BBC Strictly Come Dancing - Week 9, Tonights Dances

Heather Small was eliminated last week and Rachel Stevens surprisingly found herself in the bottom two. In Strictly Come Dancing this year, seemingly anything can happen. Three couples shared first place on the leaderboard and John Sergeant went through without a scrape.

What dance is everyone performing this week for round 9? Here is the list.

Austin Healey & Erin - Tango
Tom Chambers & Camilla - Salsa
Cherrie Lunghi & James - Cha Cha Cha
Rachel Stevens & Vincent - Rumba
Lisa Snowdon & Brendan - Samba
Christine Bleakley & Matt - Waltz
Jodie Kidd & Ian - Quickstep
John Sergeant & Kristina - American Smooth

With a solid definite styled dance like the Tango, Austin Healey has a great chance of bouncing back from last weeks troubles to top the Leaderboard.

The most talked about dance with the British public is most likely to be John Sergeant's American Smooth. This really is car crash television and its obviously what the people at home want. All we need now is Harry Hill to do the commentary.

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BBC Strictly Come Dacing - Week 9, The Latest Odds to Win

Week 8 in Strictly come dancing was a bit of a bad week for Austin Healey. He escaped the bottom two however and his odds in the betting market to win are virtually unchanged.

Austin Healey 5/4
Tom Chambers 5/2
Cherie Lunghi 5/1
Lisa Snowdon 8/1
Rachel Stevens 10/1
Christine Bleakley 16/1
John Sergeant 33/1
Jodie Kidd 33/1

It was a great week for Tom Chambers. He finished joint top of the leaderboad with 36 for his Quickstep. His odds now shorten to 5/2.

The odds of Rachel Stevens winning Strictly Come Dancing continue to drift outwards and she is now looking a bit of an outsider. This is quite surprising. She has taken quite a few weeks to hit her true potential, but this week Rachel really nailed it with the American Smooth. 35 points however was not enough with inadequate votes from the viewers at home.

It is rumoured that a great percentage of the viewers votes are either going to Cherie Lunghi or the hapless John Sergeant.

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BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 8, Rachel Stevens 35 points = Bottom Two Dance Off

So... these days in Strictly Come Dancing, 35 points from the Judges can leave you ending up in the bottom two dance off. What a joke this is and not a very funny one.

Professional dance partner, Vincent Simone, choreographed a brilliant American Smooth routine and wouldn't have believed what happened with the voting public. This was Rachel's best performance week so far and she was rewarded with this travesty of events. It appears she must have very little support with the viewers at home which is a bit of a mystery. Has something gone wrong with the vote counting system?

One thinks that maybe it has.

Thankfully Rachel survived the dance off this week, but it was to the detriment of Heather Small, who also danced well. Truth be told, neither of the women should have been there.

Head Judge Len Goodman said of Rachel's original routine, "Diamonds come in small packages and that was a gem of a performance."

Bruno added, "it was Fred and Ginger for me tonight, so elaborate and demanding... you did that effortlessly."

It is perhaps impossible to fathom. Bruno said he felt as if he were in the Twilight Zone. In a week where a score of 35 out of 40 can land you in the bottom two, the dance part of this competition is becoming less and less relevant.

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BBC Strictly come Dancing 2008 - Week 8, The Judges Scores are in

It's week 8, the dances have been done, and the Judges scores are in. Wow, what a high scoring week... well... for all non-former ITN people.

Here are how things shape up at the half-way stage,

Tom Chambers & Camilla 36
Cherie Lunghi & James 36
Lisa Snowdon & Brendan 36
Rachel Stevens & Vincent 35
Christine Bleakley & Matt 31
Austin Healey & Erin 29
Heather Small & Brian 27
Jodie Kidd & Ian 23
John Sergeant & Ola 12

3 couples top the table on a fantastic 36 points. This is the first time this has ever happened. Tom Chambers was outstanding, Cherie Lunghi was back to the style of dances she does best and Lisa Snowdon showed she is not to be underestimated.

Rachel Stevens finally came good to indicate she perhaps now will be a threat in the competition's final stages ahead. Thank goodness. Up until now, she had been Strictly Come Dancing's serial under performer. Not by any means bad any week, but you sensed she was not performing to the best of her ability. Rachel's American Smooth scored a well deserved 35.

Jodie Kidd struggled a bit with the Samba, but compared directly to John Sergeant's Shambles, she was the greatest dancer of all time.

Favourite to win, Austin Healey, had his worst week yet, but that's mainly due to being scored a shocking 5 by Craig. He totalled 29, but should still escape the bottom two.

What can be said about John's Cha Cha Cha this week? Judge Craig said it was a Disaster. I think he was being polite. Craig scored it a 1, but that is only because there were no score paddle with zero written on it. A woeful total of 12 points still seemed way over-marked. It was the worst dance I have ever witnessed and I'm not 100% sure he was really bothered. I've honestly seen people on fire dance better than him.

In danger of being in the dance off this week are Jodie Kidd and Heather Small.

What? No John Sergeant?

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BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 8 - The Dances this Week

It's Strictly Come Dancing, it's Week 8, the competition is now starting to get tough. Survival is everything as distant thoughts of the final begin to enter the minds of those left in.

What dances are being performed this week and by who? Well, here's the lineup,

Jodie Kidd and Ian - Samba
Rachel Stevens and Vincent - American Smooth
Heather Small and Brian - Tango
Christine Bleakley and Matt - Jive
John Sergeant and Kristina - Cha Cha Cha
Cherie Lunghi and James - Waltz
Tom Chambers and Camilla - Quickstep
Austin Healey and Erin - Rumba

In training, Austin has been finding the Rumba a little awkward, but should go through without much difficulty. Apparently he has been struggling with conveying the emotional side of the dance.

Jodie Kidd's Samba could be tricky. The Samba felled Andrew Castle previously and is a dance to try and get out of the way. She is much better at the Ballroom dances.

Cherie Lunghi should be back in the groove this week after two relatively poor weeks for her. She has remained in the contest however and is now back to a better suited dance for her, a Waltz.

If Mr Sergeant is rescued from the bottom two again, the dance off could be very tense indeed. John has a great chance of doing this as I'm sure, many people only watch the programme, to see him. John Sergeant has the entertainment factor in spades and is a joy to watch... but, for all the wrong reasons.

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BBC Strictly Come Dancing - Week 7, Every one to perform a different Dance

Week 7 of Strictly Come Dancing is a bit of a mixed affair. Why mixed? Well, it should still be great fun to watch, but each celebrity is going to be performing a different dance.

How judges, Craig, Arlene, Len and Bruno are going to be able to score and compare everyone together is going to be a bit random. It's a bit like trying to decide if a Cartwheel is better than a Forward Roll or a Ham Sandwich better than a Cheese Sandwich. I would personally go for Ham, but as you can possibly see, the playing field this week could be a little uneven.

10 different dances to view this week. Here is how the battlefield lies,

Rachel Stevens & Vincent - Jive
Andrew Castle & Ola - Samba
Tom Chambers & Camilla - Paso Doble
Christine Bleakley & Matt - Amercian Smooth
Cherie Lunghi & James - Salsa
John Sergeant & Kristina - Foxtrot
Heather Small & Brian - Cha Cha Cha
Austin Healey & Erin - Quickstep
Jodie Kidd & Ian - Waltz
Lisa Snowdon & Brendan - Tango

Tom Chambers has looked good in practice all week and has a great chance to top the leaderboard with his Paso Doble. The Jive of Rachel Stevens should also be worth watching as it could be her best so far.

One feels that Andrew Castle is going to have to come up with something pretty special this week to avoid being in the bottom two and then voted out.

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BBC Strictly Come Dancing - Week 7 - No set dances ?

What are the set dances going to be on Week's 7 Strictly Come Dancing?

Well... that is a very good question. Usually there are two dances with each couple performing either one, depending on what they have danced previous or how it has been drawn.

What is known so far is Lisa Snowdon and Brendan will be dancing the Tango, Tom Chambers the Paso Doble and Christine Bleakley, the American Smooth.

Although it may be more entertaining to watch, I'm not sure I'm in favour of everybody performing a different dance. For one, how are you supposed to judge them all against each other? How can I tell if Lisa's Tango is better than Christine's American Smooth? If Tom's Paso Doble is better than Cherie's Moonwalk? If Castle's Cha Cha Cha is better than John Sergeant's headspin?

If it were Spring-Board Diving, the points would be multiplied by the element of difficulty of the dive. This system doesn't work on Strictly and the Judges just mark from 1 to 10, or in Len Goodman's case, 5 to 10.

The final result could be a bit random this week which must be good news for Andrew Castle, random is what he needs to stay in.

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BBC Strictly - Week 5 - Lisa Snowdon Top of the Shop

Last Saturday Night, Lisa Snowdon made yet another massive improvement to top the leaderboard after the Judges scores with a whopping 35 points. You could tell that Professional dance partner, Brendan Cole, was extremely pleased. This year, you can now sense, he has an outside chance of winning it which is not looking so far outside as each week goes by.

Courtesy of the BBC Strictly Come Dancing programme and YouTube here is Lisa Snowdon and Brendan Cole's well performed American Smooth.

She shared the top spot with actor Tom Chambers. Lisa Snowdon has emerged from nowhere and is definitely the one to watch as she threatens the established favourites, Austin Healey, Tom Chambers, Rachel Stevens and Cherie Lunghi.

Lisa Snowdon is quoted at 10-1 to win this year.

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BBC Strictly - Week 4 - Lisa Snowdon & Brendon making headway

Week 4 of BBC Strictly Come Dancing saw Lisa Snowdon and professional dance partner Brendon Cole make some serious headway. After a mediocre opening week, their Rumba scored an impressive 32 with the Judges to put them into provisional third place.

On Saturday, the pair perform the American Smooth. With the increased momentum fueled by week 4's great performance, it would be interesting to see the couple improve again to threaten the established leaders. This promises to be the closest competition of all six series so far and Lisa could well be the dark horse.

Courtesy of the BBC and YouTube here is their Rumba from Week 4 which has really given them a solid platform to work off.

Remember to watch Strictly Come Dancing this Saturday night. Will Cherie Lunghi top the leaderboard again? Will Tom Chambers finish ahead of Austin Healey? Will Rachel Stevens blast everybody away? Will John Sergeant get a perfect 40 from the Judges and be signed up for an 8 season run on a sell-out Broadway musical?

All is waiting to be revealed!

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