strictly awful month for anton du beke


Yeah from bad to worse, but at least him and Laila are still dancing.


fans turn on sulky Brendan



ROFL papers so dramatic most Strictly fans have known what Brendan is like for ages.

dad thanks fans for supporting dancer joe

Craig has said nastier things to many of the dancers over the years.  Brendan stormed off, dragging Jo with him, for only one reason and that was to get the sympathy vote.

Arlene is a nasty cow and has said worse things to the celebs AND the professionals.  I am not sorry she isn't on the judging panel.  I wish Karen Hardy or Camilla Dallerup were there though.

That might be true but there might actually be people who like watching them as a couple we will never know the reasons why people vote.


Craig has got really personal at times which is not on but you have to be constructive or harsh, but he's probably been told to tone it down this year. The panel seems more fun this year and not serious all the time. Arlene couldn't resist a personal dig but she did make some good comments indeed.

phillips romance cost calzaghe


Maybe, but Zoe was third in the leaderboard so she must have had a low public vote to end up in the dance off also. Arlene is right Mavia is the Strictly romance everyone finally knew would happen.

Arlene would only make constructive comments to the celebs she liked though.  Craig nearly always says someting positive, and by Brendan storming off, he missed whatever positive comments he would have made.

Arlene had already decided in series 5 she wanted Alesha and Gethin in the final, so she didn't look happy he didn't make it. Last year she was biased towards my favourite Lisa Snowdon and also Rachel Stevens. I thought if Brendan had listened to Alesha and Len's comments he might have had a bit of praise or constructive criticism he wanted for them both.

ricky whittle drained by strictly


Oh no, he'll need to rest a bit more and work harder.

Kristina Rhianoff sure is loving the publicity.

Kristina

Ali and Brian doing American Smooth confirmed on ITT.

Chris and Ola doing American Smooth also confirmed.

Well I agree with what Brendon did, it is totally wrong to say things like that to a dancer, male or female, I would have done the same, how is that a constructive criticism, can't see it myself.

And now we've got Arleyne chirping in about Joe and why he went.
Doesn't she realise its a popularity contest and nothing to do with the dancing anyway.
Who cares if he's taking Kristina out for a meal, god help us.

Strictly Come Dancing: Arlene Phillips blames Joe Calzaghe’s exit on his romance with Kristina Rihanoff

By Rachael Wheeler, Mirror.co.uk 19/10/2009

Former Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips believes Joe Calzaghe’s romance with partner Kristina Rihanoff was the reason he got voted out.

The 66-year-old apparently said that the pair’s relationship attracted so much attention off-screen, their passion on stage was “meaningless”.

She said: “The romances this year – Kristina and Joe, Ali and Brian – are out there for all to see so it becomes meaningless on the dance floor.

“There is no mystery, no haunting quality.”

Meanwhile, Kristina is said to have gushed that Joe is the “nicest” man she has ever met.

The professional dancer doesn’t think the boxer’s exit from the show will end their “friendship”, because they have supposedly developed a “special connection.”

Kristina reportedly said: “Yes, I do think he is sexy. He’s the nicest and kindest person I’ve ever met. I hope our friendship stays for a long time.”

The duo were voted off on Saturday after landing in the bottom two with actress Zoe Lucker and her partner James Jordan.

Get all the latest Strictly Come Dancing news in our dedicated section.

Judges comments aside, -
Ricky Whittle's  Viennese Waltz was smooth and gliding.
Jo Wood's Viennese Waltz was bobbing and bouncing and far from smooth and gliding (as was Natalie's to some extent. She is a poor dancer I think.
Some of Ricky's footwork was a bit imprecise, which makes the "10" mark a bit surprising.
Ali and Brian remain my favourites at the moment.

I really don't think anyone this year will match my favs Alesha Dixon, Louisa Lytton, Matt Di Angelo, Lisa Snowdon or Mark Ramps, they don't seem to have that special something that the other series had and lacking in the charisma stakes a bit but they're mostly upbeat and positive.

I agree Darloboy,

The good old days eh, Alesha, Louisa, Matt, Lisa, loved them.

But apart from that.
Why don't the judges tell them what problems they have during the week.
They have all this training and the judges watch the video's from during the week, so they then store up all the problems they saw in the week and tell them omn the Saturday, why didn't they tell them in the week, it's just pathetic what they are doing.

It's obvious that they don't want them to iron out the problems or the judges would be out of work.

I just think the dancers are being set up so the judges can look good.

Interestingly, on ITT Craig R-H had commented about Craig Kelly's training.

He said he was "kicking a football" and not pointing his toes in the flicks and kicks.

Bearing this in mind I watched Craig closely on Saturday and noted that he was pointing his toes. I assumed he had heeded Craig's comments on ITT.

It was surprising, then, that following Craig Kelly's dance on Saturday Craig R-H said he was not pointing his toes.

It was as if Craig R-H had not been closely watching or (quite likely) that he already had his mind made up before the dancing as to what he would say.

Felt a bit sorry for Craig Kelly getting untrue comments, though, especially as he obviously needs a boost.

I know Hicky they review it during ITT mainly on Thursday and Friday and theres not enough time to work on the feedback as the couples have to practise. Maybe the judges should have a little sneak peek at the midweek training sessions .


Len and Bruno fly out to USA to do DTWS during the week though so they only judge mainly from the main performance or through ITT.



Those 4 were brill.

Strictly Come Dancing blog: Week five

4:42pm Monday 19th October 2009

I have never been to a dancing competition before that was delayed because of the rain!

But even though Saturday nights show started fifteen minutes late, I still expected to be entertained and I have to say I was disappointed.

It all seemed very flat. Granted there is not a lot you can do with a Viennese Waltz and the ones we were shown were of a good standard, but I was definitely disappointed with the Jives.

The majority of the routines all looked the same and the music just did not make you feel like dancing. Even the professionals group Samba, which was suppose to portray the carnival atmosphere, looked all was washed out, and there was a distinct atmosphere, almost as if people could not be bothered.

Is it time to change the format or maybe introduce other forms of dance? Do you think it is time for a facelift? Are we are all becoming complacent with the current format?

Ricky Groves and Erin
JIVE: Ricky has a great little kick action developing, but he does still need to point his feet more. The routine lacked figures and content, rather than just kicks and kick ball changes, I have to agree with Bruno’s five but at the end of the day the choreography is down to Erin, who I think let Ricky down this week.

Jade Johnson and Ian
VIENNESE WALTZ: A great demonstration of the Viennese Waltz from these two this week with lovely choreography and grace, a very classy performance. Jade’s poise has definitely improved, but there was too much bobbing from both of them and not enough fluidity and lilting. Again the major flaw in their routine was down to Ian.

Ali Bastian and Brian
JIVE: At last a bit of sparkle! A very complicated, intricate routine and Ali managed at least two thirds of it. There were a few little hiccups with timing and forgetting of the steps, but Ali does show fantastic potential, and dances to a great standard most of the time. She does make silly little mistakes though which spoil the overall picture. I would like to see both Ali and Brian showing more of their feelings for each other through their dancing as I think this could be a winning combination.

Jo Wood and Brendan
VIENNESE WALTZ: This was definitely Jo’s best dance to date. She did not look like she was being dragged around the floor, which is a really common fault in this dance and Brendan has been guilty of this is previous weeks. It was a little bit skippy in parts but Jo showed us two beautiful top line positions. She now needs to work on her leg strength and still relax into the dance further. I do not think I have ever seen Bruce get so defensive over a celebrity before and I feel that Brendan walking off the floor after Craig’s comment was a bit dummy spitting, especially since Bruno’s comment was just as personal.

Zoe Lucker and James
JIVE: A great start to the routine and Zoe has a great little hip action and excellent strong kicks. Her feet could have been a little closer together on the chasse and if she was a little looser in the upper body it would have helped her performance. This was certainly not deserving of being in the bottom two, however their demonstration in the dreaded dance off was better.

Ricky Whittle and Natalie
VIENNESE WALTZ: A lovely Viennese Waltz performance from these two with a great lilting, flowing feeling. Ricky now needs to straighten his knees and try to keep his head still to complete the overall performance. I do not feel it was deserving of a ten as Alisha marked, but I do agree wholly with Natalie’s comment regarding how difficult it is for anyone to lead a partner around the dance floor, especially having only been dancing for five weeks.

Craig Kelly and Flavia
JIVE: What a shame! Craig had a lot of timing issues in his performance this week and a very flat impression even though he was elevated on his toes most of the time. It also looked like Flavia had to work really hard to keep him going. Craig needs to really up his game if he wants to stay in the competition.

Joe Calzaghe and Kristina

JIVE: Joe’s performance was a lot livelier than we have seen is previous weeks. His personality was just beginning to show, and even though technically his chasses were flat footed, his kicking action was good and his demonstration in the dreaded dance off was marginally better. He did look very disappointed to be out of the competition and he was certainly not the worst dancer of the evening.

Natalie Cassidy and Vincent
VIENNESE WALTZ: This was not one of Natalie’s strongest dances and after her performance last week I was expecting even more improvement. However she was clinging to Vincent quite a lot and the strange leg lifting exercise on her pivoting steps was obviously not picked up in her rehearsals.

Laila Rouass and Anton
JIVE: There were some nice little Jive actions at times, but I thought the choreography and the music did not help her feel the power of the Jive. She also lost the routine several times. Laila has the basis of also being a beautiful Latin dancer but I feel that Anton needs to work more on her Latin as he has done with her Ballroom. I feel that, as in their cha cha, it is Anton that let Laila down this week and not the other way round.

Phil Tufnell and Katya
VIENNESE WALTZ: A good little lilting demonstration of the Viennese Waltz. Phil’s arm was flapping around quite a bit but his hold and frame were not too bad. They looked very elegant together and Phil looked as if he was leading his partner around the floor.

Chris Hollins and Ola
JIVE: A nice attempt but for me it was all a bit lifeless. There were several mistakes and from the offset there were timing issues. The music again was also very difficult to dance to, but Chris had some great kicks and a spring in his step. We know you can dance, now enhance your performance to finish the game!

Lol I had a good read of that article earlier Hicky. I got annoyed at the wrong spelling of Alesha's name though.

Was that my mistyping then?
I do sometimes forget to check the spelling and press Submit and then go straight to edit as I can see an error a mile off.

Work in the Morning, so Nighty Night.

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►*♥*♥* Hope you are all well. *♥*♥*◄
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►*♥*♥* Lovely Tuesday tomorrow. *♥*♥*◄
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Ricky Whittle and Natalie Lowe	11/8
Ali Bastian and Brian Fortuna	3
Laila Rouass and Anton Du Beke	10
Phil Tufnell and Katya Virshilas	12
Zoe Lucker and James Jordan	14

Strictly Come Dancing: Anton Du Beke shocks Laila Rouass with new remark

By Rachael Wheeler, Mirror.co.uk 20/10/2009

I wonder if a fuss would have been made (re: Anton's comment) if it had been someone else who said it?

TBH, I'm getting a bit annoyed with all this trashoid tabloid nonsense.  This has to be the worse year for it.  First, Alesha/Arlene, then Anton, then Brendan and Craig, and now Anton again.

Why don't they print something about the dances?  Or do I expect too much?

No Suzi you don't, frankly the comments in the media are rubbish this year, Anton's comment was tongue in cheek and should be taken as it was meant.

Are the media getting worse or am I just getting fed up with the media?

I didn't say she wasn't eligible. I said she claimed to know nothing about dancing when she was a contestant, but now she claims the opposite.

Arlene getting dumped so Alesha could take her place might not have been "her problem" but anyone with any morals wouldn't have taken the job under those circumstances.

When Alesha accepted the job, she didn't know that Arlene had been sacked.  Alesha thought she would be sitting on the panel with her.

She said she found out the same time as us - which was weeks before filming actually started. Plenty of time for her to tell them, no Arlene, no me.

Perhaps the contracts had already been signed?

Possibly - but if (as she says) they'd got her to sign under false pretences (noooo, you won't be replacing Arlene, luvvie), any contract would be invalid if she chose to make a fuss about it.

The BBC wouldn't need to tell Alesha and her management that they were planning to get rid of Arlene because what ever happened between them and her is private so they wouldn't need to tell her which is probably why she might be telling the truth that she found out the same time as everyone else about Arlene going due to the contract.


As for the Media they are always stirring it, the pros are getting a bit over sensitive this year but they do have a point to feel not happy with some of the uneccessary comments the judges are making and the less constructive criticism of their celeb and feeling their hard work isn't being appreciated.

Nothing to do with the media, they never made her take the job. And as I've already said, if she found out the same time as us, that still gave her plenty of time to tell them to stick it.

They wouldn't "need" to tell her they were ditching Arlene - if they knew she wouldn't  care anyway. If she had cared, there'd be no way of making her honour the contract, because it would have been obtained under false pretences.

But she didn't care, so they got away with it. The only reason she's now moaning is because the public turned on her over it. Not because she gives a monkey's about Arlene.

Well Alesha obviously had a think about it before hand to consider the pros and cons , but maybe it was an offer she simply couldn't refuse given her love for the show, even if she knew that the BBC had decided to get rid of Arlene obviously you would feel sorry for her, but I know I certainly wouldn't refuse the job on the basis it's unfair to Arlene. Arlene is as expected doing great anyway but this won't go away.

See our new video with the gorgeous Kristina Rihanoff showing you how to a perfect Jive at www.bbc.co.uk/strictly 

Claudia's guests tonight on ITT - Zoe & James, Craig & Flavia, Laila & Anton and Choreography Corner with Karen Hardy. Don't miss it!

~shrugs~ Maybe not. But I would.

Me too

Missed the last bit of ITT, well some people forgot that Arlene did play her part in the way of how JS was treated by all the judges last year now all of a sudden she is great because she's been replaced when there was complaints to the BBC about her and Craig, the messageboards was full of people slagging them off last year calling for them to be sacked but then again even though she did have some interesting things to say my least favourite judge.

I agreed with how the judges treated him last year. It's supposed to be dance, not panto. He ruined the show for me.

(cheers, Fairfax, glad it's not just me who wouldn't crap on someone else just to advance my own career).