It’s bootcamp for our sixty potential Dannys and Sandys and there’s only one question which everyone is dying to have answered.
Just what is Sinitta wearing?
Well, maybe they’re quite interested in whether they are going to make it down to the final eight pairs, but frankly I want to know what those things in Sinitta’s hair are - chopsticks? Week by week her costumes get more and more outlandish.
One other question as well. Why are all the microphone’s distorting? It’s a little off-putting when you’re trying to work out whether the performers’ voices are up to the grade. Still, maybe that’s a good thing with David Ian telling us:
“The biggest worry for me is that the dancers can’t sing and the singers can’t dance.”
And he has a point. Some of the dancing is truly awful - especially with the boys. As the other David (Gest) observes:
“I’ve never seen worse dancers in my life. I’ve seen monks that dance better than these people.”
Unfortunately, he’s not specific as to where he saw the monks so the panel is going to have to make do with what is in front of them, and, as the chaff is slowly sifted out over the three-day boot camp, some talent starts to emerge.
The show’s “unique selling point” (or I’m sure that’s how it would have been pitched) also begins to reveal itself. The Dannys and Sandys are going to have to pair up, which of course can only mean one thing. Romance. Or so we’re led to believe.
Clearly, though, the judges believe that these should be arranged marriages, as after a pretty disastrous first showing when the contestants are allowed to chose their own partners, David Ian et al decide to play matchmakers, as they attempt to discover which potential Dannys and Sandys might have chemistry.
One thing we do know after the first stage of rejections is that we aren’t going to have a brother and sister playing Danny and Sandy (thank God - that would have been strange) , nor are we going to have a real life couple - unless something happens between now and the show. And, after the final round of selection, we also discover that (surprise surprise) we aren’t going to have a black Sandy. But, underdogs of the world unite, we may have a Danny with a stammer.
What else have we found out? Well, Brian McFadden’s sister Susan is beginning to reveal herself as a real contender. She has prior experience and it’s starting to show. Meanwhile, of the Dannys, Richard - the plasterer - impresses and Anthony, former pop star, Kavanagh also has to be in contention.
By the end of it, the judges of whittled things down to their final 16. Which, for those of you who weren’t taking notes, was:
Danny Bayne Age: 19 Job: Student Location: London
Tom Bradley Age: 19 Job: Actor Location: Leicester
Bradley Clarkson Age: 25 Location: Hertfordshire Job: Student
Anthony Kavanagh Age: 29 Job: Singer Location: Manchester
Richard Morgan Age: 20 Job: Plasterer Location: Rotherham
Michael Quinn Age: 24 Job: Actor / Singer Location: Lewisham
Danny Rhodes Age: 22 Job: Student and waiter Location: Southend-on-Sea
Wayne Smith Age: 26 Location: Preston Job: Cabaret Singer
Michelle Antrobus Age: 24 Location: Winchmore Hill Job: Student
Hayley Clarke Age: 18 Location: Liverpool Job: Student & Waitress
Alison Crawford Age:25 Job: Waitress Location: Liverpool
Vicky Hoyles Age: 22 Job: Beauty Therapist
Lauren McConnell Age: 16 Job: Student Location: Sussex
Susan McFadden Age: 24 Job: Performer Location: London
Joanna Power Age: 22 Job: Pub Singer Location: Essex
Kate Somerset-How Age: 23 Job: Gym receptionist Location: London
Next week, it’s the first round of live shows when the 16 will be placed into their final pairs and success or failure will ride not just on their own performances, but also those of their partners. It will be interesting to see whether this means that we lose some the better performers simply because they are partnered which someone weaker. Only time will tell.
On something of a side note, an observation. For those of you reading my blog last week, you might recall I was looking forward to finding out who David Ian was to describe as “so common”. Well, despite billing it at the end of last week’s episode, I’ve been left in the dark as it was obviously edited out of this week’s programme. Shame, but then again, I have an inkling…
Also, I’m still not convinced that the overall quality of the performers is as high as on the BBC rival Any Dream Will Do. However, to be fair, that show has a few weeks’ headstart on its ITV counterpart and maybe by next week’s live show some of the weaker contestants will have been knocked into shape.
I’m sure I’m not the only person watching both shows and I’d be interested to know what others think as to the relative standards of the performers.
I think although there does appear to be a difference in calibre of the performers, this is just down to which performers have been given air time. In the early shows BBC concentrated mainly on those who got through to the final 12, where as ITV has spent most of the time showing the contestants who DIDN'T get through. Ages was spent seeing the comical and the bad auditions for Danny and Sandy - but very little time on the actual talent. To the point where the final 16 were announced - some of which we had never seen. For example, David Ian made a comment about one of the final 16 having amazing talent - "The emergence of Tom Bradley" - in my opinion the most talented "Danny" there - and that was literally the first time we'd seen him. I'll continue to follow both shows - I just wish they weren't on at the same time!
Adwd only had an one week lead over grease
Quite right - Any Dream Will Do is only one week ahead in terms of the number of episodes. However, there is a few weeks' gap between the final recorded show and the first live one, in which the contestants receive a certain amount of training.
Therefore, in terms of the talent we are seeing on TV, the Grease show is a number of weeks behind. Next week, when the Grease show goes live, it will catch up somewhat, and one would expect, so will the standard of performances.
wrong move to have a couple off , should have been a vote for each performer as we could lose a perfect danny or sandy with a weak partner ,