Episode 52 Strictly - It Takes Two

Hello and welcome to Tuesday's It Takes Two. Their fine foxtrot saw

them through to the final. Louis and Flavia are here. APPLAUSE There

is time for one last visit from Karen Hardy as Choreography Corner

closes for business today. APPLAUSE Oh. I know. Milk it! And he is here

hoping to go down in a blaze of godets - Julien Macdonald! APPLAUSE

This is It Takes Two. Who loves you, This is Strictly: It Takes Two.

Please welcome your host, Zoe Ball. APPLAUSE Hello. Welcome to It Takes

Two. A few ups and downs on Saturday for Louis and Flavia. Here

is a reminder of how they booked their place in the final. It was a

lot of content. The quality of dancing wasn't that good. It got a

bit flat-footed and that made it look laboured. I was expecting more.

Such a shame. 7. 8. The standard of the semifinal, everyone was so

brilliant. You get knocked down in one dance and you come back

stronger! You make it look too easy. It is beautiful. Grace. Quality.

You got it. Fantastic rise and fall. I loved that ending as well.

Brilliant. Brilliant! APPLAUSE 10. 10. Relief. After a big knock

to go straight on and do another dance, you did really well. Very

proud. Please welcome Louis and Flavia. APPLAUSE It is so exciting.

Congratulations on securing a place in the final. You were saying how

proud you were of Louis? I am very proud. He did a great job. I think

two hard dances. Foxtrot is demanding, the jive, there were

loads of steps to learn. How proud were you of Flavia? She has been

fantastic. She's got me into almost a diamond. The jive didn't blow the

judges away. Not bad for you. Still not up there. Were you gutted about

that? I was. Jive for me, before the programme started, was a dance

I wanted to do. I would have liked to have had a full week to get

ready for it. It was hard to split it. Darcey did say that she thought

because Louis was so supple that was making his lines not sharp.

Does that make any sense? possibly could be that. It is more

about how you bring your foot back in. It is tricky. I think the thing

is that Louis' personality is in all the dances, it is quite relaxed

so in the foxtrot it suits that. In the jive they want you to put

everything into it. He is a bit chilled. So they don't get that.

like a chilled jive. After the jive, which wasn't bad, you went off and

you came back on and nailed the foxtrot. What did Flavia say to you

in half-time? She didn't have to say too much. I think she could

tell I was beating myself up inside. She could tell I was nervous

beforehand. I knew that I needed to step it up. Everyone was great in

the competition. I needed to pull something out the bag to try and

stay in. You did. Look. She is so happy with you. Len did say the

sportsman in you fought there. Would you agree? Definitely. It is

a natural instinct to want to fight and stay in a competition. It is

when you get knocked down that you realise how badly you want to stay

in. It really inspired me to go back and blow the judges away.

Which you did! Your sports background is one thing. But there

is a more important factor that has made you the man you are today. I

give you Louis' crowning glory! Would you stop? I will make a VT

for It Takes Two. Louis' Hair! They will have loads of clips of you

doing your hair! I have to make sure my hair is up to scratch. I

think I should have done a double shampoo! You can tell a lot by

someone's hair. Your hair? It looks good. I need to preserve it. How's

my hair looking? Don't you worry, they know how to edit it together.

APPLAUSE See. I warned him. I said be careful. Very funny. He fell

into that one! LAUGHTER Well done. So this weekend, for the final,

you... I have never seen you that embarrassed. It looks good.

have three dances. Your favourite, the judges' pick and the showdance.

Which dances have the judges chosen for you? They picked the salsa.

the Dirty Dancing one?! I'm so excited to see that again. Wasn't

it - did everyone give you a good score? Len gave us a six. He wanted

more traditional salsa moves. Hopefully, we will make him happy.

You have to do that lift again. Are you happy about that? We will take

it out. No! Joking! What's your favourite dance? Our favourite one

was the Charleston. We want to do that one again. It was a turning

point for us. You loved it! And of course your showdance which is

possibly the most exciting thing. I'm imagining with you, there will

be some amazing tricks. What can you tell us about it? We have lots

of ideas. It is coming together. have too many ideas! Is he being

allowed to do any choreography? yes. I have a very creative mind.

Shall we listen to the music? # We can ride on a star... #

You can lift her like that! # We can rule the world. #

One finger. Good luck this weekend. We know you will be brilliant.

Can't wait for the showdance. Louis and Flavia. APPLAUSE Over the last

few weeks, they have taken us on a whistle-stop tour of dance history.

One-stop left, the foxtrot. Before 1910, ballroom dancing had

changed very little from the early waltzes but then a new style of

music called ragtime came along and changed everything. Stop, stop! The

music was much quicker and much more exciting. And they danced in

hold. Much closer together. And even started ad-libbing through the

routine. Dance moves with funny- sounding names such as the kangaroo

hop, the turkey trot and the grizzly bear. Then in 1914, a

vaudeville star called Harry Fox was performing at the Belvedere

Theater as part of a company called American Beauties. In one comedy

routine, he began trotting to ragtime music and people called it

Fox's Trot! Audiences fell in love with the dance and started copying

Harry Fox's trot, a new craze was born. The dance grew in popularity

and eventually was taken overseas to Britain. The ballroom masters

did away with a lot of the trotting, kicks and hops and created a slower,

smoother dance to give us the slow, quick, quick, slow that we know

today. A faster version evolved into what is now the quickstep.

There is more variety in the foxtrot than any other dance and in

some ways, it's the hardest to master. What a partnership! I like

the grizzly bear! Still hot to trot, it is Karen Hardy! That was a crazy

dance. It was strange to do. Welcome. The last time we shall do

this. It's been - we should have a Karen Hardy summing up. What have

you thought of the series as a whole and the choreography

standard? Yes, it's just lifted two-fold. I think that's a lot to

do with how the professionals are competing against each other and

then the celebrities get the hook and they want to join in. That is

when the dancing is at its best. Let's talk about our finalists.

Dani and Vincent and the American Smooth. Craig said heron day wasn't

dynamic and should have been longer -- her ronde wasn't dynamic and

should have been longer? Musically, it wouldn't have fitted with the

choreography. Secondly, the direction that she was turning, she

couldn't have extended it any more because she needed to get straight

back to Vincent. As you can see, she will pick up into the move, she

does her throw, she goes into her turn - there is the ronde. That

makes perfect sense. Her Argentine tango as well. It was quite awesome.

A ten from Len for Dani. At last, he was most impressed that it

started on the floor, no music. We were all thinking the band have

forgotten to play! This is where the professionals have lifted

themselves. Silence to start the performance. This shows commitment,

conviction and delivery at the highest level. Normally, it is the

music that will silence the audience. They had to be focused,

they had to be committed to silence the audience just by their

movements and it says, "Watch out, something incredible is coming!"

And it did. For the record, why it did not get four tens I do not

know! You were cross about that! was. It was so intense. It was so

complicated. And the relationship between the two of them and that

was worthy of four tens. Thank you. I think a lot of people at home

agree. Denise and James. Tens from everyone apart from Craig who said

there was a bit of gapping. What did you think? A little bit. Now,

we have something called CBM - contra body movement. We learned

that at the highest level. There was no time for James to start

talking about that. I have picked up on where the biggest error was.

She should be getting points for commitment, the delivery, the

footwork. Even at a professional top level, we do not stay stuck

together. Let's talk about the rumba. James said it was quite

moving that it was his favourite dance on Strictly? I think for

James, he's been lost. We all know James, he's been hurt being in the

dance-off. That's how the audience are seeing it. Now he said right, I

want to wear my heart on the sleeve, I want everyone to see how

beautiful this lady is. And the beauty extends fully into those

arms. The use of those arms. I wanted to take a moment - I won't

get up... Really? And to understand that when you use the arms, you

have your shoulders, elbows and wrists and then you have your

knuckles and when you use the arms you go through each stage of that,

OK? You could go soft and sweep. You can go with resistance. It's

using those elements and what I loved about this performance is

that her arms were talking as she - she didn't say James has told me to

lift my arm up, which is what we had seen previously. It was

creative and beautiful. A little note - that dress was clever. She

still hasn't mastered the hip action. But don't tell her. Louis

and Flavia. They were left disappointed by the score. What did

you make of it? To help people at home to be the best judge, you must

never have expectations. As you go into a judging event, you must go,

"I'm going to see what happens." What we all had was a great deal of

expectation. This was the jive. This was Louis coming out. She

going to be kicking and flicking and sadly, this is what we had. You

see, it's loose, it is floppy. That said, I think people overlooked the

incredible swing action that he was able to master. He can swing!

got the hip swing perfect. That dance should have come out with a

wow and it was a little bit of a fluffy finish. It was OK. Then he

did this. He came out with his foxtrot which was astounding. He

got his highest score in the competition. Is this Louis' best

dance so far? It was stunning. He mastered the art of movement across

the dancefloor. Anywhere you wanted to look at the steps, you could see

him gliding. And the step I have chosen here is interesting. I have

chosen the heel turn for the lady. We always talk about how difficult

it is for the lady. It is equally if not more difficult for the man

to lead the heel turn. He has to place the lady on to her feet, he

has to ensure that when they are together, she's able to turn on

those two heels without being pushed over. Otherwise she could

potentially look like she is riding a horse rather than a graceful swan.

That could look dodgy! Kimberley and Pasha. The American Smooth. The

judges were impressed. Len would have liked to have seen more in

hold which was something that Ian pointed out last week with the

American Smooth. Yes. Very, very important. The idea of this dance

is of course it is in hold and then it is out of hold. I'm glad it was

picked up on. It was missings. However, a beautifully danced piece

of choreography. Stunning. Stunning. Even to the point of this. As she

goes into this turn, then she goes into another turn and then the

split. What do you think? Amazing. It is easy. Even my mother could do

that! Really? What is important - I have to be honest. However, what is

more difficult are the tech nickal elements. We know she is going to

have to get that top line back up. Looking like that, and with her

energy, she is stunning. Charleston. All tens. Chris Hollins

the only other person to do that. Is this one of the best Charlestons

we have seen? It was an incredible Charleston with her personality. We

can go straight into it here. She has the swivelling of the feet, the

facial expressions, she's got everything and this is... Your

mother could do that(!) Musically, even to the point of the tech

nickal, those feet pointing up -- the technical, those feet pointing

up. What an incredible four finalists they are. This is our

last Choreography Corner. Will you leave us with a Hardyism? You know

which one it is going to be. The most important one of them all. It

is that one. Footwork is the foundation of movement! Karen Hardy,

give her a round of applause. APPLAUSE Don't forget on Saturday,

she is with Mark Ramprakash on the red button. Yes. Another make-up

masterclass from the brilliant Lisa Armstrong now.

Her and make-up on Strictly Come Dancing is integral to the person's

performance. It marries everything together. Hallowe'en week is always

the most stressful hair and make-up week in the Strictly calendar. It

is so much about the hair and make- up and so much about them being a

character. We have to get this right because it is such a special

week and everybody looks forward to that week to seeing what we are

creating. The brief for Louis on the Hallowe'en show was a stylish

zombie. I think the inspiration for that came with the contact lenses

and that completely changes someone's appearances. I think it

was really brave of Louis to try with contact lenses in because it's

going to slightly impair your vision and that is not what you

need when you are doing a dance on a live show. He said he was more

than happy to wear them. The concept for Victoria on Hallowe'en

week was Corpse Bride. We wouldn't normally put shimmer on the face.

But the character needed that. I bought two sets of lashes and we

cut them and used three pieces of the lashes to go up and turned them

the other way around and put them down and the cascading long hair

pulled the look together. Dancing through the decades at Wembley was

a real chance for us to look at fashion make-up through the '20s to

the noughties. The Charleston, which Denise danced at Wembley, it

is a particular look. So a lot of headbands would be worn in that era,

a lot of pin curls, a lot of finger waves, that would be brought up

into little faux bobs. It's a fun look. Fake tan and Strictly is the

bane of my life. On Saturday, you will do their make-up and you will

do one shade of make-up on their face, off they pop, put some more

tan on and then their face doesn't match their body. It drives me mad!

Instant tan! I do not leave the house without this stuff! The worst

offender for fake tanning is Robin Windsor. Dani in her Latin look as

Beyonce was one of my favourite looks. That was a process of the

concept, the costume and how she was going to work that dance. It

really helped that she had all that hair in there which was clipped and

curled and cascading down her shoulders. I really think that

helped her get into the character. On Strictly Come Dancing, we get to

explore every single avenue of hair and make-up, through styles,

through concepts, it just is like the best job in the whole world.

Thank you, Lisa. One clever lady. Now wardrobe. Time to check the

Please welcome Julien Macdonald. APPLAUSE Hello, gorgeous! One last

time. I can't believe it. What am I going to do with myself? I do

believe you have some incredible stats from the whole series to

round things off. I have. I know you think I'm lying about all these

statistics. You make them up! not. I have some Strictly facts.

Over all the weeks, we have used more than 400 metres of fringes.

400 metres? More than 700 godets! What?! More than 15,000 bugles.

Guess how many crystals? I don't know. More than 250,000! That is so

impressive. These are real bona fide stats, ladies and gentlemen!

It is a fact. Let's see your top three this week starting with

number three. The number three is the gorgeous Flavia. Oh. Look at

her in her lovely little - what is it? We have called it Strictly

Sport. Vicky has been colour- blocking again? She has been doing

it every week! This colour-blocking is special. It's all the colours

for next summer. Is it really? Next year I'll be wearing white,

yellow and blue? Colour-block together with a thousand Chris dals

on a -- thousand crystals on a stretched mesh. I would call that a

stringed vest! Who was your number two? The one and only Kimberley

Walsh. Look at her. She looks good in everything. So let's talk about

this. Blue seems to be your colour of the season? Blue is one of those

colours that suits everybody. Blonde, brunette, ginger, whatever

colour you are, blue is for you. Why does it work so well? Tell me

about the fringing. Well, those are special fringes. Those fringes are

striped fringes, there's almost 200, over 200 bugle fringes. These bugle

fringes, Vicky told me, have been threaded on by hand with elastic.

No?! Does that give them extra bounce? It is a bouncing fringe!

That is incredible. Interest bg back detailing here. Well --

Interesting back detailing here? Well, in fact they are really heavy

so Vicky has got her work cut out and decided to slash the back. Or

did she run out of those bugles?! Perhaps the budget ran dry. Who is

your number one? The winner of the week is Dani Harmer. Oh! Dani

Harmer, ladies and gentlemen. This is her favourite dress on the whole

series. Have we ever seen her looking so sophisticated? This is a

transformation from a young girl to a woman. She's grown into the

Strictly dance and what a transformation. And a journey it's

been for a magical young little Princess. You have used the J-word

and the P-word. No godets for you this week? No. You know what? A lot

of ruffles! CHEERING He is a happy man. What can you tell us about the

ruffles? There is 150 metres of ruffles. You are joking? No. That

is three Olympic-sized swimming pools! These are not just normal

ruffles, these are ombre ruffles. That's impressive! Sounds amazing

and it is. This is what makes this dress so amazing. We have ombre 150

metres of ruffles, we have over 5,000 crystals, it is on stretched

lace and there are a couple of pearls thrown in there as well!

are joking?! That is incredible. Vicky said, "What have I got left?"

"Shove it all on!" I love this man. LAUGHTER You have been working your

Strictly magic again, haven't you? We have got the gorgeous Yashan, a

primary school teacher, wearing one of Denise' most favourite outfits.

Let's hope that she doesn't get her foot stuck in the dress like Denise.

Let's have a look. I'm a reception teacher. For work, the dress code

is smart-casual. I do go for something comfortable because I am

with the little ones. I asked if I could borrow a dress from Strictly.

If anyone deserves to be a Princess for a day, it is a teacher. That is

a Princess! Let's go find out what the kids think. ALL: Yes! What do

you think? Such a delight that I... I'm like so not impressed.

think I should dress like this every day? Yes. Do you like it?

Looks beautiful It's a great secret. The kids love it. What number are

you going to give me out of ten? ALL: Ten! So what do you think?

Amazing. Really glamorous. She looked stunning. Lovely. I think

maths has never looked so good. I have had a fabulous day and it is a

shame I have had to get out of the dress. I wonder what our head

teacher will say about a weekly Strictly day. Mmm? Nice moves! And

Yashan looked stunning in that dress. She did. She reminded me of

Snow White. Beautiful. Thank you. It has been a joy. I shall never

look at ruffles and fringing in the same way again. Julien Macdonald.