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Musicals Week – where ballroom comes to die. Well, not entirely, but it did feel for much of the evening as though we were watching the backdoor pilot episode of spin-off Strictly Come Auditioning For The West End (Who Are We Kidding – Touring Will Do). From Mollie getting 9s (9s!) for open-mouthed contempowaft with […]
Another week, another “shock” dance-off entrant. Yes, nothing will quite match Aston’s exit, but this is still an enjoyably open series. Two more frontrunners (and judges’ favourites) have now landed in the bottom, while those of the genus dark horse are jostling for position. Deserving or not in dance terms, any of the celebs remaining […]
Well, this wasn’t exactly a vintage Blackpool Week. Alexandra was pretty much the only celebrity to rise to the heights of breathless “Mecca of Ballroom” hyperbole, and even then she had the ever-irritating Human Props to contend with. Otherwise, we had a string of just OK numbers – some beset with errors, some wallowing in […]
WHAT. DRAMA. Week 7, and this series of Strictly serves up its first proper “shock” exit – Aston Merrygold joining the likes of Pixie Lott and Gabby Logan in the Surprise Early Departure Lounge. He was unlucky to hit a dud dance (and/or one the judges chose to properly critique) on a week where comedy […]
Oh Strictly Halloween. Every year I forget how grim your Fright Night will be, and every year I am gripped anew with its frightfulness. So, once more with feeling: if you’re not sure whether this week is meant to be entirely surrendered to the dressing-up box or somehow magically balanced with brilliant ballroom, how on […]
The big news this week was Italian gesticulator Bruno Tonioli missing his first ever Strictly, apparently because of American work commitments. It’s FINE, Bruno, go be with your OTHER family, we don’t CARE. Actually, with Craig providing a pitch-perfect impression (complete with chair tumble), Bruno’s contribution was basically covered – and it meant more time […]
No theme this week, thank the Strictly gods, unless you count the tidal wave of emotion that saw a nation reaching for more Kleenex. If an overcome Alexandra wishing her late mother could have seen her 10s-scoring jive didn’t get you, how about Jonnie’s shoutout to the surgeon who saved his life, or Susan acing […]
Ah, Movie Week, AKA Can You Remotely Recognise The Dance Under Ten Layers of Theming Week. This was no exception – I had to keep checking my notes to see which dance was supposedly being represented. Also: Trolls. I’m just leaving that there. Worse, theme weeks tend to exacerbate judging inconsistency, with the producers’ choices […]
Oh dear. A few highlights and redemptive dances aside, Strictly seemed to have the Week 2 Blues: an error-strewn performance show with bizarre scoring followed by a sad first exit. I doubt Chizzy would have lasted too long in the competition, but I’d have liked to see a few dances from her – and Brian […]
And we’re off! Strictly Come Dancing Series 15 began its competitive shows with a marathon episode that gave viewers at home a little competition of their own: posterior versus seat. Still, squeezing all the couples into one programme did mean minimal faff and filler, and a good chance to assess a promising crop of celebs. […]
Marianka Swain introduces the contestants… Welcome back, dance fans! Doesn’t everything feel great and not at all like the End of Days?! Honestly, Series 15 of Strictly Come Dancing could not have come at a better time, bringing sparkle, humour and warmth to combat the, er, Biblical plagues and imminent nuclear annihilation… Not that it […]
Strictly Come Dancing has announced its new head judge: Shirley Ballas, the Latin dancer and international coach, will replace Len Goodman on the panel of the BBC show. Born in Wallasey in 1960, Ballas had a glittering competitive career: three-time British Open Latin champion, ten-time United States Latin American champion. By the age of 23, […]
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