So, I’ve decided that whilst I’ll try to keep writing,  I’ll probably limit myself to weekly reports of the weekend shows. Obviously if something else catches my eye, I may still post, but if you’re looking for a daily fix, I suggest you go elsewhere…

However, if it’s an intelligent weekly report that you’re after, you’re in the right place, so read on…

This weekend was men’s night, with only the 8 male professionals doing a full dance, and eligible for eviction. The girls were limited to a group dance, which only gave us a fleeting view of their abilities.

If you want to see what the judges said, you can find the comments (and scores) on the BBC’s official website. Here’s my view in order of performance:

• Tom Chambers & Camilla Dallerup – an excellent effort from Tom… given that he was the first out, I thought he was impressively calm. For me, he was by far the best dancer technically, and I thought that the judges marked him down slightly at 28/40. I can’t help feeling that they realise that he has more experience (and talent) than most, and therefore don’t want him to run away with the show. Great hip movement – already proving to be one of Arlene’s favourites… who would have thought it?!
• Phil Daniels & Flavia Cacace – I wasn’t disappointed to see him go to be honest. I thought he was a distinctly average dancer, despite Flavia creating a pretty easy waltz routine for him. He looked awkward on the dancefloor, and didn’t seem too disappointed by having to leave. Tough for Flavia though, after making it all the way to the final last time around.
• Don Warrington & Lillia Kopylova – I thought Don’s performance was passable, and he did show at least some semblance of rhythm in a challenging latin dance. I can’t see him going much further in the competition though, despite Lilia’s brilliant chorepraphy. Unless Gary Rhodes keeps getting the sympathy vote, I suspect he’ll be out in week 3…
• Austin Healey & Erin Boag – a fantastic opening performance from Austin Healey. Judging by this performance, he could turn out to be as good as Matt Dawson at the ballroom dances… 32 in week 1 is no mean feat. However, it’s worth remembering that Dawson struggled a lot more with the latin numbers, and I can’t imagine Healey will be any different. Let’s wait until the end of week 3 before passing judgement on whether he’s a serious contender for the title.
• Mark Foster & Hayley Holt – a competent, but uninspiring performance, he already reminds me of Mark Ramprakash 2 seasons ago. Ramps was very nervous in week 1 and didn’t demonstrate any significant level of charisma. I guess that’s always going to be a challenge for a sportsman who is not used to perfoming… On the plus side, he appears to have some ability and certainly didn’t embaress himself. With a few more weeks’ work, I’d expect him to make decent progress. He looks like he’ll be much better than Kenny Logan, but lacking in the same passion. I predict he’ll make it half-way.
• Gary Rhodes & Karen Hardy – a dreadful performance from the chef, I’m sure that he only managed to stay in the competition because of his score of just 1from judge Craig Revel Horwood. Craig should know by now that the viewers are sympathetic people, and don’t like it when terrible dancers get criticised excessively. If we wants to get him out of the show, he should display a little more indifference, and he might get his wish. Personaly I wanted Rhodes to leave this week – his only saving grace was his partner Karen, and even that wasn’t enough to make up for his over-exhuberance. His score of 17 was even a little generous – I’m not really sure how Len managed a 6 for him
• John Sergeant & Kristina Rihanoff – a delightful performance, John looked thoroughly at ease during the waltz. Unfortunately, judging by his efforts in the group number, he could really struggle during the latin numbers. A little like Willie Thorne, he seems to have already endeared himself to his fellow competitors and the public alike, and I’m sure he’ll be relieved to have made it through to week 3. Unfortunately, I’m that confident that he’ll be going much further.
• Andrew Castle & Ola Jordan – a far from embaressing effort from Castle, which defintiely exceeded my expectations. Obviously he did better than previous GMTV entrants, but that’s not really saying a great deal. I think he’ll last another few weeks, although he’s unlikely to be there towards the end of the series, especially when looking at his awkward performance in the full group number on Sunday.

Based on that, I think there are really only men who have a shot at making it through to the semi-finals – Austin Healey and Tom Chambers, with Mark Foster the dark horse if he can taken a lesson from Mark Ramprakash.

But what about the women? It’s hard to say much given that we only saw them in 2 group numbers so I’ll limit myself to some very brief observations… 

• Cherie Lunghi & James Jordan – Looked like she might be reasonable. She won’t win, but she could last a while
• Christine Bleakley & Matthew Cutler – Looked very nervous, and I guess it’s not easy following Alesha as Matthew’s partner. If she grows in confidence, looks like she could be good, but unclear…
• Gillian Taylforth & Anton Du Beke – hmm, not a brilliant first effort. As much as I love Anton though, it still seems like he is the only professional who is not equally comfortable at both Latin and Ballroom, which will always make it tough for him to compete
• Heather Small & Brian Fortuna – Didn’t see enough to make a judgement, but she looks like she might be ok. Again, not a world-beater.
• Jessie Wallace & Darren Bennett – Less impressive than I expected given that she has almost certainly danced on stage in the past. I can see her being popular with the viewers though so she should have time to grow into it
• Jodie Kidd & Ian Waite – Very awkward indeed – they might be a very matched couple from looks and height perspective, but I don’t think she is going to prove to be a success on the dancing front
• Lisa Snowdon & Brendan Cole – A good start, Lisa looks very confident and definitely a match for Brendon. I’d expect to see her get to at least the semi-finals
• Rachel Stevens & Vincent Simone – Another very good start, it seems like Rachel deserves to be one of the favourites. Craig seems to have taken a shine to her, and I’m sure plenty of viewers have done too…

Based on those comments, it looks like it’s Lisa and Rachel who are the strongest girls, although it will be easier to tell once they’ve done a solo dance next week…

So, week 1 is out the way and if I had to pick now, I’d suggest that the 4 finalists will be Tom Chambers, Austin Healey, Lisa Snowdon and Rachel Stevens… let’s see what happens!

Have a good week…

Read on if you want to see what the highlights are without having to read the full articles on the Mail website. I can’t promise that the extracts are a riot though – personally I’d prefer to hear about Strictly that Len’s life before he was famous…

Part II: I’m no goody two shoes: Len Goodman reveals his coloureful life from his barrow-boy roots to judging the stars’ dance moves

• Len was born in 1944 and grew up in Bethnal Green
• He found his mum a new husband after his dad had walked out by falling over and bashing his leg (he was the first aid man)
• He left school at 15 to become a welder, working on the docks
• He initially took up balroom dancing as part of his rehibilitation programme after breaking his foot playing football

Part III: My wife walzed away with a suave French seducer, reveals Strictly’s Len Goodman 

• Len married his dance partner, Cherry, who he had started dancing with when she was just 15
• The wedding very nearly didn’t happen after he didn’t arrange the banns
• After having a heart attack 2 weeks before the wedding, his Dad had a relapse on the wedding night – fortunately he survived, but Cherry wasn’t impressed by the start to their wedding
• His wife ran off with a Frenchman called Michel who she had met when she and Len were on holiday in Monte Carlo
• Cherry managed to introduce her mum to her new man before telling Len that their marriage was over
• After he got divorced, he met Lesley, and they ended up having a son together before they separated
• He has a new partner now – Sue, a dance teacher from Essex
• He and Brendon argued – now there’s a surprise. Apparently Brendon was angry when Len voted out Gethin Jones instead of Matt Di Angelo

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Reminder – you can buy your own copy of Len’s autobiography from Amazon HERE

To try and make your life easier, I’ve highlighted (and provided the link for) just seven articles that might be of interest.

1. Louisa Lytton is backing her former partner Vicent Simone to win this series with his new partner Rachel Stevens – I doubt she’s the only person supporting Rachel this year… (Mail on Sunday)
2. John Sergeant talks about being the most unlikely contestants in Strictly, saying something that all of us have known since the original announcement was made! (Daily Mail)
3. Kelly Brook plans to dance again this year’s Xmas special after withdrawing midway through the last series after the death of her father – will Brendon really be able to keep his hands off now that he’s split with Billy Zane? (Sunday People)
4. Lisa Snowdon admits she was not impressed when she found out that she was paired with Brendon Cole – the producers must already be rubbing their hands together in eager anticipation of fireworks. (Daily Mirror)
5. Brendon has promised to be a good boy now that he has a girlfriend – yeah, right! (Daily Star)
6. Craig Revel Horwood admits that he finds the X-Factor boring – was anyone seriously expecting to say he was a fan? (Now)
7. Rachel Stevens claims that she’s not a natural dancer – really true, or just trying to dampen down expectations? (Daily Telegraph)

I’ll probably make this press round-up a regular feature of my blog, as I’m sure there’ll be plenty of coverage over the next 4 months, so if you’re interested, do sign up to the RSS feed, or bookmark this page…

So, who do the bookies think is favourite?

Judging by OddsChecker, which compares the odds across multiple bookies, Tom Chambers & Camilla Dallerup have raced into an early lead, and are favourites across all 4 bookies. It probably has something to do with a YouTube video that has surfaced, showing Tom dancing like a pro! It looks like the girls might have their work cut out this time around, and I suspect Camilla already has at least one eye on the Strictly trophy (Tom’s engaged, so she’ll have to keep her eyes off him)…

The bookies are also in agreement on the least likely winner – John Sergeant. His odds are so far out that if they’re right, he must be a shoe-in for a very early departure!

They might agree on those two, but there’s some disagreement over who’s the 2nd favourite for the show:

• Victor Chandler make Jessie Wallace & Darren Bennett second-favourites (not a bad bet given that Jessie has musical theatre experience and Darren is a previous winner)
• Stan James and BetDirect think Jodie Kidd & Ian Waite are a better prospect (maybe they got confused and were basing this on best-looking couple?)
• SkyBet think Rachel Stevens & Vincent Simone are the 2nd favourites (given that she used to dance in S Club 7, and is likely to be popular with male viewers, probably not a bad bet)

It will be interesting to see how the odds chance in the coming weeks… I’ll keep you posted.

I’ll be responding in full to the announcement later in the week, with my tips on who’s going to win (I don’t want to overdose on posting today!) But in the meantime, I thought I’d share the first thoughts that came into my mind when looking at the list…

• Surely Lillia deserved a good partner this year after having to put up with Dominic Littlewood last series?
• Could it have been any more predictable that one of the new professionals (Kristina Rihanoff) would be paired up with this year’s expected ‘weak link’, John Sergeant?
• Is Flavia being published for last year’s affair with partner Matt Di Angelo by being given a weak partner in cockney geezer Phil Daniels?
• Will Camilla ever get an unattractive partner again? After appearing to fall for all of her last 3 partners – chef James Martin, actor Ray Fearon and TV presenter Gethin Jones – she seems to be have been given another good looking man – Tom Chambers – for this series.
• When is Anthon Du Beke going to get a partner who has a chance of winning the show? As one of SCD’s most popular professionals, I’m surprised that yet again he hasn’t been given one of the favourites
• Does Ian Waite prefer blondes? After partnering Zoe Ball and Penny Lancaster in 2 of the last 3 series, he’s got yet another beautiful blonde, this time Jodie Kidd
• Is Brendon already licking his lips at the prospect of dancing with supermodel Lisa Snowdon? He could barely keep his hands off Kelly Brook last year, but the producers seem to have decided that his constant flirting makes good TV…
• Can anyone beat Rachel Stevens? Already looking a good bet, the fact that she’s been given a great partner in Vincent Simone must now make her the bookies’ favourite?

Check out the TV Scoop response for another instant reaction to the list

Anyway, that’s all for now. If you want to hear what I think about the couples’ chances, make sure you come back.

If you like what you’ve seen here, you can sign up for an RSS feed by clicking on the ‘Subscribe in a reader’ button on the top right of this page.

Strictly Come Dancing 2008 celebrities

For my reaction, check out the article that I wrote on the weekend.

It’s interesting to see who the press think are the most exciting stories in the line-up!

• Rachel Stevens among new Strictly Come Dancing contestants 
• Ex Eastenders dominate Strictly Come Dancing cast
• ITN’s John Sergeant takes on Rachel Stevens and Lisa Snowdon in Strictly Come Dancing

I think we can safely say that Rachel Stevens is going to prove a popular choice then…

**UPDATE – THE PAIRINGS HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED – CHECK OUT MY RESPONSE HERE**

Personally I’ve never watched the US version (even the presence of Scary Spice in the last series wasn’t enough to convince me!), but I was keen to see if I even recognised the names in the US version… I guess it’s not hugely surprising to discover that I don’t!

However, the celebrity-fixer in the US obviously has the same rulebook as the UK fixed, judging by the picks, which don’t appear so different…

The recipe for a good set of celebrity contestants appears to necessitate the inclusion of the following 11 people:

• 3x sportsmen
• 2x popstars, including 1 boyband/girlband member
• 1x celebrity chef 
• 1x socialite model with some controversary in personal life
• 1x model turned TV presenter
• 1x (ageing) film & TV actress
• 1x (ageing) soap actress
• 1x actor made famous by 70s or 80s TV sitcom

Check out the evidence if you’re not sure!

3 sportsmen:

• UK: Andrew Castle (tennis); Austin Healey (rugby) and Mark Foster (swimmer)
• USA: Maurice Greene (athlete), Misty May-Treanor (beach volleyball) and Warren Sapp (american football)

2 popstars, including 1 boyband/girlband member:

• UK: Rachel Stevens (formerly in S Club 7) and Heather Small (M People lead singer)
• USA: Lance Bass (formerly in *NSYNC) and Toni Braxton (sang ‘Unbreak your Heart’)

1 celebrity chef:

• UK: Gary Rhodes
• USA: Rocco DiSpirito

 1 socialite model with some controversary in personal life:

• UK: Jodie Kidd (cocaine sting)
• USA: Kim Kardashian (sex tape)

 1 model turned TV presenter:

• UK: Lisa Snowdon (hosten ‘Britain’s Next Top Model’)
• USA: Brooke Burke (hosted ‘Rock Star’)

1 (ageing) film & TV actress:

1 (ageing) soap actress:

1. UK: Gillian Taylforth (years in soaps – ‘Eastenders’ followed by ‘The Bill’)
2. USA: Susan Lucci (nearly 40 years on ABC soap ‘All My Children’

1 actor made famous by 70s or 80s TV sitcom:

1. UK: Don Warrington (‘Rising Damp’ in the late 70s)
2. USA: Ted McGinley (‘Happy Days’ in the 80s)

At that point there are some local differences, which might even provide some inspiration for next year’s choices:

• The UK clearly loves its soap stars, with 3 further celebrities from this category. (Jessie Wallace, Phil Daniels and Tom Chambers).
• The UK series also has a TV presenter (Christine Bleakley) and a Political Correspondant (John Sergeant) – getting someone like Jay Leno in the US might tick both boxes!
• The USA has a young actor (Cody Linley from Disney show ‘Hannah Montana’) – I guess Christopher Parker in series 1 was the closest equivalent in appealing to a younger audience, but there’s no-one this time around.
• The USA appreciates comedians, with Jeffrey Ross signed up for the show. Perhaps UK producers could get Jimmy Carr or Ross Noble on the next series of Strictly?

Anyway – observations complete, I’m not off to do some work! Have a good day.

In case you can’t face that, I’m going to be providing my own brief summaries of Len Goodman’s story, so you can make up your own mind whether you want to buy your own copy from Amazon. I’ll do this over the course of this week, starting today with the interview he gave to the Mail to launch the serialisation deal (published last week):

Part I: ‘I’m glad I wasn’t young when I found fame… I’d have waltzed off with Abi Titmuss,’ Strictly’s Len Goodman confesses all

The most Interesting (?) facts to come out of this interview are as follows:

• Despite being Head Judge, Len was actually the last of the 4 judges to be signed up
• Fellow judge Craig Revel Horwood used to be a rent boy and transvesite
• A cab driver came up with the title of Craig’s autobiography
• Len is rubbish at DIY, but being good at dancing makes up for it with women
• Len does Bruno Tonioli’s ironing in exchange for his home cooking
• Arlene Phillips is a bit tight and rarely buys a round of drinks
• His dream ‘Strictly’ contestants would be Simon Cowell and Stephen Fry
• He rarely dances nowadays, even at weddings

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And in case you can’t wait until tomorrow from my next summary, you can find the next 2 articles here:

• Part II: I’m no goody two shoes: Len Goodman reveals his coloureful life from his barrow-boy roots to judging the stars’ dance moves
• Part III: My wife walzed away with a suave French seducer, reveals Strictly’s Len Goodman 

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Reminder – you can buy your own copy of Len’s autobiography from Amazon HERE

Just 2 days before releasing the full list of names, The Sun published an article claiming that:

“Ex-England goal ace Teddy Sheringham will be striking the dancefloor after agreeing to appear on Strictly Come Dancing”

The Sun won’t the only people excited by this rumour, with the Daily Mail and Digital Spy running the same story.

If the rumours about Sheringham’s final days in football are true, he may only want to join Strictly if he thinks he can take money off his fellow contestants in poker games. Perhaps someone pointed out that there wouldn’t be much time for cards given the busy rehearsal schedule and he got cold feet?

Perhaps that’s unfair and maybe the journalists got it wrong – surely not?!

This year’s series of Strictly is going to be even longer, which mean even more celebrities. In case you’re wondering, here are the 16 contestants (in alphabetical order).

1. Andrew Castle – formerly a professional tennis player, he’s been more successful as a TV presenter that he was in his sporting prime. His voice should be familar to Wimbledon viewers. Likely to be a ‘housewives favourite’ given his time as a GMTV presenter opposite Kate Garraway. Let’s hope he’s a better dancer.
2. Austin Healey – this year’s Matt Dawson? Like former runner-up Dawson, he was an England rugby international, so he’s likely to have the typical sportsman’s work ethic. Known to be pretty outspoken, you should expect him to answer back if he doesn’t like the judges comments!
3. Cherie Lunghi – a British actress whose busiest days seem to be behind her. I can’t claim to know much about her, but I’m sure SCD’s older viewers will…
4. Christine Bleakley – co-presenter of BBC’s ‘The One Show’, but having not watched that, I can’t claim to have ever heard of her. According to her Wikipedia page, there have been (strenuously denied) rumours that she’s ‘seeing’ co-presenter Adrian Chiles – if that were true, it seems a bit of a mismatch in the looks department. Let’s hope for her sake that she’s not paired with Brendon Cole…
5. Don Warrington – actor, apparently most famour for ‘Rising Damp’. Sadly that’s before my time, so I’ve never heard of him…
6. Gary Rhodes – British chef who’s likely to be one of the best known celebrities in the competition. Will be at home in front of the camera after fronting his own cookery shows as well as ITV’s ‘Hell’s Kitchen’. Also addicted to exercise which could well make him popular with the show’s female following.
7. Gillian Taylforth – actress, most notably in ‘Eastenders’ and ‘The Bill’. This year’s Leticia Dean?
8. Heather Small – lead singer of M People, although they might have split up from all I’ve heard of them recently. Used to have exceptionally large hair, but her official website suggests that it’s no longer.
9. Jessie Wallace – the most famous of the 3 former Eastenders stars, Wallace used to play Kat Slater, winning plenty of awards. I suspect she might be pretty good – she’s performed in a musical, Rent, in the West End, which probably required some attempt at dancing!
10. Jodie Kidd – model and TV presenter, who’ll definitely add something in the looks department. Being in Strictly might help rebuild a slightly tarnished reputation after last year’s cocaine sting
11. John Sergeant – I worry that the former BBC Chief Political Correspondant could end up being this series’ Diarmuid Gavin, but I suppose he’ll be hoping for a more respectable performance a la Bill Turnbull. The jury’s still out on this one.
12. Lisa Snowdon – model, best known for dating George Clooney, so don’t be surprised to see her paired with Brendan Cole who probably fancies himself as a bit of a Clooney. Went to Italia Conti School of Performing Arts, so i’d make her one of the favourites to win.
13. Mark Foster – British swimmer, recently flew the flag for UK team at Beijing Olympics. No idea if he can dance, but at least he should be comfortable exposing his chest with some of Strictly’s bolder costumes!
14. Phil Daniels – the 3rd former Eastender, he’s also known as the rapper on Blur’s ‘Parklife’ and star of The Who’s Quadrophenia. I doubt he’ll be a very good dancer, but expect him to be a popular member of the cast.
15. Rachel Stevens – stunning pop star who first made it as part of S Club 7. Things appear to have been quiet for her in the last couple of years, so SCD could well be the start of a major relaunch. All she needs to do now is dance as well as Alesha Dixon and she’ll be back in the public eye.
16. Tom Chambers – apparently he’s been in Holby City, but even his Wikipedia page doens’t know much about him…

**UPDATE** – THE SUN WAS RIGHT – THE BBC HAS ANNOUNCED THAT THESE ARE THE 16 CONTESTANTS IN THIS YEAR’S COMPETITION – SEE HERE FOR MORE**

See news on the pairings here, and my response here