Let's Dance for Sport Relief, Feb 20th

Rob Webb's Flashdance last year was awesome and one to remember, what have we got to look forward to this year?

Episode 1 of 4, available until 7:44pm Saturday 27th February 2010


Up first, Rufus Hound - Cheryl Cole's "Fight for this love"

Interesting outfit from Rufus there, but not bad movement being shown by Rufus, though I'm just waiting for a little bit of comedy to be thrown in...oh wait there it is!

An entertaining performance and I think Rufus is showing good promise, though simple moves can be made to look very good when there's 30 people up there with you at the same time.


'The Olympians'(Mark Foster, Iwan Thomas, Leon Taylor, Dalton Grant, Heather Fell and Jamie Baulch) - Madonna "Vogue"

Weird, having just watched Mark Foster in Dancing on Wheels, to flip to the next recorded program and see him in Let's Dance - he's obviously been bitten by the dancing bug!

I wonder who's playing Madonna's role, obviously it's the girl of the group, who also appears to be the only one lacking in personality in this performance.

There's going to be some interesting potential with this group though, given their athletic abilities. Shame about the fall at the end!

Heather shows more personality during Frank's comments than throughout the whole dance.


Katy Brand - Beyonce "Single Ladies"

I better pay attention to this as I've got a wedding group looking to perform this this year!

Not a bad mover there Katy, and again you can tell comedy is her forte!

A good performance that encapsulated the dance and represented the original routine accurately, i'll definitely be referring back to this one later in the year.


Snooker vs Darts (Dennis Taylor, Willie Thorne, Bobby 'Bobby Dazzler' George, Tony O’Shea) - Run DMC vs Aerosmith "Walk this way"

Now this could be good...or a train wreck...!

Unfortunately it does look a little bit like dad's dancing at a wedding, I'm guessing they didn't choose this dance themselves.

Shame Bobby 'Bobby Dazzler' George keeps on going out of sync with everyone else, and then Dennis Taylor falls over at the end and knocks him down - to top things off!

The first candidates to go home, if the quality of dancing is the basis for the judging.


The Newsreaders (Matt Barbett, Louise Minchin and Ellie Crisell) - "Kiss of Fire" Tango

A little out of time with each other at the start, and Matt really needs to keep his shoulders down.

Poor Louise being thrown around, I'm suprised no-one's fallen over and an uncomfortable looking ending.

Is Ellie's skirt supposed to be higher at the back, or has it been turned round accidently?


Casualty (Charles Dale [who plays Big Mac], Tony Marshall [receptionist Noel Garcia], Ben Turner [Jay Faldren]) and Holby (Rosie Marcel [who plays Jac Naylor] and Luke Roberts [Joseph Byrne]) - Slumdog Millionaire "Jai Ho"

A couple of them need to work on their hand shaping, but some quite good performers in there, especially Ben Turner.

Not a bad performance though and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Overview

I think the bottom two (if indeed it comes down to a bottom two - I have to admit I don't actually know yet!) will be The Newsreaders, and Snooker vs Darts.

Ah, I see, only two going through from each week (which would make sense, two each week for 3 weeks then a 6 group final in week 4!)

In which case I think those going through will be Rufus Hound and Katy Brand - comedy does normally make these performances more entertaining to those at home - and they both did really great performances.

Dance-off and Result

Out then (in no particular order):

The Newsreaders
The Olympians
Snooker vs Darts

The act with the highest votes, and therefore automatically though, is Rufus Hound.



That leaves the final act down to judge votes:

Frank Skinner - Katy Brand
Jason Manford - Caualty & Holby
Kimberley Walsh - Katy Brand

So Katy Brand joins Rufus in the final, as predicted!

Did you enjoy the show?

Dancing on Wheels - Show 2

See the show, available until 9.59pm on Thursday 25th March 2010.

So this week the competitors are either performing a Foxtrot (my personal favourite) or a Rumba.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the Foxtrot, I think any of the 'floaty' ballroom dances will really suit a wheeled competitor.

Up first, Diana Morgan-Hill & Mark Foster - Foxtrot

I'd like to see maybe a little more contrast in the speeds, and Diana needs to ensure her arms are shaped and 'finished' when she's apart from Mark.

Some very nice and well time maneuvers and I think a really good use of the chair in that dance. I think they'll be easily safe this week.

Paul Jacob & Heather Small - Rumba

Heather really struggled to stay in time last week, I think if she doesn't manage it this week they could well be going home.

I don't like their arm movements, they always look uncomfortable, and Heather needs to count in her head rather than evidently.

A nice ending but I didn't really think most of the dance was that good i'm afraid and early contenders for the dance-off.

Simone Milani & Kevin Sacre - Rumba

The best performance last week, I want to see how Simone copes without being in hold for the majority of the routine.

Kevin doesn't look as comfortable with the Latin as he did with the Tango last week, and Simone's hands are actually better than Kevin's.

Nowhere near as good as their routine last week but still a much better performance than Paul & Heather.

Harry Maule & Michelle Gayle - Rumba

Not a particularly good performance last week, I hope they do better this week.

Some nice moves at the start, it's just such a shame that Harry can't sit up straighter in his chair (something that Ade suggested last week shouldn't be as much of a problem as Harry appears to make it).

A nice performance but still could do with improvement.

I can't imagine how hard it is for Harry to stay in time with those shakes going on!

James O'Shea & Caroline Flack - Foxtrot

So Caroline almost didn't show, due to sickness - which would have seen them ejected from the competition and everyone else given a bye - but finally she did show up and let's hope they do the dance justice.

Ballroom must be an interesting challenge for the man, normally required to lead, when you can't really get the purchase in the floor to guide your partner.

A good performance and flowed well, though it looked like Caroline had a little slip up in the middle, but probably the best performance of the night.

Overview

I think the bottom two will be Paul & Heather and Harry & Michelle. This'll be a close one but I think Heather's timing issue, two weeks in a row, will be a major downfall for them if she mucks up in the dance-off.

It's interesting to see the interaction between the three judges, considering that two of them are married, but there does seem to be independant opinions being shown.

Dance-off and Result

Bottom two as predicted then, everything on this performance for both of them.

I'm stil not impressed with Heather's use of her body, it still looks really forced, and she's unfortunately gone completely out of time again. That I think will see them going home.

Michelle could dance a little softer but it does look like Harry has heeded Ade's request to stand up better. Michelle does look very uncomfortable and forced in quite a few of the movements though.

Voting then:

James - Harry & Michelle
Ola - Harry & Michelle
Ade - Harry & Michelle

Unanimously then Paul & Heather are sent home 3-0, not a suprise I'm afraid as I do think they were the weakest couple left. Harry & Michelle do need to up their game though if they want any chance of staying in next week.

What do you think of how the show's developing, and this week's result?