Interesting week last week wasn’t it? Yet again the public provoked ire in the judges with their choice of who stayed and who should go, and they chose Ali & Brian and Zoe & James in the bottom two. Head Judge Len said this week that, after Ali & Brian mucked up their Paso in the dance off, he was of the opinion that all Zoe & James needed to do was get through their Samba cleanly and they’d go through. They didn’t, and so the judges were left with a 50/50 choice (which both Judge Craig and Head Judge Len admitted). They chose Ali, and that was that.
All the colours of the rainbow
Ali has said that her injured foot has turned “all the colours of the rainbow”. You will remember that she hurt her foot in training for the Paso Doble, but managed to get through the initial performance ok, and get a decent score. Then of course she had to do it again in the dance off, and was in so much pain that she abandoned her heels and did it in a pair of ballet pumps.
“I did become a complete bag of nerves. I was terrified and just thought, ‘Oh no, I can’t dance on the foot again’. I was in a lot of pain every time I stepped on it. I thought it was over, I really did.”
Fortunately, this week she and Brian are doing the Viennese Waltz, a much more low impact dance that should put less pressure on her foot. The fact that the bruises are all coming out is also a good thing, showing the injury is healing nicely.
Giving both barrels
There’s been no mincing of words from Craig & Flavia this week, who have complained that Strictly is not a proper dance competition. They’ve said that the couples aren’t being judged on their dancing, because the back and forth of criticism makes for “good telly”. Flavia’s main gripe is the lack of experience on the panel in terms of competitive dancing;
“We haven’t got a ballroom and Latin adjudicating panel so you can’t take [the judging] seriously. Len has a Ballroom and Latin background but the others are from stage or commercial dancing.”
She has also complained about the lack of consistency of the comments that the judges have made. Craig, ever the optimist, believes that he needs to get Judge Bruno back on side. I think that may be something of a false hope.
‘Strictly’s not a proper dance contest’
Lo, the Son of the Manse speaks
If ever there was a case of choosing Strictly over rivals on the other side, surely this was it. The Prime Minister prefers The X Factor to Strictly Come Dancing and believes Simon Cowell deserves his millions.
“Cowell accused me of wavering in my support for The X Factor, but I haven’t. I’m an X Factor fan, and Peter Mandelson looks after Strictly Come Dancing.”
Frankly, I’m amazed he could come to such a decision, given that it took him twenty-four hours to decide what his favourite biscuit was. Let us see how many viewers X-Factor loses when this becomes public knowledge!!! 
“Gordon Brown left to pick up the crumbs in biscuit fiasco”
“Gordon Brown: I prefer X Factor to Strictly Come Dancing”
Strictly’s number one fan…of shoes
Obviously, Brucie and Tess are the upfront faces of Strictly, presenting the main show live every Saturday. But, we shouldn’t also forget Strictly’s presence live at 6.30pm on BBC2 every weekday, It Takes Two, with the limitless ball of energy that is Claudia Winkleman. In fact, Claudia has something in common with one of you, in that she has an inordinate love of shoes. Personally, I’ve never seen the appeal – you buy a pair of shoes, you wear the shoes, and when they wear out, you get another pair of shoes. But, some people seem to go nutsy over them. Case in point, from Claudia;
My eyes become alive at the sight of a good shoe…I love Christian Louboutin to the point where I once found myself outside the shop almost licking the window. His shoes have a great sense of humour and they’re sexy as hell.
Ironically, for a show about dancing, Claudia knows next to nothing about it! Especially hilarious are her attempts to try it herself on “Len’s Masterclass” each Thursday, when Head Judge Len comes in and tries to teach her a move or two from a specific dance, oftentimes in the most inappropriate pair of shoes imaginable.
Claudia Winkleman
Classic Strictly
On Len’s Masterclass this week, Head Judge Len tried to show Claudia a brief part of a Foxtrot, specifically the one performed by Lisa Snowdon and Brendan Cole, one of those rarities that got a perfect score. Lisa & Brendan were part of that tremendous three horse race last year for the title against Tom & Camilla and Rachel & Vincent. Indeed, by the end of the competition, Lisa had improved so much that for her last three dances (Quickstep in the semi-final, Foxtrot and Cha Cha in the final), they got three consecutive maximum scores. Head Judge Len said that she was the best female celebrity not to win the title. So, from last year’s final, Lisa & Brendan’s perfect Foxtrot.
3 Comments
November 7, 2009 at 11:45 pm
>>”We haven’t got a ballroom and Latin adjudicating panel so you can’t take [the judging] seriously. Len has a Ballroom and Latin background but the others are from stage or commercial dancing.”<<
What are Craig's and Bruno's dancing backgrounds?
November 8, 2009 at 12:59 am
Their backgrounds come from commercial dancing – both have danced professionally in theatre, and both now work primarily in choreography. For example, do you remember that I pointed out that Bruno choreographed the dance sequence at the end of “Boeing Boeing”?
November 24, 2009 at 1:16 am
Oh, yes, forgot that fact about Boeing Boeing. I remember when you told me that, I didn’t see a need for a professional choreographer for something like that, but when we saw it again, in Nottingham, I realised how much more there was to it than I first thought.