The Greatest Dancer
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 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. A second series premiered on 4 January 2020, with the addition of Todrick Hall to the judging panel, and Curtis Pritchard replaced Amelia Wilson as the receptionist. 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.
Series overview
- Series 1: 5 January – 23 February 2019
- *Auditions: 5–26 January 2019
- *Live shows: 2–23 February 2019
- Series 2: 4 January 2020 – 7 March 2020
- *Auditions: 4–25 January 2020
- *Live shows: 1 February–7 March 2020
Format
A non-televised pilot for the show was filmed in February 2018 at Hammersmith Apollo in London.Auditions
The auditions for the first series took place at ICC Birmingham in August of the previous year 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. 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. The format was adapted from the Israeli television music competition franchise Rising Star. 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.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.Series 1 (2019)
Live show details
Acts
| Act | No. of members | Hometown | Genre | Dance Captain | Result |
| 1 | Livingston | Contemporary | |||
| 2 | Various | Contemporary | Cheryl | ||
| 8 | South Wales | Latin formation | |||
| 2 | Hatfield, Hertfordshire | Contemporary | |||
| 9 | Various | Contemporary | Cheryl | ||
| 4 | London | Street | Cheryl | ||
| 14 | Various | Commercial | |||
| 13 | London | Street | |||
| 5 | London | Commercial |
Week 1 (2 February)
- Group performance: "The Greatest" with Dance Captains
- Guest performance: Freya Ridings with Rambert Dance Company
| Order | Act | Song | Challenge theme | Studio votes | Result |
| 1 | James & Oliver | "Sing Sing Sing" | Stairs | Advanced | |
| 2 | Frobacks | "Toccata and Fugue"/"O Fortuna"/"Candy Shop"/"September"/"I Just Want to Make Love to You" | Classical | Advanced | |
| 3 | Company Jinks | "Unsteady" | Chair | Advanced | |
| 4 | The Globe Girls | "Salute"/"Crazy in Love"/"Shake It Off" | Sport | Eliminated | |
| 5 | Prospects Fraternity | "A Sky Full of Stars"/"Here We Go Now"/"Colour" | Colours | Advanced | |
| 6 | Dane Bates Collective | "Runnin' " | Doors | Advanced | |
| 7 | KLA | "Samba de Janeiro"/"I Like It Like That"/"Aquarela do Brasil" | Carnival | Advanced | |
| 8 | Ellie | "Bird Set Free" | Fairytale | Advanced | |
| 9 | Harry & Eleiyah | "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" | Doctor Who | Advanced |
Week 2 (9 February)
- Guest performance: Years & Years with BalletBoyz
| Order | Act | Song | Challenge theme | Studio votes | Result |
| 1 | KLA | "Viva La Vida"/"A Million Dreams" | Ice | Advanced | |
| 2 | Dane Bates Collective | "What a Wonderful World" | Hollywood | Advanced | |
| 3 | Prospects Fraternity | "Rapper's Delight"/"Will 2K" | Tables | Eliminated | |
| 4 | James & Oliver | "I Dreamed a Dream" | Les Misérables | Advanced | |
| 5 | Harry & Eleiyah | "Sail"—Awolnation | Four Walls | Advanced | |
| 6 | Company Jinks | "Good Luck" | Toys | Eliminated | |
| 7 | Ellie | "Experience"—Ludovico Einaudi | Orchestra | Advanced | |
| 8 | Frobacks | "Let Me Entertain You"—Robbie Williams / "Black Magic"—Little Mix / "Strip That Down"—Liam Payne | Social Network | Advanced |
Week 3: Semi-final (16 February)
- Guest performance: The professional cast of Strictly Come Dancing and the Dance Captains
| Order | Act | Song | Challenge theme | Studio votes | Result |
| 1 | Harry & Eleiyah | "Beneath Your Beautiful" | Circus | Advanced | |
| 2 | KLA | "It's Raining Men"/"Proud Mary"/"Walking on Sunshine" | Umbrella | Advanced | |
| 3 | Dane Bates Collective | "Shake It Out" | Night and Day | Eliminated | |
| 4 | Frobacks | "Le Freak"/"I Got You "/"I'm Coming Out"/"Around the World"/"Celebration" | Boxes | Eliminated | |
| 5 | James & Oliver | "Salva Mea" | Space | Advanced | |
| 6 | Ellie | "Let Go for Tonight" | Chandeliers | Advanced |
Week 4: Final (23 February)
- Guest performance: Jess Glynne with breakdance crew The Ruggeds
| Order | Act | Dance Captain | Song | Result |
| 1 | KLA | Oti | "Last Dance"/"Run the World " | Finalist |
| 1 | KLA | Oti | "The Bongo Song"/"Cuba"/"Live and Let Die"/"Rip It Up" | Finalist |
| 2 | Harry & Eleiyah | Cheryl | "Game of Survival" | Finalist |
| 2 | Harry & Eleiyah | Cheryl | "Say Something" | Finalist |
| 3 | James & Oliver | Matthew | "On Broadway"/"New York, New York"/"You Can't Stop the Beat" | Eliminated |
| 4 | Ellie | Oti | "Never Enough" | Winner |
| 4 | Ellie | Oti | "In This Shirt" | Winner |
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
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 |