Got to Dance


Got to Dance, originally titled Just Dance, is a British dance competition that was broadcast on Sky 1 in the United Kingdom from 20 December 2009 to 28 December 2014. Auditions for the show were held in specially built "Dance Domes" and are open to all dance acts of any age, style or size but must be of an amateur level.
The show is hosted by Davina McCall, with Ashley Banjo and Kimberly Wyatt as judges. In series 1 to 3, Adam Garcia was a judge but was replaced by Aston Merrygold in series 4. However, on 31 January 2014, Merrygold announced that he would be leaving the show. Garcia returned as a judge for series 5 in 2014. Since series 2, the prize money is £250,000 for the winning act. On 24 October 2014, it was announced that series 5 would be the last.

Format

There are five stages to the competition:
Viewers in both Ireland and the United Kingdom can vote via Phone, Red Button or via the official iPhone application, which was introduced in the second series. Viewers can vote for free using their website, which was introduced in the fourth series.

Series overview

Series 1 (2010)

Auditions for the first series were held in October 2009 in Edinburgh, Manchester and London.
The winning act, 10-year-old Akai, won the £100,000 prize money.

Semi-finalists

Live show chart summary






Series 2 (2011)

A second series of Got to Dance began with a special "Warm Up" show that was broadcast on 19 December 2010 then fully on 2 January 2011. The prize money for the second series was £250,000, the largest cash give-away on a television talent show.
The format of the second series of Got to Dance was slightly different to the first series. There were eight audition shows followed by four live semi-finals, and a live final at Olympia, London on 27 February 2011 in front of an audience of 6,000 people. The dance dome auditions for the series were held in Glasgow, Dublin & London.
The winning act, Chris and Wes, won the £250,000 prize money.

Callbacks

At the Callbacks, the judges could not decide between eight of the acts so they organised a dance-off to fill the last four semi-final places. The acts in each category had to “face-off” their opponent with one dance; the judges then decided the winner of the each "face-off" and that act went through to the live semi-finals.
The eight acts in the dance-off were:
The live semi-finals for Got to Dance 2011 began on Sunday 30 January 2011. There were seven acts in each live semi-final. Each act performed in one semi-final each with only 2 advancing to the final. The judges awarded gold stars to the acts they believed deserved a place in the final.

Semi-final 1 (30 January)

Semi-final 2 (6 February)

Semi-final 3 (13 February)

Semi-final 4 (20 February)

Final

The live final was 90 minutes long and featured the eight dance acts that made it through the semi-finals as well as a special performance from 2010's winner Akai Osei and dance troupe Diversity. After the acts performed there was a 6-minute window for voting. For the first time in a UK entertainment program, viewers could vote using a specially designed application for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Live Final (27 February)

Series 3 (2012)

Series 3 started on 1 January 2012. Producer auditions took place during July & August 2011 in Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham, Bristol, London and Dublin. Filming took place in various stages from July 2011 - March 2012. The dance domes auditions again took place in London, Glasgow and Dublin.
A special "Warm Up" show was broadcast on 18 December 2011. The series fully began on 1 January 2012, with the next episode the following day. Seven audition shows were aired followed by a "Home Visits" episode and one 30-minute episode featuring the "Callback" performances.
A new show, Got to Dance: Auditions Uncut aired weekdays at 6pm and was narrated by Will Best. As the name suggests, the show featured uncut auditions from the main show and others which were not shown.
The winning act, Prodijig, won the £250,000 prize money.

Semi-finals

The live semi-finals for Got to Dance 2012 began on Sunday 29 January 2012. Five semi-finals took place, instead of four as previously. In total, 30 acts advanced to the semi-finals in 2012.

Semi-finalists

Final

The live final took place at Olympia in front of 6,000 people on 4 March 2012.

Live Final (4 March)

Series 4 (2013)

Series 4 started in January 2013. Producer auditions took place during July and August 2012. This year, auditions in front of the judges took place at Clapham Common in London. No judges' auditions were held in Glasgow or Dublin. The auditions took place between 13 September and 2 October 2012, in a brand new and bigger dome which can hold up to 760 audience members.
Starting in this series, all acts must receive 3 gold stars from the judges to progress onto the shortlist.
Aston Merrygold replaced Garcia on the judging panel. Jordan Banjo and Perri Kiely were the backstage team for series 4. They also provided the voice overs for many of the episodes of Got to Dance: Auditions Uncut.
Producer audition dates:
DateCity
28–29 July 2012Manchester
30 July 2012Liverpool
2 August 2012Newcastle
4–6 August 2012London
8 August 2012Glasgow
11 August 2012Dublin
16 August 2012Birmingham
17 August 2012Bristol
18 August 2012Cardiff
19 August 2012London
26 August 2012London

Semi-finals

The live semi-finals for Got to Dance 2013 began on Sunday 10 February 2013. Five semi-finals took place, with six acts performing in each for one of two places in the Grand Final on 17 March.

Semi-finalists

Semi-final 1 – 10 February 2013Semi-final 2 – 17 February 2013Semi-final 3 – 24 February 2013Semi-final 4 – 3 March 2013Semi-final 5 – 10 March 2013
ContestantsLukas, Notorious, Dance For Joy, Molly and Vitaly, Collective Ent, TomBuckness Personified, Mechanikool, Mini Moves, Momentum, Pulse Collective, RhysG-Nome, Hash Tap, IMD, Poison, Rory O'Shea, Wild GGodson, Javier and Julie, Amour, Antics, Gaana Rajas, One Step AheadGymtasia Evolution, Juicy, Leon and Dotty, Mindtrick, Ruff Diamond, Shun
Advanced to FinalLukas McFarlane, Tom Hughes-LloydRhys Yeomans, Mini MovesRory O’Shea, IMDAntics, GodsonGymtasia Evolution, Ruff Diamond

Final

The live final took place at Olympia in front of 6,000 people on 17 March 2013.

Live Final (17 March)

Series 5 (2014)

Series 5 began airing on 9 August 2014, with McCall continuing as host. Banjo and Wyatt returned as judges for a fifth time and Garcia returned after his absence in series 4, replacing Merrygold. In this series, the semi-finals were stripped across one week and the judges mentored contestants throughout the competition. Six acts from each team progressed to the live rounds. Auditions for this series took place at the Roundhouse concert venue in Camden, London between 6–11 May 2014. This is the first and only time that the dance domes have not been used. Series 2 winners Chris and Wes returned to Got to Dance and were joined by Joe Sugg to form the Backstage/Online team.
Producer auditions for Got to Dance 2014 took place during March and April 2014 in London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow and Dublin.
Producer audition dates:
DateCity
15 March 2014Dublin
23 March 2014London
25 March 2014Glasgow
27 March 2014Newcastle
29–30 March 2014Manchester
3 April 2014London
5 April 2014Birmingham
6 April 2014Cardiff
12–13 April 2014London

Semi-finalists

The following 18 acts made it to the live shows:
Team Ashley
Team Kimberly
Team Adam

  • Rella Nation
  • Dance Illusion
  • Turbo & Godson
  • Boyband
  • Bitter Harvest
  • Sharifa
  • Original Kidz
  • Kaner Flex
  • Kofi
  • Academy Of Base
  • Kaine Ward
  • IMD
  • Duplic8
  • Unity Academy
  • Dan-I & Sia
  • Freddie Huddleston
  • UnTitled
  • Nicholas Marvel

    • Finalists

    The following 9 acts made it to the live final on 29 August 2014:
    Key:
    – Winning judge/team. Winner is in bold, eliminated contestants in small font.
    Team AshleyTeam KimberlyTeam Adam

    • Dance Illusion
    • Boyband
    • Bitter Harvest
  • Original Kidz
  • Kaine Ward
  • IMD
  • Duplic8
  • Unity Academy
  • Dan-I & Sia

    • ''Got to Dance'' bursary fund

    The second series saw the introduction of the bursary fund. This fund, worth £15,000, was to be distributed amongst auditionees that the judges felt weren't yet good enough to progress in the competition, but whom they felt had real potential, and was to be used to enable them to develop and cultivate their dance skills through professional tuition.

    Transmissions

    Warm-up shows

    Original series

    Ratings

    Episode ratings from BARB. They do not include viewings on Sky 1 +1.

    Series 1

    Series 2

    Series 3

    Series 4

    Series 5

    International versions

    ;Colour key
    In production
    Discontinued
    Not aired
    Current and upcoming versions include:
    CountryLocal titlePresenterJudgesChannelSeasons/Series
    Got to DanceAndrew GünsbergFox8Cancelled in 2012
    :fi:Pakko tanssia|Pakko TanssiaSatu Tuomisto
    Jani Toivola    		Sami Saikkonen
    Saana Akiola
    Dennis Nylund    		Yle TV2Season 1: 2 March – 4 May 2013

    		Got to Dance: Le Meilleur DanseurSandrine CormanDavid Carreira
    Mia Frye
    Stephane Jarny    		TMCSeason 1: 24 June – 12 August 2015
    Got to DanceJohanna Klum
    Alexandra Simone Maurer     		Palina Rojinski
    Nikeata Thompson
    Howard Donald
    Marvin A. Smith
    Anton Zetterholm     		ProSieben
    Sat.1
    Season 1: 20 June – 5 July 2013
    Season 2: 17 July – 14 August 2014
    Season 3: 13 August – 24 September 2015
    Got to Dance – Tylko TaniecMaciej Dowbor
    Katarzyna Kępka
    Anna Głogowska     		Joanna Liszowska
    Michał Malitowski
    Alan Andersz
    Krystyna Mazurówna
    Anna Jujka
    Filip Czeszyk
    Kimberly Wyatt     		Polsat
    Season 1: 3 March – 11 May 2012
    Season 2: 7 September – 9 November 2012
    Season 3: 1 March – 3 May 2013
    Season 4: 13 September – 22 November 2013
    Romania Danseaza:ro:Jorge|George Papagheorghe
    Andreea Balan    		:ro:Mihai Bendeac|Mihai Bendeac
    Connect-r
    Monica Petrica
    :ro:CRBL|CRBL    		Antena 1
    Season 1: March – May 2013
    Season 2: Spring 2014
    Live to DanceAndrew GünsbergPaula Abdul
    Travis Payne
    Kimberly Wyatt    		CBSSeason 1: 4 January – 9 February 2011
    Got to Dance Vietnam: Vũ điệu đam mêKhánh ThiTrần Ly Ly
    Dumbo
    Alfredo Torres
    Minh Hằng    		VTV3Season 1: 14 September – 28 December 2013

    US version

    announced on 10 April 2010 that there was going to be an American version of the series titled Live to Dance and was set to rival So You Think You Can Dance. The show premiered on the said channel on 4 January 2011 and was cancelled a month later in the same year. Kimberly Wyatt also served as a judge on Live to Dance.

    Polish version

    A Polish version premiered 2 March 2012 on Polsat, titled Got to Dance - Tylko Taniec. Second edition aired from 7 September to 9 November 2012. A third edition began on 1 March 2013 and a fourth in September 2013. Since March 2011, Polsat have also produced a local version of Must Be the Music and has aired its sixth edition. Both shows air two seasons a year in Poland.

    Australian version

    Plans for an Australian version of the show were announced in April 2012. It was expected to premiere on the Australian cable channel Fox8 later in 2012, with Andrew Günsberg as the host. However, it was announced in June 2012 that the show was cancelled due to a scheduling conflict with another dance show Everybody Dance Now on Network Ten.

    German version

    The German version premiered on 20 June 2013 on ProSieben, with the remaining shows being broadcast on Sat.1. Johanna Klum hosts the show while Palina Rojinski, :de:Nikeata Thompson|Nikeata Thompson and Howard Donald are the judges. A second season was aired in 2014 and a third in 2015.