TV
The history of Strictly Come Dancing’s Musicals Week
One of the favourite nights of the show, Strictly Come Dancing’s Musicals week has always captured the attention of the viewing public as the competition hots up.
With Strictly back on our screens, we’ve taken a look back at the history of Musicals Week.
What is Musicals Week?
The Musicals Week special on Strictly Come Dancing sees the professional dancers and their celebrity couples perform their allocated dances as usual, but to a musical theme, inspired by some of Broadway’s finest. The professional dancers are challenged to choreograph a classy performance, equipped with relevant costumes and props, to please the judges.
As usual, they are judged on a scale out of 10 by the judges – this year featuring Anton Due Beke, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Shirley Ballas – which will then help create a leaderboard. The public votes are then added to the judges’ scores once the voting is open, putting the bottom two pairs in the dance-off on the Sunday evening results show.
When is Musicals Week?
Musicals Week usually takes place in the seventh week of the series, when the celebrity dancers have been whittled down after six eliminations. Often in Musicals Week, the strong contenders have made a name for themselves, and the standard of performances very much increases, with some high-scoring dances taking place.
This year’s Strictly will host its Musical Week on Saturday, 20th November with the celebrity contestants performing the best shows of the West End and Broadway.
What makes Musicals Week special?
Looking the part is key in Musicals Week, as with many of the themed Strictly weeks. The wardrobe and make-up teams do a fantastic job transforming the dancers into the characters they star as. Alongside Movie Week and the Halloween special, Musicals Week sees the contestants bring out some of the best costumes, hair and make-up that Strictly has ever seen, as well as heart-warming dances reminding viewers of their favourite show tunes.
Musicals Week features some excellent choreography from the professional dancers, paying tribute to the theatre shows they feature as characters in. The fantastic live music is overseen by Musicals Director, Dave Arch, who has recorded with legendary artists including Tina Turner, Elton John and Paul McCartney.
What do you have to look forward to in this season’s Musicals Week special?
While this year’s Musical’s Week doesn’t take place on the Blackpool stage, it does bring a mixture of musical classics and modern musicals to the dancefloor. Dan and Nadiya will be performing a Charleston to ‘Good Morning’ from Singin’ In The Rain, while Rhys and Nancy perform another upbeat number, the Jive to Footloose – a song that has been used in many of the Musicals and Movie Week specials over the years. Tom and Amy’s Couple’s Choice will also feature a song from a classic musical – ‘On My Own’ from Les Misérables – as do AJ and Kai with their Waltz to ‘Edelweiss’ from The Sound Of Music. The latter is sure to provoke an emotional response from the audience, as the couple look to continue their streak of high scores!
John and Johannes will perform their Viennese Waltz to family-favourite ‘Chim Chim Cher-ee’ from Mary Poppins. Tilly and Nikita will also bring life and laughter to Matilda’s ‘Revolting Children’ with their Couple’s Choice routine, whilst Rose and Giovanni’s Quickstep is sure to capture the audience’s attention as they dance to Frozen Musical’s ‘Love Is An Open Door’.
Couple Dance Song & Musical
AJ and Kai Waltz Edelweiss from The Sound Of Music
Rose and Giovanni Quickstep Love Is An Open Door from Frozen The Musical
Tilly and Nikita Couple's Choice Revolting Children from Matilda
Dan and Nadiya Charleston Good Morning from Singin' In The Rain
John and Johannes Viennese Waltz Chim Chim Cher-ee from Mary Poppins
Rhys and Nancy Jive Footloose from Footloose
Tom and Amy Couple's Choice On My Own from Les Misérables
Who has performed well in Musicals Week in the past?
Some of the best dances in the Musicals Week edition of the show have seen dances that feature music from The Sound of Music, Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, Les Misérables and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, to name only last year’s performances!
One memorable performance came last year when Maisie and Gorka’s Jived to Little Shop of Horrors, while HRVY and Janette’s American Smooth to One (Singular Sensation) was another dance that really caught the public’s attention.
