Strictly Come Dancing, Sunday, BBC1
Posted by Liberty Jones
The costumes were the stars of the show in this weekend's Strictly-fest, as the men and women went head to head for the first time. Swimmer Mark Foster's unspeakably tight black fishnet top caused Arlene to break out in a hot flush. Meanwhile, dads around the country choked on their vindaloo as ballroom pro Kristina Rihanoff and her gravity-defying bosoms took to the dancefloor in a skimpy tangerine number, accompanied by a beaming (and who can blame him?) John Sergeant.
Performance-wise, the highest scores of the night went to Holby City star Tom Chambers – his impending wedding clearly having put an extra spring in his step – and presenter Lisa Snowdon. Tom's American Smooth was, said judge Craig Revel Horrid, "full of charm and confidence", while Arlene too was unusually effusive, describing Lisa's effort as "earth-shattering".
Austin Healey and Cherie Lunghi produced the sort of respectable performances we've come to expect from them both, though Craig complained that Cherie hadn't injected enough "showbiz" into her routine. Meanwhile, supermodel Jodie Kidd had picked herself up after last week's disappointing display, with Len proclaiming her American Smooth as her best dance to date.
Faring less well were GMTV's Andrew Castle, who nearly dropped partner Ola Jordan and whose plodding, pigeon-toed fandango was described by Bruno Tonioli as "rotten". After a critical mauling from the judges, poor Andrew appeared crushed as he admitted "that's the worst we've done it all week".
Also failing to impress was veteran political journalist John, whose lacklustre samba received a vote of no confidence from the judges and the lowest score of the night. We still think he's fab though!
On Sunday night's results show, it was Heather Small and Don Warrington who were in the bottom two. Both showed a spectacular improvement as they performed again for the judges, but in the event it was Heather who emerged victorious. Accepting defeat in his usual gracious manner, Shakespearean actor Don said his one big regret was that he wouldn't get to dance with partner Lilia Kopylova again. Goodnight, Don… we're really going to miss you.
Picture: BBC
When they originally moved it to being two shows they were open about the fact that the results show was filmed on a Saturday after a short break. One factor that decided the chage was that as they had so many children watching it it was better to show the results on Sunday evening instead. Okay - so they haven't stated this again but it is not a secret. Hence the phone-lines close at 9.30pm - it means that they can film the results on the Saturday night then dismantle the set for whatever that studio is required for between shows.
It is still 'live' in that it happens as it is seen on film - there is no cross editing - some cutting as costume changes are going to take slightly longer than are sometimes seen on television - but there are no effects/dubbing etc.
Something 'live' can be filmed live and then be played back later. It is still 'live' because it is what happened in front of that audience then and there.
Posted by: Cat | 20 October 2008 at 14:49
Surely, Geoff, you should have worked out that the results show wasn't filmed immediately after the main show. It can't have been as the phone lines didn't close until 9:30. Or are you suggesting dirty deeds afoot? Most likely they started the filming around 9:00 after a quick breather to recover from the live show. Ivan, it's never been claimed to be a live results show since moving to a Sunday!
Posted by: Donald | 20 October 2008 at 12:18
Surely, Ivan, you should have worked out that the "results" bit is filmed immediately after the main show on the Saturday - they are still wearing the same costumes and you can almost see them catching their breath from their original efforts!
Posted by: geoff | 20 October 2008 at 11:30
If it was a 'live' results show, where was Tom's wedding ring?
Posted by: Ivan | 20 October 2008 at 10:00