Yahoo News The Greatest Dancer: When do the live shows start?
The Greatest Dancer is the latest show to go from Simon Cowell's head to our TV screens. And after 14 years of being a telly mogul, it marks his first time working with the BBC, who snapped the format up from Syco Entertainment.
The series is now airing on Saturday nights, and aims to uncover the UK's best dancers from every background: Bollywood, ballet, jazz, jive, tap, tango – the lot. Every contestant will have one aim: to become… yes, you guessed it… the UK's Greatest Dancer.
"With the continued success of Strictly Come Dancing, the BBC is undoubtedly the home of dance," said Kate Phillips, Controller of Entertainment Commissioning for the BBC. "By launching The Greatest Dancer we want to give the vast array of dance talent across the UK the chance to shine."
Now, here's everything we know about it…
The Greatest Dancer: How does it work?
The auditions stage
Week one through to four will feature highlights from the auditions. These took place in front of a live audience as well as the four dance captains (The Greatest Dancer's answer to a judging panel).
The hopefuls performed their routines in a dance studio in front of a mirror. Lo and behold, this mirror was actually a wall that separated the auditionee from the audience.
Unlike other talent competitions, it was the audience rather than the judges that held the power over whether or not contestants made it through to the next stage.
If 75% of the audience decided to vote in favour of the performance, the mirror wall opened and they were through.
The live shows
The Greatest Dancer's live shows started in episode five (February 2).
Each week the dancers are set a challenge to create a performance with the help of their dance captain.
They will need to impress the viewers at home, as it will be down to them to keep them in the competition.
The live final
In the eighth and final week, the finalists will perform one last time in order to win over the public and be named The Greatest Dancer.
The Greatest Dancer start date: when is it on?
The Greatest Dancer started on Saturday, January 5 at 8pm on BBC One, and now airs each week.
The Greatest Dancer judges: who are they?
💃🏻🕺🏻 @CherylOfficial, @Matt_Morrison and @OtiMabuse to lead the search for #TheGreatestDancer - https://t.co/YiHR981HG3 pic.twitter.com/e8aHMqIuGo
- BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) August 10, 2018
Joining her will be Broadway and Glee star Matthew Morrison, as well as Strictly Come Dancing professional Oti Mabuse.
Cheryl
Cheryl has joined the "all-star panel of Dance Captains", and she'll be separating the dad dancers from the Darcey Bussells.
Cheryl previously mentored two X Factor winners to fame (Alexandra Burke on series 5 and Joe McElderry on series 6), so contestants will be hoping to get picked by her.
Related: The Greatest Dancer's Cheryl reveals one big difference compared to time on The X Factor
It'll also mark Cheryl's first time moving over to the BBC, after she found fame on Popstars: The Rivals with Girls Aloud, and spent years sat behind The X Factor judging desk.
Then there's…
Matthew Morrison
Aka the guy who played Spanish teacher Will Schuester in Glee.
He started his dance career studying musical theatre, vocal performance and dance at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, starred on Broadway in Footloose, Hairspray and Finding Neverland, and, of course, danced his way round the hallways of William McKinley High School for the Arts.
Related: The Greatest Dancer judges Cheryl and Matthew Morrison actually knew each other before
He was in a breakdancing crew as a teen, and also recorded an instructional dance video, titled Simply Funk, which 39-year-old him is extremely embarrassed by now (Google it).
Oti Mabuse
The professional latin American ballroom dancer, best known for her work on Strictly Come Dancing and German series Let's Dance, will also appear on the coaching panel.
The 27-year-old started her career relatively late, studying civil engineering at university before focusing on becoming a professional ballroom dancer. She'll be well-equipped to coach the older contestants.
The Greatest Dancer hosts: who will present the show?
Alesha Dixon and Jordan Banjo co-host The Greatest Dancer.
There's no doubting their credentials. Alesha won Strictly Come Dancing back in 2007, and was then bumped up to a judge in 2009. The former Mis-Teeq star also took a judging spot on Britain's Got Talent in 2012, and has previously hosted another ITV dance talent show, Dance Dance Dance, which pitted celebrities against each other.
Alesha said: "I can't wait to be a part of The Greatest Dancer and work with Jordan. As a massive fan of dance I'm so excited about the prospect of finding amazing new dance talent."
Likewise, nobody needs to question whether Jordan knows his stuff. His troupe Diversity won Britain's Got Talent in 2009, and he's presented backstage for Sky1's Got to Dance and ITV's Dancing on Ice.
Jordan said: "Coming from a talent show myself with Diversity has shown me how much a show like this can change your life, so to be on the other side hosting is going to be an awesome experience."
The Greatest Dancer: what is the prize?
Aside from proving that they are, er, the greatest dancer, contestants will also be competing for a cash prize of £50,000 AND the chance to perform as a special guest on the next series of Strictly Come Dancing.
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