The Greatest Dancer: Cheryl picks first act for the live shows

The Greatest Dancer 2020 has its first act in the live shows after tonight’s auditions.

Series 2 of The Greatest Dancer kicked off tonight (Saturday, January 4) on BBC One.

The series welcome dancers of any age and dance style to compete to win £50,000 and a chance to perform on Strictly Come Dancing.

Alesha Dixon and Jordan Banjo host as Dance Captains Cheryl, Matthew Morrison, Oti Mabuse and newcomer Todrick Hall see dancers give the performance of their lives.

In The Greatest Dancer auditions, the audience hold the power: if 75 percent of them vote for an act, they’ll make the call-backs where they stand the chance of making the live shows on one of the dance captains’ teams.

However in a new twist for 2020, at the end of each episode one of the dance captains will get to select a successful act to take straight through to the live shows on their team.

In the first episode on Saturday it was Cheryl who got to pick, choosing contemporary duo Lily & Joseph.

10-year-old Lily & 8-year-old Joseph are best friends who performed a contemporary routine to Rise Up by Andra Day to win over the audience.

Making her choice, Cheryl said: “It’s hard to make a decision. I’m looking for something I can move forward confidently knowing I can bring out the best in the act, somebody I know I can work well alongside… my greatest dancer of the day and the first act to join my final three is… Lily & Joseph.”

She said of the pair: “To be able to express yourself through dance in that manner is such a mature thing to do and I was just really impressed.”

You can watch Lily & Joseph’s performance in the video below…

Other successful acts in the first round of auditions included street dance duo Ross & Travis, Latin dance group Los Rumberos, self-taught Northern Soul performer Giovanni and Irish dancers Patrick & Laura.

Also winning over the audience were dance group Soar Kids, street dance soloist Miss J and tap dancer Dinkie Flowers who at 98 is the show’s oldest ever contestant.

The Greatest Dancer continues Saturday nights on BBC One.