The Underdog Show: Week 2

I was lucky enough to attend the recording of The Underdog Show and I had a most enjoyable evening. Of course, I was supporting Anton and Ginger all the way.

The studio is very big, but in a strange way it reminded me of the It Takes Two studio, largely because of all the perspex. We had pretty good seats near to where the contestants sit, although I don't think there are any bad seats in the room.

Anton and Ginger were up first on the programme and were great fun to watch. I especially loved the recall that didn't come off.

I think Mishal and Robson could win it. They are the only pair at the moment that could possibly attempt the heel work to music.

I think Clive's frantic manner is rubbing off on his excitable dog, and he could do with taking a calmer approach.

Huey and Casper are a joy to watch, even if things don't always go to plan.

I was really surprised that it was Kirsty and Bruno who got the least votes last night. I love the relationship between then, and I really thought the public wouldn't be able to resist the charms of cutie Bruno.

During the break between the two shows, Anton spotted me and said "Hi". Some of Kirsty's trainer's family were asking Kirsty what her number was. "105" piped up Anton. He did the same when Mishal asked what hers was. That's almost as good as him telling everyone his page number in the first Strictly book a couple of years back. Of course, I dialed "105" in the break myself.

I also took the opportunity to introduce myself to Erin, who was in the audience. Although I have met her before, I've never really chatted to her. I explained that I use the forum and that I know the crowd that had been to their show in Manchester on Friday. We chatted about dancing and Anton's classes. I promised that I would say "Hi" again at the next event that I'll be going to in Manchester in July.

All in all, I had a really good evening. And the good news is that Anton survived another week.

The Underdog Show: Week 1

It's taken me almost a week to mention The Underdog Show. I'm so slack!

I thought Anton did a really good job, especially his epic catch of Ginger. I can't help but wonder if he is hindered by his insistence on wearing a jacket. Perhaps we'll see a change of attire tonight.

I'm going to see The Underdog Show tonight, so I'll be cheering on Anton on behalf of Strictly fans everywhere.

If you missed it last week, here's Anton's round, courtesy of CopterUK.

Lesson 8

I missed last week's lesson because I went to see the legendary Dolly Parton at Wembley. She was amazing, but I'm not here to talk about that.

We packed quite a lot into our hour last night. There were less people in the class than there have been on other occasions, which meant we could progress things around the floor. We started with quickstep (although we kept it un-quick for most of the time). It was great to link things and start them over to progress around the floor. I might not get too stressed when I go to a ball after all!

Then we went back to the waltz. It's the first time we'd done waltz in ages, and it took a while for the change from quickstep to sink in. I kept wanting to pack more steps in, and put chassés in where they shouldn't be.

We finished up with rumba. Again, we did more than previously. I love the rumba. It's so sexy, although I have to admit it's more fun to do than watch.

Things are really starting to motor along now. It's definitely less 'absolute beginner' and more 'novice' now. The pace is picking up, which I really love. I'm starting to feel less like a startled bunny and more like something that resembles a dancer!

Sadly, I have to go three weeks until I have another lesson. Next week I'm off to see Aled Jones in concert, and the week after is Easter Monday. I would presume the studios are closed that day. So no lesson until 15th April, which sounds like an age away. I'm like a child waiting for Christmas.

Razzle Dazzle: A Journey Into Dance

Razzle Dazzle: A Journey Into Dance is a new Australian dance film. It follows the story of two dance troupes battling it out to win the Sanosafe Troupe Spectacular.

Miss Elizabeth runs a traditional ballet academy. She has won the Spectacular several times. Her challenger is Mr Jonathon, a politically minded choreographer whose routines have to convey a social message.

The film has no UK release date yet, but here's the trailer to whet your appetite.

Arlene Not A Heather Fan

Arlene Phillips has admitted to the Daily Express that she's not a big fan of Dancing With The Stars contestant Heather Mills, although she thought her dancing was OK.

“I would like to have said she was rubbish, but she’s got rhythm and if I hadn’t known about her disability I’d have said bad upper body work.”

Cha Cha Charity

Ian & Camilla recently performed at a chairty ball attended by Georgina Bouzova and Peter Schmeichel.

According to the Manchester Evening News Blog, Peter's wife Bente dragged him onto the dancefloor.

“My favourite Barry White song came on, so that was it. I finally dragged him up for a dance together!”.

Craig Goes Down Under

Craig Revel Horwood is going to be joining Brendan Cole as a judge on New Zealand's Dancing With The Stars.

Craig told TVNZ: "I'm very much looking forward to judging Dancing With The Stars in New Zealand, as I hear your country is beautiful and the dance standard is extremely high".

Brendan Gets A Psychic Reading

Brendan will be appearing on a new ITV2 psychic show soon.

Sally Morgan: Star Psychic features psychic sally Morgan doing reading for various celebrties including Brendan.

The show will be on ITV2 on Fridays at 10pm from 30th March. I have no idea when Brendan's episode is being broadcast.

Grease Is The Word For Zoe

Zoe Ball is to present ITV1's answer to Maria, Grease Is The Word.

Maria's David Ian is co-producer and judge on the show. According to OfficialLondonTheatre.co.uk, Arlene Phillips will be the production's choreographer.

Vincent Cable, MP

It's not often that SCB get's political.

In a recent interview, Liberal Democrat MP Vincent Cable told The Independent he'd like to do Strictly.

"I would love to do Strictly Come Dancing and put Craig Revel Horwood in his place. I dance for pleasure, to relax, keep fit, and socialise."

The Age Of Aquarius Returns

For once, this isn't a reference to Zoe Ball's samba.

Vincent & Flavia officially re-opened the Aquarius Ballroom in Hednesford, West Midlands last week. The ballroom had been empty for eight months.

Flavia told the Cannock Express & Star: “At the moment there’s generally a lack of halls like this, many end up demolished and flats are built in their place. The more we can do to try and save them the better.”

According to the Express & Star, Vincent & Flavia have both signed up for Strictly Come Dancing Series 5.

Charlie Tango

Tess Daly, Fiona Phillips and Gloria Hunniford were Charlie's angels last week, when they attended a reception at Clarence House to celebrate the work of Age Concern.

According to PR-inside.com, Tess spoke to Prince Charles and he revealed his love of dance.

"We had a little chat about dancing. I think he really enjoys the thought of learning a bit of ballroom and the Latin dances. He said he always fancied learning the tango."

Move It

I had a fabulous day at Move It on Saturday. I met so many people and did some great dance classes.

I started the day with a Dirty Dancing class. The class was taken by Richard Marcel, who has worked on Strictly Dance Fever. He said that when the film was released, he had to learn all of the choreography in order to promote the film in the UK.

We had to partner up with the person next to us, and being the taller one I offered to lead. We started off with a short jazz routine to Yes, then a mambo to Johnny's Mambo and finished with a '60s section to Do You Love Me?. I actually put some of Anton's leading tips into practice during the mambo and was very pleased with myself.

After that I went downstairs to watch the showcase featuring Darren & Lilia. I met a whole bunch of lovely ladies. Over the course of the day I met Aimee, Nina, Katy, Catherine, Marie, Laura and lots of others. I'm sure I've forgotten someone. Feel free to abuse me on MySpace if I forgot you...

The showcase was excellent. Darren & Lilia did two routines.





Here are a couple of clips of their dances...





After the showcase, I went for a wander. I visited the LTS stand to say hello to Nick, Angela and Shaun. When I was there I bumped into Sarah and her mum, and we decided to wander around together.

After a short while we got to the Dance Amo stand. Dance Amo are a shoe manufacturer. At the stand we found Matthew & Nicole and Ian & Camilla. I was really chuffed to see Ian & Camilla, as I hadn't expected them to be there. I had a little chat with Ian.

After a while I turned around and saw Sarah and Mary standing away watching. I apologised, and they decided to leave me to it. I took the opportunity to grab Matt and Nicole for photos. I decided to leave Ian alone this time, after I promised I wouldn't ask him to pose for any more after the Christmas special.





After a while, I decided to wander around again. I passed Darren & Lilia who were rushing to get the the IDTA stand. I nabbed Darren for a photo on the way, as I've never had one taken with him before. Check out the pole dancer in the background!



It was then time to run off for my tap class. Normally I wouldn't have taken tap, and I knew it would be very basic. But the class was being taught by Dougie Mills of Tap Dogs. Tap Dogs have been a big inspiration of mine for many years, and I've seen them perform live a couple of times. I had to do the class. The steps were very basic, but quite rhythmic, and I appreciated being taught by Dougie.

Dougie's class overran slightly, which meant I arrived late to Matthew & Nicole's ballroom class. I ran in, changed my shoes and was ready to dance. Everyone was already coupled up, so I formed a threesome with Marie and Catherine. We did the tango, which I love. Matt is a fantastic teacher, and the pace of the class was perfect. I wish Matt did group classes. I'd be there in a shot!

As I left the class, I ran into Sarah again. I stayed with her to watch the ballet showcase. She and her mum left after that, and I had a while to kill until my last class, so I took the time to track down Pearl.

Pearl Howie is a filmmaker, and director of Everything To Dance For which I have mentioned here on several other occasions. I knew she was going to be at Move It, so I sent her a message and found out where she was. It was great to finally meet her. I quizzed her about the project a bit. She told me how Brendan was mobbed by young girls on the Friday. We chatted about dancing in general for ages, and then we watched the Poptastic showcase, which was mostly street jazz. After that, it was time to head off and go to my final class of the day - flamenco.

Marie and I both did the flamenco class. I found the steps OK, but I have no idea what my arms were doing. It was a total mess. And I was so tired I don't think I was concentrating all that well!
After the class I quickly ran downstairs, said my goodbyes to Shaun, Nick and Angela, picked up my copy of Everything To Dance For (no, Pearl, I haven't watched it yet!), took out a Dance Today subscription and wearily headed for the door!

I can't wait for next year!

Buy Roger Black's Shirt

A shirt worn by Roger Black on Strictly Come Dancing has gone up for sale on eBay.

The seller won the shirt on It Takes Two. Frankly, I don't know how anyone could part with such an important piece of TV dancing history. But that's just me I suppose.

Bidding starts at £25, and 15% of the profits will be going to Breast Cancer Care.

Suggs On SCD

It seems that Madness' appearance on Strictly last year was quite contraversial for the group. Half the band refused to appear. Suggs explained to The Sun why the band needed to appear.

"When we were kids you did Top Of The Pops, an interview with the NME, Radio 1 and that was it. And now somebody tells you there's no point doing them - you've got to do Strictly Come Ballroom F***ing Dancing instead because 12 trillion people are watching it. Then half the band refuse, but if you want to promote your record that's what you have to do."

The odd thing, of course, is that rather than performing a new single, Madness performed It Must Be Love on the programme.

Play 'Spot The Official Band Member' while watching this clip. Or just enjoy Anton & Erin...

Lesson 7

Last night we did more tango.

The lessons are getting a bit more advanced now, and even Anton admitted that this wasn't really beginners stuff anymore. I loved it. The tango is so amazing. I still wish I didn't have to wait so long between classes.

We went back to the jive this week too, and added on a little more.

Now there is a core of people who come every week, we seem to be making real progress.

Sadly, I won't be there next week. I'm going to see Dolly Parton. I'm actually a bit gutted that I'll be missing a lesson.

Amongst all the craziness of the WDS show (which is at the end of April - so if you're one of my friends, please buy tickets), it's nice to learn something in a slightly less pressured atmosphere.

Craig: "I Can't Bear That Jason Gardiner"

Craig Revel Horwood says that he is not that nasty, and he's not a fan of Dancing On Ice judge Jason.

According to the Sunday Mercury (reposted on Encyclopedia.com), Craig feels Jason is cruel for the sake of it.

"I quite like the show, but I can't bear that Jason Gardiner. He makes stuff up just to be evil. That sucks! He gets far too personal with people. I am only cruel about what people need to do to improve. I would never tell someone they look like a man in drag. That's just nasty for the sake of being nasty."

Is it just me? I can't actually hear Craig saying the words "That sucks!" in my head...

The article goes on to talk about Craig's upcoming appearance on MasterChef.

"I love cooking at home but it's very different doing it in front of millions of viewers. I do a good lasagne but I believe that won't impress the judges."

And he doesn't seem too worried about what the judges might say.

"I will take the comments on board and use them to improve. I will do what I'm told!"

Thanks to Lottiechaz of the DS SCD Forum for the tip.

Dancing Channel?

There is an advertisment in the March issue of Dance Today advertising www.thedancingchannel.tv.

Imagine a whole channel of dancing...

I can't wait to learn more about this venture. Can anyone enlighten me?

Jennifer Metcalfe: "I'd Love To Go On The Next Series"

Yet another celebrity has stated an interest in participating on Strictly Come Dancing.

According to Metro.co.uk, Hollyoaks actress Jennifer Metcalfe has revealed her interest.

"I'm a good mover and I'd love to go on the next series."

I'm sure Arlene and co would be the judges as to whether she's a "good mover" or not.

Darren Had No Clue Emma Was Pregnant

Darren Bennett admits that he had no idea Strictly dance partner Emma Bunton was pregnant while training for the show. He was talking the Sheffield Star at the launch of City Limits, his parents' new dance studio.

"We didn't know Emma was pregnant until she announced it after the show had finished. It is very physically demanding doing the rehearsals and the shows but it must have been even more so for Emma. She did feel fatigued but she put that down to the amount of physical work and she still carried on and did very well."

Lilia was on her usual form.

"If Emma's baby comes out dancing I'll be asking some questions!"

Strictly Come Walkies!

My favourite gossip of the day is that Anton du Beke will soon be taking part in a celebrity dog training show.

According to CBBC News, the show, entitled The Underdog Show will be hosted by SCD Series 2 participant Julian Clary and his dog Valerie.

Anton and his fellow celebrities, who include Kirsty Gallacher and Clive Anderson, will have to train rescue dogs. The show will also raise awareness for its charity partner, The Dogs Trust.

The show begins on 20th March on BBC2. There will also be sister shows on CBBC.

Thanks to Selina59 from the A&E Forum for the tip.

Strictly Come Cooking

It seems that we'll finally get to see Craig Revel Horwood on the receiving end of some criticism. According to icBirmingham, Craig will be taking part in the next series of Celebrity MasterChef.

"I know they are going to be particularly tough on me. Now I will know how it feels."

Before the new series of Comic Relief Does Fame Academy began, Craig was in Birmingham working on a production of Martha, Josie and the Chinese Elvis, starring Maureen Lipman.

"The difficulty is that Maureen Lipman has to dance the tango badly. And she actually has quite a bit of experience of dance so it is a case of breaking down the steps and re-learning them."

According to another article on icBirmingham, Maureen had no idea who Craig was when they started rehearsals.

"I didn't know who he was, I haven't seen the show."

Thanks to Lottiechaz from the DS SCD Forum for the tip.

City Limits Grand Opening

City Limits, the new dance studio in Hillsborough, Sheffield run by Darren Bennet's parents Judith and Tony has had its grand opening.

According to the Sheffield Star, Darren & Lilia performed for an invited audience at the studios. Anton & Erin and Jill Halfpenny were also in attendance.

The studios will now be Darren & Lilia's base.

For more information on classes and facilities, visit City-Limits.co.uk.

Len On The Premium Phoneline Debate

So much to Blog about today! It's great!

A very short comment from Len from The Mirror, talkng about the preium phoneline debate which is raging this week.

"It's important viewers know that all reality shows are whiter than white."

I did notice that on Comic Relief Does Fame Academy, they said the price of the calls a lot more often than normal.

Strictly Wins Award

Strictly Come Dancing waltzed off with the the gong for Best TV Reality Programme at last night's Television and Radio Industries Club (TRIC) awards in London.

Strictly beat off competition from The X Factor and Dragon's Den.

Chile Come Dancing

I love YouTube. I came across this today. The opening titles to Chile's version of Strictly Come Dancing, entitled El Baile en TVN.



Here is the cha cha performance from musician Oscar "Lolo" Peña, partnered by María José Campos. It's a bit illeagal-lift-tastic. I think Len would have been more than angered by this performance. Still, the couple were eliminated first. Cheats never prosper...

I'm not too sure about the singer in the transparent dress at the back.

Lesson 6

Anton was back this week. The class was a little thinner than it has been, but that meant there was more room.

I was joined by Anton & Erin Forum lovlies Nicola and Andrea this week, which was brilliant. I love having people visit the class.

We got through a lot this week. We did a proper quickstep for the first time, which was challenging, but fun. Then we went back to the tango, and added more. I really love the tango. And finally we went over the jive again. Jive is so much fun. I love it.

I'm loving the classes at the moment. They are challenging, engaging and fun. I wish I could go twice a week.

I do hope we get a ballroom teacher at WDS. It would be amazing. Although schlepping between High Wycombe and Catford more than once a week could prove to be a problem.

Craig On The Wright Stuff

Craig Revel Horwood was a guest on The Wright Stuff this morning.

In this clip, the panel discuss being dumped. Look out for a classic Craig one-liner at around 6.20.



There are two other clips of Craig on YouTube, but this was the most interesting.

Len Goodman was on The Wright Stuff last week, and there are a few clips of him on YouTube too.

More Reality TV For Brendan?

It seems that Love Island and Just The Two Of Us were not enough for Brendan Cole.

Unconfirmed rumours are now circulating that Brendan will be participating in the 2007 series of The Games.

Channel 4 have yet to confirm if they are even going to recommission the sporting reality series, but a list of participants, which includes Brendan, Craig Charles (who dropped out last series becuase of injury) and Alesha (who is the ex-wife of another former participant - Harvey), has been doing the rounds of the reality forums.

I'll let you know as soon as I hear more.

Claire And Her Ex

Claire King and her ex John Robson were both in this weekend's papers talking about the end of their relationship. It seems Strictly was the catalist, although they both believe they should neve have got engaged in the first place.

Claire gave an interview to the Daily Mail on Saturday.

"The stress of being strong enough to cope with Brendan - which often meant biting my tongue when he was far from supportive in rehearsals and watching as he quite deliberately sat and chatted with the other girls rather than spend time with me - began to have an impact on home life.

"John and Brendan met and didn't hit it off. It was presented in the Press as some sort of jealousy on John's part because Brendan's such a flirt - he certainly prefers the company of women to men. But that wasn't the case. John just felt protective of me because he could see what a tough time I was having with Brendan."

It was during this time, and all the time spent apart, that the relationship broke down.

John gave his story to The People on Sunday. His story is pretty much the same.

"I felt Brendan wasn't at all supportive to Claire. He was really stand-offish with her and I felt she took it out on me during her time on the show. She wasn't her usual self and she'd be really down, which would all impact on our time together. I now know it was probably because she was feeling so low that she said yes when I proposed.

"I had moments of jealousy about Brendan. Seeing him with his hands all over her didn't make me feel great and whenever I was around he seemed to become really tactile with her. He'd put his arm round her even though he didn't talk to her most of the time. It was like a powerplay thing."

SCD Humiliates Participants

Members of the Church of England have hit out at a number of television shows, claiming they glorify the humiliation of human beings.

According to The Guardian, Edmund Marshall, a lay member from Wakefield, said that he and his wife enjoyed Strictly Come Dancing, but they objected to the "melodramatic excess" of singling out losing contestants.

Personally, I don't believe that any of the participants are humiliated in any way. The public, the presenters and even the judges are on the side of the participants, however good or bad they are. Exiting participants are always treated with respect and encouraged right until the end. Strictly participants are treated better than on any other 'reality' show in my opinion.

And every single participant says how lifechanging appearing on the show is. A little bit of dramatic tension is a small price to pay, I'm sure.

Carol Promotes Moobay

There was a story in the Evening Times, about a new auction site for children called Moobay.

I only mention this becuase Carol Smillie was helping promote the launch and was in a lovely dancing dress. And why not?