Let’s Dance (German DWTS) General Discussion

[Ariel1989]

The upcoming 13th season of Let’s Dance Germany will premiere February 21st with a launch show and February 28th will have the couples dance together for the first time.  
 

Daniel Hartwich and Victoria Swarovski are returning as hosts (Victoria won season 9).  Joachim Llambi, Motsi Mabuse and Jorge Gonzalez are returning as judges.  
 

Last season’s pros who are returning: Christian Polanc, Christina Luft, Erich Klann, Isabel Edvardsson, Kathrin Menzinger, Marta Arndt, Massimo Sinató, Regina Luca, Renata Lusin, Robert Beitsch and Valentin Lusin.  Andrzej Cibis, last seen in season 10, is returning.  
 

Pros who are not returning: Ekaterina Leonova, Evgeny Vinokurov and Katja Kalugina.  
 

New pros: Alona Uehlin and Nikita Kuzmin.  
 

Contestants:

 

Ilka Bessin: Comedian

Sükrü Pehlivan: Presenter

Ulrike von der Groeben: Sports journalist

Martin Klempnow: Actor

Laura Müller: Reality TV Personality and model

Luca Hänni: Singer

Steffi Jones: Soccer player and coach

John Kelly: Musician

Lili Paul-Roncalli: Circus performer, socialite

Tijan Njie: Actor and model

Loiza Lamers: Winner of Holland’s Next Top Model (and first transgender winner in any Top Model franchise)

Aílton Gonçalves da Silva: Former soccer player

Moritz Hans: Ninja Warrior Germany winner

Sabrina Setlur: Rapper

[Ariel1989]

I'm quite shocked that Ekaterina isn't on this year, she's won the last three seasons and is a fantastic teacher and choreographer.  Most of her partners weren't expected to be contenders and they did so well under her tutelage.  I don't understand much German but there are many comments that mention her name under the Instagram post that announced this season's pros.  In her post confirming her absence, it sounded like she wasn't planning on leaving.   I hope that if Let's Dance is truly done with her, she shows up on another DWTS 

[DWTSFan2001]

2 hours ago, Ariel1989 said:

I'm quite shocked that Ekaterina isn't on this year, she's won the last three seasons and is a fantastic teacher and choreographer.  Most of her partners weren't expected to be contenders and they did so well under her tutelage.  I don't understand much German but there are many comments that mention her name under the Instagram post that announced this season's pros.  In her post confirming her absence, it sounded like she wasn't planning on leaving.   I hope that if Let's Dance is truly done with her, she shows up on another DWTS 

Ekaterina is very tall (5ft8) and the men seem to be short this year. She also won the pro challenge last year (alongside fellow pro Massimo) which allegedly meant that she would have been able to choose her partner this year. I guess that they really didn't want her to win 4 times in a row.

 

Possible that she'll come back again in the future, Let's Dance seem to allow pros to come back after leaving unlike SCD.

 

The men look like the contenders this year, especially Luca - I hope he gets Marta who seems to be the Emma of LD and often gets duds. Kathrin has also had her share of weak dancers so I hope she gets John or Tijan.

[*Wallace]

I haven't watched German DWTS before but I may consider watching this.  

[Ariel1989]

23 minutes ago, *Wallace said:

I haven't watched German DWTS before but I may consider watching this.  

The dance quality over there is pretty strong in my opinion, definitely above the shameless plagiarists that are the French.  They used to have the dances and clips from past seasons on the website but they seem to have been taken down.  I think we will still be able to possibly watch this season’s dances, they’ve been uploading contestant interviews from this year.  

Edited February 11, 2020 by Ariel1989

[DWTSFan2001]

Pairing ideas:

Ilka Bessin - Valentin Lusin

Sükrü Pehlivan - Renata Lusin

Ulrike von der Groeben - Massimo Sinato

Martin Klempnow - Alona Uehlin

Laura Müller - Nikita Kuzmin

Luca Hänni - Marta Arndt

Steffi Jones - Christian Polanc

John Kelly - Christina Luft

Lili Paul-Roncall - Andrzej Cibis

Tijan Njie - Kathrin Menzinger

Loiza Lamers - Erich Klann

Aílton Gonçalves da Silva - Isabel Edvardsson

Moritz Hans - Regina Luca

Sabrina Setlur - Robert Beitsch

Edited February 12, 2020 by DWTSFan2001

[*Wallace]

On 2/10/2020 at 8:13 PM, Ariel1989 said:

The dance quality over there is pretty strong in my opinion, definitely above the shameless plagiarists that are the French.  They used to have the dances and clips from past seasons on the website but they seem to have been taken down.  I think we will still be able to possibly watch this season’s dances, they’ve been uploading contestant interviews from this year.  

Your comments on the French version being "the shameless plagiarists."  Lol I saw some dances therer and how they rip off other shows versions, which is really odd to me.   But ok as long as the dances are uploaded, I can try to follow.

[Elliott]

Has Pamela Anderson done this version yet?  

[*Wallace]

5 minutes ago, Elliott said:

Has Pamela Anderson done this version yet?  

Not yet, but i am sure she will do so in a few years. At least I hope so.  

[DWTSFan2001]

Launch show was tonight! Partnerships are out. Pasted from Wikipedia.

 

Celebrity	Known for	Professional partner	Status
Ilka Bessin	Comedian	Erich Klann	Participating
Sükrü Pehlivan	Presenter	Alona Uehlin	Participating
Ulrike von der Groeben	RTL Sports Journalist	Valentin Lusin	Participating
Martin Klempnow	Actor	Marta Arndt	Participating
Laura Müller	Reality TV Personality & It-Girl	Christian Polanc	Participating
Luca Hänni	Singer	Christina Luft	Participating
Steffi Jones	Soccer Player & Coach	Robert Beitsch	Participating
John Kelly	Musician	Regina Luca	Participating
Lili Paul-Roncalli	Circus Performer & Socialite	Massimo Sinato	Participating
Tijan Njie	Actor & Model	Kathrin Menzinger	Participating
Loiza Lamers	Winner of Holland's Next Top Model	Andrzej Cibis	Participating
Aílton	Former Soccer Player	Isabel Edvardsson	Participating
Moritz Hans	Champion of Ninja Warrior Germany	Renata Lusin	Participating
Sabrina Setlur	Rapper	Nikita Kuzmin	Participating

 

Leaderboard:

Couple	Place	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Aílton		10
Ulrike		11
Steffi		11
Martin		13
Ilka		15
Loiza		15
Moritz		15
Sabrina		15
Sükrü		16
Laura		17
John		17
Luca		20
Lili		21
Tijan		23

Looks like a man's year to win.

 

What does Marta Arndt have to do to get a decent partner? - 5 duds in 5 series, even worse luck with partners than Emma Slater, Ola Jordan and Katya Jones! (3 female pros who I feel have been very underappreciated on their shows). On the plus side, Kathrin finally got someone good, about time (she's a very highly decorated pro in the competitive world and has only had one contender before).

 

Also odd on the female celeb side that the youngest celebs have the oldest male pros (over 20 years between Laura and Christian!). Surely the casting director could have matched the celebs and pros up better?

 

Seems weird to have no Ekaterina. I wonder who she would have chosen as her partner (Massimo chose Lili as he had won the pro challenge alongside Ekaterina last year).

Edited February 21, 2020 by DWTSFan2001

[*Wallace]

Thanks for the info, @DWTSFan2001

 

Wait, in Germany they get scored on the Launch Show dances? And I see they get scored as individuals? What is this all about?  

[DWTSFan2001]

9 hours ago, *Wallace said:

Thanks for the info, @DWTSFan2001

 

Wait, in Germany they get scored on the Launch Show dances? And I see they get scored as individuals? What is this all about?  

They are split into 5 groups, all 5 dance a different style (Cha Cha, VW, Salsa, Quickstep, Tango) and they are marked based on their first attempt. They then get teamed up with their pro (just like on SCD) and will re-attempt that style with their partner in the first official show next week.

 

Interesting way of doing it. Better than the SCD group dance on the launch show which is always a dire mess making it impossible to see anyone's abilities.

Edited February 22, 2020 by DWTSFan2001

[*Wallace]

Oooh wow that is a very interesting and intriguing format there.  Thanks for explaining this. Very different but i do really like that.  

[Ariel1989]

So happy for Kathrin!  Although I am a bit nervous.  Thomas, her partner last year, got the highest launch show score and had a high score every week until Week 5 where they ended up mid-leaderboard and were eliminated despite some REALLY low scores from other couples.  They ended up with the 5th-highest average that season even though they finished in 11th Fingers crossed Tijan comes off likable and isn’t stuck in the early death slots every week like Thomas, come on Germany mix it up a bit each week!
 

Of course Massimo gets to choose his partner and chose the highest scoring female

I’ll miss Ekaterina’s choreography, her Freestyles are always amazing especially last year’s “Madagascar” medley with Pascal.  

Poor Marta

 

This is the first launch show where everyone scored in the double digits

 

It will be interesting to see how they do with their partners in those styles, sometimes there are surprises.  Ella Endlich only scored 17 in last year’s launch show and went on to receive numerous 9s, 10s and perfect scores throughout the season; the only time she received 8s was for her first dance with Valentin, after that she only got 9s and 10s and is currently the highest-scoring contestant ever. Her trio Rumba with Valentin and Renata, Valentin’s wife, is something else   While most of her dances aren’t available to watch, I did find that dance on Vimeo!  Thank goodness!

[DWTSFan2001]

First official show tonight.

 

Martin & Sabrina tied at the bottom with 9 while Tijan & Lili are tied at the top with 27 (and both got 10's from Jorge, who appears to be their version of Bruno).

 

Steffi & Robert were the first couple eliminated. I didn't watch any of the routines so could be totally wrong about this, but she struck me as a Martina Navratilova type that is uncomfortable dancing and particularly struggles with the performance side. Athletes seem to be the worst type of celeb for this type of show as they never seem comfortable and can potentially be difficult to teach. Apart from figure skaters, gymnasts, race car drivers (minus Waltrip) and NFL players, how many athletes have had much success on these types of shows?

 

Robert on 5 seasons now and still yet to have a frontrunner - maybe time to stop giving Massimo ringers every single season/letting him choose his partner...even the likes of Val & Kevin Clifton have had some non-contenders. Steffi/Massimo and Lili/Robert make more sense as partnerships IMO.

Edited February 28, 2020 by DWTSFan2001

[Ariel1989]

3 hours ago, DWTSFan2001 said:

First official show tonight.

 

Martin & Sabrina tied at the bottom with 9 while Tijan & Lili are tied at the top with 27 (and both got 10's from Jorge, who appears to be their version of Bruno).

 

Steffi & Robert were the first couple eliminated. I didn't watch any of the routines so could be totally wrong about this, but she struck me as a Martina Navratilova type that is uncomfortable dancing and particularly struggles with the performance side. Athletes seem to be the worst type of celeb for this type of show as they never seem comfortable and can potentially be difficult to teach. Apart from figure skaters, gymnasts, race car drivers (minus Waltrip) and NFL players, how many athletes have had much success on these types of shows?

 

Robert on 5 seasons now and still yet to have a frontrunner - maybe time to stop giving Massimo ringers every single season/letting him choose his partner...even the likes of Val & Kevin Clifton have had some non-contenders. Steffi/Massimo and Lili/Robert make more sense as partnerships IMO.

I watched some of the launch show dances and didn't have a lot of hope for Steffi.  She looked incredibly uncomfortable and was clumsy throughout the whole dance.  Poor Robert, he needs a contender next year and Massimo needs a duffer for once.  Tijan is just amazing 

[Ariel1989]

Finally watched all the launch show dances, so happy I get to keep up with this series as it goes on!

 

My thoughts:

 

Cha-Cha-Cha

Ulrike: To be honest, I don’t have high hopes for her.  She forgot a lot of the steps.  I wonder if it’s going to be tough on Valentin, going from Ella last year to Ulrike but honestly after Ella he was due a duffer.  

Loiza: I can see some potential in her, she kept up pretty well but a times she looked a little awkward.  Maybe it was due to the height difference, hopefully her permanent partner, Andrzej, is tall enough to partner her well.  

Luca: Definitely the standout.  I could easily see that Ulrike and Loiza weren’t the pros but it was a little harder to tell with him.  Glad that Christina has him!

 

Viennese Waltz

Steffi: Oof, and I thought Ulrike was uncomfortable to watch.  Just overall super clumsy and ungraceful.  Robert has his work cut out for him.  
Sükrü: Probably the best of the group but it wasn’t a very strong trio.  His frame was decent for a first dance and I think he could get better in ballroom.  Good first partner for newbie Alona, not too good yet not Fr. Ray or James Cracknell bad (poor Kylee and Luba).  
Moritz: He’s a bit gangly and awkward in hold, he also had trouble dragging his partner across the floor at one point so definitely needs to build up some strength and muscle.  If he does that, his long limbs will work toward his advantage while dancing.  

 

Salsa

Laura: First off, WOW.  This was definitely the best group by far, no surprise all three were at or near the top of the leaderboard.  Laura is such a performer, she got the Salsa flavor right away and never lost the sultriness.  Technique seemed okay too, not sure why she only got 6s and a 5.  Christian lucks out again with a good partner.  

Lili: I can see why Massimo chose her, she wasn’t as fiery as Laura but her technique was solid and her performance improved throughout the dance.  Lots of potential and likely to be a forum It Girl.  

Tijan: I love when attractive guys end up being good dancers Okay back to business, he is good, like REALLY good.  Good technique, performance quality is off the charts and he pointed his toe!  I love when that happens!  So incredibly happy for Kathrin, she’s basically the Emma Slater of Germany and deserved Tijan as a partner.  Let’s hope he keeps it up and they make it all the way.  

 

Tango
Sabrina: She seemed pretty nervous and as a result her technique suffered a bit.  She had some good moments and lovely hold at times.  Good first partner for newbie Nikita.  

Ilka: Pleasantly surprised by her, it’s hard for full-figured ladies since there’s so much isolated movement in dancing but she had some good leg work and brought the intensity required for the Tango.  

 

Quickstep
Aílton: Oh dear, he struggled quite a bit.  He looked hesitant and seemed confused whenever he tried to get back into hold.  While traveling on the floor his movement was very heavy and labored and he was also hunched over for most of the dance.  It’s right for Isabel to get a duffer after making the finale last year.  
John: Definitely the best of the group, very light on his feet and good frame throughout.  Should improve in weeks to come, glad for Regina too since she had a real duffer last year who wouldn’t leave for the longest time.  
Martin: He wasn’t as polished as John but was significantly better and a more natural dancer than Aílton.  I hope he gets better for Marta’s sake, she’s always getting the short end of the stick.  

 

Going by the launch dances, I would say the contenders are Tijan, Lili, Luca, Laura and John.  Don't expect Steffi, Ulrike or Aílton to improve very much.  

[*Wallace]

I'm curious where you all are able to watch the dances?  

 

I want to watch but I still got to get caught up on DWTSAU's latest episode.

[Ariel1989]

https://www.rtl.de/cms/sendungen/lets-dance/videos.html

[*Wallace]

17 hours ago, Ariel1989 said:

https://www.rtl.de/cms/sendungen/lets-dance/videos.html

Oooh I didn't know the dances were on the official website.  Thanks, I can hopefully try to watch it.

[DWTSFan2001]

So, Sabrina & Nikita went home. Shame as I thought that she could be a contender but never reached her potential. I watched her VW last week and was cringing the whole way through it, not at Sabrina but Nikita's technique. I'll be surprised if he is back next series. Worse ballroom than Graziano!

 

Apparently the judges were nitpicking at Tjian last night and he ended up with a 22. Lili/Massimo and Moritz/Renata topped the leaderboard with 26. Martin also improved and went from 9 to 19!

 

Bad week for John, slipped to the bottom of the leaderboard with 10/30 in the Jive.

[DWTSFan2001]

Just watched Moritz and Renata's Tango. 

 

Definitely year of the men on this show.

[Ariel1989]

There's only two people voting in this, I'd really appreciate more voters: https://idolforums.com/topic/741608-best-lets-dance-13-routine-game/

 

[Ariel1989]

John & Regina didn't dance this week due to an illness in his family, hope it's not the virus and they're doing okay.  In other news, Luca & Christina received the first perfect score!  There's bound to be a lot of them with those two, Tijan & Kathrin and Lili & Massimo this season, perfect scores are handed out like candy over there

.  Loiza & Andrzej were eliminated which is a shame since there are several weaker dancers who deserved to go over her   

[DWTSFan2001]

John has pulled out due to an illness in the family and Loiza has been brought back for another chance.

 

Poor Regina - after the godawful Kerstin last year and and a disappointing series with John this year, she's more than earned a Tijan or Luca next year!

Edited March 25, 2020 by DWTSFan2001