Episode 37 Strictly - It Takes Two

It's Tuesday. On tonight's show: Relax, not Alex and James. Their

tango put them top of the leaderboard. Can they stay there?

Karen Hardy will be here to check out the moves in Choreography

Corner. I will be looking at the weekend's outfits with Amanda

This is Strictly: It Takes Two. Please welcome your host, Zoe Ball!

APPLAUSE Hello! Welcome to It Takes Two.

After a weekend of human cannonballs, flying judges, great

dancing and fabulous outfits we have an awful lot to get through so

let's not waste a second. First up, Alex and James. James spent last

week trying to get Alex to be more assertive and on Saturday she

didn't disappoint. They will be here in a moment. Let's take a look

at their tango. It was atmospheric. There was drama. You had a great

use of steps. Most importantly, it was really believable. I believe we

may be seeing some improvement! APPLAUSE This is what I like, a

proper tango, danced beautifully. Relaxed. Fabulous! 9! LAUGHTER

Buzzing! Sort of overwhelmed as well. I thought my Strictly

experience would come and go without a nine - now we've got

three! Please welcome Alex and James. APPLAUSE Alex, have you had

a chance to watch that back yet? That is the first time I have seen

that. I still feel the same. I am actually speechless. It is only a

few weeks ago you were standing there with a fan in your hand. Then

you go out at Wembley and do the most amazing tango. How far you

have come! Well done. Did it feel brilliant? It did. It was

terrifying. When you are backstage you could hear this roar of the

huge crowd! Then I think it's one of those things, unless you are a

rock star - which I am clearly not - you are not going to do that

again. You had to enjoy it. I can't remember it. I did enjoy it.

have been... I told you to enjoy it! Did she do you proud? I said

enough to Tess on Saturday night but she did. From where she's come

from, Bambi, first few weeks, and then to be able to go out in front

of 6,500 people at Wembley and create her best performance - for a

teacher, I was very, very proud of you. You were properly moved?

was dust in the air! Yeah, yeah! is a softie. I've an image to keep

up! We have a lovely message for you. This is from Vivienne Jenkins.

She left this message - "Dawns bendigedig y gorau hyd yma. Very

good! APPLAUSE I got it. A wonderful dance, your best yet.

Well done you two. What did you say?! Craig said he had seen such

an improvement in Alex, you got very emotional, James. In what way

do you feel that she's improved as a dancer? In every way! Honestly, I

don't think the public have really got to see how bad she was the

first few weeks in training. I know it sounds... Listen, I know it

sounds horrible, but we have had this conversation. I surprised

myself with how rubbish I was. Girls like to think surely...

do it! No. No. We have done lots of interviews about it. That cha-cha,

I can't watch it. It still wasn't bad. It was terrible! People think

I joke when I say I went home on the third day after training and I

actually had a little cry. James Jordan! It was that bad? It was.

She's lovely. But I was thinking, "I don't know what to do!" I felt

terrible. There was nothing I could do about it. Look at you now.

of the leaderboard! With Chelsee and Pasha. I never thought that

would happen. They are like gladiators. You were saying, James,

that it was quite good you going through and the gladiators the top

Fab Four? ANina, -- Anita, Robbie, then it was us, Russell was put in

the bottom two. They knew what we have all been feeling for - I'm not

saying it is good - well, I am! are bubing your hands! Holly was

saved -- You are rubbing your hands! Holly was saved. They had a

taste of what everyone else had been feeling. We think we may have

sussed you out, by spending too much time on the golf course!

is playing up. Instead of concentrating on the dancing, he is

playing on his phone! Double-bogey! What's that mean? 2-Over par.

little bit of golf. One hole. hole. No! One more. No, not one

more. You playing golf? No! I'm going to have a look at the music

for next week. No, you are not. I can see in the mirror that golf is

on the screen. He's danced 20% of the time and played golf on his

phone for the other 80%. I have had to nag him a bit. There is no

technique or skill involved. There is. Dragging him up, pulling him to

dance. Less golf, more dancing. One? Not golf now. No. One more

hole. We need a high score on Saturday, not on the golf. I'm 13-

under. 13-foot under the floor now if you carry on! I will club him

over the head tomorrow if he carries on. LAUGHTER Fantastic.

That brought it out! You have the Charleston this week. What a lot of

fun. Are you going to be fit enough? I'll be fine. 84-year-old

James here might struggle. I don't know. It is the one dance we said

from the beginning I hope we have a go at the Charleston. And so this

is brilliant that we are. Yeah. again, you know, he's not the

fittest. I know. You have to get him in training. Do a warm-up in

the morning perhaps for him. And also, it will suit Alex - he is

miffed! I think so because of her personality. She is quite quirky

and scatty which is - I'm getting my own back now! Which is all about

the Charleston. And I think it could be a great dance for you. At

the end of the day, we will have fun. Alex keeps saying, or she said

from week one, it is the one dance she really wanted to get to do but

Russell Grant did say that he just wanted to get to Wembley. We don't

want that curse. Yes. We don't want that curse. Yes. Your wife, Ola,

and Chris Hollins have the record with straight tens for their

Charleston. Are you confident that you can beat your own best in the

Charleston of 38 with Pamela Stephenson? It is hard to say. I

really hope - why are you shaking your head? Let's be realistic!

Chris, we have seen some great Charlestons this year, like Pasha

and Chelsee. But when you compare it to Chris and Ola's it was iconic.

It was. It was one of my favourite dances. The music, his personality,

it just suited him. I do think it is going to suit you, but straight

tens? OK. Aim for some more nines. If we get another nine, we will be

happy. A nine. Nine is nice. Wonderful. We will take nines all

day long! I know. Your face when you got the nines - also I must

mention the swing-a-thon. We have that added element of jeopardy in

the weekend's show? Which James hadn't mentioned until today!

forgot to tell her! What were you expecting her to do? I was worried

about her fitness! Good luck with your Charleston and the swing-a-

thon and well done on Saturday. Well deserved. Alex and James.

APPLAUSE Now, Strictly wouldn't be strick strick without them, but

there is not a huge amount known about our professional dancers.

Their -- Strictly without them, but there is not a huge amount known

about their professional dancers. Who are they talking about here?

Can you guess the dancer? This dancer is passionate about skin

care and the beauty industry. They used to manage a day spa. This

person has an unhealthy obsession for fake tans. This person's

catchphrase is "this is the best thing ever". She is all legs and

speaks funny. She is very, very tall! Who do you think it is? Find

out later in the show. Mmm, I wonder who could it be? We will

reveal all later. On Saturday we had six Latin dances to add to the

Wembley party spirit. Six times the usual Strictly size was the

dancefloor. Karen Hardy had it covered. It is time for

Choreography Corner. I love your intro music! Karen Hardy! APPLAUSE

She does like to move it! Karen, what an incredible show on

Saturday? It was amazing at Wembley. It went to a whole new level. With

what they brought to Saturday night entertainment, fantastic. Loved it.

We loved it. How difficult is it to choreograph for that huge space?

The first thing to pick up about choreography is this one point that

I want to do. I have taken a snapshot of the arena. Beautiful.

Everyone keeps saying it is a big place. Most importantly, for the

choreographers, our professionals, they had such an array of choice.

They had the stop stage where the band were. They had the centre

stage like the floor area, the circular area and on top of that,

they had the entire dancefloor. They would have had very small tiny

training rooms and only by the Friday where they would have gone

for the rehearsals would the professionals have known will this

choreography fit, will it work? Now, just to give you an idea of the

size, length of that floor was four double-decker buses long. Wow!

double-decker buses and the width two double-decker buses. You have

to imagine little tiny steps, how would that fit? Well, what we are

going to unfold and show throughout this section we will see who made

the right choices and who didn't. like the sound of this. Chelsee and

Pasha. Chelsee suffers a lot from nerves. What did you think of her

section on her own? I loved it. You have Pasha, probably hearing her

saying, "I'm nervous" but look what he does. I'm going to put you out

there on your own! You will learn to get confident. Great walks. They

were all the moves! She looked - she owned it? More importantly,

Pasha again sending out the messages to the judges, "Don't

leave my lady out, she is building her confidence, she is strong on

her own." If anything had gone wrong, she wouldn't have had a clue

what time she was on, where she was meant to go. Big brave move, very,

very good. Jason and Kristina and their jive? How ambitious was

Kristina's choreography? Every week she is lifting this choreography.

We will take a look at the jive kicks. Direct, fast, but there is

something more in there, there is the spring, the swing of the hips,

so it's not about throwing the leg out there. He is absolutely

learning everything about the dance. Not just the choreography and the

timing. He is taking it deeper and deeper. Maybe everybody at home

won't know why they loved the performances, but it is because of

these extra things that the celebrities are able to master now.

They are learning quickly. They are looking more like proper dancers?

Right. Let's talk about Harry and Aliona. Len said full-on samba,

Craig loved it. What was so good? What was so brilliant about this, I

know just for the record, Len said samba instead of salsa, it is of

course... I was confused then! know. It's the Latin world, it is

the party world. This was brilliant. I want to explain why. What we

always get with Aliona's choreography is that little bit

extra. There is something extra. Love it. Look at this. When did she

have time to teach him to unravel the dress? Not only that, he's got

to panic about that and look what is coming next... One, two, three!

Very, very difficult work. What if he had missed that piece of fabric

to unravel? What if they had got caught up? What if, what if? With

that piece of choreography, it was so on the edge but what I love is,

she's always thinking about that little bit more, what else can I

bring to it? If it is not costume, body action? A bit of drama.

Building, building, I like it. lot! Robbie and Ola. He opened the

show, what a bang! Incredible. But how difficult were the lifts that

Ola had choreographed for Robbie? If ever I was going to pay someone

to open a showcase spectacular, that I would choreograph, that

would be it. I mean, to get 6,500 people standing, that is what you

would want there. He went to the crowd, he performed to the crowd,

and then he had to lift. I'm hoping he had three bowls of shreddies!

That was incredibly difficult. I need to explain why. When we are

dancing, we are exerting energy of course. So we are getting more

tired. The added thing here was the adrenaline at Wembley with 6,500

people screaming, knowing you are opening the show, he would have

been physically on overdrive and exhaustion would have been kicking

in. But there was a slight "urgh" because everything to do with lift

work, it should be in-and-out. I just thought the three lifts they

used were very difficult, but fantastic. What a way to open

Wembley. I know. He sold it. He did. He was terrific. Let's talk about

Anita and Robin. She will have an interesting week. Rent-a-pro

Brendan is standing in. Robin has hurt his foot. What did you think

about her samba? That floor is so big. You need that energy, you need

to be able to move. Clever first of all, using steps like this. We know

she can spin well. Once they started to move across the floor,

someone like Robin is going to go, "Yes, I'm off!" But it would have

been very, very hard for Anita to have kept up with that. They made

it work. She's still an inspayration. I just think she is

the most amazing woman. I would have possibly just kept her centre

stage from beginning to end. I know there was this whole got to get the

crowd, but it is interesting who it worked for and who it didn't.

didn't think it worked for Anita? Good luck. Holly and Artem and

their quickstep, Craig loved the pirouette on the stairs. How tricky

is that to do? How tricky? Near on impossible! Already being in a high

heel, already not knowing if it is going to work, and instead of

walking up-and-down, let's turn on one foot at the same time. This is

the shot of the night for me. I just love this. This was like a

Hollywood entrance. Of all the dances you would have wanted to

dance, it would have been a quickstep. For us, big floor, big

movement, move across the floor. You can do a lot of travelling?

can do a lot of travelling. But, I have explained how we have had the

top stage, the centre stage and the main stage. He used all three. I'm

not sure if that was the right move. It was a fantastic number. Playing

it back, she didn't make as many mistakes as it sort of seemed on

the night. Started off at the top, used the floor down the middle,

used the centre of the floor and then ran round the outside of it.

I'm not sure if he was trying to get those points or run a marathon!

Maybe he was getting extra money for Children In Need. It was a

first-class routine. I wonder if it was a step too far for Holly.

nothing gets past you. I can't wait to see you next week. Thank you.

APPLAUSE Now, this weekend Chelsee and Pasha will be tackling the

Argentine tango. Vincent Simone has come back to the studio to explain

Hello. This is me, of course, Vincent. Welcome to my step by

steps guide of the Argentine tango. The story about the Argentine tango

is the man is really chasing the woman, make sure that the woman is

going to be his forever. And possess the woman until she gives

up. The Argentine tango consists of some key moves, we have ganchos, it

is when the men and lady, they look their legs together and they can be

done in different position, different speeds and with different

legs. We have the sacada, the displacement of each other's feet.

It is another beautiful action. The man can do it to the lady as the

lady can do it to the man. Next, the calesita, the man lifting the

lady up slightly and the lady will be still on the spot and the man

can walk around the lady. We have the planeo, which is a flashy

figure. It is when the lady or the man standing on one leg pointing

the other leg to the side and the other person will run quickly

around making a big circle on the floor. If you want to be a great

dancer, you need to let it go, you need to follow the music. You

should be able to hear each other's heart beating. This year's

Argentine tango I performed with Flavia was my favourite because it

was super-fast, we couldn't go any faster than that and the fact we

succeeded to get to the end of the routine and the number, it was a

miracle! APPLAUSE Thank you, Vincent. I will be trying that at

home in the kitchen later! I will have more step by step masterclasss

very soon. Earlier on, we asked you if you could guess who our dancers

were talking about. Time the find out if you are right. Who was

everyone talking about? Did you guess? It's me! Natalie! In a

moment, I will be indulging in some serious analysis of the weekend's

outfits with top designer Amanda Wakeley. First, here is a quick

reminder of what was top of the Please welcome award-winning

designer Amanda Wakeley and fashion lecturer and It Takes Two favourite,

Oonagh O'Hagan. APPLAUSE Hello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Amanda, welcome to the show. You have designed for Scarlett

Johansson and Kate Middleton has been out spotted in several of your

frocks. What would you say - yes, it is impressive! What would you

say is the key to a stand-out dress? For me, it's making sure

that the dress doesn't wear the woman, the woman wears the dress.

Right. Yes. I will write that down! What impresses you the most about

the Strictly outfits? Just the level of construction in them is

incredible. They are sort of serious performance garments. When

you look at how the dancers dance. So the construction has to be

brilliant. Let's talk in detail about that. We will talk about

Chelsee's samba dress. What did you make of her Union Jack dress,

Amanda? Did it suit the dance? thought really clever and in fact

very flattering on her. It elongated her body. I thought the

way that the seam was cut, the Union Jack coming down from that,

was very clever. Oonagh, we have it here. We want fashion facts?

The first thing to say is it is a stretched satin so that goes over

layer. The thing that I think that is most important is you have the

Union Jack, it is very well-known, and you are putting that on to a 3D

object - Chelsee. That is very difficult. You will distort the

image. It is a clever pattern cutter that has to do that so you

still recognise it. That is the main important thing about this

dress. Then on the construction side, you have little slits in the

side so she can move in it. So those are the main things. I think

then the crystals. Can you give us a crystal -- crystal count? 800

last week. Over 2,000 this week. Those feathers, it is like the tail

sweeps around behind her. It was great. Great for hip action. How

was that done, Oonagh? It is strips of boa. You would start with two

metres of it. Then they would tack those on. They don't want too many.

I think it worked. It looked carnival. It is like a tail-feather.

It shows the hip action. Well done, Chelsee. She looked so hot! Now,

next Holly and her quickstep dress. Amanda, were you a fan of this

unconventional style of quickstep dress? I prefer other styles on

Holly. I loved her - it was her rumba dress the week before which

was very flattering through the body and then that lovely gentle

draping which was sort of quite cheeky, longer at the front and

then that real sweep-up at the back that was very sexy. How was this

one put together? You ready for my appalling joke? It is not Strictly

a dress! That will teach you to make jokes! Tell us more. It is in

two pieces. It is on a leotard base. Over this, you have a metallic

fabric and then this nude fabric over the top. The whole point is to

echo a twin-set cardigan, a little jumper. Then you have crystals on

it. They are in a brickwork formation. Again to echo almost

like knitwear and then going into the skirt you have all these layers.

How many layers did she have? got five layers. It went georgette,

satin and lots of organza layers and then green and blue and the

blue to match Artem's outfit. When she spins, you can see it. Very

good. I like it. No godets? godets. Let's talk about Alex. Much

more traditional style dress for Alex, but with a little twist?

Unusual. Generally, a tango dress is red and black. This obviously,

the ivory and the black was rather beautiful with the violet around

the hem. I thought clever because that illusion of a bareback and we

know that the construction of that doesn't allow it. Very elegant.

Come on, Oonagh, what have you got for us? Any godets? No. It's got

eight panels in it. They have a slight flare to give it the volume.

You have lots of layers. Around the bottom, you have 42 metres of this

pleated crinoline. That crinoline keeps away from the legs so it

doesn't get caught up. It has some wiring as well. Or boning. That

keeps it away from the leg. Those are my fashion facts. Ladies, a

pleasure. Amanda and Oonagh. APPLAUSE A huge thank you to my

guests tonight. Join me tomorrow whenly be catching up with Chelsee

and Pasha and Anita and Brendan and hopefully Robin will join them too.

Ian Waite is back for a look at this week's training in Waite's

Wednesday Warm-Up. See you tomorrow. Until then, it is good to see our

couples are still having a good time having a good time. Good night.