used for the pro dance last year.
Yeah the West Side Story dances have been nicely spaced out, and it made sense for Molly to get it this year after the new film was released recently.
I've only been watching since last year, is twice in one year normal for a theme?
I know they’ve had the same in consecutive years, like when Mollie got The Sound of Music for movies and Grease for musicals in 2017, then Faye got the same but switched round in 2018, but I can’t remember the same movie/musical being used twice in one year before.
I wouldn't stop people using songs at all, but I would probably do a 'Can't be reused for two years' rule of thumb for most of them. Apart from being unfair on couples, it makes it all much less special for the audience.
Personally I would love a year off all Disney.
Samba to "Milkshake," anyone? 🤣 (actually that was done over here when Aaron Samuels did DWTS, was actually a little trainwrecky) But Legally Blonde is a good shout too, "Perfect Day" would be a fun song to use.
In terms of dance movies, was "Center Stage" as big in the UK as it was here? There are several good songs from that movie...salsa to "Canned Heat," rumba to "I Wanna Be With You," or "Candy" or "Higher Ground" from the jazz class scene...
At least there is only a sprinkling of it, in the US we have a whole-ass Disney Week each season 😭 It was fun the first couple of times but eventually that week became such a bear. (at least this year it was Disney+ Week so it expanded the reach a little, which was why we finally got a Hamilton song!)
Also in terms of re-used songs, it looks like there is already a 2-year minimum for it to pop up again (or so was established last week when we were discussing both Hamza and Molly's songs being redos from series 17)
I’ve not heard of Center Stage so maybe it’s not big enough for our movies week?
I’m not particularly bothered about them having one or two Disney songs per movie week (and that’s coming from a non-Disney fan), as I can see why it appeals to a younger audience. As long as they don’t get ridiculous costumes like Richie did 🙄 a whole Disney week would defo be too much 🤣
Cooper’s Ballet from the film is my all-time favourite dance scene in a movie!
Regarding its soundtrack, Canned Heat by Jamiroquai is an underused song, I think. I am pretty sure it’s only had two outings — once in the early years as a Salsa (I wanna say Patsy Palmer with Anton??) and more recently as a mix with a James Brown song in a pro dance (that horrible supermarket themed one).
According to Ultimate Strictly it was Patsy Kensit and Robin, so right name at least 😄 if they wanted to use Canned Heat for movie week they could do Napoleon Dynamite, but not sure if it’s a Strictly kinda movie.
Underused: more music from U2, Meatloaf, Lady GaGa
There’s no such thing as overusing Abba 😱
I’d like to see Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again for movies week, specifically to have Why Did It Have To Be Me. When I Kissed The Teacher would make a good jive but it could open the door to Strictly curse rumours 😅
Super Trouper makes a good campy cha cha cha, top model judge Thomas Rath danced that in one of first weeks of german lets dance couple years ago
yep, we're prolly in a similar bracket...i've watched it a gazillion times (as recently as last night, lol...one of my cable movie channels has been re-showing it a lot lately) Wasn't huge at the box office, but still considered "iconic" today.
And I loved "Canned Heat" even before the movie and agree it's a song that hasn't been given it's due on these dance shows! It's only been used twice here in the US as well-once in a DJ-themed freestyle (that was a bit messy) and in a disco-themed cha-cha that got torn apart by Len. That's why I was thinking salsa could be a good shout for it...
I’m always delighted when they use a song I love but it’s, sadly, rare.
However I don’t think they have ever used Disney songs from Pocahontas or Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty. I would also make sure movie week is just movies and not musicals too.
Underused: Hamilton… why do we still have to wait when even Dancing on Ice used it?
I was pleased to have Matilda or the Waitress and less used musicals like those.
Loads of movies with great soundtrack only come up once and then they are really amazing: Pulp Fiction, Titanic, Robin Hood, The Matrix, Bodyguard, Ghost, Godfather.
I would love to see more movies like that: Lord of the Rings, The Graduate, Philadelphia, Don Juan de Marco, Once upon a time in the West, Requiem for a Dream etc.