Strictly Sex Factor! (Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two)

Member Name: thedevilinme

Product:	Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two
Date:	26/09/09 (122 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good family fun!

Disadvantages: Stale

So, the BBC are finally going up against the X Factor with 'Strictly' on Saturday nights, a commercial move that is not in their remit and one that has angered Simon Cowell. Like Cowells money-maker the BBC has dumped an older judge and replaced them with young totty. Experienced and aging choreographer Aileen Phillips is out and previous winner and eye-candy Alesha Dixon is in, the type of girls the BBC are employing these days. It's cringing watching her judge the celebrities and gawd only knows what the professional dancers think of her. The complaints have been pouring in and the 'Strictly' producers may have tinkered one too many this time. The shows formula worked with the bitchy hag on the end of the panel, as it did with Sharon Osborne on the X Factor, noticeable that the BBC producers didn't dare dump the even older head judge Len Goodman instead. I suspect Aileen's tired Britain's Got Talent style pre- written putdowns did ware on the audience because they drew comparison with ITVs low brow TV approach on Cowells shows, the worst possible snub to a homely and predominately middle-class Saturday night BBC audience. But at the end of the showbiz day Arlene was dumped for her age and experience and that's not right, but sadly what goes on in all walks of employment. Would the show work with an 80-year-old female hosting with a 26-year-old gay male in Tess Daley's place? Of course it wouldn't but the way the BBC are going it could well happen. The thought of Dame Vera Lynne and John Barrowman as her token eye candy shuffling around the floor is not for me. The BBC have responded to this ageism talk by putting out feelers for an aged 50 plus newsreader after they recently lost three very attractive older birds for three auto-cuties.

'It Takes two' is the catch up programme where the surprisingly elfin and sexy Claudia Winkleman flashes her gorgeous eyes for thirty minutes as they take you backstage of the show during the week. The judges also come on to talk sequins and the show intrudes on rehearsals etc to talk tempo and toe pointing. Head judge Len Goodman does a weekly bit called 'Len Masterclass' (a man with that ambiguous sexuality appeal that was born to advertise the Corby Trouser Press) where he dances with sexy Claudia. Craig Revel-Horwood, a kind of camp Mark Kermode, does the 'Mid Week Report' and Arlene Phillips is invited back on the Friday show to do some panel critic.

It airs two nights a week and only one in Scotland, the having a Gaelic version for the Highland Flingers. It's Freeview 302 for digi boys and girls. It's still the most watched show on BBC2 in the week with 3 million regular viewers. One of the first guests was John Sergent.

The Sergeant affair, the fat and unattractive man picked to go on the show because he would dance like a bag of spuds, but then kicked off ingloriously because the public wanted to keep him on for the very reasons the producers picked him, was the real mistake by Strictly. I think the BBC put the show up against X Factor because they knew they had lost a big swathe of the audience last year over that affair and the viewing figures do show the X Factor got 2 million more viewers for show one this season. The beautiful and sexy Alesha was their Cheryl Cole move to bring in a new audience and it didn't work.

I can't say I like the new format of Cowells; 'Britain's Got The X Factor', either and that show too will lose viewers because of that formulaic pursuit of viewers, Strictly mainstream now and ready to go down the slope hand-in-hand with Cowell. The audience can only take so much of this patronising TV. Once the punter tuning in knows he's being taken for a ride he switches off and over.

The talk of the 'It Takes Two' sofa is Joe Calzaghe and his dance partner being a romantic couple, yours truly baffled why people are bothered with that. They are both single and attractive and it's a fact that one-in-four of us meet our partners at work. I loved his face when the three camps judges on the panel commented on his hopeless dancing before not voting him off. Punch em Joe we screamed! That love interest appealed to the audience more and he was kept on the show after facing the first vote in the dance off, his clunky moves alone enough to boot him off if the competition was fair and balanced. Ex disgraced tennis champ Martina Hingis was the sacrificial lamb as the BBC chase tabloid headlines by keeping lover boy on.

-The Couples-

Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna

Lynda Bellingham & Darren Bennett

Joe Calzaghe & Kristina Rihanoff

Natalie Cassidy & Vincent Simone

Richard Dunwoody & Lilia Kopylova

Ricky Groves & Erin Boag

Martina Hingis & Matthew Cutler (out)

Chris Hollins & Ola Jordan

Jade Johnson & Ian Waite

Craig Kelly & Flavia Cacace

Zoe Lucker & James Jordan

Laila Rouass & Anton du Beke

Phil Tufnell & Katya Virshilas

Ricky Whittle & Natalie Lowe

I confess I only recognise five of the celebrities and one of them is out so I must admit I won't be watching the series or It Takes two' this year. It's too camp for me and I only dip in and out, especially if the contestants are as gorgeous as Gabby Logan and the stunning Kelly Brook. Its noticeable this year that's the oldest contestant is the Oxo lady and they have gone for lots of Z-List soap stars to keep the wage bill down, even Bruce Forsythe seeing a 25% cut. No doubt Tess will have to make a similar cut in her neck and back line to keep them away from X-Factor and the show will stagnate without any characters. Maybe they employed Alesha to create that publicity? The BBC is just not going to risk a repeat of the John Sergeant debacle and has ring-fenced their top show with cotton wool and political correctness.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/strictlycomedancing/

Summary: Change your eye-liner Claudia!