The first elimination

The launch of the revamped and "revitalised" launch show. Gramps Forsythe has gone home to cocoa in bed, and Tess of the Tumbleweeds has been let loose centre stage. I could have told the producer that this would not end happily, and so it proved. I had high hopes of Claudia, but she was left with very little to do, and her kookiness, as well as her nursery nurse dress, seemed sadly misplaced, in the all new psychologically manipulative results show.

Dragging the results out over 30 minutes, in three different sections, seems unnecessarily cruel on the contestants, and somehow seems to lighten, instead of build, a sense of tension. I know that with the demise of the dance-off, there is a lot of time to fill, and the judges have to have some sort of role in the results show (otherwise they might as well just head to the bar at 8pm), but this just seemed a pointless aping of Dancing with the Stars.

Speaking of the dance off, in some ways I am sad to see it go. Sitting through the two least well received dances one more dreary time could seem a bit much, but at least the judges had a lifeline to throw to the mid table couple unfairly relegated. Without the dance off, Jade might have been ejected the week of her samba, and Alesha might never have even made her final. Mind you, with the dance off, we were deprived of Austin in the final, so its swings and roundabouts.

There is a chance that without the need to keep the sympathy/basket cases out of the bottom two, the voting patterns will normalise, but I am not banking on it, and I am sure that there will be a shock horror elimination before we get rid of La Widdy.

On the plus side, the pro dance troupe proved just what they could do with a beautifully staged and choreographed quickstep, that was almost like old times. Robbie Williams obviously got a taste for being on a big weekend show, and deigned to put in another appearance. On the plus side there, at least he sang live. On the negative side, it might have been better for him to have mimed. Some of the pro dancers put in an appearance, but sadly it seemed rather too like a pole dance. Erin was too busy calling a taxi to put in an appearance, but she should have saved her mobile phone credit, because although in the bottom two, she is back to haul Shilts round the floor in a quickstep next week.

As for the first out, Goldie sashayed round the floor to Bye Bye Baby, looking rather more convincing in his last dance than he had in his two competitive outings. I guess with two duffers, a joker, two hunks and one to spare, Goldie just seemed surplus to requirements when it came to casting the votes.