Can you believe it’s nearly all over? I know I can’t! The last It Takes Two of series five today, with a live link to the studio rehearsals to catch up with the contestants, plus all four judges talked to Claudia as well as the Friday panel, with a superfan line up.
First of all it was over to Television Centre, and Claudia talked to Alesha, who apparently is so nervous she’s been physically sick today, but she said she’s very excited, while Matthew looked calm and composed. Alesha said she’s most looking forward to the waltz, and it was one of her favourites of the series. Claudia told her she’s seen footage of their showdance and it looks “bonkers”, and Matthew said there are quite a few bits in it that could go wrong, so they are a bit nervous about it, but Alesha said the dress is great!
Onto Matt & Flavia, and Matt had a bloody mouth, because he claimed Flavia had attacked him and he’d gotten an elbow in the face, but she said it was an accident. He said he’s so glad he’s in the final with Alesha because they’ve had such a laugh, and he wants to really enjoy it. Claudia asked him which dance he was most looking forward to, and he said the show dance because it is the same category as Alesha’s and is insane.
Then it was back to the ITT studio and Claudia was joined by all four judges. Claudia said everyone feels tense and excited, and asked how Bruno felt, and he said he wasn’t tense at all, but excited as it’s going to be a dance marathon and a real treat. It was then the return of Len’s Christmas hat (remember last year!), and Claudia just couldn’t talk to him, so she moved onto Arlene who she asked how this years final ranks against the others. Arlene said, that all finals are exciting, but this years is particularly hot, because we’ve got two incredible dancers up against each other. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint), it was difficult to concentrate on what she was saying, as Len and Bruno had gone into hysterics in the background. Talking seriously, Len said the final is a celebration, and both couples should just go out and enjoy it. Craig said it was an open final though, as Alesha had been the most consistent throughout the series, but he’s worried that Matt’s nerves could cause problems, however, Matt is a talented dancer. A quick look at some training footage, but we’ve seen the dances before, so it’s just a case of if they’ve improved technically or in the performance. Talking about Judges Choice, Craig said they’ve tried to choose a song to challenge them, and we saw a bit of Matt’s quickstep and Alesha’s jive (both looked like they’ll be good). Claudia then asked the judges what they’re looking for in the final, and Arlene said technical perfection while Bruno said “Va-va-voom”! A treat for us all next, with Claudia showing us an outtake of the judges which was captured when the Cliff Richard performance was being played back during the results show. Very funny and worth a look if you haven’t already seen it.
The final Friday panel next with judge Len and superfans Zoe Ball, Melanie Sykes and Mark Frith. Zoe said she is so excited about tomorrow night, although she wasn’t sure about whether the right couples had gone through after last week to start with. Melanie said she predicted the couples who would get through to the final a couple of weeks ago but she was sad to see Gethin go. Mark is the editor of Heat magazine and they had been backing Gethin all the way, and his guess is that the Heat readership votes will now go to Alesha. He also suggested that people have a different view about voting in the final and tend to vote for the best dancer. Onto the main point of the Friday panel and a look at Matt & Flavia’s show dance, which Len said looks like a cha cha cha, and the song choice is “Are You Gonna Go My Way” which Mark thought was a good choice, while Zoe suggested there might be a subliminal message in the song! Alesha & Matthew are dancing their showdance to “Holding Out For A Hero” and Len’s concerned that it might be too fast and she could look too wild and uncontrolled, while Zoe thought it was her chance to just go out and let go completely. Their Viennese waltz next, and Len said Matt doesn’t quite move across the floor enough, while Matthew is obviously a professional ballroom dancer, and Len thinks that will give him and Alesha the advantage as he will be able to lead her more. Claudia asked Mark who was going to win, and he refused to give an answer, while Melanie and Zoe started a chant “Alesha! Alesha! Alesha!” so I think we know where their allegiances lie.
Finally, the series highlights video was a lovely reminder of all we’ve seen over the last 12 weeks, before Claudia said her last farewell and they let Craig sing again, this time singing “Winter Wonderland” although Len and Bruno couldn’t resist getting in on the act. All I can say is, “Don’t give up the day job”!
My general thoughts on this series of It Takes Two are that it has been a great series, but has suffered occasionally from being too routine. You knew who was going to be on the show on certain days, and due to their Dancing With The Stars commitments, there was a distinct lack of Len and, particularly, Bruno. Some of the good additions have been the extra professional technical reviews, when professionals who have left the competition review the remaining couples dances, although I find Phillip Jackson a bit strange and watching him on the show just makes me uncomfortable. It was good to see the return of some of the celebrity fans, such as Marian Keyes who is just brilliant every time she is on the show, but I could have done without the musical guests making an appearance during the following week; the one exception to this was John Barrowman, as he was obviously a fan and could talk knowledgeably about the show and the contestants. Some of my highlights this series were the Strictly Mastermind competition for Alesha & Matthew, the footage of Matt pretending to challenge Gethin, and I always love Len’s Masterclass. At the end of the series, all I can say is, there hasn’t been a single programme in the entire series when I haven’t laughed at least once, and any minor criticisms I have, are really just that, and haven’t detracted too much from the enjoyment.
