Episode 1 of 4, available until 7:44pm Saturday 27th February 2010

Up first, Rufus Hound – Cheryl Cole’s “Fight for this love”

Interesting outfit from Rufus there, but not bad movement being shown by Rufus, though I’m just waiting for a little bit of comedy to be thrown in…oh wait there it is!

An entertaining performance and I think Rufus is showing good promise, though simple moves can be made to look very good when there’s 30 people up there with you at the same time.

‘The Olympians'(Mark Foster, Iwan Thomas, Leon Taylor, Dalton Grant, Heather Fell and Jamie Baulch) – Madonna “Vogue”

Weird, having just watched Mark Foster in Dancing on Wheels, to flip to the next recorded program and see him in Let’s Dance – he’s obviously been bitten by the dancing bug!

I wonder who’s playing Madonna’s role, obviously it’s the girl of the group, who also appears to be the only one lacking in personality in this performance.

There’s going to be some interesting potential with this group though, given their athletic abilities. Shame about the fall at the end!

Heather shows more personality during Frank’s comments than throughout the whole dance.

Katy Brand – Beyonce “Single Ladies”

I better pay attention to this as I’ve got a wedding group looking to perform this this year!

Not a bad mover there Katy, and again you can tell comedy is her forte!

A good performance that encapsulated the dance and represented the original routine accurately, i’ll definitely be referring back to this one later in the year.

Snooker vs Darts (Dennis Taylor, Willie Thorne, Bobby ‘Bobby Dazzler’ George, Tony O’Shea) – Run DMC vs Aerosmith “Walk this way”

Now this could be good…or a train wreck…!

Unfortunately it does look a little bit like dad’s dancing at a wedding, I’m guessing they didn’t choose this dance themselves.

Shame Bobby ‘Bobby Dazzler’ George keeps on going out of sync with everyone else, and then Dennis Taylor falls over at the end and knocks him down – to top things off!

The first candidates to go home, if the quality of dancing is the basis for the judging.

The Newsreaders (Matt Barbett, Louise Minchin and Ellie Crisell) – “Kiss of Fire” Tango

A little out of time with each other at the start, and Matt really needs to keep his shoulders down.

Poor Louise being thrown around, I’m suprised no-one’s fallen over and an uncomfortable looking ending.

Is Ellie’s skirt supposed to be higher at the back, or has it been turned round accidently?

Casualty (Charles Dale [who plays Big Mac], Tony Marshall [receptionist Noel Garcia], Ben Turner [Jay Faldren]) and Holby (Rosie Marcel [who plays Jac Naylor] and Luke Roberts [Joseph Byrne]) – Slumdog Millionaire “Jai Ho”

A couple of them need to work on their hand shaping, but some quite good performers in there, especially Ben Turner.

Not a bad performance though and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Overview

I think the bottom two (if indeed it comes down to a bottom two – I have to admit I don’t actually know yet!) will be The Newsreaders, and Snooker vs Darts.

Ah, I see, only two going through from each week (which would make sense, two each week for 3 weeks then a 6 group final in week 4!)

In which case I think those going through will be Rufus Hound and Katy Brand – comedy does normally make these performances more entertaining to those at home – and they both did really great performances.

Dance-off and Result

Out then (in no particular order):

The Newsreaders
The Olympians
Snooker vs Darts

The act with the highest votes, and therefore automatically though, is Rufus Hound.

That leaves the final act down to judge votes:

Frank Skinner – Katy Brand
Jason Manford – Caualty & Holby
Kimberley Walsh – Katy Brand

So Katy Brand joins Rufus in the final, as predicted!

Did you enjoy the show?

The post Let's Dance for Sport Relief, Feb 20th appeared first on Learn To Dance.

Katy Brand, Rufus Hound and Shappi Khorsandi represent the world of comedy, alongside some of the nations favourite Grumpy Old Women, Jenny Eclair, Linda Robson, Lesley Joseph and Susie Blake.

Also taking to the dance floor will be sporting greats such as footballers Peter Shilton and Rodney Marsh and snooker legends Willie Thorne and Dennis Taylor.

This year’s contestants will be judged by an all-new and exciting panel that sees the judging line-up change for all four shows. The panel of three will predominantly feature faces from the world of comedy and celebrities who performed last year.

Together the viewers and the panel will vote for their favourite dancers to go through to the final.

Comedians confirmed so far are Jack Dee and Frank Skinner.

Claudia Winkleman and Steve Jones return to host the show which kicks off Saturday 20 February 2010 on BBC One.

The series will run over four weeks, comprising three heats and culminating in a spectacular final dance-off on Saturday 13 March.

The show will see some of the nation’s favourite celebrities pay homage to iconic dance routines in a bid to wow viewers with their moves and a chance to be crowned champion of the dance floor.

Each week a celebrity act (a mix of solo dancers, duos and groups) will perform a number of famous dances such as Single Ladies (Beyonce), Greased Lightning (Grease), Smooth Criminal (Michael Jackson), Bad Guys (Bugsy Malone) and Jai Ho (Slumdog Millionaire).

They will work with a team of top choreographers to master the dance moves and with a team of stylists to represent their dance icon’s look.

Will they rise to the Sport Relief challenge when they take to the floor and give the performance of their lives in front of a live studio audience and the panel?

Who goes through and who gets a chance to compete in the final will be down to the public and the panel.

The final will see six celebrity acts dance with the hope of being crowned the Let’s Dance For Sport Relief Champion on Saturday 13 March.

Proceeds from the voting will go to Sport Relief.

Comedian Robert Webb was crowned champion last year after he wowed the public and judges in the grand final with a spectacular dance routine to Flashdance: What A Feeling.

The post Let's Dance for Sport Relief starts Saturday appeared first on Learn To Dance.