The heat was on in Show Three and the battle between Bruno and Arlene - with Team Bruno taking the first blow. Arlene was ecstatic that her group won the most votes, while Bruno was forced to choose someone from his team to go home.

The Latin-themed show kicked-off with a spectacular group routine and both teams really looked like they were 'Livin' La Vida Loca'!

Team Arlene was first to perform with a routine that used chairs in an imaginative way – with the girls dancing on them and Daniel flinging one around in the air! However, Arlene was furious with the girls for forgetting their head movements and Bruno agreed saying "you didn't milk the diva moments." Arlene's choreographer Ashley praised Ife's timing commenting that "even though she's had issues with it during the week she did fab tonight."

Team Bruno was up next with a fiery routine that saw Marcquelle flipping over two of the girls in a slick move. Bruno was happy with the way his team looked but thought they could have performed better. "You have to be tighter, especially with Latin, you have to get on the beat." Bruno's choreographer Derek agreed that they were messy in places. He knew Marcquelle was not used to the Latin style and told him "Marcquelle you were out of your comfort zone but you managed to sell your performance with your personality."

In the singing round Team Arlene performed 'Balamores'. Vocal coach Joshua Alamu thought his group's voices blended well and had praise for Kalvin saying "I know you've been struggling, but tonight you nailed that harmony." Vocal coach for Team Bruno, CeCe Sammy, was not so impressed and made a remark about leading man Emanuel's vocals, but Arlene backed her Maltese man all the way saying "no way, he was not out of tune."

Bruno gave his team the thumbs up after their performance of Madonna's hit 'La Isla Bonita'. He was particularly pleased with Marie but had praise for the whole team who he said "connected with the words." CeCe was also proud of her group saying "singing is about using dynamics and you did that." But Joshua thought their two-part harmony was awful and questioned whether part of Claire's vocals really worked. Arlene was not as gentle with her criticism and commented "Claire can't even walk in time!"

The two groups performed for a final time before the result of the vote was announced. Presenter Ben Shephard revealed that Team Arlene had most votes and Team Bruno would lose a contestant.

Bruno had to make the hard decision about who to keep in his group. His first choice was Marie who he said "more than lived up to my expectations." He then chose to keep Marcquelle "the heart and soul of the group," and Phoenix "the rock." He also kept Rana and Claire in the group which left Rebecca and Daniele to fight for the last place.

Rebecca was gutted to be in the bottom two, and Daniele was lost for words, but they both had one more chance to impress Bruno who admitted it was a nightmare to have to choose between them. "I have to think of the group dynamic," he said, and gave the last place to Daniele, ending the DanceX dream for Rebecca.

(Taken From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dancex/news/news28072007.shtml)

 

The BBC has announced tickets to see the Eurovision Dance Contest. The tickets available are to see the show's dress rehearsal on 31st August, and to see the live show on 1st September. The Eurovision Dance Contest will be hosted by Graham Norton and Claudia Winkleman with 16 european countries competing with each other, including the UK entry Brendan Cole and Camilla Dallerup.

 

The BBC Studio Audiences are providing the tickets for the preview performances only (31st August). Regarding the requests for tickets, you can only order upto a maximum of 6 tickets each. For more information on this show and to request tickets click on: http://tickets.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/tickets.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=111.

 

Regarding the main live show on 1st September, the information and the online ticket application forms can be found on this link: http://www.eurovision.tv/content/view/890/262/

 

Choreographer Arlene Phillips may have the reputation of being hard - some would say `mean' - but little of that is on display when we meet in a central London club. Instead Arlene, looking slim, glamorous, and at least two decades younger than her 60-something years, is articulate and chatty, although there is some evidence of the acid tongue she has become famous for in Strictly Come Dancing and her new show DanceX (BBC1, Saturday, 6.50pm).

The Saturday night talent show is looking for the new Hot Gossip, the scantily-clad dance troupe that Arlene formed in the 1970s. The programme has been trouncing ITV's latest reality offering, Sing It Back, in the ratings, and Arlene couldn't be happier because it was she and her long-term friend and colleague Bruno Tonioli who came up with the idea.

However, it soon became clear that a dance group wouldn't make the headlines - there had to be an element of singing to make the show and the contestants more interesting. That, says Arlene, caused all sorts of problems.

"We'd always seen it as having maybe one vocalist, like with Hot Gossip there was Sarah Brightman. But of course, we don't know who is going to be in the final so we can't just depend on one vocalist. We had to make sure they could all sing and that's hard - singers who can dance are rare breeds."

That fact was proven in the open auditions we've already seen - there was little real talent on display, let alone those elusive people who could hold a tune and trip the light fantastic.

"We saw so much lard throughout our auditions," Arlene says in typically blunt style. "I have never seen so many people burst into tears saying they want to be a dancer who could barely walk!

"You always get the mad people but they were fairly speedily dismissed because we really had to focus on what we wanted and needed.

"My demands are this: if somebody wants to dance, they've got to be strong and fit. The fact is that so many people turn up because they want to be seen on television. You hope for something more, you hope that people will take it seriously, and when time is of the essence it does get irritating."

Luckily, those people who crave five minutes of fame rather than a place in an all-singing, all-dancing group have been wheedled out by Arlene and Bruno, and now things are getting serious. This week, the eliminations begin. Arlene and Bruno's groups will each perform three numbers - one as a dance act, one as a singing act, and a third in which they must sing and dance simultaneously. Then it's down to the public to vote for their favourite group of the night, and whoever loses will see one of their members sacked by their mentor.

"All of these competitions in the end become a popularity vote and my concern is how do an audience choose between two dance groups?" Arlene asks. "They're probably going to be neck and neck so what's going to make them choose? I think they're going to vote for lovely smiling Bruno over the wicked witch of the west!"

So who would she like to see on the next series of Strictly? "Oh, David Tennant please!" she laughs. "And I'd like to see Jordan, I'd like to find out if she can dance - or if she can even get close to her partner!"

 

 

 

Strictly Come Dancing's Brendan Cole has been getting jiggy with a sexy doctor.

The romeo Kiwi, 31, and his posh blonde pal have been spotted together on London's party scene.

Friends now claim he is "smitten" by the woman, a skin specialist known only as Alex.

On one date, Brendan, who had a fling with news girl Natasha Kaplinsky on BBC1's Strictly, whisked Alex off to the West End's Embassy club. There, revellers said he couldn't keep his hands off her. A pal of Brendan admitted: "There is a lot of chemistry."

And Alex told The People: "He's a lovely guy. He's just such a lot of fun to be with."

But Brendan has not always been so popular with the ladies, including babe Abi Titmuss - she branded him a "slimeball". Guess Alex likes him waltz and all...

(Taken from http://www.people.co.uk/news/tm_headline=brendan-s-skin-chick&method=full&objectid=19493698&siteid=93463-name_page.html)

 

 

The two teams ready to compete on DanceX are as follows:

 

 

Emmanuel Tabone

Daniel Uppal

Kalvin Lamley

Ashley Shaw

Chelsey Reynolds

Ife Kuku

Camilla Hardy

 

 

Cormack Apadu AKA 'Phoenix'

Marquelle Ward

Daniele Arbisi

Rana Roy

Marie McGonigle

Rebecca Leung

Claire Mealor

 

In show two of DanceX, the contestants had to sing and dance in front of Arlene and Bruno. Then the two judges had to each in turn to pick three boys and three girls to be on their team. The four remaining contestants who wasn't initially picked had to sing and dance again. Out of the four contestants Arlene picked Camilla Hardy and Bruno picked Claire Mealor, which mean't Bobby Windebank and Jamie Meek were the first contestants to be knocked out of the competition.

 

According to US Variety magazine, Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli is taking the DanceX format to America. Like the British edition, the show will be based around the rivalry between Bruno and his fellow US Dancing With The Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba. There will be six episodes of US DanceX which will be screened by ABC and produced by BBC Worldwide America. Instead of a results show, current plan is to air vote results at the start of each week's episode. No final decision has been made on an airdate, but it's believed ABC is aiming to debut the show in January, in between seasons of "Dancing With the Stars."

 

I expect this show will be a big hit in America, although for people who have watched the British version it might be a bit bland. Carrie Ann Inaba doesn't possess a strong, forceful personality unlike Strictly's Arlene Phillips. Also Carrie Ann and Bruno have only known each other for a couple of years so there's not going to be much rivalry between the two of them, unlike Bruno and Arlene who have totally different personalities and their friendship spans for more than 30 years.

 

 

 

(Taken from http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117968808.html?categoryId=14&cs=1)

 

New BBC talent show Dance X trounced ITV's Sing It Back in the Saturday night ratings battle. DanceX drew in 4.8 million viwers and peaked at nearly 6 million viewers. Meanwhile, ITV only pulled in 1.9 million viewers.

Last night a BBC spokeswoman said: "We're particularly pleased a third of all viewers saw Arlene's battle with Bruno unfold."

(Taken from http://www.mirror.co.uk/showbiz/2007/07/16/itv-dud-x-terminated-89520-19460904/).

 

 

 

At 17, Ashley is the youngest dancer in the competition. She's never had any formal dance training. She lives at home in Sheffield with her policewoman mum and her nine year old sister. Ashley's in her first year of college, studying A Levels in Psychology, English language and Media. To earn a little pocket money, Ashley works part-time in an American-style diner serving food dressed as a cowgirl!

 

 

London born and bred, 22 year old Bobby is currently flat-sharing in Wimbledon, where he works as a theatre assistant at the New Wimbledon Theatre. His mum Eva and dad Joe are both retired and live in Surrey.

 

 

Twenty four year old Camilla was living in Germany with her partner of three years Aaron and working on Starlight Express when she decided to fly over and audition for DanceX. After successfully reaching the recalls Camilla made the decision to finish her 'Starlight' career early and leave her life in Germany behind to come and follow her DanceX journey.

Chelsey Reynolds

Nineteen year old Chelsey lives in sunny Skegness with her mum, dad and little brother. She works in a bucket and spade shop owned by her dad on the beach and is currently single.

Claire Mealor

23 year old Claire lives with her boyfriend Kirk in Warfield, in Berkshire. Her mum Diane and self-employed mechanical engineer dad David live nearby. By day Claire works as a makeup artist at Boots and in the evening as a barmaid at a local pub. When she's not at work, Claire travels to London as often as possible to audition for "anything and everything" she can.

Daniel Uppal

Nineteen year old Daniel hails from Coventry but currently lives at college in Cambridge in a house with nine other dancers. Back in Coventry, Daniel lives with his mother, father and little sister. He's also very close to both his aunt and uncle and has seven close cousins that he sees at least once a week. All his family, despite some initial scepticism from his father, are huge supporters of Daniel's desire to pursue a career in dance.

Daniele Arbisi

23-year-old Daniele Arbisi comes from Worthing in West Sussex, although his family originates from many different parts of the world. Daniele's father Enzio is Sicilian and his mother Anne is half English, half German. He's got three brothers - one of whom was fostered by the family from Somalia.

Emanuel Tabone

23 year old Emanuel Tabone is originally from Malta but came to England three years ago after winning a TV talent competition called Bravi (translates as 'talented youths'). The prize for the competition was a three year scholarship to Bodyworks dance school in Cambridge. Emanuel entered the competition with no dance experience whatsoever and went on to beat more than 200 others to the first prize. He is currently living in the UK and will graduate from Bodyworks later this year. His mum Doris, dad Emanuel, sisters Rose and Carol all still live in Malta.

Ife Kuku

22 year old Ife Kuku, originally from Milton Keynes, lives in Finchley, north London with her boyfriend, Terrence, and works from home as an account manager, for a chartered accountancy firm.

Jamie Meek

27 year old Jamie left his family home in Birmingham at the age of 12 to move to Liverpool to join the Elliot Clark Performing Arts School in the city. "It was really difficult leaving home at that age, but I knew that that was what I wanted to do. I lived with a family in Liverpool during this period of my life and it was very difficult because the family were very different to my own and the first year was particularly hard for me."

Kalvin Lamley

22 year old Brummy boy Kalvin lives at home with his mum and his 13 year old brother. He works part-time as a dancer in a Birmingham cabaret bar and teaches dance at local primary schools. He's a self-confessed mummy's boy and describes himself as "fun-loving, hardworking, and dynamite on the dance floor!" He's currently single.

Marie McGonigle

Bright, bubbly 23 year old Marie is proud to say that she's from "a family of gingers". She lives at home in Kent with her mum Caroline, dad Michael and twin brother David. Marie also has an elder brother who's just had his third child.

Marquelle Ward

23 year old Marquelle lives alone, having recently flown the nest and moved out of his mother's house in Manchester. But his mum Angella's always the first person he's on the phone to. Indeed, his mum was initially cross with Marquelle as he was supposed to take her shopping on the day of his audition!

Cormack Ampadu AKA 'Phoenix'

25 year old Cormack, AKA Phoenix, lives in London. He grew up in Camden and was quite a rebel - getting expelled from two schools. After a few years and some careful thought Phoenix decided to go back to college to gain some qualifications and stumbled across a performing arts course that included dance. He went on the course and fell in love with dancing there and then.

Rana Roy

Although 20 year old Rana Roy was born in London, she moved to Dubai when she was one with her mother Shahenaz and father Roy. She lived there until she was six and her parents divorced. Rana then moved with her mum to America but returned to Dubai six months later to be with her father because she didn't see eye to eye with her mother. The following year her father married again. Although Rana's still in touch with her mother, her mother's family are Muslim and don't approve of Rana's ambitions to become a dancer.

Rebecca Leung

24 year old Rebecca grew up in Bangor, North Wales, and currently lives between Wales, Liverpool and Hampton. Her family still lives in Wales. Her mum Jeanette is training to be a teacher and her Cantonese dad Tony runs his own business selling seafood to Chinese restaurants. She has three brothers. Rebecca speaks both Welsh and Cantonese.

 

 

HER caustic comments and poisonous put-downs have reduced Strictly Come Dancing's celebs to quivering wrecks. But brace yourself... because for acid-tongued Arlene Phillips the bitching hasn't even started yet. For BBC1's new talent show, DanceX, she and rival judge Bruno Tonioli scour the country to find the hottest new dancers in the nation.

And pity any hopeful who doesn't stand up to scrutiny in Spandex. Jelly-bellies, thunder thighs and blubbery bums need not apply. "I have never seen so many overweight people exposing their flesh in the tiniest of clothes," says Arlene, 63. "It was overwhelmingly awful. "Let's face it, Britain is getting fatter and lazier. When I hark back to my school days - which were a very long time ago - we were always skipping, playing netball, hockey, running around."

"Now everyone's so much more sedentary. And boy, it shows! They need to get up off the sofa and get moving. There were all these girls with hot pants, crop tops and big bellies hanging out. No muscle tone, just spare flesh all over the place. Ugh! I wanted to stand up and scream, 'Why did you let yourself go? You puddings should do something about it!'"

Arlene may shudder at the fatties who tried to wobble on to her show, but as someone who describes herself as "a natural size 14 struggling to be a size 10", she has some sympathy for those losing the battle of the bulge. "I have a weakness for cheese and every time I indulge it shows," she says. "I wanted to tell the overweight people at the auditions, 'I know how hard it is to stay in shape. I know it's a daily struggle'. I was really good for about a year but last Christmas my willpower deserted me. Still, I'm always on the go, walking, dancing, swimming, and that helps. Like most people, though, I'm always wishing I was thinner."

Despite this, Arlene refused to water down her inflammatory remarks about contestants' size - despite pleas from her BBC bosses. "Producers have rapped my knuckles about my comments," she admits. "But I can't help it. I'm very honest, passionate and politically incorrect. They'll have to gag me because I can't control or plan what I'm going to say, I just explode. And anyway, at the auditions I thought I was quite kind and gentle to people. Unless they were delusional loonies."

DanceX sees her working once more with her old pal Bruno, 51. Arlene taught him to dance when he first came to London from Italy in 1976. And he often helped with the routines for her 70s dance group Hot Gossip. But the two friends will be rivals when the final 14 contestants are split into Team Arlene and Team Bruno. "I'm so competitive," she says. "I'm going to do everything it takes to beat Bruno. We're bound to have our ups and downs. But I hope I don't pull rank and remind him he was once my student."

Manchester-born Arlene - who has two daughters, Alana, 28, and Abi, 17 - now lives in North London with Angus Ion, her partner of 20 years. For a woman in her 60s she looks remarkably youthful - something she attributes to plastering on lots of a US wrinkle-freezing cream called Fauxtox. But if any male contestants are hoping to flirt their way into her group, they are sadly mistaken.

"Some of the hot young guys tried to catch my eye by opening their shirts and winking at me," she says. "They must have thought that because I eyed up Mark Ramprakash in Strictly Come Dancing I can be wooed. "Forget it! I'm old enough to be their mother. Only talent will win through to the final stages - dance talent." And she knows all about that. Much of her career has been spent choreographing London's top West End shows. But although she was impressed by DanceX presenter Ben Shephard's "sexy" moves, she despaired at the general lack of toetapping talent in the UK auditions.

"I was tragically uninspired," she says. "I saw the same routine again and again - as if they'd watched a music video and thought copying each step would impress. It didn't. Then there were the idiots who thought they'd have a laugh and get on telly. Whenever someone turned up with a suitcase containing a costume, my heart sank. I'm here to find serious talent, not watch a loon in a robot costume clunking around. But every now and then we found a real jewel - someone who looked incredible and didn't have a professional background. That made it all worthwhile."

It was Arlene who persuaded Sir Elton John to dance for his I'm Still Standing video, choreographed Freddie Mercury for I Was Born To Love You and devised the moves for Robbie Williams's Rock DJ video. She can also spot the singers with two left feet. "Most pop stars are useless dancers," she sneers. "They need professionals doing great things behind them so they look good. Only a few stand out because they are truly great dancers themselves - Madonna, Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake. But they are the exception. Most are terrible."

There's no doubt about it, the bitch is back.

DANCEX is on BBC1 tonight at 6.55pm.

(Taken from http://www.mirror.co.uk/showbiz/2007/07/14/exclusive-arlene-phillips-89520-19453726/)

 

 

These are short video clips of Strictly's Arlene Phillips and Bruno Tonioli's new show, DanceX:

 

Click on this link to see video:

 

 

 

Strictly Come Dancing star Ian Waite has posted a message on his website to say Camilla is 'on loan' to Brendan, just like she is on Strictly. Ian says 'Camilla will be dancing with Brendan in the Eurovision Dance Contest as I was unable to due to prior work engagements' and he adds, '...my dance partnership with Camilla is still going strong and we are still dancing together.'

 

Ian will be coming back as one of the professional dancers in series five of Strictly Come Dancing.

 

 

The BBC has announced that Strictly Come Dancing will be back for it's fifth series this autumn. Fourteen celebrities will once again be paired up with professional dancers to compete for the title of Strictly Come Dancing Champion 2007.

Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly will host the new series and all four judges - Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli, Arlene Phillips and Craig Revel Horwood are also confirmed to return.

 

According to their website, James and Ola Jordan will be in the next series of Strictly Come Dancing.

 

 

 

 

Strictly Come Dancing has been nominated for an award in the Most Popular Talent Show category. Also, Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly are nominated in the Most Popular Entertainment Presenter category.

 

To vote for the show to win an National Television Award, please click here: http://www.nationaltvawards.com/

 

 

 

According to a British Newspaper, Kelly Brook is in final negotiations with BBC bosses to appear on this year's Strictly Come Dancing.

 

A TV insider has commented:  'Kelly is about to sign on the dotted line to be in the show. She's perfect for the part and incredibly fit. She loves dance and trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London so she's a natural. She did minor cabaret appearances before she started working as a presenter.'

 

Kelly Brook is a TV presenter-turned-actress who is engaged to Titanic star Billy Zane.

 

(Taken from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=466923&in_page_id=1773)

 

The Italian-born judge says he is delighted to be offering youngsters a chance to make their dreams come true and he reveals that his own success as a young dancer brought heartbreak to his family. “My parents didn’t want me to dance so I had to run away when I got my first job at 18,” he tells Sun online. “It was with a French touring company so I packed my bag and went to Paris and I never went back. My mother was devastated, bless her, but I had no choice. I had to do everything without telling them. I used to sneak out to do singing lessons, dancing lessons and I spent my own money on them. But when you want something so much your life depends on it, you just do it. I only have one life and it’s got to be done my way.”

Bruno spent many years as a dancer before embarking on a hugely successful career as a choreographer, working on pop videos for the likes of Paul McCartney and Queen and films, such as Ella Enchanted and Enigma. And his success meant a reconciliation with his parents. "My mother turned around eventually but it took a while,” he says. “Fortunately both my parents saw my career going very well before they died and all the worry evaporated – but it took a good ten years.”

The flamboyant star has choreographed the movement of megastars including Freddie Mercury, Elton John and Mick Jagger, but he reveals that Tina Turner was one of his favourite. “Tina Turner is the best natural dancer I’ve ever worked with,” he says. “She’s not a trained dancer but what she does is just perfect for her. I have worked with loads of great dancers but as a natural, it comes out of her heart and soul and anything that she produces is incredible.”

There is one megastar, however, who Bruno would prefer to forget. “Working with Michael Jackson was bizarre to say the least,” he laughs. “We used to stage everything around him and then he would turn up three minutes before he was due to do his song and leave immediately after it. I try to erase it from my memory!”

Dance X begins on Saturday July 14 on BBC1

(Taken From http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2001320029-2007310267,00.html)

 

 

The US Version of Dancing With The Stars is due to air in the UK next week. According to the Radio Times website an episode of DWTS will be screened on Sunday 15th July between 4.15pm-5.30pm on BBC1.