Keep on Dancing!! (Strictly Come Dancing)

Member Name: AJ26

Product:	Strictly Come Dancing
Date:	08/12/08 (134 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great dancing, amazing dresses, wonderful music, laughs at those who can't dance

Disadvantages: Bruce Forsyth's terrible jokes

Strictly Come Dancing is currently running on BBC 1 and every year (it is now in its sixth series) becomes a popular Saturday and Sunday evening programme. The Saturday programme is usually on around 6pm with the Sunday programme beginning around 8pm. The programmes sometimes overlap with X-Factor on ITV so often I end up recording it so I don't miss out on either programme!

The show begins with 16 celebrity contestants from the world of music, television, sports and even politics. Each contestant is then paired with a professional dancer tasked with the job of teaching their celebrity to dance. During the week they train for the particular dance that they have been assigned. The dances cover a wide range of ballroom and Latin dances including my favourite which is the Quickstep.

Then each week they come together on a Saturday evening to perform their dance in front of the judges and the public. They are awarded points from the judges and this score is added to the public vote. On the Sunday show the dancers are told who has been saved by the public vote and then the bottom two couples have to dance again. The judges then have the power to save one couple but the other couple must leave the contest.

The show is hosted by the double act that is Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly. Bruce makes all the old and predictable jokes whilst Tess laughs. Personally I sometimes like to record Strictly Come Dancing so I can fast forward the bits when Bruce is speaking. I think the man is great for his age but his jokes can be very long, painful and not very funny. I think perhaps his presenting days are coming to an end and I can see Anton Du Beke one of the professional dancers who bears an uncanny resemblance to old Brucie stepping into his shoes. If he does I just hope his jokes are better!

Then of course there are the judges who really make the show the success it is. We have the good judges Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli who tend to mark highly and of course the bad judges Craig Revel Horwood and Arlene Phillips who are a bit more vocal in their criticism, Craig more so than Arlene. All of whom are former professional dancers or choreographers and do know a great deal about the subject. Some of their comments to the dancers are very funny, they certainly don't mince their words!

I love this show, I love the dancing, the music and the amazing dresses. It is the kind of programme that you watch then you want to go out and learn to dance. In fact this programme has been said to have encouraged a lot more people to take up dancing. The music is played by a live band and singers which adds to the whole experience.

This series has been really exciting and also quite controversial. John Sergeant (one of BBC news political reporters) was a contestant and was quite simply a really appalling dancer. However the British public really got behind him and kept voting so much so that although week after week he scored the lowest points from the judges he kept getting saved by the public and other much better dancers left the show. The judges were really not happy but there was nothing they could do. Then unexpectedly John announced that he was going to stand down from the show and left. The news made headlines, it was all slightly bizarre and surreal but gave the TV programme amazing publicity.

Now we are down to the final three, Tom Chambers an actor from Holby City, Rachel Stevens the singer who was in S Club 7 and Lisa Snowdon the radio presenter. All three are really amazing dancers and either of them could win. Personally I am torn between wanting Rachel and Lisa to win, they are both fantastic dancers.

The professional dancers in the show are really amazing. Many of them have been doing the programme for years and have become celebrities in their own right. They choreograph the dances and sometimes have an incredibly hard job in trying to teach their celebrity the routine. They really care about the dancing and most of them build up really good relationships with the celebrity dancer. On the Sunday night results show the professional dancers will do a group dance and it's really amazing to see them dance. Also there is usually a singer on the Sunday night show over the years we have had everyone from John Barrowman to Beyonce. Whilst the singer or band is singing some of the professional dancers will dance to the music. So often the professional dancers will need to learn several dances for just the one evening. They really are amazing.

I think this is a great programme. I love this time of the year when I have Strictly on one channel and X-Factor on the other. I really am reluctant to go out on a Saturday night incase I miss one of them! This programme is just great fun, it's glitzy, glamorous and makes you want to get up and dance.

Summary: A dancing competition where celebrities pair up with professional dancers and learn to dance.