Tonight seven of the Strictly celebrities take to the dancefloor for the first time as Russell Grant, Robbie Savage, Lulu, Alex Jones, Anita Dobson, Audley Harrison and Dan Lobb perform either a waltz or a cha-cha-cha. Join me from live 9pm
Good evening, and welcome to our first proper Strictly Come Dancing liveblog! Tonight the first seven couples will be showing us their elegant waltzes and cha-cha-cha hips (shudder), with the remaining seven taking to the floor at 6pm tomorrow. There is no voting this weekend, so you can't boot any of them off until next week. Which all means we can just sit back and enjoy. I'M EXCITED, are you?
So tonight we'll be seeing Robbie Savage, Russell Grant, Audley Harrison, Dan Lobb, Anita Dobson and Lulu take to the floor - Alex Jones was also supposed to be dancing tonight, but for some reason has been swapped for Holly Valance. Perhaps the BBC decided there wasn't enough celebrity totty to keep the dads out of the pub?
I'll be here from 9pm giving my verdict on the sequins, the tans and the trodden toes, as well as telling you what the judges thought, just in case you missed it. Join me in the comment box with your thoughts ? who's lining up to be kind and queen of the dancefloor, and who do we need to keep in for comedy value?
See you at 9!
It's nearly time! It's only on for an hour, but bring snacks anyway. Anything with cheese is fine.
And we're off! Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-BAAAH. First look all all the couples. Lots of nervous smiling and hideous outfits. What IS Robbie Savage wearing?
Out comes Bruce and Tess, who is wearing a purple blanket. It has wings.
You'll have to forgive me for ignoring Sir Bruce's set piece gags. They are awful, and not worthy of note.
Ooh, here come the celebs!
There are some truly monstrous frocks, but we'll deal with them all one by one as they dance. My retinas are already burning.
First up, it's HOLLY AND ARTEM!
We get a reminder of Holly's pop career. Mostly it involved her wearing very little and wiggling her hips. It would suggest she might be alright at the cha-cha-cha.
Out they come! Holly is wearing a dress made from four Quality Street wrappers, a fistful of chocolate coins and a few scraps of tinsel, whereas Artem has forgotten to do his shirt up. How remiss of him.
Well, Holly looks alright to me, but I don't know a damn thing about ballroom dancing. A bit lacklustre, possibly? I can, however, confirm that David Guetta's "Who's That Chick" sounds dreadful when performed by the BBC orchestra.
Judges verdict - it wasn't the best first dance Len's ever seen, but it was close - I think there's a compliment in there somewhere. Generally the verdict is that she needs a bit more oomph, and bite, and crispness. She could also try a less nasty dress.
Scores - 6 from Craig, 7 from Len, 8 from Alesha and 7 from Bruno - total of 28. For fact fans, last year's highest week one dance scored 31.
Next up it's DAN AND KATYA. I'd never heard of Dan Lobb until three weeks ago, but now I have a massive crush. Dan is scared of the dancing element of Strictly Come Dancing. Also Katya looks like she might be a big bully.
Dan looks positively dashing in his black tails, whereas Katya is wearing a frosted cream trumpet.
Well I thought that was rather lovely, but Len thought it was a bit wooden and lacked musicality. I have no idea what this means, but we'll take his word for it. Alesha thought he looked elegant and relaxed, and Bruno thought it was accomplished, but Dan looked gloomy. Craig talks in riddles, as ever. Something was crumbly and something else was rigid. Bruno, possibly.
Scores - 4 from Craig, 7 from Len, 7 from Alesha and 6 from Bruno - a total of 24.
Next up it's LULU AND BRENDAN. Lulu is a singer, songwriter, model, actress, businesswoman, mother and several other things. She is worried about Brendan's bad boy reputation. I'd be more worried about spending that much time trapped in a room with someone so smug.
Out they come - I'm happy to report that Brendan leads Lulu to the floor in a slightly more dignified fashion that a few weeks ago. She is upholstered in a one-shouldered frilly horror in a violent shade of fuschia.
God, this is a disaster. I'm not sure what she's doing, but it isn't a cha-cha-cha.
The judges verdict - great energy, lots of fun, but dreadful dancing. I don't care - Lulu looks amazing, even is she is wearing a dress made from Tess's offcuts.
Scores - 2 from Craig, 5 from Len, 5 from Alesha and 5 from Bruno - total of 22.
Next on the floor is AUDLEY AND NATALIE. Audley believes he's the biggest celebrity who has ever been on Strictly. Hmm. Not much of an ego then.
Due to his LA commitments, he and Natalie only have 3 days of rehearsals. But it doesn't matter, because he's mega-famous.
They head onto the floor - Audley looking impressive in black tails, and Natalie wearing the country and western version of Katya's trumpet-frock. She is currently topping the Bisto tan table.
Would we call this dancing? I'm not sure. Mostly he's dragging her around the floor, albeit he's reasonably light of foot for someone who appears to be wearing clown shoes. I fear for Natalie's delicate toes during the salsa.
Over to the judges - Bruno thought he did well, Craig hated everything, and Len thought it had a certain charm.
Scores - 3 from Craig, 5 from Len, 6 from Alesha and 6 from Bruno - a total of 20.
Next up it's ROBBIE AND OLA. There is something eminently punchable about him, but I'm hoping he might grow on me.
Out they come - Robbie is wearing a nasty black hoodie with "bad boy" on the back. Definitely not a hoodie I'd want to hug. I can't decide if he's a budget Beckham or a fake Fabio. Either way, I feel a bit sick.
Ola, however is wearing three turquoise feathers stuck to a sequinned bikini. The dance is all a bit...ANGRY. I wish he's stop baring those teeth.
The judges are nonplussed. Mostly he bobbed about while Ola danced around him "like a wasp at a picnic". But a good first effort. Bit camp for me, and I love a bit of camp.
Scores - 2 from Craig, 6 from Len, 6 from Alesha and 5 from Bruno - total of 19. I don't think Craig is a fan.
It's time for ANITA AND ROBIN. I love Anita - she looks fabulous, and has a matching husband.
In training, she looks less fabulous. Crikey, the magic of makeup.
Out they come - Anita is wearing a wedding dress held up by a couple of bandages. It's actually rather lovely, but I worry about her getting tangled up in the trailing bits and it all going a bit Isadora Duncan.
Am pleased to report that the band is doing a decent job of Lionel Richie's "Three Times A Lady". One of my favourite songs, don't mess it up.
The judges were impressed - sincere, elegant, lots of poise. Even Craig liked it.
Scores - 7 from all the judges, so a total of 28. Joint highest score of the night, along with Holly.
Finally, it's RUSSELL AND FLAVIA. I'm looking forward to this one, apparently Russell has some moves.
He describes himself as "the high priest of camp" - Flavia describes his as a "big diva". God, he must be annoying to work with. Can you imagine the drama?
They take to the floor, where Russell emerges from a giant lilac shell to Bananarama's "Venus". He's wearing a white suit and looks like he should be representing an obscure Baltic nation at Eurovision.
Russell is clearly having a ball, and he's definitely got rhythm. He's actually very good, and Flavia looks amazing. I loved it. More, please.
The judges thought it was great, apart from Craig, who clearly doesn't appreciate being out-camped by an astrologer wearing glittery eyeshadow.
Scores are in - 4 from Craig, 5 from Len, 6 from Alesha and 6 from Bruno - a total of 21.
Holly and Anita are at the top of the leaderboard, but there's no voting this weekend - the scores will be added together next week, and then you can start voting.
So that's IT for tonight - marvellous fun as ever. I'll be back tomorrow at 6pm for the second half, which includes the divine Jason Donovan, Edwina Curry AND Nancy Dell'Olio. I am practically breathless with excitement. In the meantime do follow me on Twitter @heidistephens, and thanks for popping by. See you tomorrow!
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/sep/30/strictly-come-dancing-live
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