Episode 49 Strictly - It Takes Two

I'm here with Anita and after Len told them their rumba

wasn't his cup of tea last weekend, she's been trying to make

Guys, just checking, you haven't put any illegal lifts in there?

And there's none of that funny "through the legs business"?

Oh, you've only put one sugar in there, right?

Live from London, this is Strictly It Takes Two! Please welcome your

host, Zoe Ball! Tonight our showbiz greenroom

is bursting at the seams. If you're pining for a hair,

make up and fashion fix, then fear not because

the Strictly glam squad are here. And there's no better way to end

a show than with a little dance. So Janette Manrara is here with

a very special demo, so grab A colander or a saucepan will do if

you have not got a top hat. But first, their sizzling rumba

divided the judges at the weekend. Personally I think nothing says

romance more than an illegal lift and a man doing the

splits. Wellcome, any to! Hang on a minute,

shut the front door. You are Gleb less. Where is he? He has had an

allergic reaction. Bless him. He went to see the doctor and his

beautiful face was swelling in a rather alarming way. But I have

heard he will be fine. Get well soon, Gleb. Don't worry, I know

everybody needs their fix, so we have the next best thing. As if by

magic... It is like he is in the room! We wish him well. Your rumba

on Saturday was so gorgeous. Look at your hair as well. Stunning.

Clever, clever lady. You said on the show you felt quite vulnerable in

this dance. How did it feel on Saturday night when you finally got

to perform on the floor? I have the same feeling every week. I love it

when I get out there and I am able to perform these dancers. That was a

very difficult dance to learn. The rumba is so exposing for the woman.

It is a hard dance to do. I loved the result and the choreography. I

know it's split the judges. Sometimes that can be exciting when

you get a difference. And it is different, I guess. Len did pick up

on the illegal lists shocker! Were you aware you are breaking the

rules? -- illegal lifts. We had a gorgeous song. Gleb did the

choreography and he said, this song, because of the way the song is, it

requires a bit of a contemporary feel to it. He is really shaking it

up. His choreography to so much thought and creativity into it.

There were lots of rumba moves in there but he did the pulling me

through the legs. I loved that lift. I loved it. I thought it looked

beautiful and I felt really elegant doing it. I know we break the law

little bit but hopefully people appreciated it. We risk takers.

Bruno loved it. He gave a nine. Craig thought it was spiky and Len

said it was not his cup of tea. What did you make of the comments? I have

the same experience every week. I love hearing what they have to say

and I find it really entertaining. Because I entered Strictly with no

expectations and what I am capable of doing, I thought, I am starting

from scratch, everything they say is valid. I have a positive filter on

my ears. When I hear positive stuff, that is what stays with me. That is

so good, can I have it? I always remember the bad things. No, you

have to live in a positive bubble. But if they are critiquing me and

saying my move could be better, then I listen. If that will help me

become a better dancer than I try my best. The week before you were in

Blackpool and you had the amazing scores. These were not bad but you

had a couple of seventh. Were you at all worried? Not at all. I was just

really happy that we had done the dance. We had a tough week learning

it. I know I brought what I could. Yes, could it have been better? If I

had trained for another ten years, would it be perfect? Probably not. I

was proud of what I achieved. Last week they loved it, this week, not

so much. There is still time to go. You are in the quarterfinal! So

exciting! It was not just your performance which got people talking

on social media. Gleb, you managed to get some attention. Fiona said, I

nearly needed oxygen after Gleb's splits. Not good to shock a woman

like that when she is eating meatballs.

That is a lesson to all of us. Amanda said, call that box splits?

This is box splits, performed by my nine-year-old daughter, Grace.

Amazing. The top tip for Grace is if you want to still be able to do

those in your 30s, you have to keep doing them every single day. Gleb

has been stretching. He was on a mission to get himself into those

splits. He has never been the same sense! Maybe that is what has

happened to him today. On we go. Are you feeling more

competitive? You are all incredible. You have never been in a dance-off

either, but you have never been topping yet. We need that to

happen. I will try my hardest. Is it more competitive? I don't think so.

I have the same attitude that I had in week one which is focused on what

I have to do. Everybody is so good, so brilliant. If I start thinking

about what other people are doing, then I will spin out of control. I

have to focus on what me and Gleb are doing and stick to our game.

This is the music from Chicago. Argentine tango, which is incredibly

complex and intricate. Are you love and it? How difficult is it? It is

super difficult. It is tough but I love the song, I love the musical. I

love this dance. If you have seen the musical, they are in prison and

they are talking and singing about how they murdered the men in their

lives! After 13 beautiful weeks with Gleb trapped in a studio, it is like

now, he had it coming! Good luck with it. I think you will be an

incredible Velma on the floor. We will see your costume in a minute. I

haven't seen it yet. I can't wait. I have had a peak, it is amazing. Good

luck on Saturday. It is Anita! Tomorrow we have a VIP joining us

in the studio. Craig Revel Horwood will be here,

so if you've got a question you want to ask him

then send them to us via social media using hash tag Ask

ITT. Now, with only a couple of days to

go before Strictly goes to the musicals, I do believe the hills are

alive with the sound of... training, so let's see how Georgia

and Katie are getting on. We are doing the slow foxtrot this

week. It is brilliant because it is the best dance. It is the dancer's

dance. We have been working on technical bits of the foxtrot today.

It is great, really interesting. It is the relation of the foot to the

body. I love the Anton lectures. It is a powerful dance. Hopefully it

will be powerful and fabulous on Saturday night. Who knows?

Slow Fox is, it should be really smooth. Learning the slow timing of

it is proving difficult. Why do you go there if I am there? OK!

Shoulders down, head back. Now eager, Biggar. It is hard work.

Everything is bigger. Can't have mistakes at this time in the

competition. Looking good, ladies.

It's Thursday, which means it's time to coax a certain lady

out of the closet and hopefully she'll drag a few frocks

She is Vicky Gill, ladies and gentlemen! And very excitingly, we

hear congratulations are in order because this week you won and RTS

award for Best costumes. Well done! We are really pleased. It is nice to

win the award but without everybody, it is everyone on the

team. Does everyone get to take a photograph with it and pass it back?

Well done! How excited are you for musicals we? I am never ready but we

will have something. They will all be wearing something! Do you have to

measure the celebrity is quite a bit because they are all losing weight?

All of our lovely ladies have got fabulous figures but they have

changed. Their shapes change. Their core becomes longer and Li Na. We do

not we measure them but we are watching out when we are taking it

in --. There is an interesting thing, you have a surprising trip of

the trade for measuring the celebrities. Check this out.

Hello, my name is Michelle and I work in production on Strictly. I

make all the mannequins for the celebrities and dancers so every

dress it's perfectly. My trick of the trade is bubble wrap! We use

bubble wrap to create the right shape and size for each dancer.

Throughout the series, body shapes change with all the dancing so we

remove bubble wrap to reflect that. That is my trick of the trade.

Look at that! Michelle is in a cupboard somewhere popping or that

bubble wrap! Let's have a look at this week's addresses. We will start

with Anita's Argentine tango. She is our very own Velma this weekend.

This is stunning. Vicky, talk us through it. Very sheer, because it

is Chicago, it will be sheer and sexy. These have been put in for

modesty at the moment. They may not be there. It feels like it needs to

be very short, but because Anita is doing Argentine tango, I think we

should have length to it. We will have links with the fringe but

hopefully we will see lots of leg and movement through the fringe. We

will have laid it up in different angles depending on what they feel

about the move. Will it come up? I don't think it will come up. We will

shape it so we make it shorter angles and longer pieces so when

they are at rest, it will feel shapely and slinky but when she is

moving she will have lots of leg. She has a very happy face, she loves

it! That she preferred the Long ballroom or the short Latin? I do

think she has a favourite. I think it all depends on the performance.

However she needs to feel and move is how she chooses her length and

style. Am I right? Spot-on! And onto our very own beauty, Georgia dancing

to Beauty and the Beast with Giovanni. This is stunning. I know

my little girl at home will say, money, that is amazing. She will be

Belle. I am not thinking about how much detail we are putting into this

design in terms of the shape and style of it, because we are

referencing Belle. All of the girls at home, how pretty is the skirt, is

it the same colour? Will they be entering into a Beauty and the Beast

moment on the Saturday night? Georgia is a tiny little thing. She

will carry that off well. I'm sure there will be little boys who want

to wear that as well. We are moving on to Helen. They are dancing to Les

Mis. We never want to be disrespectful

but we want to create beautiful dresses for Saturday night. Little

references, the corset detail, the shape on the bust. We get a bustle

field but that may go. We may build it even more depending on how

comfortable Helen is. Two great big split at the front so we will be

seeing her legs. There may be a couple back. Smoked topaz in colour.

Lots of different textures but very dark. All the costumes will be

incredible. A reference to the lying King. The cast are coming into dance

with some of the pro dancers. -- the Lion King. We have very bright

linings with green tones over the top. It will be amazing. The

award-winning Vicky Gill, ladies and gentlemen.

When it comes to choreography we've seen it all, including Jeremy Vine

in a shower, but how do our professionals come up with it all?

We sent Robin Windsor to get some answers from that Kevin Clifton.

Hallow, Kevin. How are you? I am good, mate. I have to say you have

done an incredible job this series with Kelly. She has gone from

strength to strength. We are having a really good time. When you get

given a dance and your music, what is the first thing that comes into

your head? The first thing is, what is the story of the song? I will

listen to it over and again. I am in my front room. The problem is Karen

is there as well. We are dancing around the living room. If there is

something I cannot quite figure out how it would work, I might grab

Karen and throw her around. Go back, go back! Out the corner of my

eye I see Karen doing something that is quite cool and Ice-T 's -- I

steal it. Is there a style of dance you choreograph more than any other?

Paso dough blade. My favourite was your one with Susanna Reid. --

Doble. With Paso, there is a very defined character. You want the

audience to be in that story. If they are going, I like how she

pointed her foot in dance, you have almost got it wrong. I want the

audience to be crying and jumping up and down in excitement, going, I

love that! This might be quite controversial but if you focus so

much on technique and not on the story and character, even if they

are brilliant, the dance itself might be boring. You are performing

to how ever many million people at home wanting to enjoy the show. For

me, that comes first. We work very similar. Do you tried to appeal to

all four of the judges or just one in particular? I put a Len step in

there, something that is very traditional and basic. Stick a heel

turn in there and make sure it is right in front of him, very obvious.

I will say to Kelly, this is the Len step. Bring your heels together and

turn like that and do three in a row in front of land. If you miss the

first one, you are going to see the second. In the training room, when

you are teaching Kelly the choreography, what do you do if she

is having problems? She does not like it if she cannot get a step.

All I have to say to Kelly is, maybe I will will make it easier. That is

the worst thing you can say to any of the celebrities. She does not

like it. She will get it about half an hour later. You have done a

brilliant job so far. We all love you. Thanks, mate.

Earlier on Vicky Gill gave us a sneaky look at some of the

costumes for this weekend's show but a good frock ain't nothing without a

bit of hair and make up, so please welcome the Strictly Glam Squad.

Bryony and Lisa. Hallow, ladies. Thanks for coming to see us. Does

the week if you a chance to do more crazy experimental stuff? It still

does you have already been given a character. It is all about

modernising it. You are in charge of hair. How important is the do, the

Barnet, in musicals week? It is the same really. They will be moving

around lots and upside down. We do it week on things. We will start

with Georgia and Giovanni. We have seen the beautiful dress. How are

you going to turn Giovanni into a beast? So much fun. We're going to

do it all in the face paint. They will make it so much softer. We will

draw in the teeth and give him contact lenses. We are going to

sneeze glitter on him. That is the official technique, is it? What

about Georgia's hair? This kind of thing. We will use her own hair, set

it in rollers and stuff, and tease it into the shape so she becomes a

princess. She looks so beautiful with it. I loved it when she had all

the lovely flowers in her hair. Katie is dancing to maybe this time

from Cabaret. We are modernising it. Liza Minnelli had massive, blue

eye shadow right up to the eyebrows. We are restraining it a little bit

and putting on lots of green glitter with false lashes underneath. She

had the signature Hollywood red lips. We are going to glitter those.

Is that easy? It is really hard to put them on and off. If she is

snogging people, we will find out. It all goes on around here. The wig

is back. Lisa 's top row Chris she is using it again. Anita has worn

this week and Jeannette. It will be the shape of Liza Minnelli. We will

do kiss curls. It will be nice. What about her own hair? She has quite a

lot of hair. Her hair will be wrapped around her head and she will

have the wig cap on. About 1000 hairpins. Also, our pros are dancing

with some of the cast from the lying King. Talk us through the look. When

it comes to pro dancers, a lot of the girls are no longer in it and we

can take more time. We are going to go in with the fingers, all white

war paint. It will go yellow. We will have green. Is. Beautiful smoky

eyes and a lovely lip. Quite fast turnaround, isn't it? After the

group they have to be back in their own make up. We all work together.

It is a bit of a scramble. It looks incredible. Basically, the girls,

this sort of thing we will use. To go along with the tribal look, big,

wild hair, Platz, lots of texture. Crimping. There is going to be

crimping. Crimping, curls, Platz. Maybe some ribbons to match with the

make-up colours. We can not wait. You are doing such incredible work.

You may be involved in some dancing. Let's hear it for Bryony

and Lisa. You know the score

when it comes to Friday. We're on at 6pm, well that's

unless Andy Murray decides to play Nevertheless, I've lined up

a pretty good show for you. Ian Waite takes us through the most

memorable musical theatre moments from Strictly passed. Everyone's

favourite judge with a grudge, Craig Greville Horwood, joins us. It Takes

Two, live at six p.m.. In honour

of the musical theme this weekend, our professional dancers will be

performing a suitably showbiz group So I think we need to learn a few

moves from the routine with the help We have the glamour squads,

professional dancer and Nicky -- Vicky is with us as well. Pop the

elbows out and put the chin nice and higher. First step, two steps

forward, starting with the right. One, too. Then HR cha-cha with the

right. Another two steps starting with the left. One, too, had little

turn. Step forward with the right. Five, six, seven, eight.

Now a little flick. We want to try to get your heel to hit your bum.

With the third step you're going to do a big push. Turn around and face

the other way. One more time with the right leg, push. Guess what,

another little flick to the balm. Step on the right and then we do a

lovely pop up with the hat. OK. Slowly, slowly. Five, six, seven,

eight. Flick, two, three, push. Turned, push. Click, push. Turn,

turn. Finish off with a pop. Make sure you do this in style. Get the

Palm, all the fingers together. We will finish by taking a step

forward. Ted Ah! Shall we try to music? Five, six, seven, eight.

Flick, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three. That

is so good. And as we're going to

the musicals tomorrow we'll have none other than Jodie Prenger,

performing a West End classic.