BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 11, Christine Dances out

The Public alas failed to save her from the bottom two and after performing two dances and the subsequent dance off, Christine becomes the 11th person to be voted out of Strictly Come Dancing.

The One Show Presenter landed in the bottom two against the impressive Rachel Stevens, who had already scored a maximum. With Lisa Snowdon finishing top of the Leaderboard, Christine must have known that the end was inevitable.



Rachel danced brilliantly once again in the dance-off to survive to the last 4 and Semi-finals. This is the Second time Rachel Stevens has landed in the bottom two despite brilliant scores. It may show that she does not have much Public voting support. This could be crucial if she makes the final.



Christine Bleakley's happy personality will be missed from the show, but it was the right decision for her to go. The Judges votes were unanimous in keeping Rachel in.

There are just four people left in who can win now. They are Austin Healey, Tom Chmabers, Rachel Stevens and Lisa Snowdon. Austin is still the favourite to win, but this year it looks very close and unpredictable to call. If Lisa Snowdon takes it from where she started in Week 1, it would be an amazing achievement.

---

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing - Week 10, Austin Healey still the Favourite

Austin Healey was back on form with a fantastic Tango in Week 9 of Strictly Come Dancing. Great music, Great choreography and a Great performance sees Austin maintain his place as the Favourite going into week 10.

The ever excitable Bruno Tonioli said of the dance, "You went for that Tango like a rampaging beast!". I think that meant he liked it.

This dance was Austin's best so far and scored an impressive 38 points. This was somehow beaten by a 39 from the new and improved Rachel Stevens.

With the shock exit of Cherie Lunghi, Strictly looks set to eventually become a three-way battle between Austin Healey, Tom Chambers and Rachel Stevens. There are some that would add John Sergeant to this trio. Good God!

---

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 8 - Heather Small leaves

Shocks aplenty on UK television voting competitions this week. This time on Strictly Come Dancing, singer, Heather Small, was the one to go. It was the fourth time in the series she had landed in the bottom two and this one, by far, was the most unfair.

And who was in the dance off with Heather?

Rachel Stevens of course.

What??? How did this happen? Rachel scored 35 out of 40 with the Judges, just 5 points short of a maximum score! There's something very odd going on this week. Maybe someone should check the water supply.

Heather's Tango was the best she had danced so far and she didn't really deserve to be in the bottom two either. Judge Craig described the result as a travesty.

The Judges voted unanimously to keep Rachel in the competition. Having originally scored her a whopping 35 points, there was little much else they could have done. Public voting figures for Rachel must have been ridiculously low which does not bode well.

John Sergeant must genuinely be feeling a bit guilty this time. Maybe he should invent a fake illness and drop out. At this rate, there is a distinct possibility he could reach the final. This week, John scored a meagre 12. That is 23 points less than Rachel Stevens.

Strictly Come Dancing is in danger of becoming a bit of a mockery. A dance competition where you don't have to be a good dancer. Next year my money is on Stephen Hawking to win.

---

www.jenkin7.co.uk

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.

---

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing - Week 8, Can Heather Escape the Dance Off?

Heather Small must be feeling she's in a bit of a war zone at the moment. She has faced three bottom two dance-offs and survived each time. The Bookmaker considers her a strong favourite again to be in a similar situation, but she is not without a chance of escaping the drama.

This week will see Heather Small perform the Tango and in practice she has looked pretty good. Clearly it is a style of dance she is more comfortable with and she has even confessed to liking the routine. This must be a first!

If Heather converts her good work in training to Saturday night then it could spell trouble for Jodie Kidd and Christine Bleakley. John Sergeant is the unknown quantity here. This deep into the contest, it is going to be interesting to see if he continues to have such massive support with the voting public. I'm suspecting that he will.

---

www.jenkin7.co.uk

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.

---

www.jenkin7.co.uk

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.

---

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly - Week 3: Warrington Man of the Match

Wow! What more can be said?

Strong favourite to go out last week and written off by just about everyone as a 100-1 rank outsider, Don Warrington certainly struck back.

His performance of the Tango with professional dance partner, Lilia Kopylova was a massive improvement over his attempt in week 1. Acting ability certainly shone through as Don delivered an accomplished Tango with both passion and anger. The scores from the impressed Judges totalled 30 points which saw him placed conditionally third.

When the viewers votes were added, Warrington deservedly escaped the bottom two dance-off which later led to the demise of Gary Rhodes. If Don sustains this level of consistent improvement he will stay in the contest a few weeks to come. One suspects that he will be good at the Ballroom dances, but struggle slightly with the quicker dance routines.

---

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly - Week 3: The Men, Jive & Tango

The scores of the Judges, Craig, Arlene, Len and Bruno are in and here is the leader board before the unpredictable viewers vote.

Austin Healey & Erin 34
Tom Chambers & Camilla 33
Don Warrington & Lilia 30
Mark Foster & Hayley 24
John Sergeant & Kristina 22
Andrew Castle & Ola 22
Gary Rhodes & Karen 18

The dances performed this week were the energetic Jive and the passionate Tango. Austin Healey and Tom Chambers were again out front with impressive displays, but man of the match without a shadow of a doubt, has to be Don Warrington. He was 100/1 to win the competition and a strong 7/4 Favourite to go out this week, but danced a fantastic Tango to give himself a great score of 30. Don should be safe from the bottom two with that.

Gary Rhodes danced a rather weak Jive which Judge Bruno commented had, "More holes than the surface of the moon.". However, Rhodes was previously saved by the viewers from the dance-off in Week 1 and it could well happen again. It could well end up as Castle verses Foster who both looked particularly awkward during their Tango performances.

All will be revealed this Sunday evening.

---

www.jenkin7.co.uk