Episode 50 Strictly - It Takes Two

It's the Friday before the semi- finals. They packed a punch with

their paso. Have they got enough fight to get to the final? I will

drop into the BBC One studio for a sneak peek of the samba. The boss

of the ballroom, Mr Goodman answers your questions in Len's dance

Live from Television Centre, this is Strictly It Takes Two. Here's

Zoe. Hello. Hello. Welcome to It Takes

Two. There is an air of pure excitement in the studio tonight,

as you can hear, because in 23 hours, 58 minutes and 35 seconds,

our Famous Five will hit the Strictly dance floor and the semi-

finals will commence. One couple who are in it to win it

are Holly and Artem. I will chat to them live, right after this

reminder of their stomping paso doble.

Finally Holly, you Spanish sorceress. Your hands and arms were

superb. You have stepped it up a notch. Good for you! This is not

about where you start, it's where you finish and I tell you, you're

finishing strong. That, my drlling must be your personal -- my darling

must be your personal best. We got two tens. That's a perfect

score! We have been in the bottom two for

two weeks. We had to bring it and bring it strong. It was awesome. We

got a standing ovation. Two tens, unbelievable!

Please welcome the come-back kids, Holly and Artem.

We thought you'd still be holding your certificate. I wanted to.

James was so jealous, I decided not to bring it. Holly, last weekend

you needed to pull it out of the bag and boy, did you show us all.

An amazing dance, great comments. Craig said your personal best.

There is proof of how good it is, you are now officially joint

highest record holder with Austin Healey for the best paso doble on

Strictly ever. You have beaten Emma Bunton and even Kara as well.

she's good. She was good. She's still good. How did it feel out

there last weekend? I loved every second of it. I went out fighting.

I loved the choreography. I thought if we go out, we'll go out with a

bang. And you didn't. You are still here. Thank goodness! People love

you and they loved that dance last weekend. You are not as

complimentary about yourself. watch myself and think it looks

like a dog's breakfast most of the time. Do I look like a gooz during

that bit. I have turned into an elephant. I look like a rag doll. I

am gripping on like a monkey. No, I am the hunchback, I thought. That

leg looked like a dog weeing on a lamppost. I feel like a dog chasing

its own tail. The reason I am doing that is because in my head I know I

am kicking back like a horse. It is like a cat in a cage, that is what

I'm going to look like. You are hilarious. I do love it. Yesterday

you tweetded to your fellow celebrities, "is anyone else having

trouble walking. Even my eyelashes hurt." I went down stairs last

night backwards. My boyfriend when, What are you doing? You have the

Argentine tango and the charleston. You will dance to this music.

In case you recognise it Arnold Schwarzenegger did a tango to that

music in True Lies. It is in three or four films.

Chelsee was criticised for not having enough intensity. They were

criticised for not having enough intensity in their Argentine tango.

How are you doing? We may get some of our own complaints. Can we see

the passionate look between you? That will.... That will do it!

Artem, what is Holly's biggest... In goes a round of applause! What

is her biggest challenge with the Argentine tang go? I think we have

a challenge in the Charleston. it all comes out, doesn't it?

have made it through 11 weeks and now it goes wrong. This is what you

are dancing to. A nice modern take there. It requires a lot of over

the top characterisation. You are very laid back. How are you getting

on? This is annoying me all this laid back stuff. If you cut my head

off I'm doing the amount of hard work, if not more with all the

stuff, I can not ham things. I am probably just a bit... What is a

British thing. I am basically beige. You are so complimentary about

yourself! Is it going well? It is a party tune. We want to get the

party started. This could be it. I am grateful, I cannot believe we've

got this far any way - we want to have a party, giggle. Kick some

flicks. Do all that stuff. It is being muted as the toughest semi-

final yet in Strictly history. How are you feeling about the yds that

two couples will go home this -- fact that two couples will go home

this weekend? It is OK if we go out because it is further than we

thought we'd get. How will you get the judges' scores up? How will you

make sure you are in the final, Artem? I don't know. You are

exhausted. He's saving it all... There is a lady at the back saying

"Ah!" don't feel sorry for him, this is his profession. How much do

you want to be on the black board? A lot, if it doesn't kill us first.

Holly and Artem. APPLAUSE

Come on! So excited. Now we have a very

extra special Friday treat for you. All series this man has been

critiquing our celebrities, now for one night only Len Goodman is

answering your dance dilemmas in He's the first man you want on the

scene of a dance emergency, please welcome Len Goodman.

Thank you so much, Len. I shall go here and perch. It is wonderful to

have you here. Thank goodness Russell Grant has not sat on one of

these! You will answer some viewers' questions for us. What is

the Dance Clinic ailment that bugs you most? Technique. It is in all

the forms, the posture, the hold, all the technical fuddy-duddy

things that I am picky about. So technique. Let's work on some. The

first question: We do a lot of cruising and find the dance law is

a little smaller than we are used to. How can we best modify your

dancing style to make best use of the space available yet still

appear graceful. That is from Julian. Doing a bit of cruising,

are you. I guessed he would be. Julian, it's like driving your car.

You know, obviously we'd like lots of room and we can swan along at

the speed we want, but that doesn't happen when you're on a cruise

liner or whatever. The floor's going to be crowded, so you have to

modulate where you can. You move swiftly on.

A little bit of congestion, then you... But even so, you can still

be thinking about your posture and this and that. Then, when a gap

comes along, off you go again. You have to cut your cloth to suit the

customer and the floor. Question answered. Next question is from

Nick. My question is: When I do my ballroom dances, the quickstep and

so on, I get told that my hands are in the wrong place. Could you

demonstrate a good hold for me, please?

A good hold. Nick looks quite a burley chap. Well he did. Well

built. Well built and burley. First of all, your hold will change with

the height of your partner. You would not hold them if they are

small as you would someone who is tall. It is about balance. If I

take hold of you. Please take hold of me - someone should! I would

locate your brassier. The back of And then, this arm, this hand

should be up. What we want then, if I moved, so they see my back, the

distance from my spine to my right elbow should be basically the same

as the distance from the spine to my left elbow. That's what gives

you balance in the hold. Now, if I had a very small person, of course

this hand would have to come a little.... If I was like that.

I am down a bit. This hand wants to be adjacent to your nose with you I

am up here. With this one, I'm down here. I am not sure how long I can

hold that pose. Oh, my ties! A, to -- Oh my thighs. A, to it is

to do with your partner and B to do with your hold. Another question: I

seem to struggle doing the tang go and making my move -- tango and

making my moves look quick. What we are talking about is the sharpness.

It's partly to do with the head, especially the lady's head and

partly to do with the feet. The feet should have this, what we call

a delayed foot action. You don't just close up, you snap it closed.

Now what I will do is I'll do a step called "the link" with you.

What I will ask you to do is move that glass stall backwards.

Of course the tango hold is different. This hand is going under

this. This is here. I vaguely remember. I go down. You will go

back with your right leg. Step it back. Step to the side.

As we do this, your head is going from the left to the right.

Let's do that again. It's been a while. I am a bit rusty.

As you step to the side jerk that head around.

No.... Bigger step. It is my massive feet. Sorry, Len. Step it

back. Not yet. Go! How was that? Now we're in promenade position.

This is side by side. Let's do it once more. It's all

about your head and ya-da! Whooo-hoo!

Here we go. Let's hear it for Len. Thank you, Sir. My pleasure! Just

for fun, for you at home, can you guess which one of our pros is

Dancers in disgieds. -- disguise.

# Do you come from the land Down Under? #

Find out later in the show! Who is the little roo!? Now it is

time for our last Friday Panel of the serri.

It's a -- series. You are in for a treat as we welcome Su Pollard.

Chart topper Pixie Lott and Mr Entertainment, Lionel Blair.

Entertainment, Lionel Blair. Welcome.

I have loved the series. It has been a Corker. Su, you are doing

the Christmas special. My dear, talk about anxiety. I had

the wrong pair of shoes. If your shoes don't fit in the right pair

you cannot do your steps. I had pointed shoes, I said, this is

going to be no good. Can I sing? They got me a pair. I improved, I

am happy to say, but not enough. can't wait! There you are in your

frock though. Did you get to keep that? That is incredible. I think

it's going to an old people's home or something. It will be on

Christmas Day. You will not want to miss it. Holly danced to Cry Me Out

on the show. She did her Viennese waltz to it. How is it to hear Dave

Arch and his band perform one of your numbers on the show? Fpbl

Twitter went -- My Twitter went crazy.

She is a great talent and so young. We saw you on the series helping

out Rory. He did his best dance out Rory. He did his best dance

that week. D It has been one of the best series from the point of the

non-dancers, improved so quickly. Quicker than any other series. You

were wonderful,vy to tell you. You're pretty good yourself!

I have to say. They did improve very quickly. The last five are

really terrific. They are really good. Let's look at them. Semi-

finals tomorrow. They are all tackling two dancers. First we will

talk about Chelsee and Pasha. Let's see their paso training. Here they

are, paso doble, this will be good for Chelsee. They are dancing to

this music. Like it! What do you think - can Chelsee get

to grips with the dominant paso, do you think? I think she can. The

paso doble it's a feisty one, isn't it. Didn't you do it? I used to do

ballroom and Latin when I was ten. I used to do little competitions. I

remember doing the paso doble. It is fiery. She's an actress....

thing I love about Chelsee is she finishes her step, zoom. She has a

sharpiest to her which is very -- sharpness to her which is very

important. Her hands are beautiful as well. They are dancing to this

music. It's Cyndi Lauper. What do you want to see in American smooth?

Smooth and they have smooth. For the youngest couple, they are

terrific. As I say, she moves it beautifully. What do you think

about the romance here? Straight away as long as you can get a

characterisation, she does not is to be who she is in real life, she

takes on a character. Are vow have you -- have you seen how her whole

body is fluid. Mine is like this. I'm loving having you here! Let's

look at Harry and Aliona. Here's their charleston training. This is

the music they are dancing to. I can see you are desperate to say

something about Harry. This is Peggy Lee.

He is unbelievable. The wonderful thing, the reason I think he's so

good, when you play the drums you do that with your feet and that

with your hands. The co-ordination. And hands. He's got to give it a

bit up here then he'll get it. not ugly.

He's all right on the eyes. It must be all right to have somebody

holding you, when you think "You're all right, mate." He wants to beat

his partner who has just won the jungle. Yes, King of the Jungle.

They are dancing to this year's Love.

-- This Year's Love. I had no idea. McFly are not known

for dancing, they rock out on stage. I had no idea that he could dance

like that. Do you think at future McFly gigs they will all be dancing

- a different crowd in the audience. Let's look at al election and James,

who are doing -- Alex and James, who are doing the salsafplt this is

what they are dancing to in the salsa. Would this get your hips

going? Come on. Oh, yes! You won't see this anywhere else

this time on a Friday night. know what is so good about that,

you are in a sex pot, hopefully if you have got one. Your inner sex-

pod makes you want to get the rhythm. If you don't have any fun

with that, then that is really sad. To watch that I think it will be

stunning. It will be stunning. Come on, Alex.

They are doing the waltz and dancing to a Aretha Franklin

classic, written by Carol King, who was on The One Show this week. Are

you a fan of this song? What do you think of her steps? I am a massive

fan of this song. When you get to dance to such a great song it is

such a great motive. The steps follow. I am a massive

fan of the song. When it sweeps like that you want to sweep along.

She does sweeping really well. It is what it may come to. You

dance with Anton on the Christmas special. What is it like to be in

the arms of a pro dancer? Straight away, he said "Su, follow me. I

will take you. I lead." I kept forgeten. I said you're Butch, I'm

Fem. I was always dancing with the girls there were no blokes at

school. It is a nightmare. He is so confident. He said, "Don't look

down." Anybody to win or not, to take part and come this far and not

have discipline like this ever.... It is hard. Jason and Kristina this

week take on the argentin tango and the samba. Here is their --

Argentine tango and the samba. Here it is.

It is very good. I would like his flick to be flickier. He's improved

enormously! He's got to have more... And forget counting the steps -

he's got to dance. Live it in the face. Look who he is dancing with.

They are all doing the samba, which we will see a sneak preview of

later on. Oh, wow!

They are liking it. Su is happy with that. Holly and Artem are

doing the charleston and the Argentine tango. They are dancing

here to Americano. Oh, it's gone. Never mind we've lost the CD.

did that record Kiss Kiss. She should do that. How do you think it

will go - will it be good for Holly? I think absolutely excellent.

I can have... I don't want to give too much away, but in conversation

with Holly, she thinks, she loves You all ought to tell me at the

same time who you want to win? Harry.

Such a great panel. APPLAUSE Amazing. Next up we get an

exclusive peak. The final is nearly upon us. All they want to do is

# Stay now # Baby, if you've got to go away

# Don't think I can take the pain # Won't you stay another day

# Stay now # Stay now # Don't you know we've

come too far now # Just to go and try to throw it

all away 8 # Thought I heard you say you loved

# That your love was going to be here to stay

# I've only just began to know you # All I can say is won't you stay

just one more day # Stay now

# Baby, if you've got to go away # Don't think I could take the pain

# Won't you stay another day # Stay now

Stay # Don't leave me alone like this

# Stay for a final kiss # Would you stay another day

# Stay now D they are, your five semi-

finalists. I think you would agree, telly gold. I have popped to the

BBC One studio for the last time. This time last week the whole of

the circus will be up at the ballroom. We have a special next

week for you live from Tess's area. I thought I would come and get

acquainted. Jason Donovan and Kristina Rihanoff

are here. Are you more nervous than before? I think in a funny way,

having been in the position we were in last week, we are going to go

for it this week. Have some fun and enjoy ourselves. You are doing the

samba. I did have a sneaky look around the corner earlier on. I

want to do a samba check for you. Promenade runs? Check. The frilling

of the skirt? Check. Vol ters? Just say yes. It will be a whole in one.

Fingers crossed. Are you enjoying it? I soo to say the run-through --

I have to say the run-through today has been a pleasure. Whatever

happens, this weekend that will be the last time you dance in this

studio here, here in London. Sad times. How does that make you feel?

I have done some shows during my time. The atmosphere here on a

Saturday night is unbelievable. Maybe it is due to anxiety. Nervous,

shock and fear. You know, it's a wonderful show. I'm very proud to

have been part of it, to work with this one. She is good. You are a

very lucky boy. You had a sneaky look at the competition. Do you

look at the dancers and get an idea? We were in a bubble today. We

enjoyed our run-through. It was great. We had a fun dance. You are

dancing to the Jackson Five. It is a happy tune. Listen, good luck

this weekend. I will be your alarm call tomorrow morning. I will speak

to you on my radio show. 6-8am. I will wake you up. You will give us

a sneaky peek of the samba. While they prepare themselves we'll

have a reminder of who was dancing Who needs Skippy when you have

Robin Windsor? As promised, you can have a sneaky peek of the samba, as

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 41 seconds