How to become a singer on strictly come dancing

How does the music work on Strictly Come Dancing? Singer Tommy Blaize reveals the secrets of the Strictly band

"Every Saturday I look forward to going in and striking up with the band, even if it's 8am in the morning – it just sounds fantastic," Blaize tells RadioTimes.com.

The singer, who's just about to release his debut solo album, is just as in love with Strictly as ever.

But how does the musical side of Strictly actually work? Blaize let us in on a few secrets...

Musicians only get their parts a few hours before they go live

This sounds absurd, but it's true. Dave Arch's orchestra is so talented that these musicians just rock up at the studio on the Saturday morning and get to work.

"The musicians on stage, they don't actually see the music until the day," Blaize explains. "The singers are allowed to get the songs a little earlier and learn them, get them in their psyche, but all the musicians sight-read that stuff on the day – which is incredible.

"Dave handwrites everything in pencil. It's meticulous, it's just brilliant. But he picks the best players so it sounds exactly like he wants."

Luckily for Tommy and the rest of the singers – including Lance Ellington, Andrea Grant and Hayley Sanderson – they get a bit of a head-start. They get sent the song list on Sunday and spend a few days mastering up to 15 new songs, before heading to the studio at the end of the week.

"We practise with the rhythm section on the Friday evening; no brass, no strings, no anything else. Just rhythm section and vocals," Blaize says. "We get everything tight, and then on the Saturday morning the rest of the band come in and we hit it. And just keep hitting it until we go live."

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Foreign lyrics are an absolute nightmare

Remember Ed Balls' Gangnam Style? (Of course you do.)

To learn that particular song, Blaize had to actually master the Korean lyrics – a task he took very seriously.

He explains: "It's always a challenge. Languages are always a good one, they're always throwing in language - I'm a Scouser, and they're throwing Spanish at me!

"We've done Korean. We've done Tamil. We've done German, French, Italian. They're always a challenge - the rest of the stuff you think, yeah I recognise that song, we'll leave that until near the end of the week!

"But anything with languages, we get on it really early in the week and try to get into it, so it sounds authentic. Because we don't want to go out there and say something in Spanish where we might have insulted somebody."

The singers have to be versatile enough to do ANYTHING

The singers must be able to cover a wide range of genres, from jazz to pop, because the Strictly producers like to keep the musicians on their toes. Aston Merrygold's dance to Mr Blue Sky is a case in point.

"You're doing that with all the lovely harmonies, and then right at the end it goes baroque," Blaize says, demonstrating the transition. "You've got to immediately switch. So a millisecond ago you've come off doing this three-part, four-part harmony stuff, and then you've got to switch your head and jump into classical style."

There's no back-up plan if one of the singers gets sick

Is there a contingency plan for illness? Of course not.

"It's always risky," Blaize admits. "What I tend to do is, if there's other lead vocals, I'll learn everybody's lead vocal. Not the girls of course, but all the other male vocal parts - I'll learn them just in case someone goes down, which has happened.

"Lance [Ellington] got sick last Christmas on the main show; his voice just went completely – you can't help it. Once it's gone it's gone. So we just had to jump in and help him out and learn them songs."

In Strictly season, sickness is an ever-present danger.

"I always fear that, that's one of my biggest fears," Blaize tells us. "We hit the songs quite hard; by the time you get to do it live on the actual main show, you're hoping that there's something left.

"And you feel really tired, and you think, oh god please be something left! Just for the main show."

The celebrities only start practising with the band on Saturday

The first time the celebrities and their pro partners will get to hear their music actually performed is Saturday morning. All the way through the week they'll have been rehearsing with a recording, but now they'll dance along to the live band.

On the day of the live show each couple gets two run-throughs with the band, and then the dress rehearsal in the afternoon.

Blaize explains: "It's just tweaking at that point and checking that they can hear all the sounds that we're playing in the orchestra on the floor. And it comes together. It always seems to come together."

The singers and musicians must never be show-offs

"I don't like to do all the riffs and things," Blaize says. "People will see your personality in that song anyway if you just stick to the melody, and if you go off wobbling and trying to sell yourself, you're not doing the music any good, you're not doing the dancers any good out there. "

It's the same philosophy he uses on his album, Life & Soul: "Simplicity, great melodies, no over-singing and just selling you a song. I think if you can sell one note it's much better than trying to cram 50 notes in."

Sometimes things go wrong – but that's live TV for you

The singer admits: "There's been a couple of times where I've come in the wrong times, the wrong cue. So there's one of them, Do You Love Me, and I came in when I shouldn't have. So it was just me on my own, and you could feel everyone wincing. 'DO YOU LOVE - DO YOU LOVE –' I had to do it twice!"

But he adds: "Things like that are going to happen, it's a live show. You're going to croak now and then, you're going to make mistakes - it's not as though you're making a record in a studio trying to make it perfect all the time. It's live.

"And I quite like things like that, it keeps you on your toes."

Having live music is absolutely vital for Strictly Come Dancing

"I think it's the most important thing," Blaize says. And while he would say that (being a Strictly singer), he makes a compelling argument: "If you haven't got a live band there, you're just doing karaoke."

He adds: "Just having real musicians on the stage who feed you, you feed them, you bounce back off each other - for me it's really, really important. And I just love to hear that live element.

"The dancers adore it. All week they're doing all their choreography with the tracks, so when it comes to the Saturday they're all astounded. Because everything's bigger. It's ten times bigger than what they have been listening to! And you can see it, and they all come off going, 'OH that feels great!' Because it's BANG BANG instead of compressed, like a record would sound.

"So for me the live music is so important. I wish we had more of it on TV on a Saturday."

Nobody thought it was going to work when they signed up (including Len Goodman)

Blaize wasn't convinced this weird Saturday night dance show was going to work when he signed up for series one – and neither was anyone else.

"I thought it wasn't going to go very far," he admits. "All of us, even Len, I remember - we were at the set at the BBC, we'd take a break, everyone would go up there and have their fag breaks or whatever, and none of us thought it would turn into the beautiful monster it has turned out to be."

The show has come a long way since then.

"Who'd have thought? But it's been fantastic for all of us, the whole orchestra has had a lovely 15 year career," Blaize says.

"It's employed so many people and it's a lovely lovely programme to look at and watch; you get live music, big band, you get beautiful dancing, you get costumes, you get entertainment, you get little bits of comedy.

"I think it gives everything that people need of a Saturday night. Not that people want, but they need it. We need a show like that all the time and Strictly delivers every week. It's brilliant."

Tommy Blaize's debut solo album Life & Soul will be released on 1st December 2017

Strictly Come Dancing: Vito Coppola's age, career, height and more revealed

Strictly Come Dancing: Vito Coppola's age, career, height and more revealed - Smooth

21 October 2022, 12:01

Strictly Come Dancing star Vito Coppola is an Italian dancer who has been dancing professionally since he was just 6-years-old.

Picture: Alamy

Strictly Come Dancing is back once again for another thrilling series in 2022 and the line-up has been joined by dancer Vito Coppola.

Here's everything you need to know about the new addition to the show:

Who is Vito Coppola?

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Vito Coppola is an Italian dancer who has been dancing professionally since he was just 6 years old.
Wowing judges with his dance skills since he won his first competition at just 10 years old, Vito has a huge number of awards under his belt.
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The talented star is 11-time Latin American Champion, a three-time World Championship finalist and also a European Cup Winner.
Previously to joining Strictly Come Dancing in 2022, Vito was best known as a professional dancer on the Italian version of the competition, Stars Ballando con le Stelle where he was crowned champion, alongside dance partner Arisa, in 2021.

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As well as being a champion dancer, Vito is also multi-lingual.
The young star speaks his native language of Italian, and is also fluent in English, Russian and Spanish. Impressive!
Vito Coppola girlfriend: Is he single?
Vito Coppola pictured winning Italy's version of Strictly Come Dancing with then-girlfriend and dance partner, Arisa. Picture: Alamy
Vito Coppola grew close with his dance partner from Italy's 2021 version of the show.
The young dancer and his celebrity partner, Italian singer Arisa, become a romantic item after the show wrapped, however it has recently been reported that the pair have parted ways after a 'rocky patch'.
Italian publication Mio reports that the pair's split is amicable, that they remain on "good terms" and have a "friendly bond."
Vito has so far not been linked with anyone knew and appears to be single. Watch this space...

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Vito Coppola age: How old is he?

Vito was born on September 27, 1992.
He will celebrate his 30th birthday in 2022.
How tall is Vito Coppola?

Vito is thought to stand at 5 foot 11 inches.

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How to become a singer, how to build a career as a singer

Olga Gostyukhina

Author of Сolady magazine, journalist

Date of writing: May 2, 2020

Reading time: 6 minutes

girl on the stage and, squinting from the dazzling light of spotlights, sing loudly and sweetly to the applause of the public? What can I say, a considerable part of adult women are already dreaming about this. Only now someone lives with dreams all his life, and someone goes to this dream, like a powerful icebreaker "Arktika" - through any obstacles, to glory and recognition.

What do you need to do to become a singer? How to make your dream come true? Will tell COLADY.

Photo Pixabay

Read also: How to become a model - 9 steps to a modeling career for a girl.

I dream of becoming a singer - what do you need for this?

Appearance
The singer is not just a girl singing in the bath or while washing dishes. This is a public figure. Accordingly, it should look great. So that everything is perfect - and makeup, and your hair, and skin, and, of course, your own unique style. Moreover, it is necessary to look like a king at any moment of life. Even at night. In a word, we get used to the new status in advance - and it will be easier to tune in to win.
Fighting complexes
Naturally, no one will pay attention to you if you are confused, shy, blushing - and this is even before you go on stage. And on the stage you completely forget - what to sing, how to watch, and why you came here at all. Therefore, we begin to fight with our complexes in advance. If we can’t cope with them on our own, we turn to specialists at trainings, read useful articles, experiment on relatives, in companies of friends, at parties, etc.
Vocal lessons - instead of lunch, on weekends and holidays
It's good to have absolute pitch and a powerful voice that makes faceted glasses explode. But a well-placed voice is a completely different step. And any vocal specialist will immediately determine whether you are an amateur or have already curbed your voice. Therefore, run to the teacher for an appointment! Preferably for the best. We do not spare money, a lot depends on the voice delivered. There you can also get useful acquaintances and learn about the most secret secrets on the topic - "how to sing so that everyone around is stunned with delight."
“The song helps us to build and live”
If you already attend vocal lessons, this does not mean that the rest of the time you need to relax and take care of the nerves of your neighbors - sing everywhere! Practice, practice and only practice. Before going to bed, in the shower, at work at lunchtime, in karaoke bars or at home into a microphone. Don't miss a single vocal competition, a single opportunity to showcase your talent. It happens that a miracle happens so unexpectedly that you don’t even have time to get confused - and already a star!

Photo by Pexels

Voice is your future working tool and your business card
Therefore, take care of it. If you were mowed down by a terrible ARVI, and it was like a coil of barbed wire was stuffed into your throat, don’t even try to sing. And not only sing, but even talk or whisper. It is also worth refraining from singing at elevated temperatures and during critical days.
Mastering Musical Instruments
With this extra talent, you will get noticed faster. And the prospects are getting wider. If you master 1-3 musical instruments, then the long-awaited dream will turn towards you, and the opportunity to get into any musical group increases many times.
Master special programs on the computer to make your voice sound perfect in the recording
Only then will it be possible to demonstrate your talent to the producer. No skills or opportunities? Reach out to friends.
Learn to move
Not only standing with a hair dryer instead of a microphone, dancing hopak or swaying like a mountain ash in the wind, but presenting yourself on stage like an artist. That is, to move so brightly, dazzlingly and bewitchingly that even Shakira would envy you. Use the whole arsenal of tools for this - articles, video tutorials, courses, training from specialists, communication with professionals on forums, etc.
Want to hit the world?
Do not sing other people's songs when you go on stage or even to friends in the kitchen with a guitar - write your own songs. You can, of course, turn to professionals, but this is costly, and a novice singer is usually tight with money. Therefore, write yourself or ask friends for help. Surely in your environment there are talented poets, and maybe even budding genius composers.

Have you already written your song? And have you honed your skills? And show yourself not ashamed?

9 steps to become a singer

Photo by Pexels

What are the options?

Record your own CD at studio and send your song to all radio stations, all potential producers and everywhere else you might be interested. Do not be afraid if you are refused, ignored or completely rude: the path to the stars - it always lies through thorns.
Record a clip and do the same with it. And also put it on the Internet, not forgetting to send the link to all your acquaintances, friends and useful people. For help in creating a clip, you can contact the studio, or you can record it yourself. By the way, many modern musicians started with home videos on YouTube.
Do not forget, after recording a clip or CD, enlist the sincere support of , approval and constructive criticism from your friends (although criticism from outside is always more useful and honest).
If everyone likes your song - friends, relatives, strangers in social networks, if the number of likes under your video is growing rapidly, and the neighbors are knocking on your battery, demanding an encore - do not rush to crumble into golden star dust, move on. Record a new song! Let them wait for your songs like rain in the middle of the desert, looking at the Internet every hour - but is there a new one?
And - believe in yourself. Even failure is experience. Draw conclusions, correct mistakes and try again and again until recognition comes to you.
Have you already received offers? Do they call, write “important people”, offer to star in a video, sing on the radio, speak at a corporate party or in a club? Be careful! At best, you can run into scammers, at worst ... Let's not talk about the worst. Just be careful. Before agreeing to anything, check the caller's contacts and the veracity of the offer. If “it seems to be true ...” - take a friend, husband, stronger guy with you so that no one even has the thought of offending you.
If you don't like something in the offer you received, refuse it. Look for someone you can trust.
Look for musicians with whom you can form a band. A musical group with a bright soloist will be noticed faster than one soloist. And it will be much easier to break into clubs with a group. And from the club, the path to the stage is much shorter. The exception is if people stop in the middle of the road because of your voice to burst into tears of happiness and ask for an autograph. Then you can do it alone.
Find your own style. Original, not like anyone else. In clothes, in presenting yourself, in music, in texts. So that listening to you, people would say - “Wow, how great! Never heard anything like it." Look closely at the multi-colored and vocal-variegated "mass" of show business - a rare rarity when you can single out someone specific, not like the others. But you don't want a one-day fate for yourself, do you? Therefore, work for the future, and not for a momentary result and a full house in a karaoke bar.

Forget the words - "I can't, I can't, I don't want to, I'm tired, it's all in vain"! Only positive and self-confidence! Otherwise, it's really all for nothing.

Don't expect it to be easy - get ready for a long and difficult journey. Although miracles have not been canceled. Especially for those who believe in them.

See also: The highest paid professions for girls without higher education in Russia.

What is the right way to start a singer's career? Share your experience in the comments below!

How to become a singer?

Almost every girl likes to sing with a hairbrush instead of a microphone, imagining herself on a huge stage, but for many the dream never comes true. Others strive for their goal, no matter what. But not many people know how to become a singer, what is needed for this. The main thing is to believe in yourself and move in the right direction.

How to become a famous singer?

The first thing to do is to set a goal for yourself. The career of a singer is a constant work on oneself, the only way to achieve what you want. If you have a rich sponsor, then the task is much easier. Look at the modern stage, how many "stars" there are who do not have much talent, but they have a rich sponsor. If you do not have this component, then you should rely only on talent and your own strengths.

What does it take to become a singer?

To achieve success, you must have talent and not be afraid to work. What a real singer should have:

Voice and ear for music. To please people, it is not enough to be beautiful and slim, you need to be able to sing. Having talent is an essential ingredient for success.
Sense of rhythm. If you want to play beautiful music and still be able to dance, then having a sense of rhythm is a must. The combination of dance movement and the performance of a song without a backing track requires a lot of effort and training.
Artistry. To be remembered by the viewer, the artist must have a zest that would distinguish her from other performers. It may be some kind of dance movement or an unusual intonation in performance.
Appearance. You can be a beauty and join the doll-looking singers or shock everyone like Lady Gaga. The most important thing is that you harmonize with the image that you have chosen and feel as confident as possible in it.

Where to begin?

To become a popular singer, study vocals, as this will develop your voice abilities. It is best not to overwork the vocal cords before the age of 16, so as not to lose your voice altogether. Choose one of the directions: sign up for a choir or a music school, and you can also study individually with a teacher. A producer will help you become a professional singer, as he will be involved in your promotion.

It's best to show up on some talent show, and if you succeed, win it. Thank God, today there are quite a lot of shows that are broadcast literally on every channel. Many show business stars started with them, for example, the Roots group, Polina Gagarina, Timati, Irina Dubtsova and others. Is it possible to become a singer without a producer - yes, if you find a sponsor, that is, a person who can invest money in the implementation of your dreams. With the money you receive, you can record a song and if the owner of the radio station likes it, then it will be put into rotation.

Tips: how to become a singer

Compose songs and write poetry. In addition, it will significantly reduce the cost of buying songs from other authors. Your own song will express your emotions and feelings, which means singing it will be easy and with feeling.
Learn to play musical instruments. This will develop your ear, and you can, if not become a solo singer, at least get into some kind of group.
Make a video for your song and post it on the Internet.
Many singers start their careers with a beautiful story, so make up a legend about yourself as well.

If you have talent, then the above tips will help you take the first step towards success. The main thing is to believe in yourself and never lose heart, only in this way you can achieve the desired result.

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