Strictly Come Dancing is a British television show, shown on BBC1 based on ballroom dancing. The format has been exported to other countries, under the title Dancing With The Stars. (The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing, with allusions to the film Strictly Ballroom.) The finals of the third series in December 2005 attracted an audience of over 10 million viewers.(refactored from Times20051219)
Format
The show pairs a number of celebrities with professional ballroom dancers who each week compete against each other in a competition to impress a panel of judges and the viewing public in order to survive potential elimination. Through a telephone poll, viewers vote who should stay and who should go, the results of the poll being combined with the ranking of the panel of judges. (The profits from the telephone lines were donated to Sports Relief in series 1, and to Children in Need in series 2 and 3.
The show is broadcast live on BBC1 on Saturday evenings, presented by Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly. (For some of the second series, Natasha Kaplinsky stood in temporarily for Tess Daly while the latter took maternity leave). The judging panel consists of Bruno Tonioli, Arlene Phillips, Len Goodman and Craig Revel Horwood.
The first series began on May 15 2004, and was won by newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky and her partner Brendan Cole. The second series started in October 2004 and was won by Jill Halfpenny and her partner Darren Bennett. The third series started on 15 October 2005, and saw the first male celebrity winner, Darren Gough and his partner Lilia Kopylova.
A companion fanzine programme (running each weekday, with updates on the dancers) accompanies the main show. During the first series, Strictly Come Dancing on Three ran on BBC3, hosted by Justin Lee Collins. During the second and third series Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two ran on BBC2, hosted by Claudia Winkleman.
A Christmas special, the "Christmas Champion of Champions", was broadcast on 22 December 2004, featuring top couples from both of the first two series (with the exception Christopher Parker and Julian Clary, who were not able to appear). The show was won by Jill Halfpenny and Darren Bennett. A further Christmas special, Strictly Ice Dancing, was broadcast on 26 December 2004; with celebrities paired with professional skaters. This was won by David Seaman (who was a late replacement for Paul Gascoigne) and his partner Zoia Birmingham. A further one-off special, Strictly African Dancing, was broadcast on BBC1 on 9 July 2005 as part of the BBC's Africa Lives season. It featured six celebrities of African descent performing traditional African dances with a professional troupe. The contestants were Tunde Baiyewu, Tupele Dorgu, Robbie Earle, Antonia Okonma, Louis Emerick, and Tessa Sanderson. The programme was presented by Natasha Kaplinsky and Martin Offiah, and the winner was Robbie Earle.
Dances
The following dances are performed in Strictly Come Dancing:
Ballroom
- Waltz
- Quickstep
- Ballroom Tango
- Foxtrot
- Viennese Waltz
Latin American
There have been a number of new dances added in series three, some as group dances. These are Argentine Tango, Cuban Salsa, American Smooth and the Jitterbug.
Series 1
May - July 2004, in order of elimination
Series 2
October - December 2004, in order of elimination
Series 3
October - December 2005 in order of elimination
Special Shows
"Christmas Champion of Champions"
December 2004, in order of elimination
| Celebrity | Professional |
| Martin Offiah | Erin Boag |
| Aled Jones | Lilia Kopylova |
| Lesley Garrett | Anton du Beke |
| Natasha Kaplinsky | Brendan Cole |
| Denise Lewis | Ian Waite |
| Jill Halfpenny | Darren Bennett |
"Strictly Ice Dancing"
December 2004, in order of elimination
2005 Christmas Special
The christmas special in 2005 will feature the top four couples (Gough/Kopylova, Jackson/Boag, Ball/Waite, Martin/Dallerup) from the 2005 series competing against two competitors from the US version, Dancing with the Stars, who will dance with two professionals from the British series. The two competitors from the US series are Rachel Hunter, who will be teamed with Brendan Cole, and Evander Holyfield, who will dance with Karen Hardy.
See also
External links
References
(refactored from Times20051219)Bale, Joanna, 'Come Dancing one step ahead of X Factor as 20 million watch finals', The Times, December 19 2005.