I wanted to start writing about SCD but i didn't know where to include it so I just started off a new page.
The Choreography Queen - Katya Jones
My first SCD blog post is about the amazing Katya Jones. She is a professional dancer and has been on SCD since 2016. She is a choreography and her and her husband and dance partner Neil Jones are British, European and World Champions.
My Top 3 Favourite Ed Dances
The most remembered Ed Balls dance is their Salsa to Gangnam Style but however my favourite Ed Balls dance is actually their Cha Cha Cha. This dance was done on Halloween and at the very beginning Katya pretended to be a rubbish dancer and she had to take a potion which made her brilliant. This is my favourite dance because, well possibly because it was halloween week it was a bit more fun, since I'm haven't ever really liked a Cha Cha Cha before, but I liked the whole set up of it. The story and the music. It just comes together as a good dance and I think it was a time when Ed proved he could actually dance.
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My second favourite is their Charleston. I am a massive fan of the Charleston anyway, it's fun and there is almost always a character that the celebs can take but similarly to their Cha Cha Cha, the whole arrangement of the music and the dance was so good and it was just so jolly and happy. And for week two this was a very good dance for Ed! Plus I loved their matching outfits and the traditional Charleston steps including the lifts and flips!
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Week 9's Jive in Blackpool is at number 3. This one is one of my top three because of the fact that when they were at Blackpool they decided to go all out with their dance. Ed came down from the ceiling on a piano that was "on fire". I loved how Ed's tie matched Katya's dress along with the song 'Great Balls of Fire' which at the end they changed to 'Ed Balls of fire'. They dance was important since it was so far on in the competition but Ed was still giving it 110% for every single dance even though majority of the time they were at the bottom of the leaderboard which would be demoralising for most people!
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Joe McFadden
Even though we are just before week 7 of SCD 2017, I would like to talk about some of Katya's choreography this year. We can probably all agree that last year Katya made her choreography for Ed a bit more comical whereas this year I believe she comes up with more serious contents, which however probably means we won't be seeing Joe doing the salsa to Gangnam Style or do a Samba to Cuban Pete. Anyways, I have absolutely adored all of Katya's choreography both this year and last year but here is some that I would like to talk in more detail about.
The Paso Doble
Score: 2,5,5,4 |
Score: 7,9,10 |
In Ed's Paso, it involved Katya kind of being the centre of attention and it was a bit more 'comical' whereas Joe's, well you can tell by the score difference, was 'more serious'. However, obviously Joe and Ed are completely different shapes and people and I actually really liked Ed's Paso, the choreography suited his personality. It's great to see the difference in choreography for two different people like Joe and Ed. Obviously, Neil Jones' paso jacket helped when they did their paso in week 5 since they got a 10 from head judge Shirley Ballas which was Katya's first nine and ten since Ed didn't get higher than a seven which was from Darcey, Len and Bruno.
Score: - 4,6,7,6 |
Score: - 7,7,8,7 |
I think these two jives were very similar. I loved the energy that both boys put into it and to be honest looking at the scores there isn't much in it, except for the fact that Joe's Jive was performed on week 1 before there was a vote off and Ed's was performed on week 9 in Blackpool, just a difference of eight weeks. These two aren't really comparable since they are both great pieces of choreography, I especially loved the part of Joe's Jive where Katya was on the top of the car bonnet and then he flipped her down onto the stage.
Ed didn't do the foxtrot so I can't compare but I wanted to give this a special mention. The halloween foxtrot where Katya played a black widow spider. I wanted to talk about this one specifically because of the roll that they did at the beginning of the dance. Where Katya dragged Joe across the floor and he twisted. I loved this and it looked so difficult to do as well. I loved the whole story of their foxtrot and the music fitted really well as well. I also feel like Joe is slowly getting more comfortable and confident with being himself on camera and dancing on TV and it's so lovely to watch and it's also lovely to see their friendship off screen as well!
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Scores: - 8,8,8,8 |
Before I go, I just wanted to touch on the gem that is Neil Jones and his choreography alongside Kayta with their own choreography and two of my particular favourite pieces, The Drunken Jive and their Samba. I love both these dances for their individuality and thinking of something that is outside of the box. The flips in the Jive and the reverse parts in the Samba are two of my all time favourite parts of a dance routine and it is something that I haven't seen before!! I cannot wait to see Neil and his celeb partner rock SCD 2018.
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Why Katya Jones was the winner of Strictly 2016 AND 2017.
This blog post is kind of a follow on from my previous one. When I wrote my previous blog post, we were on week 7 of Strictly and they had no idea they'd win (of course, I had every faith in them). Week 7 was the week they performed their Charleston and their Charleston was a talking point and also a turning point of the competition for them. I remember sitting at home watching it and screaming at the television because I believe they should have gotten a higher score than 36/40 for it. In my previous post, I wrote about the flip that Neil and Katya did in their drunken jive and I said I hadn't seen it done before and then that week Joe and Katya had that live actually included in their Charleston.
Now, I'll tell you why Katya Jones actually won series 14 (2016) and series 15 (2017) of Strictly Come Dancing. Her choreography was the talking point of both 2016 and 2017, with iconic moments like her and Ed's Gangnam Style Salsa in Week 8 and their American Smooth lift in week 5 in 2016. Also, pulling off a, what the public didn't think would work, Cabaret inspired Samba, choreographing an adorable toy solider Charleston routine and making the nation talk not only about the modern twist on an Argentine Tango but especially the counter-leaver move that she included at the end of their second semi final dance.
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I'd seen so many comments saying that they didn't know how their Cabaret Samba was going to work out and I think in a way because people didn't think it was going to work out, it made it more surprising. Katya Jones is a SCD treasure and they should keep her for a long time! People were talking about her a lot in 2016, a lot again in 2017 and most likely be talking a lot about her in 2018!
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In both years, she's had the public talking about her choreography and I know that this year whoever she is partnered with she'll make them the talking point with her choreography. She never shies away, every dance for Joe and Ed was full package of dance for them to learn and remember. With the finals just around the corner, that specular move was just in time. With Joe's character in Holby City just been killed off a couple of days before the semi final, people were already talking about him more than usual, so the attention of the lift was a winning combination. She grabbed the opportunity to make sure people remembered them and even though they had a little stumble in their Argentine Tango, people didn't remember that part of the performance, they remembered the magnificent lift at the end. She captured the nation's heart in 2016 and she continued to keep it in 2017.
What I love about Katya's Strictly choreography was that it was more 'geeky'. Now, I mean that in the nicest way possible. Especially in 2017, she broke away from the stereotypes, with their Salsa, their Argentine Tango, their samba. If you go back to Blackpool week with their 80's 'Ride on Time' Salsa, wearing bright neon outfits and lyrica and it showed that not all salsa's need to be the men being topless, some of them can be 80's, cheesy and be just as enjoyable.
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5 Reasons Why Neil Jones & Chloe Hewitt Need Celebrity Partners in 2018.
Since there is an obvious opening in the male pro line up, we are hoping that the BBC make the right decision and replace Brendan Cole with Neil Jones. Although last year when this happened, they didn't do that. Which is why I am writing a few reasons why Neil Jones and Chloe Hewitt need celebrity partners for 2018. [Also sign our petition for them to get partners]
1. They have both expressed that they want celebrity partners but Neil has said in interviews that the reason he wasn't paired with a celebrity this year was because there wasn't a change in the male line up, which I thought was (kind of) fair enough, but there was a change in the female line up. I guess they were thinking of age gaps and didn't have a young (apart from Jonnie, being 24) male. So it needs to change for 2018. They need to get a male that can be paired with Chloe and they need to replace Brendan with Neil.
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2. Since turning from amateur to professional in 2013, Neil (and Katya) have won 25 pro titles including World Latin Show-dance Champion.
Also, Chloe (And AJ) have won many amateur titles including the United Kingdom Youth Ballroom Championships and the all England Youth Ballroom and Latin Tournament, |
3. They both joined Strictly in 2016 alongside their partners and since then they have been a pair of the Children in Need Specials, the Christmas, the tour and the cruises.
- In 2016, Neil took centre stage when he and Hollie Webb performed in the Children in Need Special, with Chloe partnering Gethin Jones in the Christmas Special that same year. - In 2017, both of them were a big part of the Children in Need: Blue Peter Special and also Neil partnered Judy Murray in the Christmas Special [helping them achieve her highest score] 4. Number 4 is specifically about Neil but since there is an opening in the male line up, the BBC should replace Brendan, a pro with decades of experience with another pro who has had decades of experience. Neil has had about 30 years of dance experience so give us what we want. Neil has been competing since before 2000 which means that he's had over 16 years (since he stopped competing in 2016) of competition experience.
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- Both of them were involved in the Strictly tour, touring in January and February last year and are also involved a lot this year as well.
- I also know for a fact that Neil (and Katya) have been a part of the Strictly Come Dancing cruises with P & O Cruises in 2017 and doing that again in 2018. Both of them don't just do the main show, they contribute so much to extra parts of the show. They're a key element of the main show so they should let them have a celebrity for the main show. - They are also a big part of behind the scenes on strictly and it takes two. Being a part of their game, for one. 5. Why can't number 5 just be, they have been there for two years so why don't the BBC make sure they get celebrities that can be paired with them. Neil said that if the male line up changed then he basically he should get a partner but that didn't mean anything last year, which I don't understand. Strictly is one of the biggest shows on television so they're bound to have many celebrities who want to do it. I know they need a variety but it cannot be that hard to pair these two up with partners.
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More Strictly Come Dancing Posts - head over to strictly.cat
I'd like to make a mention about how funny the VT's were as well.