Friday 25 September 2009

I am going to get very confused .....

2 Craigs, 2 Natalies, 2 Rickys, a Richard, a Jo and a Joe. It is already too much for my poor brain to deal with.

I have enjoyed ITT all week so far, and need to get into the habit of recording it rather than skipping home straight after work for the wonderful Claudia. I think she is in her element in this show, and the show has been a really good combination of fun banter and insightful interviews. I do feel slightly sorry for the Group 1 contenders though, because they not only had to dance first, but we didn't have the chance to get to "know them" in the way that we have the Group 2 lot this week. A plea for just one episode of ITT to preview the show next year please? (And while I am at it, what about a post-final ITT for Claudia to celebrate with the finalists?)

OK - predictions for tonight. There is going to be some tough competition for the bottom of the leader board slot. Richard Dunwoody, Jo Wood and Phil Tufnell are going to be fighting it out, although Phil may just surprise. I think that Joe Calzaghe may be out next week as instead of being "entertaining bad/endearing bad/annoy the judges bad" (more Gary Rhodes than John Sergeant if you like), he is plain bad bad. And there is more than enough "entertaining/endearing/annoying bad" on the horizon to keep the public happy.

First off Richard and Lilia - or Diddy Dunwoody and Little Lil, as I think of them. I can just imagine their first ITT interview - how many "so sweets" will Claudia shoehorn in? But really - how will anyone resist Diddy and Little Lil?

Jo and Brendan. Well Brendan, this could be payback time for last year's quarter finals! If you appear to be wincing at any stage, I predict a legion of Austin and Erin fans hitting the phone lines to prolong your misery. I am already rubbing my hands with glee!

Phil and Katya - is it very wrong to have a TV crush on an older man called Tuffers? He makes me laugh, and he is quite handsome, in a crinkly kind of way. Bit like Michael Palin really. Beeb - get lovely Michael Palin on next year. Please, oh pretty pretty please. Lovely, lovely Michael Palin.

I have taken my meds. Normal service resumed.

Phil and Katya are going to be here for some time, and it looks as though some of it could be down to merit.

The top of the leader board. Well I reckon a close run thing between Ricky and Natalie and Natalie and Vincent (told you it was confusing!) The pressure is on for Ricky, but will his ballroom live up to the tantalising promise of his Latin last week? Will he suffer a bit in the voting because everyone is now expecting him to be so very hot? The fact that his pro is already talking about getting a 10 for his first dance may have a backlash. Poor Natalie might not yet realise that tall poppy syndrome is every bit as vicious here as it is down under. Hope she doesn't get a harsh wake up call.

So to Natalie Cassidy. I want so much for her to be good. The poor lass has had such a pasting in the press about her looks, her weight, her this, her that, the fact that she dares get up in the morning and breathe. Her training clips are looking good - stage presence, rhythm, and a real determination to train hard. Call me old-fashioned, but I like signs of a decent work ethic (except when it is my Tuffers!).

The dreaded middle ground. Craig and Flavia are looking ok. They could be good; they could disappoint. Either way, I see them right where they don't want to be - mid table. I think part of the trouble is that Flavia simply ignites a dance floor, and expectations on any reasonably fit young man are going to be quite high, and could drop rather low, rather quickly. I hope to be proved wrong.

Zoe and James are looking good in training. She comes across as very honest and very humble. She looks to be a reasonable dancer, but lacking a bit of sparkle maybe. The elephant in the room is of course "have the public forgiven James for last year's outburst?". It may have been justified, but James needs to remember there is a time and a place, and that it took him two years to get back into public approval after Georgina Bouzova.

The miscasting of SCD7! I am betting Anton and Laila will be top two for the ballroom, and somewhere not far off the bottom for Latin (and it won't be entirely her fault). Why oh why, put someone with the potential of Laila with Anton? I love his ballroom, but he must know he is never going to win Strictly. I even think he might quite like going out early. Gives him more time to spend honing his skills on the interviewing couch.

I hope I am wrong because I like both of these couples, but I am thinking a shock "Footballers' Wives" dance off. If it is a ballroom dance off, then expect fireworks from James as Len sends him home prematurely for the third series in a row. If it is a Latin dance off, well Anton obviously spent the summer cavorting on "Hole in the Wall" rather than working on his Latin, so..........I think my mother is going to be crying this week!

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