Jump to content

The Greatest Dancer

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 2a00:23c6:41b2:9601:55cb:dc42:60e1:3919 (talk) at 18:57, 7 November 2022 (→Challenge Show 3). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Greatest Dancer
GenreDance competition
Created bySyco
Directed byJulia Knowles
Presented by
Starring
Judges
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes18
Production
Executive producers
  • Amelia Brown
  • Nigel Hall
  • Louise Hutchinson
Producers
  • Iain Peckham
  • Clara Marshall
Production locationsICC Birmingham (auditions)
LH2 Studios (live shows)
Running time60–70 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkBBC One
Release5 January 2019 (2019-01-05) –
7 March 2020 (2020-03-07)
Related
Rising Star

The Greatest Dancer is a British dance competition television series created by Simon Cowell and produced by Syco Entertainment. The first BBC programme created by Cowell, The Greatest Dancer sees previously undiscovered dance acts perform live weekly for Cheryl, Oti Mabuse, Matthew Morrison and Todrick Hall (the "Dance Captains") and a studio audience in a competition to win £50,000 and a chance to perform on Strictly Come Dancing.

The first series aired on BBC One on Saturdays from 5 January to 23 February 2019, and was won by 14-year-old solo dancer Ellie Fergusson from Livingston, West Lothian, who was mentored by Oti Mabuse.[1] A second series premiered on 4 January 2020,[2] with the addition of Todrick Hall to the judging panel, and Curtis Pritchard replaced Amelia Wilson as the receptionist.[3][4] The series ran until 7 March 2020, when it was won by Latin and ballroom dancers Michael and Jowita, also mentored by Mabuse. On 28 April 2020, the BBC announced that were no plans for any further series of The Greatest Dancer.[5]

Series overview

  • Series 1: 5 January – 23 February 2019 (8 episodes)
    • Auditions: 5–26 January 2019
    • Live shows: 2–23 February 2019
  • Series 2: 4 January 2020 – 7 March 2020 (10 episodes)
    • Auditions: 4–25 January 2020
    • Live shows: 1 February–7 March 2020

Judges:

  Dancer in Team Oti
  Dancer in Team Matthew
  Dancer in Team Cheryl
  Dancer in Team Todrick
Finalist Overview
Series Winner Runners-up Fourth Place Winning Mentor Hosts Dance Captains (seat order)
1 2 3 4
1 Ellie Fergusson Harry & Eleiyah KLA James & Oliver Oti Mabuse Alesha Dixon Jordan Banjo Oti Matthew Cheryl N/A
2 Michael & Jowita Harrison Vaughan Lily & Joseph Dancepoint Todrick

Format

A non-televised pilot for the show was filmed in February 2018 at Hammersmith Apollo in London.[6]

Auditions

The auditions for the first series took place at ICC Birmingham in August of the previous year[7] and were divided into three episodes in 2019, and four in 2020, airing each Saturday. Auditioning acts were allowed to consist of any number of members, and each person participating was required to be at least 7 years old.[8] Each auditioning act performed in front of a one-way mirror and each audience member had a light to turn on during each audition that they liked; only acts for whom at least 75 percent of the audience turned on their lights would qualify for the callbacks.[9] The format was adapted from the Israeli television music competition franchise Rising Star.[10] In the second series, at the end of each audition show, one Dance Captain chose their 'Greatest Dancer Of The Day', an act of their choice which advances straight to the live shows.

Callbacks

The callbacks aired as a separate show in 2019, and immediately after the fourth round of auditions in 2020. From the acts that had qualified for the callbacks, the Dance Captains each selected three to join their team (or two in the second series as they had each already chosen a 'Greatest Dancer Of The Day' for their team previously).

Live Challenge

Each Saturday, the final acts performed to stay in the competition. Each act was assigned a different challenge, which they had to incorporate into their performance. Much like the auditions, each audience member had a light to turn on during each performance that they liked. After all acts had performed, the public were given the opportunity to vote for their favourite acts. Either one or two acts were voted off each week, eventually leaving four to compete in the final show.

Final

Each of the four acts in the final firstly perform a collaboration with their respective Dance Captain, and the act that received the fewest votes from the public finished in fourth place. The three remaining acts then each performed a reprise of the dance they performed in the auditions stage. The act that received the most votes from the public was crowned the winner and received £50,000 and a chance to perform on the next series of Strictly Come Dancing.[citation needed]

Series 1 (2019)

Live show details

Acts

Act[11] No. of
members 		Hometown Genre Dance Captain Result
Ellie 1 Livingston Contemporary Oti Mabuse Winner
on 23 February 2019
Harry & Eleiyah 2 Various Contemporary Cheryl Finalists
on 23 February 2019
KLA 8 South Wales Latin formation Oti Mabuse
James & Oliver 2 Hatfield, Hertfordshire Contemporary Matthew Morrison Eliminated
on 23 February 2019
Dane Bates Collective 9 Various Contemporary Cheryl Eliminated
on 16 February 2019
Frobacks 4 London Street
Company Jinks 14 Various Commercial Matthew Morrison Eliminated
on 9 February 2019
Prospects Fraternity 13 London Street
The Globe Girls 5 London Commercial Oti Mabuse Eliminated
on 2 February 2019

Week 1 (2 February)

Week 2 (9 February)

Week 3: Semi-final (16 February)

Week 4: Final (23 February)

Dance 1: Performance with Dance Captain (one act eliminated)
Dance 2: Reprise of audition dance

Series 2 (2020)

The second series started on 4 January 2020. In a change from last year, at the end of each week a different coach was chosen to pick an act from that week to join their team. The choices were as follow:

Auditions

Week 1

Cheryl was selected to choose a Greatest Dancer of the Day.

Act No. of
members 		Genre Song Result
Ross and Travis 2 Street "Let Me Clear My Throat"/"Will 2K"/"I Wanna Dance with Somebody" Advanced to Callbacks
Los Rumberos 6 Latin Advanced to Callbacks
Lily and Joseph 2 Contemporary "Rise Up" Cheryl's Greatest Dancers of the Day
Sam and Mash 2 Afro Dance "Dangote"/"Karaoke" Eliminated - 70%
Tom 1 Contemporary "Turning Tables" Advanced to Callbacks
Giovanni 1 Northern Soul Advanced to Callbacks
Waack This Way 8 Street "In the Hall of the Mountain King" Eliminated - 15%
Soar Kids 12 Street "Finesse" Advanced to Callbacks
Patrick and Laura 2 Irish Dance "I Want It That Way" Advanced to Callbacks
Miss J 1 Street "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"/"Pyro Ting"/"Hey Mama/"16 Shots" Advanced to Callbacks
Dinkie Flowers 1 Tap "Singin' in the Rain"/"Hawaii Five-O theme" Advanced to Callbacks
Harrison Vaughan 1 Contemporary "Enter the Circus"/"Game of Survival" Advanced to Callbacks

Week 2

Todrick Hall was selected to choose a Greatest Dancer of the Day.

Act No. of
members 		Genre Song Result
Michael and Jowita 2 Latin "Lollipop"/"Rock Around the Clock"/"Hey! Baby"/"Jump, Jive an' Wail" Advanced to Callbacks
JJ Acrobatics 16 Acro Dance "Toxic" Advanced to Callbacks
Jake O'Shea 1 Irish Dance "Traditional Irish Music"/"Diva" Advanced to Callbacks
Womanhood 5 Commercial "Ain't Your Mama" Eliminated - 41%
Ainsley Ricketts 1 Contemporary "Shine On You" Todrick's Greatest Dancer of the Day
DN12 15 Commercial "Wind It Up"/"Spice Up Your Life"/"Heads Will Roll" Advanced to Callbacks
Aimee 1 Modern Jazz "Rain Dance" Advanced to Callbacks
Vale 16 Contemporary "The Untold" Advanced to Callbacks
Tony and Mandy 2 Latin American "Let's Get Loud"—Jennifer Lopez Eliminated - 45%
Renako Collective 5 Contemporary "Human"—Rag'n'Bone Man Advanced to Callbacks

Week 3

Matthew Morrison was selected to choose a Greatest Dancer of the Day.

Act No. of
members 		Genre Song Result
Dancepoint 16 Contemporary "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" Advanced to Callbacks
Laurence Cooke 1 Street "Feel Good Inc." Eliminated - 73%
The Queens 7 Jazz "Does Your Mother Know" Advanced to Callbacks
Hannah Martin 1 Contemporary "Here with Me" Matthew's Greatest Dancer of the Day
Ryan Gibson 1 Commercial "Look What You Made Me Do" Advanced to Callbacks
Young Dream Chasers 12 Street "Phenomenal Woman" Advanced to Callbacks
Tom and Jo 2 Latin "Muevete Duro" Advanced to Callbacks
Resilience 4 Ballet "Power" Eliminated - 74%
Darius and DJ G 2 Commercial "In the Morning"/"Flowers" Advanced to Callbacks
Jordan Crouch 1 Tap "All of Me" Advanced to Callbacks
Brothers of Dance 9 Contemporary "Wicked Game" Advanced to Callbacks

Week 4

Oti Mabuse was selected to choose a Greatest Dancer of the Day.

Act No. of
members 		Genre Song Result
Alex & Jacqueline 2 Ballroom "Hurt" Advanced to Callbacks
Elite Dance Juniors 9 Jazz "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)"/ "Ain't Too Proud to Beg"/ "Please Mr. Postman"/ "Do You Love Me" Advanced to Callbacks
Yassaui Mergaliyev 1 Ballet "Feeling Good" Advanced to Callbacks
Jelli 15 Commercial "Donatella" Advanced to Callbacks
Jessica Larch 1 Street / Afro Dance "Boasty" Advanced to Callbacks
Legacy Funk 5 Street "Treat 'em Right" Advanced to Callbacks
Nonsuch Dancers 6 Historical Dance "Dancing Queen" Eliminated - 23%
Dark Angels 12 Hip-hop "Beggin'"/"I Need a Girl (Part Two)"/"A Milli"/"Slow Motion"—Trey Songz / "Can't Hold Us"—Macklemore & Ryan Lewis /"I'm Fly"/"Dreams and Nightmares" Oti's Greatest Dancers of the Day

The Final 12

Act No. of

members

Hometown Genre Dance Captain Eliminations
Michael and Jowita 2 London Latin Oti Mabuse Winners (7 March 2020)
Harrison Vaughan 1 Liverpool Contemporary Matthew Morrison Finalists (7 March 2020)
Lily and Joseph 2 Sunderland Cheryl
Dancepoint 16 Glasgow Todrick Hall 7 March 2020
Brothers of Dance 9 Various Cheryl 29 February 2020
Hannah Martin 1 Burgess Hill Matthew Morrison
Vale 16 Stockport Oti Mabuse 22 February 2020
Ainsley Ricketts 1 London Todrick Hall 15 February 2020
Ross and Travis 2 Portsmouth and Bournemouth Street Matthew Morrison 8 February 2020
Dark Angels 12 Bristol Hip-hop Oti Mabuse
The Queens 7 London Jazz Cheryl 1 February 2020
Ryan 1 Sandhurst Commercial Todrick Hall

Live Challenge Shows

Act Dance Captain Live Challenge 1 Live Challenge 2 Live Challenge 3 Live Challenge 4 (Quarter-Final) Live Challenge 5 (Semi-Final) Grand Finale
Michael & Jowita Oti 8th
90.5% 		3rd
95.3% 		3rd
92.4% 		5th
90.5% 		1st
96.5% 		Winners
(2020 Grand Finale)
Lily & Joseph Cheryl 4th
95.2% 		4th
94.9% 		1st=
93.8% 		2nd
95.6% 		6th
87.1% 		Finalists
(2020 Grand Finale)
Harrison Vaughan Matthew 5th=
94.2% 		9th
88.8% 		8th
79.8% 		3rd
94.8% 		2nd
93.6%
Dancepoint Todrick 9th
89.9% 		1st
96.9% 		4th
92.3% 		4th
90.9% 		4th
91.6% 		Eliminated(2020 Grand Finale)
Brothers of Dance Cheryl 1st
97.8% 		2nd
95.6% 		5th
91.3% 		1st
96.2% 		3rd
92.7% 		Eliminated
(Semi-Final)
Hannah Martin Matthew 5th=
94.2% 		7th
90.6% 		6th
89.7% 		7th
81.3% 		5th
88.1%
Vale Oti 10th
88.9% 		8th
89.3% 		7th
89.2% 		6th
87.0% 		Eliminated
(Quarter-Final)
Ainsley Ricketts Todrick 3rd
95.5% 		6th
91.7% 		1st=
93.8% 		Eliminated
(Live Challenge 3)
Dark Angels Oti 7th
92.1% 		10th
87.9% 		Eliminated
(Live Challenge 2)
Ross and Travis Matthew 2nd
97.0% 		5th
93.2%
Ryan Todrick 11th
74.6% 		Eliminated
(Live Challenge 1)
The Queens Cheryl 12th
48.4%

Challenge Show 1

  • Theme: Best of British
Order Act Dance Captain Song(s) Challenge Theme Studio Vote Result
1 Dancepoint Todrick "Friend Like Me" Pantomime
89.9%
 Last To Be Called Safe
2 Michael and Jowita Oti "Kissing You" Shakespeare
90.5%
 Safe
3 Harrison Vaughan Matthew "Somebody's Watching Me" Royalty
94.2%
 Safe
4 The Queens Cheryl "A Nice Cup of Tea"/"I Believe in a Thing Called Love" Afternoon Tea
48.4%
 Eliminated
5 Ainsley Ricketts Todrick "No Light, No Light" Weather
95.5%
 Safe
6 Lily and Joseph Cheryl "Runaway Baby" Seaside
95.2%
 Safe
7 Vale Oti "Arrival of the Birds" Queueing
88.9%
 Safe
8 Ross and Travis Matthew "Boasty"/"Tragedy"/"Big for Your Boots"/"Cry Me a River"/"Where Are Ü Now"/"O Fortuna" Secret Agents
97.0%
 Safe
9 Hannah Martin "Lost Without You" Telephone Box
94.2%
 Safe
10 Dark Angels Oti "Earthquake"—Labrinth / "Shutdown"—Skepta / "Dance Off"—Macklemore & Ryan Lewis / "High Hopes"—Panic! at the Disco House of Commons
92.1%
 Safe
11 Ryan Gibson Todrick "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"/"Soul Bossa Nova"/"Work It Out" The Sixties
74.6%
 Eliminated
12 Brothers of Dance Cheryl "Red Right Hand"/"Glory" Peaky Blinders
97.8%
 Safe

Challenge Show 2

  • Theme: Props
Order Act Dance Captain Song(s) Challenge Theme Studio Vote Result
1 Brothers of Dance Cheryl "Live Like Legends" Chessboard
95.6%
 Safe
2 Michael and Jowita Oti "Crazy in Love"/"Bang Bang" Canes
95.3%
 Safe
3 Harrison Vaughan Matthew "Perfect" Jewellery Box
88.8%
 Safe
4 Vale Oti "Time" Clocks
89.3%
 Last To Be Called Safe
5 Lily and Joseph Cheryl "A Million Dreams" Books
94.9%
 Safe
6 Ainsley Ricketts Todrick "Unspoken" Bench
91.7%
 Safe
7 Ross and Travis Matthew "September"/"Steamy Windows"/"Instruction"/This Is How We Do It"/"I Just Want to Make Love to You"/"Sweet Lovin'" Ladders
93.2%
 Eliminated
8 Hannah Martin "Alive" Silk
90.6%
 Safe
9 Dark Angels Oti "La La La"/"Gecko" Mobile Phones
87.9%
 Eliminated
10 Dancepoint Todrick "In the Air Tonight" Mirror
96.9%
 Safe

Challenge Show 3

  • Theme: Around the World
Order Act Mentor Song(s) Challenge Theme Studio Vote Result
1 Lily and Joseph Cheryl "You Are the Reason"—Calum Scott Iceland
93.8%
 Safe
2 Ainsley Ricketts Todrick Hall "Giant"—Calvin Harris and Rag'n'Bone Man Rio de Janeiro
93.8%
 Eliminated
3 Vale Oti Mabuse "Insomnia"—Faithless Cairo
89.2%
 Safe
4 Harrison Vaughan Matthew Morrison "Smile" Paris
79.8%
 Safe
5 Dancepoint Todrick Hall "Gravity" Beijing
92.3%
 Safe
6 Michael and Jowita Oti Mabuse "Get the Party Started"—Pink Monte Carlo
92.4%
 Safe
7 Brothers of Dance Cheryl "Sparrow"—Emeli Sandé The Amazon
91.3%
 Last To Be Called Safe
8 Hannah Martin Matthew Morrison "Where We Come Alive" - Ruelle Athens
89.7%
 Safe

Challenge Show 4 (Quarter-Final)

  • Theme: Dance Fusion
Order Act Dance Captain Song(s) Challenge Theme Studio Vote Result
1 Harrison Vaughan Matthew "Sing Sing Sing (With a Swing)" Tap
94.8%
 Safe
2 Vale Oti "Soon We'll Be Found"—Sia Ballroom
87.0%
 Eliminated
3 Lily & Joseph Cheryl "You Can't Stop the Beat" Rock'n'Roll
95.6%
 Safe
4 Hannah Martin Matthew "Havana"—Camila Cabello Latin
81.3%
 Safe
5 Brothers of Dance Cheryl "Don't Start Now"—Dua Lipa Commercial
96.2%
 Safe
6 Dancepoint Todrick "Swan Lake" Ballet
90.9%
 Last To Be Called Safe
7 Michael & Jowita Oti "Your Disco Needs You"—Kylie Minogue / "You Should Be Dancing"—Bee Gees / "Le Freak"—Chic / "Boogie Wonderland"—Earth, Wind & Fire with The Emotions Disco
90.5%
 Safe

Challenge Show 5 (Semi Final)

  • Theme: Coaches' Pick
Order Act Dance Captain Song(s) Challenge Theme Studio Vote Result
1 Dancepoint Todrick "Get Happy" Classic Hollywood
91.6%
 Last to be called safe
2 Michael and Jowita Oti "Do You Love Me" / "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" Dirty Dancing
96.5%
 Safe
3 Hannah Martin Matthew "Clubbed to Death"—Rob Dougan Ocean
88.1%
 Eliminated
4 Lily and Joseph Cheryl "A Sky Full of Stars"—Coldplay Childhood Dreams
87.1%
 Safe
5 Brothers of Dance "Rumble" Military
92.7%
 Eliminated
6 Harrison Vaughan Matthew "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"—Elton John Elton John
93.6%
 Safe

Final

Dance 1: Performance with Dance Captain (one act eliminated)
Dance 2: Reprise of favourite dance
Order Act Dance Captain Song(s) Result
1 Dancepoint Todrick "Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels"/"Dem Beats" Eliminated
2 Lily and Joseph Cheryl "Pure Imagination" Top 3
"Rise Up"—Andra Day
3 Michael and Jowita Oti "The Ballroom Blitz" Top Of Public Vote
"Get the Party Started"—Pink
4 Harrison Vaughan Matthew "Soda Pop" Top 3
"Enter the Circus"/"Game of Survival"

Judges, receptionist and presenters

Overview

Key
  Presenter of The Greatest Dancer
  Receptionist of The Greatest Dancer
  Dance Captain of The Greatest Dancer
Cast member Series
1 2
Alesha Dixon Host
Jordan Banjo Host
Amelia Wilson Recurring -
Curtis Pritchard - Recurring
Cheryl Main
Matthew Morrison Main
Oti Mabuse Main
Todrick Hall - Main

-

Presenters

On 19 July 2018, it was announced that Alesha Dixon and Jordan Banjo would host the programme.

Dance panel

On 10 August 2018, it was announced that the show's Dance Captains were Cheryl, Matthew Morrison and Oti Mabuse. For the 2020 series, dancer Todrick Hall joined as the fourth Dance Captain.[12]

International versions

The format has been sold to broadcasters in China, Denmark and Spain.

Region/country Local title Network Winners Dance Captains Presenter(s)
 China[13][14] The Greatest Dancer China Dragon TV Series 1, 2020: Li Yi Ran Jin Xing
Tong Liya
Ren Jialun
Zhu Zhengting 		Cheng Lei
 Denmark[15] Den Vildeste Danser TV2 Series 1, 2020: Olivia Obiefule Sonny Fredie-Pedersen
Silas Holst
Mille Gori 		Christiane Schaumburg-Müller
Christopher Læssø
 Spain[16][17][18] The Dancer La 1 Series 1, 2021: Macarena Ramírez Lola Índigo
Miguel Ángel Muñoz
Rafa Méndez 		Ion Aramendi
Sandra Cervera

References

  1. ^ "Millions tune in to watch Lothians teenager Ellie Fergusson win The Greatest Dancer". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  2. ^ Warner, Sam (23 February 2019). "The Greatest Dancer will return for a second series on BBC One". Digital Spy. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  3. ^ "Curtis Pritchard joins BBC One's The Greatest Dancer". BBC. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  4. ^ Bond, Kimberley (9 March 2019). "Who is The Greatest Dancer receptionist Amelia Wilson?". Radio Times. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  5. ^ "The Greatest Dancer pulled by BBC after two series". BBC News. 29 April 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  6. ^ "Cheryl stars in BBC talent show pilot". BBC News. 15 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  7. ^ Probert, Sarah (10 August 2018). "Why people are queuing outside ICC in Birmingham this morning". birminghammail. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  8. ^ "About the Show". BBC. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  9. ^ Warner, Sam (12 January 2019). "The Greatest Dancer's Jordan Banjo tells off audience". Digital Spy. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  10. ^ "The Greatest Dancer: How does it work? Everything you need to know about Cheryl's new show". 5 January 2019.
  11. ^ "The Final 9". BBC. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  12. ^ Duke, Simon (3 January 2020). "New dance captain Todrick Hall joins The Greatest Dancer series 2". nechronicle. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  13. ^ "The Greatest Dancer China". www.facebook.com.
  14. ^ Dams, Tim (29 April 2020). "BBC Cancels Simon Cowell's 'The Greatest Dancer' After Two Seasons".
  15. ^ "Premiere Night "The Greatest Dancer" — SONNY".
  16. ^ "Apúntate al casting de 'The Dancer'". RTVE.es. 21 December 2020.
  17. ^ "Ion Aramendi presentará 'The Dancer', el talent de baile de TVE con Lola Índigo, Miguel Ángel Muñoz y Rafa Méndez". eldiario.es (in European Spanish). 5 February 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  18. ^ "Sandra Cervera, de 'Puente Viejo' a copresentar 'The Dancer' con Ion Aramendi en TVE". eldiario.es (in European Spanish). 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Greatest_Dancer&oldid=1120577162"