Episode 52 Strictly - It Takes Two

From London...

From London...

This is Strictly It Takes Two!

Please welcome your host, Zoe Ball.

CHEERING.

Hello, and welcome to It Takes Two !

After waving goodbye to Darvood

and Nadiya last night, all eyes

are on the semifinal.

And the countdown starts here.

They secured their place

on Sunday night after

a show-stopping dance-off.

It's the supercalifragilisticexpi...

Alexandra and Gorka!

CHEERING.

And, hoping to be practically

perfect in the Pro Challenge,

it's Brendan Cole!

CHEERING.

But first, like a spoonful of sugar

she helps the medicine go

down.

Natalie Lowe returns

for Choreography Corner!

Give it up for Natalie

Lowe, everyone!

CHEERING.

Always gorgeous, you look amazing.

Was Musicals Week

a smash hit for you?

It was a smash hit, unbelievable,

the props, lighting, hair, make-up.

They really complimented the

routine. All the extra dancers.

Let's start with Alexandra

and Gorka's Charleston.

Somehow they still ended

up in the bottom two.

Even though the judges couldn't

tell who the pro was!

Just how polished was this routine?

I said the same, she is

unbelievable. Her swivelling action,

she danced her socks off, her energy

levels in her legs were

unbelievable, we have some footage

here.

It takes a lot of power to have that

height through the lakes. Incredible

swivelling action which I've never

seen on any other celebrity. Amazing

characterisation. She was like Santa

Claus, she kept on giving.

And it went on, the energy.

What next. It was continuous. One of

the best Charleston dancers I have

ever seen.

Debbie and Giovanni's

American Smooth next.

They were praised

for their storytelling.

What made it so memorable?

for their storytelling.

For me, it was just an immaculate

performance, and it was magical from

beginning to end, I felt transported

and transfixed. Her poise, elegance,

the support she is giving herself

because Giovanni is not really there

for her, a lot of it was out of

holes. She is exquisite. Moving

forward I would like to see her have

a bit more fullness through the

frame, with her online is in

tension, with purpose. I want more

extension. She has some great

dancers next week so she can express

herself more in her upper body.

Next up, Mollie and AJ's rumba.

Mixed comments for this one.

And an illegal lift!

Craig thought she was

"dancing by numbers".

What did he mean by that?

I loved it as well. For me, because

the music was so slow, it was just

like, two, three,... She was

stepping to the beat. If she was

settling into the hip, if she had

thought about the, and three, and

four...

Argue OK. I am following, I am

following.

-- are you locate?

Can I just show you?

I think you need to, it it is time.

With that section we slowed down, it

was very sideways. Counting slowly.

A bit better performed than that.

You need to think about the figure

eight action, as you are closing

your feet.

Oh! That is how it is done,

incredible.

Years to perfect that. I thought the

lift worked for them. You need to

pull out all the stops.

Even though it was illegal.

On to Gemma and Aljaz who opened

the show with a quickstep.

The judges were divided on

characterisation versus technique.

What did you think?

She looked like $1 million, she came

out firing on all cylinders as you

should. They were first out. I loved

this combination of flicks, she

needed a lot of upper body strength

to make it look elegant.

I do feel like there was quite a lot

of content which overrode her

characterisation.

She came out firing, lost it in the

middle, a bit of frame

characterisation. And energy. But

she finished strong. So much to

think about coming in her defence,

syncopation, there are other dancers

on the floor.

But I thought she did a good

performance.

I loved the big finish.

And finally, let's talk about Joe

and Katya's cabaret-inspired samba.

Why was this concept

so on the money?

People loved it. I see what you did

there!

For me, this was a really risky

song, for a samba there needs to be

a take action, the music didn't give

that for me. I think Katya is a

genius with her technical ability

and the way she teaches. That

enabled this routine to shine and

get top marks. He had some fantastic

action. Better action than I have

seen on any male celebrity doing the

samba.

That is good! I think I have a

little demo to do.

Please!

Again, it is about the mid section

and utilising the full beat of the

music. He had a moment where he

went...

You don't normally see this

settling, this contraption and

rotation section through the hip. Do

you want to see it again?

Yes, please.

Well done!

I think that was amazing.

Good luck

at the wedding, getting married!

So exciting.

Now, the Strictly playlist

is endless, but we don't

just pop it on shuffle.

Our songs are carefully selected

to bring sweet music to your ears.

So, without further ado,

it's time for Tunes On Tuesday.

One of my favourites. It is

semifinal time.

And I reckon this next

song is really going

to get us in the mood.

Here goes.

MUSIC: I'm So Excited.

It's I'm So Excited,

by the Pointer Sisters!

Released in 1984, it just missed out

on the top ten, but has

since become a club classic!

Now, if like three-quarters

of Brits, you don't feel

like you're getting

enough excitement in your life,

here are some top tips on how

to boost your excitement levels.

Number one.

Get out of bed right away!

Number two.

Exercise!

Number three.

Smile more!

Number four.

Find wonder in the most

simple things!

It's all so exciting!

We can't contain

ourselves any longer.

Who's going to be dancing to this?

It's Debbie and Giovanni.

And they'll be dancing a jive.

Thank you. Give it up for Gorka and

Alexandra!

Right, what's next?

MUSIC: Have You Met Miss Jones?

It's Have You Met Miss Jones?

Originally recorded in 1937,

this classic has been

sung by Frank Sinatra,

Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett,

to name a few.

But it's the Robbie Williams'

version we're interested in.

As featured on the soundtrack

to Bridget Jones's Diary!

Thanks to that very film,

sales of granny knickers

went through the roof!

So, who'll be hoping to charm

the pants off the judges with this?

Look at them, it is a beautiful

thing. Thank you

Let's find out.

The clue was in the title all along.

It's Joe and Katya...

Jones!

They'll be dancing

an American Smooth.

Natalie and Hawker, beautiful work.

Right, time for one last song.

MUSIC: Finally.

Finally, a CeCe Peniston song!

This was released in 1991

when it reached number one

in the Billboard charts.

CeCe penned this song in college.

She wasn't dating much,

and tried to imagine

what her future man

might

look like when she finally met him.

Well, it worked a treat because,

not long after, she got her man!

Who will be hoping to strike gold

with this on Saturday?

It's Alexandra and Gorka!

And what will you be

dancing to this epic tune?

A salsa!

We can't wait.

To find out the rest of the songs,

head over to the Strictly website.

Now, enough of that

semifinal nonsense, we've

got bigger fish to fry!

It's time for the Pro Challenge!

This year, the Pro Challenge

is heading back to the Roaring '20s

where our pros will attempt to set

a record for the most Charleston

swivel steps in 30 seconds.

To qualify, our pros

have to complete

one forward and one backward step.

If there is no swivel in the feet

or ankles, or if they fail

to complete the forward and backward

steps, it

will be disqualified.

The challenge will be

the hardest and most

technical our pros have faced.

But only one person

can claim the title.

Welcome to the Strictly

Pro Challenge 2017.

Thank you.

Time to welcome our next contender.

He hails all the way

from Christchurch, New Zealand

where, at the age of six,

he took his first dance steps.

Years later, he would win

the first ever series

of Strictly Come Dancing.

Give it up for the

legendary Brendan Cole!

CHEERING.

Here he comes!

Beautifully done!

Thank you so much.

15 series of Strictly.

That's a lot of swivels.

Surely your entire career has been

building to this challenge?

Yes, I can tell.

Listen, I'm always want to see, it

doesn't really matter this Pro

Challenge. Deep down, it does, but

I'm not very good.

I go for quality and not quantity.

I like that.

If you don't mind me saying,

you are a veteran among the pros.

Have they been showing

you the respect you deserve?

On this show, you must be joking! I

have a great relationship with

everyone on the show.

The prose on the show, we all love

each other and help each other.

When it comes to the Pro Challenge,

the elbows are out. Have you seen

Katia? She has a look on her face,

what to do?

She is top of the Leader Board.

What are you hoping for?

I'm hoping

to be at the bottom. I don't believe

in trying to beat Katia because she

might kill me. I muffled it in the

middle.

Shall we see?

My tactic is

to use these bounty little legs and

go faster than anyone else. Who

knows.

There he is, hello, Brendan, welcome

to the Pro Challenge.

How are you feeling?

Albright.

Just because you are one of the more

mature prose we still eat you can do

this. We still think!

I am going to give this my best,

don't you worry.

Take your position on the dance

floor.

Get ready.

OK. Your official attempt begins...

Go.

Come on, Brendan, keep going. Push

it. Keep the swivel.

Hang on.

15 seconds. Shut up!

Not you, personally.

Keep the swivel.

Five, four...

Stop.

I am too old for this.

What happened there? I don't know.

I'd like another crack at that but

we only get one chance, that is a

life lesson.

Sadly, yes.

Thank you for joining in. Thank you,

Brendan.

Today I put on my lucky Charleston

shoes and frankly, they are going in

the bin.

That made me laugh a lot.

You only

get one chance, do not miss your

chance.

It made me look much better.

I know I stumbled in the middle, it

was pretty atrocious. That was

funny.

It was very funny. Have you

thrown away your Charleston shoes

because I would have given you a

good price.

They are gone, they are

in the bin.

I'm legally required to inform

you that, after each

of the professionals had

made their attempt, the footage

was watched back by adjudicators

in slow motion to verify every

single swivel to make sure

they were all accurate.

You finished a little more

horizontal than you may've liked.

Did you underestimate the challenge?

I did, I didn't practice, I didn't

go in to it with the steely

determination to win. It's the

taking part that counts, children.

Exactly. I cannot give you in

suspense any longer.

Shall I lean

forward?

Yes. In 30 seconds, you

completed...

DRAMATIC MUSIC

21 Charles Dance swivels.

Yes! Cut

to commercial! .

To commercial. Of

course, there were some

disqualifications. There were 14

illegal steps, giving you a total of

seven. You did say you wanted to be

top or bottom of the Leader Board.

You got your wish, it came true.

I

want a recount!

Brendan Cole,

everyone.

And now for something

completely different.

When you think of computer game duos

some legendary partnerships

spring to mind - Mario &

Luigi, Sonic & Tails.

Chloe and Neil.

Kneel and I have come along to a

motion capture studio where they

create animations for video games.

-- Neil.

I've always wanted to be in

a video, maybe I could be a warrior

or a superhero.

OK, Neil, we're on

Strictly, we are going to be

dancing.

But maybe we could be

dancing super heroes.

Whatever, come

on, let's go.

In fact we are going

to be starring in a dancing game.

Nick is going to be showing us the

ropes.

What I need you to do first

is go and get suited up and when you

get back I will explain everything

we are going to do.

I feel like a

superhero!

You look like ping-pong

boy.

That is mean, let's get on with

it. Why have I got so many ping-pong

balls all over meat?

The six to two

cameras in this theatre are

calibrated and working as one hand

they track the markers on your

bodies so we can capture the

animation.

I was expecting a green

screen so how does this work?

We

don't do Green screen stuff anymore

that was way back. It is 2007 Tina

Maze and computer technology

tracking you using the markers.

What

is next?

Do some practice moves to

see of the calibration is working

and then we will do some of the

dancing.

Cool, definitely. Let's go,

Chloe.

Do that one.

Moonwalking all-day

around you, girl.

So, Nick, is this what you are

looking for, this type of thing?

I

was kind of looking for the Viennese

waltz.

OK.

OK, come on, Chloe, let's

do it.

Awesome, looks great, thank you.

With the filming complete its over

to Nick and his team to work their

magic and put us into the game.

Once

we have got the footage for the

motion capture studio it comes back

and we can look at it on the

computer. What we can see here is

the skeleton is dancing around the

floor and in the game you have to

wrap the skin around the skeletons

of Neil and Chloe. Next stage is we

start to add finer details. We have

to tailor the facial expressions to

the dance. So, for example, if it

was the tango it would be serious,

whereas with the Viennese waltz it

is much happier and smiling. The

last stage is to put a bit of colour

into the characters, and at this

point it starts to feel like the

characters are coming to life.

So there you have it, that's how the

magic happens, and how you transform

us dancing into the video game.

Chloe and kneel, that's amazing. --

Neil.

Time to welcome my final guests.

They survived their second

dance off to earn a

place in the semifinal

with a Charleston

that was quite simply.

GORKA:

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

CHEERING

He almost got it!

It's Alexandra and Gorka!

Practically perfect in every

possible way. Well done.

The amount

of detail you gave us, I mean, it

didn't stop, you didn't even take a

breath.

You had better swivel than

Gorka in that, actually. I

absolutely loved it, brilliant.

Alexandra and Gorka! Amazing stuff.

I think Bruno put it perfectly when

he said your Charleston was the show

stopper everyone was waiting for. It

was awesome, how much fun did you

have?

I had so much fun, for me the

Charleston is the one dance when I

was always saying to Gorka let's do

energetically and I'm always quite

hyper so he was giving me every

trick in the world to see if I could

do it and it was so much fun and it

was brilliant, I loved it.

I would

love to re-enact those moves at

home. There you are joint top of the

Leader Board and then you go into

the bottom two. Last week you said

it was a shock, wasn't a shock, you

kind of expected it but this week I

could feel the pain on your little

face when it happened.

It's a scary

place to be and at this point in the

show as well, everybody wants to

make it that next step. I was really

frightened and so, you know when you

feel you haven't done your partner

proud and that's how I felt. I

always want to do Gorka crowd and I

felt we had such a great week and

performance, we felt we did, we got

great encouraging comments, and it

is a scary place.

It is a tough one.

Gorka, for you, when she has done

such an amazing performance, got

great comments from the judges, when

told you are in the bottom two, how

do you pick Alexandra up and get her

to go out there?

She's the one who

picks me up because she is such a

strong woman, because I was like,

OK, whatever but she was positive

and like, whatever, let's do it and

we both love the dance and wanted to

enjoy it and we take the positive

side, let's do it again and have

fun. So she's very positive and

strong so it's very good.

The judges

were in disbelief when that happens

as well. Why don't people vote? What

do you think?

I don't know, you just

can't take that moment for granted.

We were at the top of the Leader

Board at that point but maybe

they'll pull think you are safe and

that's why they don't vote for

survival was said it come I can't

stress enough, the votes really do

matter. It really matters no matter

where you are in the Leader Board.

We have to encourage people to

hopefully vote.

My friends want to

vote but they live in Spain.

Fly

them over, Gorka, it would be worth

it. Also, you said you have been

treated for an injury as well. Tell

us about that.

Basically, just

before we went on for the actual

show I injured my leg, my left hip,

so I was industry -- in excruciating

pain during the dance. And the

dance-off, I just had to go for it.

You are amazing.

APPLAUSE

Like a pro dancer. Craig said your

swivel was better than Gorka's and

it shows how good a teacher he is.

It's better than his too.

LAUGHTER

Just saying!

You could have done the

Pro Challenge. You were swivelling

in your sleep?

Yes, to be honest, I

think I was over thinking everything

that we could because I just wanted

to go out there and have the best

time. I'm sorry but the Charleston,

if anybody in life gets the chance

to practice a Charleston it's the

happiest dance you will ever do. You

get to go into a little world of

your own and it's so much fun.

Someone is doing it in the audience

tonight.

Me too!

Darcey compel you

to a professional and when you hear

that from a prima ballerina that has

got to be good.

It's amazing, I'm

having the best experience with

Gorka and loving every single moment

of it. I don't want it to end.

Yeah.

It's just beyond what I thought it

would be. It's even better than what

I thought this experience would be.

We take the comments and come back

next year.

It is the semifinal, two

dancers, my goodness, one of them we

know, salsa to CeCe Peniston I know

you love a party dance, how excited

are you?

I'm so excited, I know I

say that about every dance but this

also, with Gorka, he is the king of

salsa, isn't he?

Who me?

I'm just so

excited to do a salsa with this

amazing man right here. I can't

wait.

So, salsa and what is the

other dance, Gorka, por favor?

We

are doing the Viennese waltz.

How

does this compare?

It is the same

rhythm but it is quite fast compared

to the normal English waltz. It is

going to be faster. This one is very

beautiful, classic and romantic. It

is good we are doing the Viennese

waltz and a salsa and as we show in

the semifinal but two different

sides of Alexandra, strong, crazy

and fun and sexy, with the classic,

elegant, sophisticated woman.

I love

that he recognises you have those

two sites.

And mind too.

Do you get

to be a bit of a beast coming out on

the salsa?

Oh, yes, it's going to be

all bars down, just go for it, I'm

just going to go for gold in this

one. King of salsa and I'm just

trying to keep up.

He's trying to

keep up with you at the end of this!

How do you train for two? How do you

approach this week, what is the

game?

The most important thing is

planning the day in two parts, so

that she doesn't get confused. I

don't want to mix dancers between

the day, so we will do half a day on

one routine and half a day on the

other routine and make it easy for

her.

I'm scared. I want to have fun

but I'm definitely scared about this

week because it's a lot to take on.

It's not like we know a dance this

week, the week of the paso doble, we

knew what we were doing in one dance

but this week scares me, I'm not

going to lie.

Hold tight, I say.

Good luck with the hip as well. We

love you, go on, Alexandra and

Gorka.

That's all we have time for tonight!

Join me tomorrow at 6:30pm

when I'll be joined by

Mollie & AJ, Ian Waite

warms us up and

the wonderful Strictly

Singers pop in for

chat.

Plus, Mr Neil Jones takes

on the Pro Challenge!

Until then, goodnight!