Episode 33 Strictly - It Takes Two

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Hello and welcome to It Takes Two!

It's Wednesday, and boy,

do we have a show lined up for you.

Don't believe me?

Well, take a look at who's

in the green room tonight!

They're cheeky, charming and can

certainly cha cha cha.

It's Alexandra and Gorka!

And is that a kilt I spy?

We love a man that keeps his word -

it's Joe and Katya!

What a treat!

Plus we have royalty

in the building.

The Queen of Latin,

Shirley Ballas, joins us later!

But before all that,

I think we need a warm-up.

I wonder who can help us out?

Ian's back everyone!

Hello, gorgeous man.

Dramatic events at the weekend.

The competition is really starting

to heat up now, isn't it?

It is.

Does this mean you are going

to be very strict?

I am going to

inspect every little heel turn and

every ball. Watch out!

The wand is

out already.

Let's start with Debbie and

Giovanni, they smashed their tango.

Top of the leaderboard

three weeks in a row.

Can they make it four

with their salsa?

I don't know, it is looking pretty

good, a lot of fancy armography, you

have to have good contact with the

hands to do this and maintain it.

The only place I would say she needs

to work on, she does lovely feet and

hands, but I would say that she

needs to work on this area.

Hips.

She has got to be loose in the hip

area each way it is like the figure

eight all the time, squeeze those

sides.

I can't do that!

To have the

whole salsa package she has to have

that.

She has got to loosen up!

Moving onto Darverd and Nadiya,

Moving onto Darverd

and Nadiya, their bum lift.

It is quite simple! Seriously? I

weigh a tonne!

I did my rotator cuff

once and I had never been the same

since.

I've heard that before! But

they were brilliant at the weekend.

And the Charleston.

Finally

producing that dance we were

expecting. This will be another full

on Charleston and we have seen quite

a few. At the moment on Tuesday it

is slightly behind her, everything

has to be in line with each other.

As I spotted here...

He has gone in

and she has gone out! It could be

deliberate?

Trust you! But the side

by side positions in Charleston are

very exposing if you are not in tune

and doing the same. They had to do

that.

Loving that she is smiling.

Susan and Kevin made a massive

improvement with their jive.

11 points higher

than the week before.

Do you think their

tango will top it?

I don't know about that. What a very

shiny floor! Then been wearing socks

all week! There is a slight bobbing

up and down with her flicks. And

also the arms going up and down, you

got to keep that still come down in

the Lakes. There was this area

here... -- in the legs.

It is the

issues again.

I will do a little

demonstration.

Tango, my favourite.

Side, close, side, close.

I think I

pulled something.

And again. Hold

the position. That wasn't what I was

doing to talk about, it was this

half, she has to get her knees in

and inside edge of the toe, that was

good. And when we go off we do a

lovely he'll lead.

Not easy in these

boots.

Unfortunately she missed a

lot of that. Early stages. Only

Tuesday.

Finally, Jonnie and Oti turned it

on with their salsa.

But are they doing it

for you with their foxtrot?

He is rotating very well as you can

see. It is nice and smooth and he is

releasing his toes on this reverse

wave which is very good. I have

noticed here, I am going to go with

a few arrows. As you can see, he has

got better at putting his bottom

under because with the foxtrot there

is a lot of drive going on and he

has got the glutes for it.

It's all

muscle!

It's getting much better.

There is a slight, with his elbow,

slightly behind his back and I would

like to see them a bit more forward

like that because here he is losing

hurts sometimes and there is a bit

of a gap.

Don't lose Oti!

And when

he gets his elbows forward he could

get the elbow is a bit more down.

We

get very strict at this point.

We'll be covering

the rest of our couples

in round two tomorrow.

Until then, give it up for Ian!

APPLAUSE

Right, time now to meet my next

guests, and I don't know about you,

but their Charleston certainly

had me dancing to the

beat of their drum.

DRUMMING.

I loved it, I thought it was

brilliant.

Doing these steps in

opposite and keeping it in sync is

so difficult. Great job.

Your timing

was immaculate, that was a great

Charleston.

Go cuckoo for Joe

and Katya, everyone!

Before we start, give us

a twirl in that kilt!

APPLAUSE

I love that move!

You look so handsome! What a treat.

You can thank me later, viewers.

It was such a joyous dance. So

incredible. How much did you love

it?

We really love it, get a bit

scared because it was going so well,

but this week is more challenging.

We will get onto that! But you put

more than a smile on Craig's face.

He gave you a nine.

And that was

amazing, nine from Craig is like 20!

We were really pleased. The thing

about the songs you kept singing

Alexandra's...

It is a Ragtime band.

We bow down, the choreography was

exceptional and you through so many

steps in there.

We did the basic

Charleston and we thought why not

throw in a turn and another and we

did the funky arms and I thought

that was still not enough! Lets put

20 others into the whole routine!

It

must have taken you weeks. They were

sown in sync.

And I thought that if

he did not do well I could grab one

of them?

The lifts were exquisite,

we called them spectacular. How

scary was it to practice?

It is more

scary for her because she had to

trust me but she did from the

beginning. I was like, I can't do

that because it's dangerous. But you

do them precisely and the stages and

hopefully they go well.

You have to

take it in stages. I'm a bit

reckless like that and throw myself

into it!

We all remember what

happened with Ed Balls! You were

having the time of your life. The

height you get to...

Sometimes you

would overdo it and I went all the

way behind!

You are laughing at

that, anybody else would be scared!

So much love on the line, an

interesting one from Jenin Henderson

who wrote, Joe, didn't think the

Charleston would be his dance, shows

what I know! Good to group people

wrong.

Absolutely, that is the

beauty of the Internet! We would

have never heard from them.

Quite a

lot of opinions this week! When did

you realise this was your dance?

I

hoped it would be from the beginning

because it is the one you put in to

do when you're 12 years old.

Misspent youth! But you can throw

your energy into it. I was looking

forward to it and I'm sad we can't

do it every week.

You never know!

Maybe you could do it again. And you

push him so hard. He rises to the

challenge every week and you have

got used to each other now?

I think

you're used to me being quite pushy.

Yeah!

That's OK, but my theory is

that more is not enough. People say

less is more, I'm like, what?!

Practice makes...

Progress.

We need

these on T-shirts and mugs! Let's

talk about this week. The rumba.

I

love it!

Why do we have to do it? I

take some comfort in the fact that

everybody find it difficult and it

certainly is. It's getting slightly

easier the more we do it. Today we

had a mini break through and I was

thinking, if you act it it makes it

slightly easier because it is

connected to some and not just you

doing this.

This funny stuff.

But

it's getting there and we still have

tomorrow.

And also, you have this...

MUSIC: 'One' by Mary J Blige & U2.

Our floor manager was losing it

singing along to this!

It's one of

the best songs ever written.

You can

act through it, surely?

Absolutely,

it helps if you like the song

because you're listening to it 500

times!

And for the rest of time

every time you hear it...

There are

certain songs I never want to hear

again!

For me it is Part-time Lover.

Totally! It is so exposing, both for

the male dancer and the female, how

do you tackle that?

It is not being

afraid of it. I think it would look

a lot more awkward, if you know you

have to show that maybe to get here,

but do it in a sort of stiff way or

reserved way, that would look more

awkward for people to watch. You

want them to be with you in that

moment and feel that we are in this

together or she has left me. It is

more awkward if you don't commit to

it 100%.

And don't believe it.

I

love like you are telling yourself

that like little notes, commit to

it! But your talents never end, we

caught you in the training room...

# There's just too much that time

cannot raise

# When you cried I wipe away all

your tears

# When you scream I'd fight away all

your fears

# And I held your hand through all

of these years #.

CHEERING

You are playing the piano and

singing!

Anything that distracts

from dancing! It gives me a little

break for five minutes. That is

quite embarrassing, I did not know

you filmed that!

That is what we are

here to do. Good luck with the

rumba, go get it, you can do it. Joe

and Katya.

Now fact fans might be interested

to know the cha-cha-cha is the most

performed dance ever in Strictly

history - 169 times to be precise.

But how can we master it at home?

It's time to get a wiggle

on and learn from Queen of Latin

herself in my first Dance Card

of the series!

Please welcome Shirley Ballas!

APPLAUSE

Lovely to see you.

A lot of people were in shock to see

Aston go at the weekend.

Can you explain why

you saved Mollie and AJ?

Because it is an awful decision to

have to make to send anybody home

but you have to judge on that

particular dance in front of you,

not past or future performances, but

right there and then. I urge

everybody at home, you have to vote.

Look at Ruth, she got a fall, but

she didn't go in the bottom two.

You

will be teaching us the Cha Cha Cha?

You have to be able to move quickly,

change from foot to foot and then

you can keep up with the music that

is very fast.

Alexandra demonstrated

this beautifully.

Beautiful straight

leg, nice curve in her body, she had

the hips going, she had it going.

That is what we are aiming for. Wait

until you see us do it. When did you

first learn best dance?

I was seven

years old at the church hall. I

first heard the music Amat was the

very first dance I learn.

We have a

photograph of you then. That is your

friend, Irene, still friends.

Dress

with the brown trim and I wanted it

and I was sulking because I thought

her dress was prettier than mine.

You have beautiful eye make-up

there.

This is what I wore for my

first Cha Cha Cha. Where did the

dance come from?

It is a combination

of Cuban ballroom and American

swing. It is known as the mambo.

When the English dance teachers

visited Cuba in 1952 they introduced

the triple step that differentiate

the Cha Cha Cha from the Ron Barr.

Another theory is it resembles the

sound of loose sandals slapping the

floor as the Cuban ladies danced the

steps. Where do we start?

I want you

all to stand up, close your feed.

Introduce the past you, get it in a

vertical straight line. Put the

weight on your right foot and free

up your left. Take a sidestep onto

your left foot and transfer the

weight. Backstabber on to your right

foot, now we will Cha Cha Cha to the

right. Three steps. Step forward,

replace your weight. We are going to

Cha Cha Cha. Then we will get some

body motion going. Back on the

right.

What is Cuban body movement?

Throw your hip over. Step forward,

keep your legs straight. Look at

that.

One more time.

Cha Cha Cha.

Come on, girlfriend.

If we put it

together, it is all very well doing

it at that speed.

It is three steps,

Cha Cha Cha in any direction.

What

is a chassis again?

Three steps in

any direction. Three steps. But the

weight on your right foot step. Wait

for the music. Cha Cha Cha...

Forward. Cha Cha Cha back. Back, Cha

Cha Cha, Cha Cha Cha.

APPLAUSE

That is why this lady is known as

the Queen of Latin.

I think I'm going to

need a lie down after

that!

Hopefully Darverd & Nadiya

and Mollie and AJ have

more stamina than I do.

Let's have a look at their training.

Charleston is fun, fast, it intends.

Has to be nice and up all the time,

very tiring.

A lot of kicks and

jumps.

Swivel, swivel, swivel.

Everywhere I go, I am swivelling.

It

is very important he crosses his

feet.

A lot of crossing the ankles.

A lot of information in my head.

I

just hope he can get the steps.

AJ

loves the paso doble eat and he is

in that strict mood.

This is the

quickest I have ever moved.

It is

quite fast and quite focused than

always something going on.

You have

got to build up the tension and

march across the floor. We are on a

mission.

Right, time now to

meet my final guests.

It wasn't just the music

in them on Saturday

night, they had

the Cha, Cha, Cha too!

'Turn it out' for lady

in red, Alexandra and

Gorka the Corka!

You put the cheeky in Cha Cha Cha.

You are outstanding. It was flirty,

you were so confident and it paid

off.

It was the best Cha Cha Cha

this season so far.

Who are those two, I would like to

meet them. Congratulations, your

joint highest score. We could tell

you loved it. Your reaction, when

you found out the scores was

brilliant.

Just the fact we had gone

on first, I was petrified. When we

had done the run early in the day, I

had stopped and froze. Looked at

Gorka. I didn't know what was going

on. The band and Gorka,

professional, carried on but I stood

there and freaked out. That is why I

was so proud and happy, the moment

the scores came in, I didn't expect

it. I jumped the joys. I am still

living on that high.

There is a

moment you get out there and you

freeze, at least it wasn't on the

live show.

That is what Gorka said

to me.

It is best if it happens on

the dressed run and the rehearsals

because then you are aware it can

happen. It made her think a little

bit of every step she was taking.

Just let my energy take over.

You

worked it brilliantly. We must

mention the turnout.

Something else

to work on. He said, it was good. I

was so confused.

I was looking at

your feet, it is so hard, but well

done.

It is really hard. We didn't

have a lot of time last week to

learn there's Cha Cha Cha, I was so

nervous on the technique and half an

hour before we went live, I stood

with a mirror and for half an hour

went through my technique

religiously. It was a little bit

intense. I was putting so much

pressure on myself, but I want to do

you proud. We worked so hard.

It is

paying off. Shirley said it was

outstanding, she was raving about

you. She said she was like a

professional bouncer. Why did this

done suit Alexandra so much?

It is

very fast, change of energy and

rhythm. She has rhythm in herself

and then there is the central dance.

I was surprised, on the first day I

said we will do the Cha Cha Cha and

we will do Cha Cha Cha walking. And

she said, OK. And I thought, that is

going to be very good. It is very

hard. She was working very hard,

focused on her legs. Please do so,

take your time, she was doing it

perfectly in the mirror.

I have

never heard you talk so much.

I can

talk all day.

Well Joanne the Cat Lady

particularly loved

it on social media, she wrote...

"Alexandra Burke is officially

the Dancing Queen.

Brilliant cha, cha, cha -

and a great start to the show.

Why not a ten Craig?"

Yes, why not ten, Craig?

We never

walk out expecting great results. It

is a matter of taking each day as it

comes in trying our best to have fun

on this journey. If we get great

scores, it is the icing on the cake.

I go on the stage and just see

Gorka. It is all about him. I

literally, all I want to do is have

fun, go out there because I love to

perform. Loving these new dances and

having the best time. The scores is

the icing on the cake if it is good.

Every week, I want to have nine from

Craig and we will make it through

every week.

It was a bittersweet

weekend because you lost the other

half of team 45, Aston and Janette.

I heard you had a really big cry?

How is it to see that happen?

I was

shocked, I didn't expect it to

happen for a second, I thought Aston

was going to win the show. I have

been friends with him for years.

Redefine that, not win.

He is

amazing and everyone knows how close

we are. I just hope they are both OK

because they are both incredible

together and she worked so hard with

him.

They did take it graciously as

well. In the words of Yazz, the only

way is up. The Argentine tango for

these two this week. Let's listen to

your music, which is amazing.

Teach

me, teach me. Do the leg thing.

It

is all of that.

Is the dance going

to be as saucy as the music?

It is

intense. It is probably the most

intense one we will do and the

hardest and the most challenging one

we have done so far. Literally we

will be here. It is going to be

intense. Looking forward to it.

Do

you need to practice that, Gorka?

Pretty close. Good luck with that

this weekend. Alexandra and Gorka.

APPLAUSE

I have had a nice night tonight.

That's all we have time for tonight.

We'll be back here tomorrow

at 6:30 getting all the

gossip from Susan &

Kevin and Darverd

and Nadiya.

Plus Ian Waite is back with another

warm-up and Vicky Gill will be

letting us have a

rummage through her

Strictly draws!