Strictly is back - my tweets from Week 1

I have not been very good about blogging through Strictly these last few years. So, for 2012, I'm going to use the old Storify trick and let you have the benefit of my tweets instead. I'm dusting off the cobwebs on my Strictly blog, but I'll publish my views on the main shows on here.

Some brief extras to mention:

• Darcey is very constructive - needs to be sitting next to Craig, but  the constant "yeah" needs to go. Would have preferred Karen, though.
• Denise can act, and she's been on the West End stage, but she's taking some pasting online for being a professional. I don't think it necessarily gives her an advantage. I mean, Lewis, as a gymnast, has had to master complex physical routines which would give him just as much of an advantage. Denise and James are fighting back with the funniest Twitter banter ever. Even better than between Jordan and Brendan Cole. 
• Lisa is fantastic. Bright, bubbly and a great sense of rhythm and awareness of where her body is. She could do really well. 
• Jerry and Anton's partnership isn't as god-awful as I'd feared. Last year I almost wanted him to leave the show to get him out of Nancy's clutches.
• I have a bit of a crush on Michael Vaughan which I think will only grow and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

Strictly's Karen Hardy to judge Barclays Live Dance Competition in Glasgow this weekend

Former Strictly professional Karen Hardy, who won with Mark Ramprakash in 2006 and who has one of Strictly's most fondly regarded partnerships with Bill Turnbull to her credit, will be in Glasgow this Saturday, 22 January.

She's going to be one of the panel for the Barclays Live Dance Competition at the St Enoch Centre. She'll be leading a dance masterclass too - I wonder if it will be the same routine as featured in the BBC ident and the Strictly Roadshows. Karen is one of the most talented and creative choregraphers I know and all my friends who've had lessons with her say she's a fabulous teacher, so if you like Strictly and want to meet her, get down there on Saturday. There is some vague connection, I think, to the opening of a new branch of the bank in Glasgow at 83 Argyle Street, but you can just ignore all of that and concentrate on the dancing.

Karen will be judging 10 of the city's top dance acts who will be whittled down to 5 by the judges. There will then be a public vote on the web and the winner will win £1000. They will then progress to a further stage of the competition where there's another £1000 up for grabs.

This is the first time the competition has been held in Scotland. I can't think of a better way to brighten up a miserable January day.

I'm gutted that I probably can't go as I have a meeting in Edinburgh on Saturday morning, but I'll certainly try and get across later if time and energy permits.

Anyone fancy a Midnight Tango with Vincent and Flavia?

I was cheered last night to read that Strictly Pros and Argentine Tango specialists Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace are touring the UK from the beginning of April to the end of July next year with what seems to be a very sensuous and sultry show called Midnight Tango.

Midnight Tango is set in a late-night bar in downtown Buenos Aires. Vincent and Flavia will be joined by ten of the finest Tango dancers in the world, and, between them, they will take the audience on a journey into the heart of this intoxicating city, as danger and excitement, joy and jealousy, pain and passion combine into a spectacular and explosive evening.

Anyone who has ever been captivated by Vincent and Flavia's spellbinding dances on Strictly will I'm sure love them dancing live on stage. The performances I'm in interested in are in Edinburgh from 28th June to 2nd July, and in Glasgow from 26th-30th July. I'll definitely go along to one of them.

The site also has clips of some of the couple's Strictly highlights, just to give you a wee taster of what to expect.

Do you have the iPhone SCD App?

Just while we're waiting for Strictly to start this evening, I was wondering if those of you with iPhones had found this SCD app? It's not official, but it's a veritable hive of information. You can update it as often as you like to get up to the minute Strictly geekery. It has profiles of the contestants from all 8 series, scores for every dance ever, top 10s of dances, celebrities, professional dancers, all of the above split into Latin and ballroom, as well as selected videos. It's a Strictly addict's dream.

It also has the voting numbers, so if you happen to be out, you don't have to rely on people to text you the number like I did when we went to see Doctor Who Live the other week. And, being an iPhone, you just have to touch the number and it dials it for you. Bliss.

There's even a Showdown feature so you can see how two dancers performed comparatively. I've just run some James v Brendan stuff and they're very evenly matched.

It's probably the best £1.79 I've ever spent.

How Edinburgh caught Strictly Fever

Last Saturday, Bob, Anna and I headed into Edinburgh for the Strictly Come Dancing Roadshow in the city's Festival Square. Anna and Bob had been at a Doctor Who event earlier in the year at the same venue.

When we arrived, Anna and I were sent to the gazebo, with a proper dance floor, where they were teaching people to do Karen Hardy's 20 step Cha Cha Cha.

It would have definitely helped if we had actually had time to learn Karen's dance, but it didn't really matter that we hadn't. If you want to go to events in Swansea or Plymouth this weekend, here it is:



We were put through our paces for a good 20 minutes by choreographer Susie Harvey, pictured here later with Anna:

She was very patient with us, particularly those of us who could manage the footwork reasonably well, but found co-ordinating it with the opposite arms, moving in opposite directions a bit, well, challenging.

Anna, however, was really good at it. She really managed to master the footwork and enjoyed it.

At the allotted hour, we were invited out to dance in the square itself in front of the big screen.

First of all, the Edinburgh Dance School showed us what dancing was really all about by performing an excellent American Smooth. I caught some of it on video - and somebody decided to pop up and say hello while I was filming.

Then it was our turn. We were supposed to dance the routine 4 times. Tess Daly had recorded a message for us and there was a bit of a trailer of the new series. Then there was a slightly extended version of Karen's video, and then we had to dance the routine 4 times, led by choreographer Marisa.

To say that I was shockingly bad, and that John Sergeant and Ann Widdecombe would have been like Fred and Ginger in comparison, is an understatement. They had told us that we were going to be filmed but somehow that didn't compute in my head to the idea that I, on my own, would be appearing on the Big Screen in front of me. When I looked up and saw that , there was a bit of a comedy moment when I said "Oh Yikes" and tried to hide. Having said that, I got some of it right, some of the time, felt like I'd had some exercise and felt very happy at the end. You can't do something like that and not feel happy. I've often thought that dance is a much healthier mood enhancer than virtually anything else.

Anna really enjoyed herself too. She wouldn't sit through a whole programme, but she liked actually dancing.

I think it would have been nicer if they'd had some freebies to hand out, or even some Strictly merchandise to sell, but I guess in these straitened times, etc....

Having said that, it was free to take part and a thoroughly enjoyable way of spending an hour on a Saturday afternoon. Here are details of this weekend's events If you like Strictly even a little bit, you'll love it, I promise.

And look who else was there?

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Vests, nerves and wellies - Strictly Series 8 gets under way

Well all I can say, having finally watched the first show of the new season is "Darn you, BBC!" Well, actually, it's a bit more than darn, but this is a family blog.

Not only have they infuriated me by removing five of my favourite dancers, but they've also conspired to make the line up and show unmissable. I may forgive the second if not the first.

The new titles added a sleekness and a bit of backbone to the pink and glitter that there was before.

It looks like Tess has completely ditched the ballroom look this year. Her black dress actually looked more like a vest (and was about as long) and her hair looked like it was taking the natural look to its margins - I spent most of the show wondering if her style was going to completely unravel. I know this is mean, because I am no oil painting, but if I were her, I wouldn't be inclined to show off those knees too much.

First up for Strictly 2010 was Felicity in a sunshine yellow dress. Her cha cha cha with Vincent was totally playful, charming and engaging and the chemistry between them is clearly good. She looked like she was enjoying every minute. Her timing was spot on and I really liked watching the way she moved. She placed her feet in a precise way. Craig was unspeakably mean about it, but if you stripped back his comments he was right on some of the technical aspects. Len was right that she needed more hip action. I actually wonder if that particular aspect of her routine was the reason her dress had had the frills which looked like dusters attached to it. It deserved much higher than the 4 Craig gave it.

Next up was Scott Maslen looking mighty fine indeed  in a DJ as opposed to tails. He'd said in the trailer that he had demons to slay after fluffing his lines in the live EastEnders episode earlier this year and he wanted to get through a live performance without incident. You don't expect to see rumba-esque body strokes in the opening of a waltz but it worked, big time. Craig was right about some of  his hand positions, and I think his description of the dance as "dangerously romantic" was pretty much spot on. This was an inspired routine from Natalie. Presumably her aim was to make her mark on the competition early and she did that in spades.

Goldie looked like he was having fun at a disco. His routine was cheeky but managed to avoid being embarrassing. His hands were pretty dreadful and Craig was right to point out that Kristina couldn't hide that forever  by making him put them on his hips. There wasn't much in the way of technical difficulty in the routine but it was fun. He's going to have to stop mucking about in training and do some work, though. As an aside it was interesting to see in the intro that he went out of his way to mention having introduced his wife to Kristina and her boyfriend, last year's partner Joe Calzaghe because he "didn't want any of that nonsense."

Poor Patsy Kensit. From her intro she's doing the show for therapy following her break up with Jeremy Healy after only 10 months of marriage. She said she'd had lots of laughs and would recommend it to anyone as a pick me up - but she's been insulated for 3 weeks in a training room. Unfortunately, on the live show, nerves well and truly got the better of her. She was tight, awkward and gawky. She really needs just to let herself go and enjoy the experience. You could have had Nadal and Federer play a full grand slam final between her and Robin Windsor so she has to work on her hold. I think she could do it if she could overcome her nerves - you could see that from the training footage. She looked gorgeous in a floaty, scarlet dress.

If Scott Maslen had intended to snatch the first night sex bomb mantle, Matt Baker made sure he was disappointed. It didn't look good to start with. When he and Aliona came down the stairs at the beginning with her wearing next to nothing and him wearing a tartan waistcoat and a tie - for the cha cha cha, I almost despaired. In his VT when he spoke about comparing dancing moves to sport, it really did not bode well. Gimmicks in Strictly are usually there to hide bad dancing - but Aliona Vilani clearly hadn't read that rule. There she was standing behind a pair of sequinned wellies. He was on the stairs with binoculars, playing up to his Countryfile background. It could have been awful - but it was brilliant. The third staircase up to Tess's tower is actually a good addition to the stage. Matt came down it and did 2 cartwheels across the dance floor in a testament to his gymnastic routine. He even had a bit of a stumble as he arrived at Aliona but it didn't look like it had bothered him.

That boy really knows a) where his hips are and b) what to do with them. It is utterly wrong that a contestant could make me think of Darren Bennett on the first show. He danced confidently and cleanly, far away from Aliona. It was utterly stunning. Aliona had almost produced a biography in a dance routine and I think that'll be one of the things we remember about this series. I just hope that he can pull off similar when he only has one week to rehearse, not three. I think all the above can be summed up by a simple "Phwoar!"

I always thought the combination of Pamela Stephenson and James Jordan was going to be great. She plays the deferential woman, but she will give him what for - and it seems that they have developed a relationship that's spirited in the right way. She looked radiant and graceful last night. Dressed in a floaty aqua number, to mix my reality tv show cliches, she owned that stage. She did look like she completely belonged there. It was great to see her husband Billy Connolly in her training footage. He might whinge about her dancing with a man half her age, but he's clearly very proud of her.

Bruno raved about the grace and elegance of her arm placement, saying that it was the best he'd ever seen on a first show and I think he's right. It was fantastic. I hope this partnership goes a very long way.

The show was like one of those dreams you really don't want to wake up from - and then all of a sudden there was a huge crash to reality when Paul Daniels took to the floor with Ola. The gimmicks this time were back to their traditional use - Ola's aim was to waste as much time as possible centring people's attention on a
box. Paul is 72 and wearing less well than Brucie who's 10 years older so you have to admire him for giving it a go, but he really has no sense of rhythm and his cha cha cha to Could it be Magic (or Tragic as Bruno said) was about as dire as it gets. It would have been bad even without the added embarrassment of him singing along. Paul disarmingly said "Whatever Craig says, I agree with him".

When I got up this morning I saw that Twitter was full of references to Paul having said something homophobic to Craig. What he actually said was "Don't give up your day job tasting sausages." Well, Twitter is very smutty, but it's a good job I know what my Strictly judges are up to. Our Craig is the face of British Sausage Week and will spend the week after Hallowe'en promoting the British banger. I love sausages, and they've had a bit of a bad press this year, so I hope Craig helps to give them a bit of good publicity.

As far as scores are concerned, Matt and Aliona shared the top of the leaderboard with Pamela and James, both with an impressive 31,  Then came Scott and Natalie with 29, Felicity and Vincent with 23, Patsy and Robin with 22, Goldie and Kristina with 20 and Paul and Ola with 16.  Injustice of the night (there's always one), was Felicity getting only one mark higher than Patsy. In my view she should have been a couple of marks below Scott.

As season openers go, that was one of the best we've ever had. And there's more to come tonight, in less than two hours. And, on top of that, there's one of the sexiest and most talented men on earth, Robbie Williams. What more could you ever want from a TV show?

New Strictly Titles!

Well all the pink and sparkles and fancy writing have gone to be replaced with something much more sleek and modern.

I like it though  - what do you think?

BBC insist Strictly pairings were done on the launch show

Some of us have been a bit sceptical about whether the celebrities genuinely were allocated their partners during the launch show when it was recorded last Wednesday, especially given that the couples ended up together at the end of the Group Dance.

The consensus has been that they must have known before.

Not so, says the BBC.. Apparently it was all in the choreography. The professionals apparently rehearsed seven different endings to get them to their celebrities.

Then,

 Just before the routine was performed, the choreographer was able to quickly remind the dancers which ending they had to dance - but as professionals they could adapt easily."

Hmmm. An awful lot of variables in there. Sounds very complicated even for fantastically skilled professionals. I still think they knew beforehand, even if the celebrities didn't.

Couples chat backstage after launch show

Those nice people at the BBC have put up a video, which they've encouraged us to share with you, showing backstage interviews with the newly formed couples at the launch show.

Enjoy!

3 days left to apply for Strictly Live Show tickets

I was surprised to find out this morning that it's still possible to apply for tickets to the Strictly live shows. On closer inspection, I discovered that the programme is again going to Blackpool on 20th November, with all the other shows being at TV Centre. Obviously, there are going to be many more applicants than there are tickets so   it's all done by means of a random draw.

A full list of all the dates, and all the details you will ever need can be found here. The deadline is 10pm on Thursday and you can apply for as many dates as you can manage, but, if you are lucky enough to get tickets, it will be for one show only.

Good luck!

Season 8 Launch Show: the secrets revealed!

So we've had the first show of the 2010 series. I presume this is the BBC's attempt to give us a wee taster in order to re-ignite our enthusiasm for the show so that by the time the shows start proper on 1st October.

I'm still feeling a bit battered and bruised from the way the producers have ridden roughshod over so much of what, and who I like about the show, so it's going to take more than that.

Having taken away no less than 5 of my favourite dancers, they then insult my intelligence by trying to get me to believe that the celebrities had no idea who their partners were going to be before the show started. That'll be why they all ended up with their actual partners at the end of their group dance, then.

And then there were no opening titles. And the screen went totally blank at the start of the show, leading to my friend Elspeth and I madly texting each other, thinking our tellies were broken. But of course there were no titles - cos they have the couples' names, on, silly. Sometimes I wonder about myself! 

But lets not dwell to much on those sorts of things. There is a nice new set, and Tess's area is no longer the cosy, plush, secluded backstage place it used to be. She now has a glass tower which overlooks the dance floor. It's a bit like a fancy cocktail bar rather than the. Its positioning kind of ruins the idea of it being a secret place, away from the audience and the judges, where contestants spill out their private thoughts or cry when Craig's been mean to them. This new place is a wee bit too sophisticated for me.

The Judges were all there, Alesha looking as if she was wearing nothing other than newly straightened hair. I'm glad they're all back, but, for goodness sake, what was the point in asking them to comment on the newly formed partnerships without seeing them dance? And even after a year, I miss Arlene.

The show started with a group dance from the professionals. I'm not convinced it went as smoothly as it was supposed to be as there seemed to be a bit of faffing around at the top right of the screen.

Then the contestants made their entrance. A few of the girls, Tina O'Brien and Pamela Stephenson notably, came very gingerly down the stairs. Hard to think that if they stay in until the end, they'll be using them as part of their dance routines. It's always interesting how they are actually introduced. Screen siren was the term used for Patsy Kensit. I knew she was in Holby, but I thought she provided more than the ambulance noise.... And Miss Widdecombe got her full title, The Rt Hon Ann Widdecombe. It'll certainly play up the comedy value.

So it was down to the real business of the night - revealing the couples who will be entertaining us until Christmas.

The disappointing thing for me is that having mucked around with so many things that we fans were quite happy with, so many of the pairings were incredibly predictable. 

Erin got an aging sportsman, and this one's called Peter as well. Aliona was paired up with another TV presenter, Natalie was given another soap actor. James has the middle aged lady.  Mix it up a bit, for goodness sake. I am annoyed that Erin has yet again been given somebody who might last until mid season if we're lucky.

In full, here are the new couples:

MIchelle Williams and Brendan Cole - I loved Michelle's attitude - she seemed very enthusiastic and genuine. Brendan is clearly delighted. This partnership has the potential to captivate us.

Patsy Kensit and Robin Windsor - she didn't seem too comfortable with herself last night, very self conscious. Let's hope Robin can get her into the groove or she'll be going fairly quickly. She'll have to watch that she doesn't become one of those bland mid table people who don't attract votes and who go when people are trying to save the people at the bottom.

Tina O'Brien and Jared Murillo - they don't come much cuter than the sweet blonde actress and the ex High School Musical dancer. The candy floss couple!

Pamela Stephenson and James Jordan - this has the potential to be funny, fiery and fantastic. Let's hope they don't get the Samba (James' dance of doom) for a long time.

Kara Tointon and Artem Chigvintsev - they put her in an Argentine Tango style dress for the first show and she wore it well. I don't know enough about either of them to really predict what they'll be like. One to watch, though, given her previous experience.

Felicity Kendal and Vincent Simone - I think this pairing could be excellent as long as it goes beyond the usual Vincent sleaze. It has potential comedy value and if he can unleash her sensual, darker, side, they could really make an impact.

Ann Widdecombe and Anton Du Beke - he obviously knew. He doesn't normally bare his chest to that extent so early in the season. I'm clearly going to have to keep the launch show on my Sky + box because I'm probably not going to see much more of it. I'm just praying to the gods I don't think exist that they have the waltz rather then the cha cha for the opening show.  Personality wise, I think that they'll get on. She'll like his suits and his humour. He'll like the banter that will no doubt develop between them as she tells him what she thinks. She knows it's not all about the dancing - although she is going to have to put a bit of work in. I like her attitude - she has a refreshing amount of perspective about the whole thing. 

Now that she's bagged my favourite dancer, who, for all his many faults, rarely fails to make me laugh, she'll have my unqualified support for the duration.

Gavin Henson and Katya Virshilas - I love her, can't stand him. Let's see how this pans out. Andrew is quite taken with Mr Henson, so I'd better be nice in case he makes good his Twitter threat to fall out with me.

Peter Shilton and Erin Boag - well he kind of looked like he was made for the wrong side of that study on the BBC about the link between good dancing and male health. Having said that, the study is clearly nonsense given that the man's had a career in football which requires a certain amount of fitness.  Fingers crossed that they don't go too soon.

Goldie and Kristina Rihannof - this could be quite a gutsy, gritty partnership if he can dance. 

Jimi Mistry and Flavia Cacace - I hope he's got enough time to put the training hours in. Otherwise the dangers of the mid table await

Matt Baker and Aliona Vilani - Matt has a background in gymnastics, so should be co-ordinated and flexible enough. I wasn't impressed with Aliona's grumpiness and lack of bonding with Rav last year so we'll see if she's got any better this year.

Paul Daniels and Ola Jordan - poor, poor Ola. I guess she was due for someone who couldn't win, but this was going a bit too far. Enough said.

Scott Maslen and Natalie Lowe I reckon they could be quite a good couple. Natalie won a lot of friends last year when she partnered Ricky Whittle to the final.

The reveals were punctuated with another professionals dance - to Two Tribes, which had Vincent and Flavia flying in on a wire. Very good.

We also had the three new boys doing a swishy swashy paso doble type thing. 

And the professional dance troupe, with Ian and Darren in it. Darren without Lilia was just wrong. Strictly without Lilia is even wronger. Their routine was ok, but the same sort of standard as the professional dances we've always had. The whole project is a net loss, I'd say.

All the contestants did a brief group dance at the end which confirmed that Patsy needs to get rid of her inhibitions, Pamela thankfully doesn't seem to have found any since the 1980s and Felicity can really move very gracefully. I thought it was very good given that they haven't actually started their proper training yet. The choreography was simple, with the professionals doing most of the hard work, but it didn't look at all bad.

One of the things I'm most looking forward to is Billy Connolly being around. Can you just imagine Billy and Claudia on ITT?  

I shall keep you posted with any little morsels of gossip from the training rooms which come our way over the next few weeks. 

 

Countdown to Strictly Season 8

It maybe says something about my cold fury about some of the changes made by the producers that it's only now, an hour before the launch show, that I'm commenting on the celebrity line up, announced at midnight on Wednesday.

On tonight's show, the celebrities will be introduced to their professional partners. I am fairly sure that these partnerships will have been blabbed somewhere on the internet in the same way that the results always were for the Sunday results show - which, unfortunately, returns this year. I haven't looked, though.

I am really unhappy that 3 of the most popular dancers, Brian Fortuna, part of Team Awesome with Ali Bastian, Matthew Cutler and Lilia Kopylova will not be part of the series. I'm not sure Strictly superfan, Irish author Marian Keyes, will survive the absence of Lilia.

I am also very fed up that Darren Bennett and Ian Waite have been sidelined into the professional dance troupe and will not have celebrity partners. They can work magic with their celebrity partners - look how well Letitia Dean did with Darren as her guide, and how Ian managed to find a dancing heart beating in athlete Jade Johnson last year.

Despite my unhappiness, I can't imagine not watching the show. I mean, I could never miss Claudia on It Takes Two, and it's great that if there has to be a Sunday results show that she's fronting it. She has such a delightfully crazy presenting style and she obviously loves the show in the same way Davina loves Big Brother.

I have to say I'm also being sucked in by the celebrity lineup. It's by far the best probably since series 3 in terms of the calibre of contestants - and I've heard of almost all of them. There's bags of personality and potential for fun there.

Without further ado, then, here they are:

The Girls

Felicity Kendal - feminine, funny, one of my favourite actresses since I was a child. I think she might have the grace to do very well and I can see her with James Jordan.

Ann Widdecombe - former Tory Home Office Minister, famous for failing to stop the practice of handcuffing women as they give birth. If they give her Anton as a professional partner, as I suspect they might, you will hear my screams for miles. I think she'd be better of with Vincent. He might not think so, but she'd take him down a peg or two. It's about time somebody did.

Kara Tointon - formerly Dawn in EastEnders. She's already had a bit of Strictly experience as she was in the sports relief version, with Mark Ramprakash, in 2008.

Tina O'Brien - another soap actress, formerly Sarah Louise Platt in Coronation Street. The only woman with a northern accent, I think, in this line up.

Michelle Williams - from Destiny's Child. She's also a Broadway star, having played Roxie Hart in Chicago among other things. She can clearly already dance, then, so perhaps not so much opportunity for a "journey". However, Nicole Scherzinger won Dancing with the Stars in the US having pretty much led from the start.

Pamela Stephenson - this is who I want to see with Anton. I remember her from Not the Nine O'Clock news in the 1980s. Now practising as a psychotherapist, she has the personality and the knowledge to forge a hilarious partnership with Strictly's star male dancer.

Patsy Kensit - presumably she's using Strictly as an extension strategy to keep her in the public eye when she leaves Holby City soon.

These seven dancers will be paired with professionals Anton Du Beke, James Jordan, Vincent Simone, Brendan Cole and new boys Robin Windsor, Artem Chigvintsev and Jared Murillo.

The Boys


Gavin Henson - Thoroughly charmless Welsh rugby player and ex of Charlotte Church. I guess a partnership with Kristina, who had a brief relationship with her last partner Joe Calzhage would get the tabloids talking.

Goldie - was the Blue Peter dog for several years in the 80s   is a musician and DJ and was in the Celebrity Big Brother that Mark Owen won and was first to be evicted. However, he went a bit upmarket in 2008 when he learned to conduct an orchestra in reality show Maestro and he finished second.

Jimi Mistry - has been in films like Blood Diamond and 2012 as well as a spell in EastEnders.

Matt Baker is your archetypal presenter type with previous on Blue Peter, various daytime shows and the One Show.

Scott Maslen - plays Jack, the character in EastEnders that all female characters under the age of 40 seem to sleep with.

Paul Daniels - a magician whom I took against many years ago because he said in an interview that he didn't date fat women.

Peter Shilton - ex England goalie. If they give him to Erin, I will not be happy. She deserves someone she can win with, not yet another sporty type.

The female professionals are Katya Virshilas, Erin Boag, Aliona Vilani, Flavia Cacace, Natalie Lowe, Kristina Rihannof and Ola Jordan.

It's good that the producers are doing the launch with a show this year rather than a press conference. It'll perhaps help me muster up some enthusiasm over the next 3 weeks until the first live show on 1st October.

We'll also see the professional dance troupe, consisting of longstanding professionals Darren Bennett and Ian  Ian Waite, who have now been joined by Shem Jacobs, Crystal Main, Aneta Piotrowska and Tanya Perera.

I hope we'll get to see all of these and get to know them a bit on It Takes Two.

I think the producers could have brought in changes without mucking about with the line up of the dancers. Dancing with the Stars in the US has shown that the format can be kept fresh with various twists and turns and new dancers. I think it would be good to have things like competitive team dances which have worked well in that format.

I hope they keep in the dances like the Charleston and the Lindyhop that they introduced last year, too.

Here's Chris and Ola's fabulous Charleston just to whet your appetite.

Nobody should leave!

I guess every year there comes a point in the season, athat you realise that you don't want anyone to go. All the really bad dancers and people who aren't enjoying have been eliminated. There's usually been a shock elimination of someone who should have progressed to the final, this year Zoe Lucker. Then you realise that what you actually want to do is lock everyone up in tv centre and simply not allow them to leave, having them dance each week in perpetuity for our enjoyment.

Every year you think it's the first time you've felt this. You completely forget as each season is caught up in its own little bubble.

This year, the eight couples left all have their unique selling point which endears them to the public.

For Ricky Whittle the attraction is obvious. Apart from his ability to dance, the man is, shall we say, not at all bad to look at, especially in Latin costume.

For Natalie Cassidy and Vincent Simone, it's her obvious love of what she's doing. She's like a wee kid in a sweetie shop and she sees every single dance as a challenge and an adventure. She needs to do a bit more on technique, but what she lacks there she makes up for in performance, throwing herself into the spirit of whatever dance she's doing. I can't remember hearing her whinge once.

For Laila Rouass it's the beauty of her ballroom dancing and her struggle to get to grips with the Latin. There's also the fact that she's dancing with Anton. He is back to his usual funny self after his faux pas earlier in the season. At least he had the decency to apologise and Laila the good grace to accept that and move on. The only real weakness is her Latin. That is not her fault. Anton, bless him, wonderful though he is in every respect, is not the best Latin dancer and choregrapher and it shows. He's competent, but he just doesn't get it. He also doesn't have any sort of love for it, thinking the samba is a silly dance.

For Jade Johnson, it's the fact that she's learning about being part of a team and not competing solely for herself, she's getting to grips with the girly side of the dance as well. I can't wait to see their Tango tonight - Ian Waite's first since the legendary performance he did with Zoe Ball 4 years ago.

For Ricky Groves it's the combination of his sense of fun and drama along with Erin's choreography which really gets the best out of him. I fear for them tonight however as they have struggled with their Viennese Waltz training and they were in the bottom two last week.

For Phil Tufnell it's the triumph over adversity thing - imagine going through surgery on your knee and being back in the training room two days later. He's been surprising in his ability to take it all seriously and he seems to have rediscovered his competitive spirit in the last couple of weeks. He could last a while more as long as he can stay out of the dance off.

For Chris Hollins it's been his fall from grace and slow rebuild after a fantastic start. That, and the fabulous and funny partnership he has with "Mrs Jordan". What is it about these BBC Breakfast presenters? Bill Turnbull was exactly the same. I've never really warmed to Ola as a person until this year but she and Chris obviously get on so well and have very complementary senses of humour. With Chris we've all been gutted for him in the weeks when he just lost it with the live performance and cheered when he rocked the house with his Foxtrot in Blackpool. His Paso looked fantastic in training - he's clearly been learning from Ola's tough love. I'm not sure about a Paso to the Darkness' I believe in a Thing Called Love, but I suspect it will turn out to be a real crowd pleaser.

For me, Ali Bastian has it all - a great chemistry between her and her partner Brian which they've had to endure a fair bit of teasing about, a fragility, grace and elegance that I don't think we've seen in anyone before. Alesha talked about how fantastic her arm work was. She really seems to have a good instinct for what she needs to do to make a beautiful line. Their Viennese Waltz last week thoroughly deserved its perfect score.

So I hope I've made the case for a BBC TV Centre lock in, but, sadly, it's not going to happen. I will be voting for Ali for sure this evening - the fact that she was in the dance off from fairly high up the leader board a fortnight ago worries me and I really want to see her in the final. Chris and Natalie also must stay, for me - they embody everything the programme is about - entertaiment and good dancing. I suspect that Laila and Ricky will be vulnerable - Laila because she's doing a Rumba which looked a bit awkward in training, and Ricky because he's doing a Viennese Waltz which is magical done well but uninspiring if not.

While we're on the subject of Viennese Waltzes, Ali's last weekend was so enchanting. It could have come straight out of a fairy tale.

Here it is again - it is simply not possible to watch this and feel miserable. Enjoy!

Sergeantgate and sickness

Just so you know, I haven't been ignoring you over the last week and a half - I have not been well.

It's actually been a bit of a mean virus which has made me feel very poorly indeed, but nothing serious. I hope it will go away soon - it's seriously annoying me, now, rather than overwhelming me, which has to be a good sign.

I have found it frustrating not to have had the energy to comment on so many of the week's news stories, particularly in such a momentous week for Strictly. For the record, I can understand why it was all getting a bit much for John Sergeant, but I don't necessarily think he would have made the Final. However, when his family were getting abusive phone calls suggesting he should apologise to better dancers who had left before him, you can kind of understand that he thought it was all getting out of hand.

Part of the joy of Strictly is that the contestants can captivate us either by their dance ability, their personality or both. I hope that the furore over Sergeant's departure doesn't detract from that.

The Judges have come in for criticism - I don't think they deserved it. They are there to comment on the dancing.

It's the public who have the choice on that show - and if they choose to take what the judges say with a pinch of salt, then they surely have the right to do so.

John's dance partner, Kristina Rihannof, deserves huge credit for helping us all to fall for John's charms. Her choreographic miracles showed a very shrewd understanding of British humour and she got the best out of John. I feel really sorry for her in all of this. The dancers are hugely competitive and it's a shame that she's had to leave before her time.

It has been quite amusing that as soon as the Sergeant departure hit the headlines (Newsnight, for goodness sake, Question Time - Jim Murphy, you should be ashamed of yourself) the X Factor mob went into overdrive to try to grab some of the attention back. A supposed row between Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh over song choices was the best they could come up with. I suspect they'd need to wrestle naked on the live show to trump Sergeantgate.

What this now means, ironically, is that we are now going to lose a really good dancer every week. While John was there, there was always the chance that he would go and save the likes of Christine, Jodie, Rachel or Lisa who are now the most vulnerable. I have a feeling that the boys will be ok, but I am concerned that we could soon lose Christine and the adorable Matthew Cutler before we are ready to.

The First Results show

Well, maybe it's beginner's luck, but I do seem to have managed to predict the bottom two. I like the fact that we are getting a whole hour for the results show.

You are never going to see huge amounts of quality in the first show, so it was good to see Alesha back, performing that routine to Crazy in Love, dressed in shocking pink. The chemistry with Matt was immediately re-created and she has apparently given loads of confidence to Matt's new partner, the beautiful Christine Bleakley. Like Camilla, he seems to get the beautiful people, too:-)

The professional dancers performed a Foxtrot to show the girls how it's done next week. I have to say that I don't really like this change of format. Week 2 always used to be Quickstep and Rumba. The Rumba is the slowest Latin dance, although I agree with Anton Du Beke that it's a very silly one, but easiest of the Latin for the girls to master. The pace of the Quickstep was mitigated somewhat by the fact that the girls were in hold. It's a bit mean to give them the Salsa, which not only requires pace and barely there clothing (better to wait few more weeks until they've trained themselves down a few dress sizes) and the Foxtrot which is just darned difficult. It's hard to watch let alone dance.

We then had all 32 dancers perform together to "I'm so Excited". I was more traumatised, to be honest. That's probably unfair, but there wasn't much togetherness and synchronisation. Rachel seemed to know what she was doing, which was a good thing but Andrew Castle did not live up to his earlier promise, but looked a wee bit lost. I seriously think Cherie might be quite good at this - she just seems to have the attitude and the acting ability to pull it off.

I'm sure they could have managed the intro with Bette Midler better - it was all a bit stilted, but it was quite funny to see 30 year old footage of Bruce and her. She actually looked much better now than then. She sang Wind Beneath My Wings while James and Ola performed a lovely routine with some gravity defying lifts.

It's always hard to see someone go in the first show. I wish we could just see them all dance for a few weeks before we get rid of anybody. Gary and Karen looked very nervous and then delighted to get through to fight another day. The bottom 2 were Phil and Don. The judges were split too. I didn't want Don to go because of Lilia, but I felt Phil danced better in the dance off. His facial expressions were more relaxed. I thought Phil and Flavia were safe after Craig and Arlene picked them - then Bruno picked Don and Lilia. Len agreed with Bruno and because he's head judge, he had the casting vote.

Next week is going to be a real challenge for the girls. Will Vincent and Rachel be miles above the rest?

I almost forgot - how criminal - Claudia has had her hair cut and I'm not sure whether I like it or not. It's now a lot shorter, but the fringe is longer than it needs to be. She and Tess had a girly chat which didn't work because Tess just doesn't get Claudia.

This first weekend has shown great promise. Can't wait for the next 13 shows.....

Results Show Policy

Thought I should let you know that this blog promises not to post the results before the results show has aired.

I know that the result is often up on the forums the night before and, to be honest, I can rarely prevent myself from looking there, but I don't think it's fair to post it before people have had a chance to see it on terrestrial tv.

Do you agree?

The First Show - 20 September

I love my life and I love my job, both of which bring me in contact with wonderful people, but both of which make me aware of the grim realities of life. Strictly Come Dancing is pure escapism into a land of fluffiness, pink and glitter. For three months of the year, we can all insulate ourselves from the Credit Crunch and global economic meltdown and just enjoy the fun, the traumas, the nerves, the sarcasm, the costumes and the hair, the professionals' performances and the judges' bile and occasional insight that make Strictly the number one Saturday night show.

The first show tonight was fabulous - Strictly is back with a vengeance. Having watched the launch show last week, I was a little concerned that if you fancied women you had a considerable advantage over those who fancied men. I did post what I thought of the couples on the other blog so I won't repeat myself here.

Anyway, let's get to it. First to dance on Strictly Series 6 were Tom and Camilla.

Boy, does she get the good looking ones - James Martin, Gethin Jones and now Tom. Wow. Now it looks like she has one that can dance from the start. I have to say that I thought the glimpse of chest hair on Tom was a good sign - I can't bear all this waxing nonsense - as was the fact that he was willing to wear a fairly uncompromosing shade of green for their cha cha cha.

But wow - he knows what hips are for, he knows how to move.

Dare we hope that Camilla finally has a finalist in her?

He also has the story in that he is getting married half way through this and has already cancelled his honeymoon

Presumably the money he's getting makes it worth his while.

Score 28 from the Judges who were delighted with his performance.

Laugh of the night was Craig Revel Horwood say that Tom was mincing.........

Phil and Flavia were next up. He is clearly a funny guy and the laughs he had with Flavia were reminiscent of the daft narratives she and Matt used to make up for their routines. Anyway at one point Phil described himself as Anton Du Berk, which brought the house down and earned the forevermore disapproval of hardcore Antonettes.

To be honest, there didn't seem to be a whole load of rise and fall in their waltz but his facial expressions were unbelievable. At times they were like he was enjoying a particularly satisfying bowel movement.

I had a good look at Arlene during the Judges' bit. She had been quoted in the media as having been worried that she had put on 1.5 stone since the last series. You couldn't really tell, to be honest.

Next up were Don and Lilia. He was much better than expected and seemed to have more than a vague idea of what his hips were for.

The biggest surprise of the whole show was Austin and Erin's waltz. It was gentle, had fabulous lines, good rise and fall and Austin showed he had a sense of humour. Erin looked absolutely gorgeous with a softer hair colour and seems to genuinely get on with her partner.

Arlene seemed to go into hormonal overdrive with Austin.

Len's 9 was probably a bit excessive but this pair were the clear victors tonight. Can they maintain the momentum?

It must have been hard for Mark and Hayley to follow that, but they did. Hayley wore a dress the colour of radioactive snot. I tended to agree wtih Arlene - their cha cha was all a bit sterile for me. Craig went over the top by saying it was dull, but maybe he was trying to make sure Mark stayed in. They had decent lines, but his face had too much of the toilet about it to make the routine work. Mark is also not free of Arlene's hormones.........

I am really worried about Gary and Karen. They have serious comedy potential despite the potential for cringeworthiness I spoke about in the other place. He danced the dance like he loved it but his technique wasn't always great. His arms were playing a different game completely and the bit where Karen bent down and he made all sorts of cookery related hand gestures over her back was a clever incorporation that should have been written out the first time it was seen in the mirror.

I was a bit worried about John and Kristina too. As a hardcore politico of many years' standing, I have come to admire John. However, I have to confess I thought he'd be rubbish at dancing - but no. It was strange. He looked like Toad of Toad Hall doing a waltz, but it didn't matter. It was the essence of charm. It was endearing and sweet and quite lovely. Could he rival Bill Turnbull, whose impact on the show, whose humour kept him in when dancing ability couldn't is second to none? Three years on, the Ballroom Bill forum is still alive and well on the Digital Spy Forum.

GMTV presenters have not traditionally done too well on Strictly. Could Andrew Castle buck the trend with Ola Jordan? Well, Ola was taking no chances. If dancing wouldn't work, then she was going to try for nudity. It looked like her arms and legs had been sprayed in black pvc whild her front and back were slahsed to within an inch of decency. Actually, that was entirely gratuitous, 'cos Andrew was ok - a bit slow, but there's potential. And he's a sportsman so there's likely to be motivation.

The girls then followed with their group dance, to Lady Marmalade, slowed down a bit to take account of their noviceness. It wasn't bad. Christine is beautiful and she was having fun which seemed to belie the press stories of her stress at the whole thing. Brendan hit Lisa in the face in rehearsals but the two looked fab. Cherie Lunghi showed that older women can still be sensual. Jessie looked cumbersome and Jodie looked far from the "bambi on ice" that Ian had mantioned in rehearsal. Gillian was playing it for laughs and Vincent and Rachel just smouldered. Heather and Brian looked like they had gelled as a dancing partnership, too.

So, the regular features:

Brucie's Balls-Up He cracked a joke about Lilia being too young to watch Don in Rising Damp, which was as far as it should have went. He then went into the "I'm doddery" bit a bit too much.

Tess's Dress A simple fushcia pink srapless number. For some reason her boobs seemed to have sunk a bit by the end of the show.

Angel Judge Bruno. I loved his comment about Don and Lilia's dance - " there were more wrong turns and bad timing than in Gordon Brown's cabinet."

Devil Judge Craig, for giving Gary 1. Totally unnecessary.

Who's Going to Go? Phil or Don. Please not Gary and Karen - not the second year running for her........

Hope you enjoyed the first instalment. See you tomorrow night after the Results show.

An Introduction

Three years on from when I initially caught the Strictly Bug big time, I thought I would like to try my hand at blogging my way through a season. Please feel free to come along and join in an appreciation of what I think is the best show on television.

I thought that some readers of my other blog, being the hardened politicos they are, might get a bit fed up of frequent Strictly posts, so I thought I'd set up an alternative site for my Strictly postings.

I shall probably play around with the format a bit for the first while but I thought that the major things to include each week would be:

Brucie's Balls-Ups - I love this man to distraction. He has been entertaining me on Saturday nights for pretty much all of my life But, like Murray Walker in F1, he fluffs it sometimes - but in an entirely enjoyable way.

Tess's Dress

The Best and Worst of the Judges

Who's going to go?

I like to think of this as a democratic blog, so please feel free to make your suggestions for what should be included. I am a huge fan of the Digital Spy Strictly Forum and I'm tempted to make a posting of the week accolade - but I can't go through them all myself, so need some help from participants making suggestions in comments to each main weekly show posting.

I also hope to try and keep up with the wonderful Claudia on It Takes Two. She is a completely wonderful, random and slightly bonkers woman and she gets the information we want out of the dancers.

So, slap on the sequins and the lycra and learn your voltas from your botafogos and enjoy a glittery and carefree glide to Christmas.............