Sunday Service: Week 13 - The Final

Despite what those on screen tried to make out, this final was pretty much a one-horse race. I found the whole thing quite dull, and that's why it has taken me over a week to actually write a blog about the final. Take nothing away from Caroline, she's a fantastic dancer, but it was such a foregone conclusion she would win that it almost wasn't worth watching the programme.

Round One: Judges' Choice

The judges chose the samba for Frankie & Kevin to perform again, first performed in Week 7. I was convinced when they performed the routine originally that there was a mistake and they had missed some samba rolls, but watching it in the final I realised that that wasn't the case. It was a good job.

Mark & Karen were given the cha cha to reprise. This was a good choice, as it was originally performed in Week 5, coming the week after they had been in the bottom two. The routine was fun, and probably better performed better than it was originally. It did see the return of Mark's slightly camp side, which was so prominent in earlier weeks. But it was still a great performance.

Caroline & Pasha were also given their cha cha to do again, from Week 1. It's great when couples get to perform dances again from so early in the series, and even someone of Caroline's standard was able to improve from the beginning of the competition. They nailed it.

Simon & Kristina had to re-perform their Charleston from Week 4. I though it was under-marked the first time it was performed, so it was nice to see them do it again. 

Round Two - Showdances

Let's be honest. The showdances are really the only reason we watch the final. Strictly titles can be won or lost on the basis of the showdance. Just ask Colin Jackson. Everyone wants to see what the couples have to offer. Of course, this can lead to disappointment as they are also they most hyped part of the series.

Frankie & Kevin opted for a touch of old Hollywood with lots of quickstep content, side-by-side work and lifts. The execution was brilliant, and the dance was glamourous. It was perfect for Frankie, who was always more comfortable with the more formal dances.

Mark & Karen incorporated all their best moves from the series into their showdance, a smart move. The routine was very them. It was fun and upbeat, and it was clear their main aim was just to have fun. It was great.

Caroline & Pasha took a risk by opting for a slow, lyrical, rumba-based showdance. Usually showdances are upbeat, so they had to pull it off. And they did. It had dramatic lifts, lovely light and shade and Caroline danced from her insides. It was moving and she couldn't have done it better.

Like Mark & Karen, Simon & Kristina incorporated elements from some of their best dances into their showdance. It was slick, with some great lifts. It had salsa, quickstep, Charleston and even some bodypopping. A good effort.

I don't think anyone was surprised that Mark & Karen were the couple eliminated at the start of the second programme. Mark worked incredibly hard, and while he totally earned his place in the final and deserved to be there, he wasn't quite up to the same standard of the other couples.

Round Three - Favourite Dance

Frankie & Kevin opted to perform their paso again, which earned the first (Donny) ten of the series in Week 3. It was a good routine for Frankie, and she nailed the timing. It was a lovely performance, and a fiery side of Frankie I wish we had seen more of during the series.

It was no surprise to anyone that Caroline & Pasha would opt to perform the Charleston again, but with no backing dancers this time it was a bit different. I would say that the only good thing the backing dancers added to the whole series was their assistance with the final lift in the Charleston, and for me the performance wasn't the same with the altered ending. However, I loved that I could concentrate on their dance without all the other stuff going on in the background. I loved it.

It was also no surprise that Simon & Kristina decided to perform the Argentine tango from Blackpool again. And it was performed equally well. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that they were performed in different rooms, I'm not sure you would be able to tell the difference between the two performances.

It was no shock to anyone that Caroline was the winner. Of the four finalists, Frankie was the only one that I was less keen to lift the glitterball. I found her to be a little one-dimensional, with the paso being the only dance where she displayed any real fire. Even the rumba was 'safe' in my opinion. Both Mark and Simon progressed from mid-series onwards, and I thrilled in watching their progression. Pixie was the only one who could've challenged Caroline, so with her eliminated, there was only one way the result was going to go. I agreed with the judges that she should get 40s across the board for her routines, too. Brilliant performances and a worthy winner.

Here are the videos...

Frankie & Kevin - samba



Mark & Karen - cha cha



Caroline & Pasha - cha cha



Simon & Kristina - Charleston



Frankie & Kevin - showdance



Caroline & Pasha - showdance



Simon & Kristina - showdance



Caroline & Pasha - Charleston



Simon & Kristina - Argentine tango



The moment of truth...

Does Being The Bookies Favourite Mean Victory?

A lot is being made this week of the fact that Caroline is favourite to win Strictly Come Dancing. But does being the favourite really mean she'll be raising the glitterball?

I've had a look back over the past five series to see what the bookies were saying about the finalists.

The Series 7 final in 2009 only had two participants - Ricky Whittle and Chris Hollins. There was no question that Ricky was the better dancer, but Chris & Ola's Charleston seemed to strike a chord with the public and it was them who came out victorious. Going into the final, Ricky was 4-6 favourite.

In Series 8 (2010), Matt Baker, Kara Tointon and Pamela Stephenson battled it out. Matt was 8-11 favourite, but it was Kara & Artem who won.

In 2011, the show headed to Blackpool for the Series 9 final, which featured Chelsea Healey, Harry Judd and Jason Donovan. Harry was a clear favourite at 1-3, and he and Aliona were the victors.

Buoyed by his success at the London 2012 Olympics, Louis Smith entered the Series 10 final as 8-15 favourite to beat Denise van Outen, Kimberley Walsh and Dani Harmer. Sure enough, he and Flavia came out ahead of the girls.

Last year saw the first ever all-girl final. The 'people's favourite' Susanna Reid was also the bookies' favourite at 13-8. The betting was close between all four, and it was one of the closest finals for a while. But it was Abbey Clancy & Aljaž Skorjanec who went on to beat Susanna, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Natalie Gumede.

Caroline is current favourite to win Series 12 at 8-13, followed by Frankie (2-1), Simon (9-1) and Mark (12-1) according to William Hill.

Monday Musings: Week 12

I'm still reeling from the departure of Pixie, but the show, and the blogging, must go on!

Jake & Janette's first routine was the cha cha. It was OK, but didn't blow me away. Jake was trying too hard to make his hips work, and they ended up looking odd. The entry to the lift in the middle of the routine looked awkward. I liked the story, and Jake's applejacks were very good.

Their Viennese waltz was better in my opinion. It was romantic, traveled well and Jake had pretty good footwork. His posture was a bit odd at times, he sometimes hunches his shoulders. Again, it was solid, but not amazing.

I was a bit disappointed with Frankie & Kevin's rumba, not because of the way it was danced, but because I longed to see some intimacy between them, and the dolly routine left me a little disappointed. It also hid a few things, with Frankie doing stiff dolly walks instead of rumba walks. As a showpiece, however, it was brilliant. It had lovely light and shade, switching between the hard dolly parts and the soft rumba parts. It was a lovely routine, very innovative, but it just didn't scratch the itch I have to see Frankie do something less 'vanilla'.

Their Argentine tango went some way to scratching that itch. It was intense, dark and intimate. The decoration was great. Frankie waited to be led by Kevin and did not anticipate the routine. The lifts were nice, and effortlessly executed.

Mark & Karen's Viennese waltz was sweet and elegant. Mark looked relaxed and it was clear that he just wanted to take it in and enjoy the dance. Mark's footwork was good, and the routine covered the floor well. It was very engaging and well performed. It was a shame they couldn't quite manage the fleckerl.

I'm not sure where the content was in the rumba. As a lyrical routine, it was lovely, but this was supposed to be a rumba. I didn't like the decision to perform barefoot. We really didn't see much from Mark apart from posing and presenting Karen. There was a nice romance between them, but it wasn't what it was supposed to be.

In terms of content, Simon probably had the best routines of the night. I loved Simon & Kristina's samba. Simon displayed the best samba hip action of the series. It's such a shame there was a mistake in the middle with the samba rolls, because it should have scored so much higher. 

Simon & Kristina's foxtrot was proper, old school Strictly. It hard charm, fun, elegance and content. They barely broke hold throughout the whole routine, so hats off to Kristina for that. Simon has really started to perform over the last few weeks. His footwork was solid, and the whole thing was a pleasure to watch.

Caroline & Pasha's foxtrot was interesting. It was very lyrical and emotional. However, it looked to me that there were a few small stumbles in the routine, or odd places where Caroline seemed to be trying to catch up to Pasha. Caroline is an excellent dancer, but the foxtrot wasn't as clean as some of her other routines in my opinion. That's not to say it was bad. Caroline was amazing, but in the semi-final we expect to see perfection.

Their salsa was perfection. It was fast and furious, with brilliant armography. Caroline just went for it. She totally sold every step, and made you want to get up and dance too. It was a great performance, and deserving of a top score.

I thought that Caroline's salsa and Simon's foxtort were the best dances of the night. I thought it odd that Mark & Karen elected to do the rumba in the dance-off. I guess they just chose the routine which was their favourite, expecting it to be their last dance. I was happy to see Mark saved, as he has improved throughout the competition. Jake started strong, but tailed off, and never lived up to the salsa in week 2. 

Here are the videos...

Jake & Janette - cha cha



Jake & Janette - Viennese waltz



Frankie & Kevin - rumba



Frankie & Kevin - Argentine tango



Mark & Karen - rumba



Simon & Kristina - samba



Simon & Kristina - foxtrot



Caroline & Pasha - foxtrot



Caroline & Pasha - salsa

Ola To Quit Strictly?

Ola Jordan will reportedly quit Strictly Come Dancing at the end of the series.

OK! magazine reports that she will be taking part in Channel 4's The Jump in the new year, followed by a dance reality show with her husband James Jordan. 

A source told The Sun: "Ola leaving Strictly will come as a huge blow to the show. She hasn't been the most popular in recent weeks and there have been some problems, but she is still one of the best professionals. Ola has become disillusioned with the BBC and she and James want to do their own thing."

Wendi Peters: "I Would Be There Like A Shot"

Coronation Street actress Wendi Peters would love to take part in Strictly, and would jump at the opportunity to take part.

She told the Daily Express: "If I'm honest, Strictly is the only ['reality' show] that I would love to do. If they called me up I would be there like a shot - it's such a fabulous show. I'm a huge fan and it's on in my dressing room on Saturdays in between shows [Wendi is currently appearing with Tom Chambers and Aled Jones in White Christmas in London]. I watch It Takes Two every night when I'm getting ready. I'm a bit of a Strictly freak, I always have been."

Len To Quit Dancing With The Stars

Len has decided that he non longer want to be a judge on Dancing With The Stars in order to spend more time with his family. The spring series of the American show, which runs two series per year, will be his last.

He told DigitalSpy: "Next year, I'm not going to do the flying backwards and forwards – I'm not going to do the American show... I've got to have a bit of time off. I've got my wife, I've got my son, my mother is still alive and she's in hospital – I've had virtually no time to go and visit her. So, I just need a bit of time off to get on with a normal life. And it was either Strictly went or the American one went or the tour went... I'm doing the spring one when I go out there... and that's going to be my last one."

He maintains that he will stay with Strictly, as long as the producers want him: "I feel a loyalty towards the BBC. I will do Strictly as long as they want me. Eventually, they will say, 'He's getting too old and fat now, Goodman, we'll have to get shot of him'. But all the time they would like me to do it, I will be doing it."

Sunday Service: Week 11

I think my expectations must be two high, because while I enjoyed last night's performances, at no point did I feel blown away. I think I want to much...

Simon & Kristina opened the show with their American smooth. They did a very nice job. It was clean and precise. There was plenty of foxtrot content and lots of showbiz. It's just a shame the last lift didn't quite come off as perfectly as the rest of the dance. The dance was lovely, but it didn't make my heart beat faster. Simon has come on leaps and bounds since Blackpool, and could not have delivered this performance earlier in the competition.

It was great to see Caroline & Pasha dance to traditional music for their Argentine tango. I didn't think it was the best Argentine tango choreography we have seen, but I thought they performed it very well. It didn't have the sense of heat that some others have had, and for me it wasn't as passionate as their ballroom tango. Caroline seemed to be holding the tension in her free arm, causing some odd shapes in places. And at times she seemed to anticipate the routine. In Argentine tango more than any other dance, the lady needs to wait for her partner's lead to make it look rights. In places, Caroline didn't let Pasha lead enough. That said, I did enjoy the performance.

Pixie & Trent's cha cha lacked cha cha content in my opinion. Pixie performed well, as always, but I don't like what Trent did with the routine. Trent has been excellent this year, so I'm not sure what went wrong here. There were too many kicks and poses, and very little recogniseable cha cha. Pixie's legs could have worked a bit harder. The whole thing was a bit messy and uncontrolled. Under-rehearsed perhaps.

I really enjoyed Mark & Karen's foxtrot, even if it was out-of-hold so much it was heading toward American smooth. It was calm, charming and controlled, with lots of Hollywood glamour and decent footwork. Mark hit his stride just before Simon, on Halloween week, and he's been really good ever since. I really wasn't impressed to see Mark in the line-up, but I've come to really enjoy having him on the show. The 'J' word was made for Mark.

I was a little worried that Jake & Janette had been stitched up again when I heard what they were doing to. I thought their Charleston started a bit show, but ended up being really good. It was cheeky and fun, with some very complex lifts. It's clear Janette totally trusts Jake, and says a lot for their partnership. I can't help but wonder if the reason I enjoyed the routine so much was more because of Janette than Jake. It was unfortunate that, like Simon & Kristina, they missed the entry to one of the lifts. It was a blot on what had been a near perfect routine otherwise.

It was definitely a night for dodgy choreography. I didn't think that Frankie & Kevin's salsa had enough salsa content. It was nice to see a sexier side of Frankie. Although it was still only Saturdays sexy. As I mentioned last week, I think that most of her dances have been on the 'preppy' side, a bit too vanilla. This was still a little too clean and places for a salsa, but at least she gyrated and looked a little less strait-laced. She still needs to close her feet together properly, too. Now, I would like to take a small moment just to honour Frankie's sparkly welding helmet. Genius.

Then we had the 'anything can happen' (but never, ever, ever does) group number. This year, some bright spark decided it should be waltz-a-thon. There is so much to debate. Did Simon have an unfair advantage, having done the waltz last week? I'm not sure he did. Surely this dance favoured the celebrity girls, as they can just follow their pro boys. Certainly, Mark seemed to keep out of the way as much as possible and didn't make much attempt to cover the floor. Simon was the only celebrity man who made the judges' top three, with Jake at the bottom of the list.

Top for me last night were Jake and Mark. The bottom two is getting impossible to predict. And based on the comments on Twitter last night, there are people out there voting for all of the couples. There is no clear leader, or clear loser. Pixie and Frankie were not of form for me last night, but should they be in the bottom two? Probably not. I think it's going to be terrible for whoever ends up in the bottom two tonight. I don't envy the judges at all. Get the tissues ready!

Here are the videos...

Simon & Kristina



Caroline & Pasha



Pixie & Trent



Mark & Karen



Jake & Janette



Frankie & Kevin



Waltz-a-thon

Final Tour Celebrities Announced

The final celebrities to join the Strictly Live Tour have been announced.

Simon Webb will dance with Kristina Rihanoff
Scott Mills will dance with Joanne Clifton

Unlike past tours, all the celebrities are from the current series.

In an interesting development, the judging panel is getting a makeover. Joining Craig Revel Horwood will be Series 6 champions Tom Chamber and Camilla Dallerup.

I think this is a good thing. Len and Craig's bickering, and Bruno's chair-falling antics are starting to become tired. While I wouldn't want to see them leave the show, it's nice to play with the line-up on tour. Tom will know what the participants are feeling, having performed on the show and the tour. And anyone who follows Camilla on Twitter will know that she often judges and scores the dances at home. I find her very fair, and think she will nicely balance the panel. It's also nice to have a woman back on the tour panel.

The tour begins on 16th January at the Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham (formerly the NIA), and runs until 18th February. See StrictlyComeDancingLive.com for more information.

Theatre Review: Dance 'Til Dawn

After the massive success of Midnight Tango, former Strictly pros Vincent Simone & Flavia Cacace have been touring with a new show - Dance 'Til Dawn - which has now arrived at London's Aldwych Theatre for a limited run.

Dance 'Til Dawn is a lot more light-hearted than Midnight Tango. It is set in Hollywood's golden age - the 1940s. Starlet Sadie Strauss (Flavia) and her leading man Bobby Burns, a cereal love-rat, are the darlings of the movies. But when Bobby is murdered, Sadie's co-star Tony DeLuca (Vincent), who has been trying to charm her, is framed.

The humorous story is pushed along by private detective Tommy (Teddy Kempner) and his nightclub singer client Lana (Abbie Osmon), who is desperate to cover up her own affair with Burns. There are a lot of 'rim-shot' jokes which deliberately break the kayfabe, but it all adds to the charm of the show.

The dance show features many different dance styles, not just the Argentine tango which the couple are famous for. There is quickstep, jive, ballroom tango and a prison paso with the campest backing dancers you can imagine. Vincent & Flavia are supported by an excellent company of singer-dancers, who support the stars without outshining them.

The whole thing is high-energy. There is very clever use of the stage sets to move the story on, too. There is also an excellent selection of music, which all has a 1940s sound, despite some of it being as up-to-date as Adele's Rumour Has It. The same is true of the costumes, which were designed by Strictly's Vicky Gill.

While I enjoyed Midnight Tango, and it's hard not to use that as comparison, Dance 'Til Dawn is definitely more my kind of show. It was fast, funny and fabulous.

If you're still not sure, here's a clip...



Dance 'Til Dawn is at London's Aldwych Theatre until 3rd January 2015, followed by a UK tour from late-January to early-May. To find out more, and to buy tickets, visit dancetildawnonstage.com.

More Tour Celebrities Announced

More celebrities have been announced for the Strictly tour in the new year. Frankie and Thom will be joined by Alison Hammond, Caroline Flack and Mark Wright.

The pairings for the celebrities have also been announced.

Frankie Bridge & Kevin Clifton
Thom Evans & Iveta Lukosuite
Alison Hammond & Aljaž Škorjanec
Caroline Flack will get a new partner in Tristan MacManus
Mark Wright & Karen Hauer

Sam Faiers Would Like To Follow In Mark's Dance Steps

Former The Only Way Is Essex star Sam Faiers would like to follow in Mark Wright's dance steps and take to the floor herself.

She told the Sunday World: "I'd love to do Strictly, to learn a skill and get fit. I've got rhythm, but I can't dance, so I'd have to learn from scratch. I've been watching Mark - he's been doing really well."

Judges Banned From Discussing Dance-Off

Len Goodman has revealed that the judges are completely banned from talking during the dance-off, so that they cannot confer. They also enter their decisions on their keypads as soon as the dance is over, which probably explains why the judges do not appear to agonise over their decisions as much as they used to.

Len explained to the Daily Star: “They are very important about the compliances on the show and that you do everything correct and there are people who check. You have to vote who you want to save straight away. You don’t see what the others have done. You don’t have a little chit-chat and say: ‘What shall we do?’ Oh no, there is no communication. You press a button if you want to save Number One or Number Two. You press it and then what happens, happens.”

Could Simon & Kristina Become More Than Friends?

Could Simon and Kristina become more than friends when the show comes to an end in a few weeks' time?

In an interview with The People yesterday, Simon hinted that he would consider more than a professional relationship with his dance partner: “I’m very passionate about what I do. It’s nice to meet someone else who’s passionate. We’re working so hard and it’s purely professional. I don’t want anything like that to get in the way of this experience. Would it cross my mind after the show finishes? You’re going to have to ask me after it ends.”

Simon also admits that while he has had fun at the after-show parties, he tries to keep it sensible: “We've had a few Strictly nights out but I leave before the lights come on. Kristina has two glasses of wine, then she’s off. She’ll say, ‘Please get some rest’ and I say I will. It’s really nice that somebody cares that much. I’m very ­competitive with myself but I’m not thinking about winning. I’m on Strictly – so I think I've already won.”