HAPPY FEET
the SEARCH IS ON for Britain’s greatest dancer in this new high-stakes show…
NEW ENTERTAINMENT The Greatest Dancer
Saturday, BBC1 HD, 8pm
Strictly Come Dancing
may be over for now, but BBC1 has come up with a new show that they hope will help fill the void – The Greatest Dancer.
Made by Simon
Cowell’s company,
Syco Entertainment, the eight-part series sees hopefuls audition in a dance studio with a difference. Behind the studio mirror sit the show’s ‘dance captains’ – Strictly professional Oti Mabuse, Glee star Matthew Morrison and singer and former judge of The X Factor
Cheryl – who will all be watching their every move.
‘This is my first time sitting on the other side as a panellist, and it’s been a joy,’ says Mabuse. ‘On this show, we don’t judge
these acts – we mentor them.’
WIDE-RANGING
Also watching is an audience, and they have the power to vote for their favourite acts – whose dance backgrounds range from ballet to Bollywood and from tango to tap. If 75 per cent of the audience likes what they see, the mirror opens to reveal the dance studio and the act is put through to the next stage of competition.
Hosted by former Strictly judge and 2007 winner Alesha Dixon and Diversity’s Jordan Banjo, the series begins this Saturday with street-dance quartet Frobacks; Cheryl’s biggest fan, James; and Andrew, a young dancer with Down’s syndrome, all hoping to prove they have what it takes to be the Greatest Dancer.
‘For me, this show is all about positivity, developing an emotional connection with these dancers and wanting to see them get better,’ says Mabuse.
At the callbacks, which happen later on in the series, each dance captain will choose three acts to mentor all the way through to the final, where nine acts compete for a £50,000 cash prize and the money-can’t-buy opportunity to perform on the next series of Strictly Come Dancing.
‘For me, this
show is all about positivity’
oti Mabuse
SURPRISES IN STORE
‘I’ve picked dancers who really touched me emotionally, and
I’ve also gone for different acts, which I think people won’t expect me to have chosen,’ reveals Mabuse. ‘Getting to mentor these dancers and watch their journey from beginning to end just fills me with so much pride.’