SCB Celebrates First Birthday

Strictly Come Blogging is one year old today!

Although it started out with a few random posts to get the ball rolling, SCB is now all about dancing.

Since the start of Series 4 of Strictly Come Dancing, SCB has been attracting 1,500 readers a month, on average. And a peak of 2,754 visited in November 2006.

Thank you to everybody who has supported the blog, especially the other bloggers who have given me plugs: Unreality TV, Wongablog, Caron's Musings and News For Frank.

And thanks to those of you who continue to come back and read while Strictly is off air. I'm glad you love it as much as I do.

Keeeeep dancing!

EDC Update

I thought I would condense all the Eurovision info into an easy to read guide to who has been selected so far.

I have to mention my main sources of info, ESC Kazakstan and OikoTimes.com.

• Austria - Andy Kainz & Kelly Kainz
• Denmark - Awaiting announcement from DR
• Finland - Will select on 25th August
• Germany - Will select on 30th June
• Greece - Awaiting announcement from ERT
• Ireland - Mick Donegan & Nicola Byrne
• Lithuania - Awaiting announcement from LRT
• Netherlands - Will select on 4th August
• Poland - Awaiting announcement from PRT
• Portugal - Female dancer already selected - Sónia Araújo. Awaiting announcement from RTP about male selection.
• Russia - Awaiting announcement from RTR
• Spain - Will select on 9th July
• Sweden - Martin Lidberg & Cecilia Ehrling
• Switzerland - Awaiting announcement from SRG
• Ukraine - Illya Sydorenko & Yuliya Okroperidze
• United Kingdom - Awaiting announcement from the BBC

Lesson 17

Last night's lesson was quite challenging.

We started with quickstep. I was doing OK to begin with, but I was totally flummoxed by the running finish and that threw off the rest of the routine. The only time it looked like I did it right was when I danced with Anton. It's amazing what a strong lead will do! But I always say that I like to be challenged, so I'm not complaining.

For latin, we did cha cha, and did the same combination as last week. It's surprising the number of people who struggle with cha cha. I found it way easier than the quickstep. My appreciation of the latin disciplines is definitely growing.

I'm away next week. I hate not being able to go, but I shouldn't complain when I'll be sunning myself in Sitges!

Austrian Eurovision Entry Selected

Austria has selected their entry for the Eurovision Dance Contest.

OikoTimes.com reports that Andy & Kelly Kainz will represent Austria on 1st September. Both dancers have been winners of the Austrian version of SCD, Dancing Stars.

Kelly is originally from Liverpool, so perhaps she'll pick up some UK votes, as we cannot vote for ourselves...

Claudia, Bruno And Len Join EDC

According to The Sun, ITT's Claudia Winkleman is joining Graham Norton for hosting duties on the Eurovision Dance Contest.

In her usual fabulous style, Claudia told the paper: “I’m so excited I actually feel sick. The dancing promises to be fantastic. I’m secretly hoping for clogs.”

The Sun also reports that Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman will do commentary for the BBC.

Louis Walsh Was Offered Strictly Judge Job

According to The Sun, Louis Walsh was offered a job as a judge on Strictly Come Dancing after he was sacked from The X Factor.

This revelation prompted Simon Cowell to re-hire Louis.

But the episode begs the question, how were the BBC going to accommodate Louis? Were they going to have five judges? Or was one of our favourites going to get the flick to make room for Louis?

In my opinion, the judges are a key element of the show, and I don't think they should be tampered with. And besides, our judges know dancing. What would Louis know about dancing?

Thank goodness this had been avoided!

Lesson 16

I had the best time at my lesson last night (aside from forgetting my shoes and having to dance in my trainers).

We started with waltz, which I have to admit I didn't really fancy, but I ended up really enjoying it. We progressed it far enough to be able to carry on around the room. The class was a bit thinner than it has been (it's that holiday time of year), so there was more space to dance. And I was really lucky last night. I seemed to only dance with the men who can dance, and lead! Awesome.

After waltz, we did cha cha, which is my current favourite latin. It was so much fun. We did some steps that we hadn't done before. It was so brilliant.

I came out feeling exhilarated, and desperate to do more. An hour a week is simply not enough. Maybe when my other classes take the summer break, I might have to go along for more.

Camilla Interview

There is a nice interview with Camilla on The Sentinal's website.

It doesn't contain anything revolutionary, but it's worth a read. She talks about dancing with James Martin and how she got into dancing in the first place.

The Next Book

You have the 'Big Pink Book' (as I affectionatly call it) and the purple book.

Who knows what colour the next edition of the official guide to Strictly will be, but you can already order it on Amazon.co.uk.

The title give on Amazon at the moment is Strictly Come Dancing: The Official Annual 2008. It has a release date of 25th October 2007.

According to the blurb, there will be some new features this year: "exclusive interviews with this year's celebrities, a visit behind the scenes with Claudia Winkleman, a look back at how each of the four Champions danced their way to victory plus a special report on US equivalent Dancing with the Stars. Our Strictly The Best Awards will announce winners in ten major categories including Best Outfit, Most Astonishing Transformation, Best Hairstyle and Most Argumentative. There'll also be quizzes, stats and never-before-seen photos of tears, tantrums and triumphs, a fun, step-by-step specially photographed Strictly Come Dancercise routine for a ballroom workout at home, and much much more."

Sounds great. Let's hope it delivers something different than past editions.

Bruno And Arlene On The Town

Bruno and Arlene attended a performance of Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall last week.

Visit What's On Stage for the pictures.

Swedish Eurovision Entry Selected

Sweden has selected its couple to represent them at the Eurovision Dance Contest, ESC Kazakstan reports.

Martin Lidberg & Cecilia Ehrling have been selected, and will participate at the first Eurovision Dance Contest in the UK in September. Check them out here.

The BBC is yet to announce how the UK entry will be selected.

Darcy And Anton To Team Up?

There was an article in The Herald about Darcy Bussell's retirement from the Royal Ballet.

The article states that there are rumours that she is talking about working on a show with Anton du Beke. Is this different to the rumours that she was going to take part in SCD, or is it all part of the same thing, I wonder?

Matthew & Nicole At The RFH

The Royal Festival Hall on London's South Bank re-opened at the weekend after a refurbishment. To mark the opening, three days of free music and dance events were laid on to celebrate.

On Saturday afternoon, Matthew & Nicole did a dance demo as part of the festivities. And Amiee, Nina, Catherine and myself popped along to see them in action.

They opened the show with a paso, which was great. You never see the paso performed often enough in my opinion.



While Nicole changed her dress, Matt had to fill the time by chatting. Not the easiest thing to do.

The paso was followed by an energetic and foxy samba.



Then they performed my current favourite latin dance, the cha cha.



Next up was the rumba. I loved Nicole's dress on this one. It was quite different to other rumba dresses, but looked great.



Sadly, their demo was over too soon, and they closed with the jive. They danced to Candyman, which is a FANTASTIC track.



It was great to finally see Matthew & Nicole perform together 'in the flesh'.



Afterwards, we had a wander around outside.


(Aimee, Catherine, me and Naughty Nina)

Lesson 15

No Anton this week, he was off working with Erin, so the class was taken by the lovely Kimberly.

We spent the whole lesson working on rumba. I don't find rumba too taxing (at least not at the level the class is paced at), becuase one has pleanty of time to think about what is coming next. It's not too hard to remember.

EDC Expanded

According to a report on Eurovision website OikoTimes.com, the Eurovision Dance Contest has expanded.

There will now be 16 countries competing, instead of the initial 13. Greece, Lithuania and Poland have been added to the list.

The BBC will now be the host broadcaster for the first two years of the competition.

OikoTimes.com also reports that the Ukraine have selected the couple that will represent them in the competition - Illya Sydorenko & Yuliya Okroperidze.

Karen Supports Mark

Mark and Karen have remained friends since Strictly, and last week she went to watch him play cricket.

Karen told icSurreyOnline: "It's my first time to watch him play cricket. I zoomed down from Blackpool this morning from the British Dance Championships. I got up at six o'clock this morning to run down and watch him play, and I got to see the last half an hour. I brought my mum, my dad, my son and my two friends, who were all here to support him and we saw him score his century, so I was really pleased."

Lesson 14

We started with quickstep again this week. I did it right to begin with, then I started to get it all wrong, and the it all fell back into place at the end. Weird. I obviously just stopped concentrating for a while.

We did a bit of cha cha after that. I find that I don't have to think too hard about cha cha, which makes it very enjoyable to dance. We did it at quite a pace too! Loved it.

We finished the class with a wee bit of salsa, which Anton & Erin had taught at an event in Sussex at the weekend. It was quite fun, even though I don't normally like salsa!

Nancy Turned Down SCD

According to an interview with Now magazine, Nancy Dell'Olio turned down the chance to appear on Strictly.

She told the magazine: "I was asked a few times to do Strictly Come Dancing. I love dancing, but it was never the right time and it's too time-consuming. No amount of money would be enough."

Dance Al Fresco

Fancy spending an afternoon dancing in London's Regent's Park in July and August? Well now you can!

The Dance Al Fresco event is back. There will be beginners' classes, social dancing and demos. Ian & Camilla and Vincent & Flavia have participated in past years.

Check the website for further details.

Kate Thornton To Host New Dance Show

Format stealers ITV have decided to turn their sights on ballroom dancing.

They have commissioned a Strictly-style show for children, based loosely on the movie Mad Hot Ballroom.

Ex-X Factor presenter Kate Thornton has been signed on for presenting duties.

According to The Sun, the show will be broadcast on Saturday nights over the summer. I would suspect that this is likely to be scheduled against the BBC's Dance X show.

Come Dancing Classics

Here is a montage of clips from Come Dancing.

The clip starts with Ian Waite. Then there's a 1992 clip of Hazel Newberry and her partner Chris Hawkins at 0.20 and at 2.30 you'll see a 1994 clip of Anton dancing with Diane Smith.

Len: Quentin Was Worst Ever

Len Goodman, who is promoting his DVD in the US, has given an interview to People magazine.

Most of the interview refers to DWTS, but there are a couple of Strictly morsels in there too.

On the US and UK series: "If it came to a head to head between America and Great Britain, I think probably the Americans would edge it."

On bad dancers: "In England we had the car-driving man Quentin Willson, who I think probably was the absolute worst ever. In this season you had Billy Ray Cyrus, but that's part of the charm of the show. We like to see people struggle."

Matthew & Nicole Video

Matthew & Nicole recently performed at the Memorial Hall in Cleethorps, Licolnshire.

Check out the video, which Nicole posted on her Facebook page.

Shy Brendan?

Brendan Cole has been described as many things over the past few years, but shy isn't usually one of them.

Metro, quoting an article in Star magazine, reports that Brendan was saw Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas, but was too shy to go over and say "Hi".

"I saw her last week in LA and she's gorgeous. I didn't have the guts to talk to her, though."