Ultimate Strictly

Monday

11th October 2010

Weekend recap plus some backstage footage, before the Goldie & Kristina were the first guests to talk about being the first couple to leave the competition this year, and interestingly, both commented that the dance off would have been good for them. Lovely highlights montage showed how much fun this couple were, and I think also looked like Goldie had potential to improve, so a shame to see them go so early.

Monday visit from Craig to talk some more about his feelings on the weekend dances. More chat about Goldie & Kristina, Pamela & James, Peter & Erin, Patsy & Robin, Gavin & Katya, Scott & Natalie, Ann & Anton ("CAT-A-STROPHIC!"), and Tina & Jared.

Next up, Kara & Artem, and we had to hear again that she fell over in week one! Apparently, Artem takes training very seriously, and Kara thinks that means they can dance on Saturday night and enjoy it. Maybe they seem a bit too serious and they need to show more of a fun side to win the public votes ... it's not always the best dancer who wins Strictly, after all! They've got Quickstep this week, and Kara's loving it.

Finally, top of the leaderboard couple, Pamela & James came in to chat to Claudia. Now this couple are having fun!! Fabulous cackle from Claudia as they watched Pamela's stumble again. And that's how you win the public favour - other couples should take note. Rumba for Pamela this week.

Tuesday

12th October 2010

First up, Peter & Erin joined Claudia to talk about being in the bottom two last weekend. They're looking forward to quickstep this week ("We're going out with the Quickstep this week." - Freudian slip from Erin?), but training footage is early days and they were still in practise hold, but looked better than first week.

Lisa Bellinger is the UK Closed Professional Latin Champion and stood in for Karen in Choreography Corner this week. Great to see a new face and she picked up some great choreography from Kara & Artem, plus the end of Matt & Aliona's foxtrot to show a diamond moment. Also impressed by Scott's solo spot in his salsa routine, and the floor spin in Pamela & James salsa (although I'm sure it was just an excuse to show the stumble again!). I loved that Lisa picked out some of Vincent's choreography, as they might be slipping under the radar at the moment, and then lovely to see Patsy & Robin's salsa picked up as well. Again, great to hear Ola praised (I thought it was a totally charming routine), and Lisa then showed the risks that Katya took with Gavin. Finally, she called Tina the spin queen and suggested Jared should include them more!

New segment called Out of the Glitterball next which is just a Q&A with the competitors, like the forum questions last year.

Jimi & Flavia were the next telling us about their "amazing" foxtrot! Worth watching for the impersonation of Boycie alone. Great fun interview, and Flavia feels good about the rumba this week.

Claudia's final guests were Michelle & Brendan, with the opportunity to talk about his comments on Saturday about the undermarking. He also admitted he didn't really know who Michelle was! Rumba for them this week, and Brendan wants everyone to see the fun girl he sees in training.

Wednesday

13th October 2010

Joining Claudia first tonight was Ola who told us there were a few mistakes and not as good as in training, but she was pretty happy with it. Training for rumba is a struggle for Paul as he can't hear the beat, but Ola says he does more homework than anyone else, writing all his steps down!

A quick guide to the quickstep from Karen Hardy next, with lots of clips from the Strictly archives including some sticky moments from the past.

Midweek review with Darren Bennett with a look at quickstep training from Ann & Anton, Peter & Erin (the dumb bells on the floor make me think they'll have some props or gimmick at the top of the routine), Matt & Aliona. Onto the rumbas from Jimi & Flavia, Michelle & Brendan, Pamela & James (then Claudia takes the opportunity to show Pamela's salsa stumble again!) and Gavin & Katya.

Felicity & Vincent were the next guests, and Felicity knows she could've done better in the foxtrot. Felicity's enjoying the rumba, mostly because she doesn't have to go backwards!

More questions from the glitterball before it was time for the final guests of the night, Scott & Natalie. Scott thinks the key for him is to practise as much as possible so that when he comes to the live show, he's got the confidence to go out and really perform it. Quickstep this week and they're dancing to music from The Jungle Book.

Thursday

14th October 2010

Announcement first off telling us that Tina has chickenpox so won't be dancing this weekend.

Kicking off with a quickstep training update from Kara & Artem, Ann & Anton, Patsy & Robin, Peter & Erin, Scott & Natalie, Matt & Aliona, followed by an interview with Matt & Aliona and Patsy & Robin. Claudia on top form ("I don't even like an ant on me") before asking for one word from Patsy about her quickstep, to which she replied "appalling"!

Rumba training updates next with Gavin & Katya, Paul & Ola, Jimi & Flavia, Pamela & James, Michelle & Brendan and Felicity & Vincent.

Time to focus on the costumes next with a look at the two companies involved in designing and making the dresses - Chrissane and DSI with a behind the scenes look at the processes involved in the design process, making the dress and all the crystals they'll be sticking on this year - 1.5 million in total!

Finally, Hilary Alexander and Jessica Brown took us through the dresses for this weekend, which look fabulous in the sketches, so let's hope the reality lives up to them.

Friday

15th October 2010

The first guests to join Claudia were Gavin & Katya, and Gavin can't even bear to watch their salsa again, and he claims he's already made Katya cry four times this week with their rumba training. Training footage gave us Gavin's quote of the series so far ... "It's only Tuesday, calm down".

Next were Ann & Anton and they talked about their salsa and the arm section that got missed and the extended spin at the end to fill time. Quickstep looks very slow (unsurprisingly) and Ann has claimed last week she made Craig laugh, this week she'll make him cry.

Friday panel with Craig, Jason Donovan and Lulu tonight. Great fun panel with Jason telling us all about the dresses - almost as funny when Craig did it once last year!

Off to the main studio, and a catch up with Matt, Jimi and Scott with a quick demo of their quickstep from Scott & Natalie to "I Wan'na Be Like You" from The Jungle Book.