Jimi and Flavia on BBC Breakfast

One good thing about this time of year is that you get Bill Turnbull talking to Strictly stars on BBC Breakfast on a  Monday morning.

The competition hasn't started yet, but Jimi Mistry and Flavia Cacace called in this morning to talk about Saturday night's show.

Flavia revealed that the wire she and Vincent made their dramatic entrance on on Saturday night was very painful, but it had been something they wanted to do for a while. She says dancers view the floor as their best friend, and when you suddenly don't have that any more, you feel like you have no stability.

She also said that the partnership everyone's talking about, of former Tory minister Ann Widdecombe, and Anton Du Beke, was going to be incredibly entertaining.

Despite the new professional dance troupe, the professionals who are mentoring celebrities will be doing at least one routine as there's more time available in the show now that the dreaded dance off has gone.

Jimi seemed to be looking forward to the experience, saying that he was looking forward to the challenge of learning to dance. 

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.

Team Awesome v Team Cola v Team Whittle - Strictly Semi-Final Drama

First of all, I was completely gobsmacked to discover that this little blog has been linked to by none other than the great Lib Dem Voice in a post by the funny, sometimes profane and slightly wicked Jennie. Jennie has written an article for Lib Dem Voice telling everybody that they can change the world by blogging. Now, there's absolutely zero politics in this post, so if you're reading this and half thinking about blogging but worrying that you have to be a white, male, with famous friends to do it properly, go and read her post and she will have you blogging beautifully within the hour, I promise.

Anyway the link itself has motivated me to write a preview of tonight's semi-final. Before I even go there though, I have to recount a totally brilliant Claudia Winkleman moment from last night's It Takes Two. She had on John Pienaar, the BBC's political correspondent along with a sports journalist and a royal correspondent who tells us that Camilla is apparently mad on the show. Pienaar was saying how Peter Mandelson would love to be on the show. Claudia came out instantly with one of her classic lines "that look of death would be perfect for the Tango." I wonder if she's being interrogated in a Whitehall basement as I write this.....

I expect the three Strictly semi-finalists are full of nerves as they prepare for their two dances in tonight's show. All are doing the lustful, actually downright filthy, passionate, Argentine Tango and a dance of their own choice which they've revamped from earlier in the series.

Ricky and Natalie have chosen to do the Waltz which they did on their ballroom debut. They made a reasonable job of it, too. 33 for a debut is pretty amazing.



The thing about Ricky is that he's not had such a marked improvement since then. He' not had the leap that both the others have had. The weeks when he's done badly have really been because he hasn't had time to practice, not because he can't do the dance. You can tell when he's trained for 12 hours and when he's trained for 20, but that's about it.

With Ali and Brian, they had a good start but then Ali's skills have had to develop. She's a good actress, but she can't always manage to bring the emotion of the dance into her performance. Mind you I can't criticise her because I certainly couldn't write a blog posting while learning to ride a unicycle. She's technically very good, and an extremely elegant and graceful dancer, though. Alesha said she had the best arms of any female celebrity ever and I think she's right. I thought her Samba last week was the best I'd seen since Zoe Ball's, full of party spirit and technically excellent. I do get annoyed with the judges telling the female dancers that they need to be passionate and sexy, though. Not all of us are like that and I don't mind the occasional bit of wholesome on my dancefloor. I wonder what their Argentine Tango will bring. It certainly looked good in the training footgage. I have to say, Lisa Snowdon last year came in for the same criticism as Ali's getting but her Argentine Tango was the sexiest thing I'd seen in a long time.

Here's a reminder:



For their second dance, Team Awesome are doing the American Smooth, which will suit Ali perfectly. Here's their first effort.



And finally we have Team Cola. These two are one of Strictly's legendary partnerships, along with Bill and Karen, Anton and Kate and Darren and Lilia. Chris has brought out a warmth and sense of fun I previously hadn't really noticed before in Ola. While Chris might not be technically brilliant, and he might forget the steps sometimes, he sells every single dance and he's enjoying himself. Who can forget their brilliant Charleston which made up in cheek what little it lacked in technique?



Ola's taken an enormous risk by going for a Rumba for their second dance. Again this was their debut dance and he performed what is an awkward dance for the celebrity very well for such an early stage in the competition. How well it will sit on Week 13, I don't know, especially when the first dance has a required element of passion. While Ricky and Ali are going for contrast, Ola and Chris just clamber down the smut-o-meter a bit.

This has all the ingredients of a dramatic semi-final - but then we have the added element of the dance-off being removed. I have to say that I think this favours Chris who would almost certainly have been in it but I think it's absolutely the right decision. The X Factor abandons the sing off for the last 3 weeks and I think there's an argument for Strictly to do the same.

Whatever happens tonight, a really good dancer is going to go out - unless, of course, for the second year running, we have some sort of muck up with their voting system so they can all go through to the final. If anyone can arrange this, I'll buy you a gingerbread latte! And if you can bring Natalie Cassidy back too, I'll spike it with rum.

I'm off to open the Rioja, make the dinner and put my feet up and enjoy. See you later.

In Praise of Team Awesome - Ali and Brian to win Strictly

What a week it's been for Strictly Come Dancing. Just a week after losing Jade Johnson to a ligament injury, and a fortnight after Laila Rouass sprained her ankle hours before the show, Ali Bastian fell on her foot in training for the Charleston on Monday. A shell-shocked looking Brian Fortuna told Claudia on ITT on Wednesday night how he'd taken her to a specialist on Tuesday morning and she's had all sorts of tests. Thankfully there's no fracture or ligament injury, but her bone is badly bruised. Ouch.

The Charleston is a lively and energetic dance which requires lots of jumping and swivelly ankles so I can imagine how painful and unpleasant training must have been for Ali this week. Team Awesome, as Ali and Brian are colloquially known by their ever growing legion of fans, are usually right up at the top of the "hours trained" leader board, but as of Thursday's ITT were 10 hours down on Chris and Ola. It would be a miracle if their performance came anywhere close to the perfection they achieved with their Viennese Waltz at Blackpool.

For that reason, I'm quite worried about them tonight, so they are going to need every single vote. There's only five couples left and if they end up mid table, they could easily end up in the dance off. Natalie and Chris are, rightly, very popular. They may not get as high marks from the Judges but I suspect they run away with viewer votes. Neither has yet been tested with a dance off. Laila and Anton have had a couple of off weeks but the Charleston should suit them and they seem to be having fun with it.

If their performance has already been compromised by Ali's injury, then there is a possibility that the they could be eliminated in the dance-off. We know that this is only a blip in a series of amazing dances from them and it would be so unfair if they had to leave before their time.

Ricky may have the torso and the tricks, and he can certainly move, but Ali's graceful, often fragile, balletic style of dance is absolutely gorgeous. The Judges keep commenting on her arms and they are right - always so perfectly and precisely placed. Her attention to that sort of details is great. Ricky and Ali are by far the best dancers in the competition, and I guess the difference between them is like that between exquisite crystal and a marathon fireworks display. Both are great to watch.

Apart from the brilliant dances they've given us, from that perfect, enchanting Viennese Waltz, to last week's beautiful foxtrot, to the cheeky cha cha cha to their elegant and glamorous American Smooth, they are such a lovely pair. They obviously get on, whether or not they are actually an item. If they're not already, my guess is it's only a matter of time, but it's up to them.

I've been impressed too with the way that Brian goes out of his way to engage with their supporters. He often has some marathon Twitter sessions and he does make an effort to respond to everybody. I've had several replies from him, much to my surprise. He's also active on Facebook, too, not that the technology will let me into his page to link to it.

So, for great dancing by lovely people who are proactive about keeping in touch with their fans, there's no better team than Ali and Brian. Here's hoping they stay in tonight.

Here's a reminder of their brilliant American Smooth.

Bruce to miss Strictly show tonight

Poor Bruce Forsyth has the Flu and is very sensibly staying at home tonight. For the first time ever, he won't be present for a Strictly live show. I hope he gets better soon and is back there next week. That man has been brightening up my Saturday nights since I was a child and I adore him.

I'm glad that the BBC have not decided they need to bring in a random man to replace him. For tonight, Tess will take over Bruce's presenting abilities and the effervescent and just slightly bonkers Claudia Winkleman will take her unique interviewing style backstage to do Tess's job.

It'll be a unique show, I hope, but I can't wait to see how Tess and Claudia adjust to their new roles.

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!