Strictly Come Dancing

Revision as of 07:49, 21 December 2008

Synopsis

A bunch of non-dancing celebs attempt to learn a series of dances, perform them on a live Saturday night show, get insulted by a panel of judges, and face a public phone vote to decide who gets booted off each week. And all to raise money for Comic Relief / Children In Need / Telethon '89. Fairly bog-standard reality series mechanics then, but they certainly put on quite a show.

Renowned song-and-dance man Bruce Forsyth is our host, though he doesn't get to do much dancing, which seems a bit of a waste. Each celeb has been paired up with a professional dancer, and we get to see clips of them in rehearsal before they take to the floor to perform. After a minute and a half of dancing, their performance is appraised by four judges - the nasty one, the camp one, the old one and the Hot Gossip one - then they go off into the backroom (the transition originally covered by Brucie telling a joke that would invariably fall flat, but nowadays he just does a simple link) to be grilled by Glamorous Lady Co-Presenter and watch as the judges reveal their marks out of ten. Repeat until all the couples have danced.

Lesley Garrett and professional dancer Anton Du Beke in action

The judges' marks count for 50% of the final score, and the public phone vote for (calculators out, chaps) the other 50%. In theory this should reduce the influence of the sympathy vote and help to keep the better dancers in the competition for longer, though it doesn't entirely work that way.

From series five, the bottom two after the phone vote go through to a "dance-off" with the judges deciding who should go. Whether effectively eliminating the chance of a shock result is good for the show is a bone of contention - as is the fact that the results show is now recorded and shown on Sunday night, which might not be quite so controversial were we not living in an internet age in which the result will inevitably be leaked before broadcast. Even if you avoid the spoilers on Sunday, it's still not quite the same "event television" it was when the whole nation found out the result live.

2008 saw a couple of changes to the telephone voting: lines now open only for a couple of hours after the live show, rather than staying open all week; and the link to Children In Need has been broken since new BBC guidelines introduced after the phone fakery scandals (as covered in Weaver's Weeks passim) no longer allow phone lines to be used to raise money for charity outside of special events.

Even though it borrows a lot from other shows, Strictly Come Dancing does manage to come out feeling like something a little bit different for a Saturday night. It's a very visual spectacle, which instantly makes it stand out from all the purely musical entertainments that both BBC and ITV have thrown at us in recent years. There's a huge sense of fun and exuberance too, which even Bruce's strained jokes cannot quell. Credit must also be given to Laurie Holloway (series 1-3) and Dave Arch (thereafter) and their respective bands, who perform all the music live and, even more than the hosts, set the tone for the show. All in all, a surprising triumph for the BBC.

Participants

Series One

• Natasha Kaplinsky (presenter) and Brendan Cole (winners)
• Christopher Parker (actor) and Hanna Karttunen
• Lesley Garrett (singer) and Anton Du Beke
• Martin Offiah (rugby player) and Erin Boag
• Claire Sweeney (actress and presenter) and John Byrnes
• Verona Joseph (actress) and Paul Killick
• David Dickinson (antiques expert) and Camilla Dallerup
• Jason Wood (comedian) and Kylie Jones

Series Two

• Jill Halfpenny (actress) and Darren Bennett (winners)
• Denise Lewis (athlete) and Ian Waite
• Julian Clary (comedian) and Erin Boag
• Aled Jones (singer and presenter) and Lilia Kopylova
• Roger Black (athlete) and Camilla Dallerup
• Sarah Manners (actress) and Brendan Cole
• Diarmuid Gavin (garden designer) and Nicole Cutler
• Esther Rantzen (presenter) and Anton Du Beke
• Carol Vorderman (presenter) and Paul Killick
• Quentin Willson (motoring journalist/presenter) and Hazel Newberry

Series Three

• Darren Gough (cricketer) and Lilia Kopylova (winners)
• Colin Jackson (former athlete) and Erin Boag
• Zoe Ball (presenter) and Ian Waite
• James Martin (TV chef) and Camilla Dallerup
• Patsy Palmer (actress) and Anton Du Beke
• Bill Turnbull (TV journalist) and Karen Hardy
• Dennis Taylor (snooker player/commentator) and Izabella Hannah
• Will Thorp (actor) and Hanna Haarala
• Gloria Hunniford (presenter) and Darren Bennett
• Fiona Phillips (presenter) and Brendan Cole
• Jaye Jacobs (actress) and Andrew Cuerden
• Siobhan Hayes (actress) and Matthew Cutler

Series Four

• Mark Ramprakash (cricketer) and Karen Hardy (winners)
• Emma Bunton (singer) and Darren Bennett
• Georgina Bouzova (actress) and James Jordan
• Matt Dawson (rugby player) and Lilia Kopylova
• Ray Fearon (actor) and Camilla Dallerup
• Claire King (actress) and Brendan Cole
• Louisa Lytton (actress) and Vincent Simone
• Nicholas Owen (newsreader) and Nicole Cutler
• Mica Paris (singer) and Ian Waite
• Jan Ravens (impressionist) and Anton Du Beke
• Peter Schmeichel (footballer) and Erin Boag
• Carol Smillie (television presenter) and Matthew Cutler
• Spoony (disk jockey) and Ola Jordan
• Jimmy Tarbuck (entertainer) and Flavia Cacace

Series Five

• Alesha Dixon (ex-Mis-Teeq singer) and Matthew Cutler (winners)
• John Barnes (ex-footballer) and Nicole Cutler
• Stephanie Beacham (actress) and Vincent Simone
• Kelly Brook (model, actress and TV presenter) and Brendan Cole
• Brian Capron (ex-Coronation Street actor) and Karen Hardy
• Letitia Dean (actress) and Darren Bennett
• Matt Di'Angelo (EastEnders actor) and Flavia Cacace
• Kate Garraway (TV presenter) and Anton Du Beke
• Gethin Jones (Blue Peter presenter) and Camilla Dallerup
• Penny Lancaster-Stewart (model and photographer) and Ian Waite
• Dominic Littlewood (TV presenter) and Lilia Kopylova
• Gabby Logan (TV presenter) and James Jordan
• Kenny Logan (ex-rugby international) and Ola Jordan
• Willie Thorne (ex-snooker player) and Erin Boag

Series Six

• Tom Chambers (actor) and Camilla Dallerup (winners)
• Christine Bleakley (presenter) and Matthew Cutler
• Andrew Castle (presenter) and Ola Jordan
• Phil Daniels (actor) and Flavia Cacace
• Mark Foster (olympic swimmer) and Hayley Holt
• Jodie Kidd (model) and Ian Waite
• Cherie Lunghi (actress) and James Jordan
• Austin Healey (ex-rugby player) and Erin Boag
• Gary Rhodes (chef) and Karen Hardy
• John Sergeant (journalist) and Kristina Rihanoff
• Heather Small (singer) and Brian Fortuna
• Lisa Snowdon (model and presenter) and Brendan Cole
• Rachel Stevens (singer) and Vincent Simone
• Gillian Taylforth (actress) and Anton Du Beke
• Jessie Wallace (actress) and Darren Bennett
• Don Warrington (actor) and Lilia Kopylova

Specials

Champion of Champions 2004: Natasha Kaplinsky, Lesley Garrett, Martin Offiah, Jill Halfpenny, Denise Lewis and Aled Jones were reunited with their previous partners for this live special broadcast on 22 December 2004. The usual judges presided. Winners were Jill Halfpenny and Darren Bennett.

Strictly Ice Dancing: A one-off ice-dance version broadcast on 26 December 2004. Laurie Holloway's band was not present, and since the show was recorded, the studio audience rather than the public got to vote for 50% of the score. The judges were Craig Revel Horwood, Doreen Hoppe, Chris Howarth and Nicky Slater. The couples were:

• Rowland Rivron (TV presenter) and Charlotte Clements
• Carol Smilie (TV presenter) and Oula Jaaskelainen
• Marcus Patric (actor) and Leigh Mack
• Scarlett Johnson (actress) and Daniel Whiston
• Jessica Taylor (singer) and Robert Burgerman
• David Seaman (former footballer) and Zoia Birmingham

The winner was David Seaman, who had been brought in as a late replacement for the injured Paul Gascoigne.

Strictly African Dancing

Yes, they do dress like that at home.

Another one-off, this one for the Africa Lives on the BBC season. Hosted by Martin Offiah and Natasha Kaplinsky, six celebrities "of African or Caribbean origin" each learnt an African dance and then went through the usual performance-and-voting procedure. The celebs were:

• Robbie Earle (ex-footballer) - winner
• Tessa Sanderson (athlete)
• Tupele Dorgu (Coronation Street actress)
• Antonia Okonma (Bad Girls actress)
• Tunde Baiyewu (singer with The Lighthouse Family)
• Louis Emerick (actor)

The judges were Stacey Haynes, Peter Badejo, Todd Twala and Craig Revel-Horwood. Hugh Quarshie replaced Alan Dedicoat on voiceover duties.

Champion of Champions 2005: A recorded show, aired on Christmas Eve 2005, which featured the last four from 2005 series, together with two celebrities from the US version, Dancing With the Stars. The partnerships were:

• Rachel Hunter (supermodel) and Darren Cole
• Evander Holyfield (boxer) and Karen Hardy
• Zoe Ball and Ian Waite
• Darren Gough and Lilia Kopylova - winners
• Colin Jackson and Erin Boag
• James Martin and Camilla Dallerup

Christmas Special 2006: Another recorded show, aired on Christmas Day 2006 (and quite right too), featuring the final four celebs from the 2006 series plus the second and third-placed finalists from the 2005 series. Winners were named "Strictly Christmas Champions".

• Mark Ramprakash and Karen Hardy
• Matt Dawson and Lilia Kopylova
• Emma Bunton and Darren Bennett
• Louisa Lytton and Vincent Simone
• Colin Jackson and Erin Boag - winners
• Zoe Ball and Ian Waite

Christmas Special 2007: Featuring the top four from the 2007 series plus the 2005 and 2006 champions.

• Letitia Dean and Darren Bennett
• Matt Di Angelo and Flavia Cacace
• Alesha Dixon and Matthew Cutler
• Darren Gough and Lilia Kopylova - winners
• Gethin Jones and Camilla Dallerup
• Mark Ramprakash and Karen Hardy

Sport Relief Does Strictly Come Dancing 2008: A one-off in which new celebs were paired up not with professional dancers, but with sports stars who were previous Strictly contestants. Only three judges appeared as Bruno Tonioli was not available.

• Gemma Bissix and Darren Gough
• David Ginola and Denise Lewis
• Jade Johnson and Roger Black
• Elaine Paige and Matt Dawson
• Kara Tointon and Mark Ramprakash - winners

Children in Need 2008: Another charity edition, this time with Fearne Cotton hosting. Although this one was done live, there was no telephone voting, and the winner was decided by the studio audience.

• Tess Daly and Anton Du Beke - winners
• Terry Wogan and Flavia Cacace

Christmas special 2008: To feature the last three from the 2008 series, plus:

• Jill Halfpenny
• Kelly Brook
• Alesha Dixon

Inventor

Format by BBC FED Team, based on Come Dancing devised by Eric Morley. From series five, his widow Julia Morley is also credited.

Trivia

The worst ever judges' score was 8 (out of 40), achieved by Quentin Willson and Hazel Newberry for the cha cha cha on their one and only competitive appearance. A perfect 40 was first achieved by Jill Halfpenny and Darren Bennet for the jive in the series 2 final.

Judge Bruno Tonioli was once a backing dancer and choreographer for Bananarama, as well as Wham!, Elton John (he's in the I'm Still Standing video) and Paul McCartney, among many others. He also appeared on A Song for Europe in 1980 as part of the group Duke and the Aces. They came seventh.

The "Strictly" bit in the title is a reference to the 1992 film Strictly Ballroom.

The Strictly Come Dancing format has been widely exported under the title Dancing With The Stars, and the US and Australian versions have both topped their countries' TV ratings charts. Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli appeared as judges on the US version, for which Alan Dedicoat also did the voiceover (though since all the announcements are pre-recorded, he never even got to leave London). Local versions of the show appeared in the annual top ten TV ratings in 17 countries in 2006, more than any other format.

The series is planned so that three couples will compete in the final. However in 2006 and 2007 the final featured only two couples, due to contestants dropping out: Jimmy Tarbuck for medical reasons and Kelly Brook due to a death in the family. The same would have happened in 2008 after John Sergeant withdrew from the competition, but they got around it by having no elimination in the week before the final and all votes cast that week "roll over" to the final. This was caused by the judges scores being tied for the top two couples on the penultimate week, meaning that there was no way for the viewers to get the couple in last place out of the dance-off. Why they didn't split the tie by giving the 3 points to the couple with the higher individual dance mark, we don't know. That would've been too logical, wouldn't it?

Catchphrases

One of Bruce's regular catchphrases was amended to "nice to twirl you..." in series 1 and 2. He's now reverted to the usual "nice to see you...".

"Let's meet the stars of our show."

"You're my favourites." - From series 4, often said by Bruce after a couple - any couple - had recieved a mauling from the judges.

Bruce: "On behalf of Tess and everyone - and I do mean everyone..."
Bruce & Tess: "Keeeeeep dancin'!"

Merchandise

Strictly Come Dancing (CD)

It's Strictly Dancing with Natasha & Brendan (VHS) | (all-region DVD)

Strictly Come Dancing - hardback book (2005) and revised 2006 edition

Sadly the Anton Du Beke mug and flask are no longer available.

Pictures

Judges with a high opinion... of themselves.
(left to right): Bruno Tonioli, Arlene Phillips, Len Goodman, Craig Revel Horwood.
On the actual show, Craig sits on the left, Bruno on the right.

Web links

Official BBC site

Strictly Dancing Online - excellent fan site

Ian & Victoria's Come Dancing Page - another good fan site

Wikipedia entry

Bother's Bar Review

Homepages for dancers featured on the show:
Anton Du Beke & Erin Boag
Camilla Dallerup

Darren Bennett & Lilia Kopylova
Hazel Newberry (site requires Flash)
Nicole Cutler

See also

Come Dancing

Strictly Dance Fever

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