[Nicky91]

alright welcome to our 2025 series of Strictly Come Dancing, and dancing first for us this first show are Vernon Wells and his dance partner Dianne Buswell with a Samba to Further Up (Na Na Na)

VT

we are shown highlights of Vernon's acting career, and he also tells us that this year Strictly has the honours of the FIRST EVER POWER RANGERS VILLAIN to compete on the show as well as being in a dynamic down under partnership with last years REIGNING CHAMPION Dianne Buswell

we cut to the training room, Dianne tells Vernon their first dance is the samba, and there are a lot of difficult techniques in this dance, such as botafogo's, volta's, samba rolls, Vernon asks what song they are dancing to, Dianne says a recent banger by Pitbull and that he'll be playing the role of a DJ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3BQmbeXPok

Performance

the routine begins with Vernon behind his DJ booth doing his thing, the music starts and everything goes like you would've expected it to go for a man of his age, 79 YEARS OLD, a bit pedestrian but he hits those volta's, botafogo's quite nicely, although in the samba roll he looks like channeling his inner john sergeant which looks quite awkward, musicality wise his timing is quite precise, the choreography also well done by Dianne, not throwing her partner under the bus with something too complicated

Craig: 3

Motsi: 6

Shirley: 6

AJ: 5

=
20

decent score for this enjoyable samba

[Nicky91]

up next it is Belle Delphine & Nikita Kuzmin with a Tango

VT

Belle introduces herself, and we are shown some of her best bits from her vlogging career so far, and she tells us she already feels the NERVES about performing on this show, which is way outside her comfort zone

Nikita tells her, their first dance is a tango, to a song by Alex Warren titled Before You Leave Me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn10ddcGF54

Performance

a no faffing about full on tango routine from the first second a lot of drama, it is set in a saloon, the footwork is quite neat for a novice however it could be more staccato in places, the frame also one moment is perfect, but the other moment looks all over the place, but all in all a decent first performance

Craig: 5

Motsi: 6

Shirley: 6

AJ: 7

=

24

nice score for these two's first performance

[Nicky91]

next up it is Lady Amelia Windsor & Aljaz Skorjanec with a Cha Cha Cha

VT

our SECOND ROYALTY on this show, stepping into the footsteps of Emma Thynn, it is Amelia Windsor

we cut to Buckingham Palace, where Aljaz meets up with Amelia for the first time, you know that old little palace where the bosses wanted to have a show at some point, now we already see it in a VT, Aljaz tells Amelia they have a fun cha cha cha as their first dance, Amelia (IN THE MOST POSH VOICE possible) says she's looking forward to the CHA CHA CHA, and some movements remind her of the catwalk shows in Milan, saying going to be a walk in the park (in a way only rich people can understand that sort of humour)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiC1rgCPmUQ

Performance

the routine starts off with a catwalk event, the music starts and Amelia is all FULL ON DIVA MODE, everything is too generic, too nice rather than a flirty, fun and dynamic cha cha, the disco content is a nice touch but not really that can save this routine, if the basic content is off, not a complete disaster but could've gone better

Craig: 3

Motsi: 5

Shirley: 4

AJ: 5

=

17


ouch not a good start for Amelia & Aljaz

[Nicky91]

lets move on shall we and dancing next are Ben Haenow and Nadiya Bychkova with a Slow Waltz

VT

Ben introduces himself and we are shown footage of his X Factor journey as well as in the studios in LA alongside Kelly Clarkson

Nadiya tells Ben they got a slow waltz to run, as their first dance

Ben is delighted to being able to do a traditional slow ballroom to begin his journey on this show

during rehearsals, they got a video message by Alfie Boe saying he is proud of the two of them dancing to his version of Run

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWLwMJN88vg

Performance

the routine starts off with Ben and Nadiya under a tree, the footwork looks very neat, the ballroom frame all in all very decent, few moments they seem to be barely ahead of the music, but they recover nicely and keep themselves in sync with the music

strong performance

Craig: 7

Motsi: 8

Shirley: 7

AJ: 8

=

30

fantastic score for this wonderful waltz

[Nicky91]

up next are Maya Jama & Johannes Radebe with a Cha Cha Cha

VT

Maya introduces herself, that she is a very prominent presenter from the tv and radio, Johannes tells her she gotta channel her inner RiRi as they are dancing the cha cha cha to where have you been!

Maya says this is a dream come true taking part in this show (Must also be the FANDOM's DREAM COME TRUE honestly as many people wanted her to do this show)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBxt_v0WF6Y

Performance

this has all the ingredients of a FUN, Flirty and Fierce cha cha, Sassiness overload if you ask me, almost looked like a lipsync battle of rupaul drag race as well, that level of energy

the cuban breaks are executed properly

this was great

Craig: 7

Motsi: 7

Shirley: 7

AJ: 9!

=

30

week 1 and our first 9 of the series, iconic

[Nicky91]

and last to dance of todays week 1 part 1 (tomorrow i'll do the remaining 8 couples) here are Shaun Wallace & Amy Dowden with a Contemporary

VT

Shaun tells us people might know him mainly from the well loved quiz show The Chase, and he openly admits the only bit of dancing he has done in his life was like 40 years ago and a bit of afrobeat

Amy tells him they will be doing a contemporary to ed sheeran's a beautiful game as their first dance, Shaun asks contempowhat? Amy explains him the contemporary is a dance where you tell a story through movements

in training, Shaun is struggling with most of the movements, but he promises Amy to try and make her the proudest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJse76xLVic

Performance

Shaun is not very light on his feet in this routine, although he delivers some brilliant storytelling nevertheless but his own way just more pedestrian, with Amy dancing superbly around him, the lifts are executed amazingly well

all in all a very decent performance, but we can forgive him for going the more pedestrian route

Craig: 4

Motsi: 5

Shirley: 5

AJ: 5

=

19

not bad start