Again the table is fairly in line with expectations and Edwina & Nancy are down the bottom as predicted, Anton's fans are going to have to really spend some on the phone calls to save them as I'm not sure how many fans Nancy is going to have.
I think giving everyone Salsa and Foxtrot in week 2 is very harsh though as these are both quite difficult dances.
An uncomfortable start and her timing and footwork is all over the place. Anton's doing his best to keep her under control, I must admit it's not as bad as I'd originally expected but the technique is pretty awful.
She needs to stand up straighter and let Anton lead...I'm going to give her a 5 as I'm feeling generous.
Craig: 3 "Frenetic, frantic, frenzied"
Len: 5 "Most exciting part was when I took a crafty glance up your dress...ploughed on and kept going"
Alesha: 2 "I can't work out if you were trying to be funny, or if it just was funny...I'm confused"
Bruno: 4 "You look like you've had two gallons [of champagne]...looked like you had no idea where you were"
Two big egos, one dance, plenty of humour, though I don't think the feather boa was part of the routine and unfortunately it's pretty much ruined the whole performance.
A complete mess I don't feel it's fair to even give it a score, I think Craig especially will be harsh.
Craig: 1 "A word of advice darling, forget props all together"
Len: 4 "Too long messing about on the settee...the actual bit of dancing is good...do a straight dance with her"
Alesha: 3 "You are the glamour puss on Strictly this year...we've all been there, you go wrong, you carry on"
Bruno: 4 "I was looking forward to the story telling...turned into a disaster"
Yesterday I predicted Gavin Henson and Ann Widdecombe to be in the bottom two, with Gavin just losing out in the audience vote. Though I have the feeling we might see a shock in the bottom two tonight (I'm worried Matt might be in trouble).
So first through this week: Gavin & Katya & Kata & Artem; In the bottom two is SCOTT MASLEN!!! To be honest I think Scott has been over marked recently and maybe this is a bit of audience backlash?
A beautiful Waltz from Anton & Erin, though I can't quite tell if there's a few slips in there, maybe Anton is feeling the strain after American Smoothing with Ann?
So also safe is Pamela & James, and joining Scott in the bottom two is Ann & Anton (finally). Let's hope this is the end of the road for Ann, whilst she has been entertaining at times it really wouldn't be fair for her to be put through in place of Scott.
The moment of truth then, Ann finally sailing home or Sccccooooottt Shhhhockingly sent back to base.
...
...
So Ann's run to the final has ended. They've have been great entertainment at times but it would have been a travesty if she had got through to the semi's.
The right result all round. Next week not only will two couples be eliminated next week, but we'll also be there watching it live (so don't expect any live blogging next week unless the BBC are feeling generous!).
So does this mean that Scott could be going out next week, and if so who'll be joining him? I don't think Gavin will make it into the final but who would you send home?
So Anton has to complete 3 lifts in the American Smooth, I'm hoping we see a few new ones and not the same ones they keep throwing in each week.
Good start with the lift...and then they land. Actually the start isn't that bad, though Ann does end up out of time.
There's even a credible attempt at some scatter chasses.
Much better performance than we've seen in recent weeks, and a return to actually trying to dance in addition to entertaining.
One of her better dances, just a 6 though (still being generous for entertainment factor!)
Craig: 2 "Best moments for me were when your feet weren't touching the floor...one chasse that was passable...one polka that I didn't mind"
Len: 5 "Dancing in its basic form is movement to music, and you did move, to music"
Alisha: 4 "Nice to see a lot more dance content this week...well done on the lifts...however still hanging on to Anton for dear life...for me the honeymoon's over"
Bruno: 3 "More like Hello Trolley, than Hello Dolly...on your own you looked like a Dalek in drag"
Charleston could be a car crash, they're definitely going to go down the comedy angle on this one.
Ok it seems I spoke too soon. They've put lots of dancing into it and although it lacks any foot swivelling I do think it's got as much energy as Ann could manage. Some jokes surrounding the lifts and when Anton finally gets Ann off the ground she needs to shape her legs better. Entertaining though and I'm sure Craig liked the ending...
Still hard to mark Ann on dance technique but for entertainment value, and her effort in the dancing I'm going to give her a 6.
Craig: 2 "I'm here to try and help you...double bounce action was missing entirely...fish lift complete and absolute disaster"
Len: 6 "I thought you were gonna conk out at one stage...never a chore to watch you cos it makes me laugh"
Alisha: 5 "Actress is emerging...more of a comedy sketch than a dance routine [Ann - no change there then]...only sign of Charleston was the headdress"
Bruno: 4 "Anton you must have a slipped disc...love you anyway"
Ann needs to try and skim the floor more when she's walking, and her sur place movements (effectively stamping on the spot) need to be not lifted up so much.
Lovely lines when Anton is throwing her, though the floor spins are just comical.
She does get better dance wise each week but just a 5 I'm afraid.
Craig: 2 "I only have three letters...O M G"
Len: 5 "It's a bit like going up the motorway with an accident, you don't really want to watch but you can't help yourself"
Alisha: 5 "A humble entrance this week...try counting in your head...Anton's dragging you round like an appliance"
Bruno: 4 "I don't think I'll ever recover from that ending...it was heavy"
On tonight's episode: Peter & Erin; Alisha Dixon; Ann & Anton; Felicity & Vincent.
The show starts with Ola Jordan taking a video camera round behind the scenes and chatting the the dancers and celebs. We see James jokingly telling Ola about what it's like to still be in the competition. Len and James share a kiss (so that Len can see if it 'prickles' when you kiss a man with a beard).
Then we're treated to another brief recap of some of the highlights from Saturday before it's time to talk to Peter & Erin.
Peter feels like he let himself down, but also that Charleston wasn't really his dance. Erin points out that Charleston was around week 11 last year, not week 4, and considering there's acting as well as dancing involved that does make it much more difficult.
Peter's highlights do unfortunately include his Salsa, but there's a nice outfit of Erin's in the training vid ;-)
Next up a VT showing all the animal references the judges made on Saturday, leading up to Alisha being on the show.
I understand that she can relate directly to the celebs, having been through it herself, but she's still just not a viable judge for me. However Emma and I both agree that she is improving...though I do wonder how much of her comments are scripted???
It is revealed that Patsy will be doing the Jive next week, given how soon she ran out of puff with the Charleston she does need to work on her stamina.
Our next couple are Ann & Anton,
Ann reveals she is afraid of heights but actually enjoyed the wire work by the time she was landing. Anton reveals that he originally suggested the idea as a joke! Their next dance will be the Paso Doble, I'm seeing shades of John Sargeant already...
Now onto Felicity & Vincent,
Apparently the kiss was Vincent's idea (surprise, surprise) and they weren't sure if it was going to be allowed.
A VT on Vincent's Magic Eyebrow (lots of twitching at camera).
Felicity & Vincent will have Viennese Waltz at the weekend, choreography-wise it will be a lot simpler but the constant rotation at speed makes it such a hard dance.
I'm hoping Ann isn't wearing a skirt this week if she's going to be flying through the studio!
Not sure about the arm waving Ann, not quite Tango...but I'm sure that's not what we were going for. Ann is skipping at times, Anton probably should take slightly smaller steps to help her out.
Give her her dues though there is some relatively complicated steps in there. Entertaining as always and I'm sure Ann will continue to win fans. I can't bring myself to stretch higher than a 5 though.
Craig: 3 "More like the dancing hippos darling...beginning was gorgeous...and then you landed"
Len: 7 "Seeing Ann [flying down] was worth 50% of the TV Licence fee...nice placement of the feet"
Alisha: 6 "Taking Strictly Come Dancing to a whole new level"
Bruno: 5 "Truly out of this world...starship Widdecombe...did actually a Tango"
Ann: "I thought it was like Dumbo...even elephants fly!"
Total Score: 21 (Ann is truly excited with her 7 and it's great to see)
To try and give their routine a bit more pizazz, Ann and Anton have decided to go all Peter Pan and hopefully sprinkle some magic fairy dust on the judges...especially Craig I imagine.
Anton felt that they needed to have something "outrageous" in their routine to try and win over the judges, and hopefully encourage Craig to triple their score another week in a row.
So are they going to soar over the competition, or will this just be a gimmick to hide a lack of content in their routine?
One of the reputed origins of the Tango is of the Goucho making his way into town to find a lady to spend his time with (an money on). Given Ann's unwillingness to do anything raunchy in her routines will she be able to give the Tango the atmosphere it requires?
24 hours and we'll have the answer I suppose so we'll just have to wait and see.
Most people have put Ann & Anton in the comedy act pile and I think the height difference is definitely going to be an issue. Interesting to see Ann wearing what appear to be practice shoes with laces, should give her a bit more stability.
Ann needs to keep her head up, and her feet down but it is a sweet performance. Her Latin will be interesting but a good performance, far above I think most people's expectations.
Only a 5 I'm afraid but I think it could go downhill from here a la John Sergeant.
Craig: 2
Len: 5
Alisha: 5
Bruno: 5
Total Score: 17
Craig very harsh there, I don't think that deserved a 2.
It's the end of week 2 of training and all Strictly Come Dancing training clips have been released by the BBC. The first clip of the week goes to Gavin Henson & Katya Virshilas, Gavin didn't impress me much in the launch show, I'm hoping Katya will have worked some magic though.
Lucky he's been given the Waltz rather than the Cha Cha Cha for the first show, it might actually give him the opportunity to stay longer as I think Cha Cha would have been a disaster.
Has the potential to do an acceptable Waltz though based on current footage.
Day 2 and the next training video is of Patsy Kensit & Robin Windsor
Robin is one of the new boys on the block and so one wonders if he can hit the ground running with the training.
It might be a Strictly cliche but it is easier for the girl to dance with a pro male than the other way around, and Patsy is looking really good in this initial footage. Needs to relax more in her pivot turns and watch her shoulders.
A very promising start though and I'm looking forward to seeing their performance on the night.
No training video update on Wednesday so it comes to Thursday and Pamela Stephenson & James Jordan. I thought Pamela performed very confidently in the launch show group dance and showed a lot of promise, but how is her training coming along?
Pamela is definitely not disappointing me, in the training video she looks graceful and elegant and I'm looking forward to seeing the finished article.
Our final couple this week are Ann Widdecombe & Anton Du Beke. A pairing I'm sure many of Anton's fans would have been dreading (no offence intended Ann!), but one that seemed concrete as soon as the line-up was announced.
Anton definitely has one of the most challenging partnerships of the new series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2010, especially with the height difference, but I'm sure his popularity will see them whisk [see what I did there :-)] through the first few weeks.
Unfortunately for Ann she does look a little bit jerky at the moment, but there is some hope there, especially with her rise and fall. I'm thinking Anton's glad they didn't get given the Cha Cha Cha for their first week. Ann won't be the worst celebrity in the first show but I think she'll probably be mid-table to bottom.
So we've seen most of our couples so far. Still left are:
Felicity Kendal & Vincent Simone
Kara Tointon & Artem Chigvintsev (purportedly prevented from training in the first week to make up for the fact she had dance training for Strictly Sports Relief)
Jimi Mistry & Flavia Cacace
Peter Shilton & Erin Boag
Tina O'Brien & Jared Murillo
Check back next week when I should have the next load of training videos for you to sift through. Oh and don't forget to set you VCR/PVR's for the start of Strictly Come Dancing 2010, BBC 1, on Friday 1st October and Saturday 2nd October!
They’ve not impressed in the Latin so far this series, the training looks good but can they ‘bring it’ on the night?
Why Laila, why always the mistakes? Especially when you’re apart from Anton it just makes it so obvious.
Emma asked me yesterday my prediction for who was going out tonight, I predicted Laila last night and I stand by that tonight after seeing that performance.
Unfortunately Len’s right, they want to be in the final but they rarely manage a flawless performance and I can’t see them progressing further than tonight.
A real letdown and I’m going to have to say a 5 (possibly the lowest score I’ve given all series – I’ll have to go back and look!)
I was really enjoying the start, up until the slip in the spin. She really does have to watch those shoulders too. The dance does look like Anton is throwing her round quite a lot, and I don’t just mean in the lifts!
Started with lots of promise but I don’t think it delivered and I’m only going to give it a 7 I’m afraid.
Well it appears I was the only one entertained enough by Laila and Anton, and I'd have had Natalie a little closer to Ricky, but otherwise the leaderboard is about right...
1. 37 points - Ali & Brian
2. 34 points - Chris & Ola
3. 31 points - Ricky & Natalie
4. 31 points - Laila & Anton
5. 26 points - Natalie & Vincent
Still the competition Viennese Waltz to go though...
Will my prediction of a Laila and Ricky dance off pan out?
Bottom three as expected, now who have the public gone for?
Yep Natalie & Vincent are saved by the audience, and Laila and Ricky are in the dance-off.
More importantly it's Erin versus Anton!
If Ricky can perform without making any mistakes then we could have a competition on our hands, otherwise I think he's going home.
Laila still stumbles in the same move near the end, which is a shame, and she looks very uncomforable during the final pivots. But not a bad performance, all down to Ricky now.
Looks like a much improved performance on earlier and I really don't know how to call this one.
I think Ricky has been more consistent, though Laila has scored highly in a few of her dances.
On that basis I think it will be Ricky going home.
Just waiting on Len to confirm whether it's 3 or 4-0...and Len confirms it would've been 4-0.
Do you agree with the outcome from tonight? Look out Natalie and Laila, there's no-one below you now!
Antony started dance lessons when he was 3 years old. After finding an apparent natural aptitude he continued dancing, progressing through medals and competing.
With the start of Strictly Come Dancing the demand for a local teacher gave him the impetus to set up his own school.
Now he provides beginner through to advanced tuition via classes and private lessons, and also runs corporate events and choreographs wedding first dances.
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