Happy 2023 to all of you and hope you're doing well! Championship of Champions is back for another edition after four years, and this time around, we've got loads to cover and look forward to after having an incredible last eight Series between Series 79 which began way back in July 2018 to Series 86 which just ended in, of course, December 2022. This is also the first CoC that I've watched every single episode prior to it happening, so I guess that's a personal achievement!
Firstly, get well soon Susie, her voice is definitely way off and this is why we will not have Origins of Words for this whole week (hopefully it's only this week!). Also, guess who's on Normal Countdown now having last appeared six years ago on Catsdown and being the former executive producer of that show, Richard Osman of course!
We've also got the first two contestants, Florence Cappleman-Lynes, Seires 84 Runner-Up from June 2021 and Leo Smith, Series 82 Semi-Finalist from December 2020! How much does Leo "hate" the Cappleman-Lynes family having now met both husband and wife? Let's see!
All the best to Florence who's expecting another child soon, damn, their family is expanding quickly haha!
Letters: Florence gets a good start with ONSTEEAD in R2, but Leo fights back just like how he did against her husband two years ago with TOREADOR in R5! Great job to both who got BEGONIAS in R7, but Florence with her calm composure like what we observed around a year ago, spots AEOLIAN (which Susie just manages to voice out the meaning, poor her though...) in R8 and WHENUA in R12! Amazing, and for the record, I only managed to spot TOREADOR. That just goes to show the calibre of these contestants!
Numbers:
Johnny Canuck wrote: ↑Mon Jan 02, 2023 3:17 pm
CECIL starting off this year's Countdown with a 3-2-1!
Thanks Johnny for spotting this, what a nice way to start off 2023 with 6 Small. Given this is their speciality for both contestants based on my memory, this is easy for them! R6 follows, and let's just say we skip this one. R9 then ensues with Florence going ahead after being closer to the target. Finally, even though the game was over by R14, Leo ends off with 4 Large. Rachel, being savage, says "Go Big and Go Home"!
Alas, that's what happened, he did end up in that situation with Florence having a simple yet perfect solution!
Conundrum: Blanked out on this one, and after the answer came out, gah, I knew the word and its meaning beforehand!
Tough one for both Florence and Leo, and you can expect such conundrums for the next 14 episodes! Hopefully I get at least one right though...
I pretty much expected Leo to be defeated by the other Cappleman-Lynes here and to lose to two members of the same family is awful if you ask me. But hey, you've managed to get this far and you still haven't lost touch with the game two years after we last saw you, that is brilliant. Hopefully, after hearing Florence's declarations, you'll be inspired to join the Countdown community and get in touch with us some day!
One half of the Cappleman-Lynes is into the Quarter-Finals, so let's see if Sam can do the same next Wednesday and if a Husband vs Wife showdown will occur (or not)! Tomorrow, it's going to be very exciting, because, as Colin mentioned, it's the rematch of the Series 80 Grand Final back in June 2019! Will Elliott emerge triumphant this time round after 3.5 years or will Dinos prove to be his stumbling block once again? Last CoC, Bradley Horrocks defeated Tom Chafer-Cook in a rematch of the Series 77 Grand Final with the Runner-Up winning. Will it happen again? Only one way to find out!
(P.S. My progress table has TBCs in it because I choose not to have the order spoiled!)
Progress:
Preliminary 1 (02 January 2023):
Florence Cappleman-Lynes (Series 84 Runner-Up) vs Leo Smith (Series 82 Semi-Finalist) (
100 - 69)
Preliminary 2 (03 January 2023): Dinos Sfyris (Series 80 Grand Champion) vs Elliott Mellor (Series 80 Runner-Up)
Preliminary 3 (04 January 2023):
(TBC)
Preliminary 4 (05 January 2023):
(TBC)
Preliminary 5 (06 January 2023):
(TBC)
Preliminary 6 (09 January 2023):
(TBC)
Preliminary 7 (10 January 2023): Steve Hyde (Series 85 Semi-Finalist) vs Dan Byrom (Series 85 Grand Champion)
Preliminary 8 (11 January 2023): Matt O'Connor (Series 85 Runner-Up) vs Sam Cappleman-Lynes (Series 82 Runner-Up)
Quarter-Finals 1 (12 January 2023): Florence Cappleman-Lynes (Preliminary 1 Winner) vs (Preliminary 8 Winner)
Quarter-Finals 2 (13 January 2023): (Preliminary 2 Winner) vs (Preliminary 7 Winner)
Quarter-Finals 3 (16 January 2023): (Preliminary 3 Winner) vs (Preliminary 6 Winner)
Quarter-Finals 4 (17 January 2023): (Preliminary 4 Winner) vs (Preliminary 5 Winner)
Semi-Finals 1 (18 January 2023): (Quarter-Finals 1 Winner) vs (Quarter-Finals 4 Winner)
Semi-Finals 2 (19 January 2023): (Quarter-Finals 2 Winner) vs (Quarter-Finals 3 Winner)
Championship Final (20 January 2023): (Semi-Finals 1 Winner) vs (Semi-Finals 2 Winner)