Let's Dance for Comic Relief - Week Two Blog

Thursday 28th February

After last week’s array of not quite iconic dances, the field was wide open in the second round of heats of Let’s Dance for Comic Relief. This week I watched the show accompanied by my gran and her, shall we say, firm opinions, giving this week’s judges Jason Manford, Paloma Faith and Lisa Riley a run for their money.

Opening the show were the cast of Waterloo Road as the Spice Girls, which was a lot of fun, especially with the men who adapted to their female alter ego very enthusiastically. Unfortunately mid-way through my gran and I realised simultaneously that the man dressed as Posh Spice looked uncannily like me – a sobering moment which cast a shadow over the performance.

Jon Culshaw’s brilliant repertoire of impressions suggested he would be perfect for Let’s Dance, but rather than impersonate anyone in particular he undertook a routine to Fatboy Slim involving an exciting dash from Television Centre reception to the studio. Unfortunately once he got there all he had the energy left to do was leap around a bit aimlessly. Shot down by my gran with the judgement that it was “galumphing”.

Kim of ‘Kim and Aggie’ fame confusingly turned up without her partner but with TV chef Rosemary Shrager instead. I wondered why Aggie hadn’t signed up, until I saw the horrific dresses they had been lumbered with, the lifts that almost ended in disaster, and the pair’s vague grasp of the choreography. Aggie was probably wise to avoid, but Kim and Rosemary were certainly this week’s good sports.

Comedienne Katherine Ryan, frequenter of 8 Out of 10 Cats, took on Nicki Minaj with a hilariously accurate bodysuit and a send-up of Minaj’s irritating style that Culshaw would have been proud of. Closing the show was Antony Cotton, backed by my gran due to him being “such a gentle looking person”. Despite randomly setting his routine in an old people’s home, Cotton proved to be the star of the night, revealing his hidden tap-dancing talent. As Jason Manford noted, he was almost too good for the show, although he wouldn’t be the first tap-dancing winner if he managed to go all the way.

It seems as if the awkward karaoke competition held backstage whilst votes are counted is unfortunately becoming a weekly feature of the show, along with the at best mildly amusing pre-dance videos accompanied by a deafening laughter track featuring the world’s most easily amused audience. The videos reporting on Comic Relief’s various missions and reminiscing over the best bits of 25 years of the telethon are a much more worthwhile way to fill time.

Unsurprisingly Antony Cotton sailed through to the final, whilst the gloriously dramatic Paloma Faith decided to send Katherine Ryan through (once she was reminded of her name). Next week is the last round of heats before the final, and with Justin Bieber set to perform, at least the celebrity contestants can rest safe in the knowledge that they won’t be the worst thing to grace the stage that evening.

Let's Dance For Comic Relief - Week One Blog

Monday 18th February 2013

On Saturday night the run-up to Comic Relief started in earnest, with the return of Let’s Dance for Comic Relief, now in its fifth year of humiliating celebrities. The number of iconic dances left to recreate has dwindled since Robert Webb’s sublime Flashdance, but each series usually throws up a couple of hilarious and surreal routines (Noel Fielding’s Wuthering Heights tribute springs to mind), and this year should be no different. But can we agree at the outset: first person to do Gangnam Style is disqualified?

 Judging this week were Tameka Empson, Bradley Walsh, and Mel Giedroyc deploying as many baking metaphors as she could muster. First up were soap stars Natalie Cassidy, Dean Gaffney, Claire Sweeney and Ricky Groves, dancing a routine from Hairspray. I was at Television Centre on Friday and saw Claire and Natalie: Claire looked confident, Natalie was on the phone. Only one of these approaches was carried over into the routine - a competent performance which introduced the first man in a dress of the series in record-breaking time. Bonus points for Gaffney who effectively walked out of a car crash and straight into rehearsals, so should be congratulated simply for being able to remember the choreography.

In the absence of any particularly imaginative routine, comedienne Olivia Lee as Lady Gaga provided the most memorable moment of the night, causing chaos in the studio by incorporating George the dog into her performance. Mel Giedroyc tried in vain to compare Olivia’s dancing to cake whilst Tameka Empson revealed herself not only to be afraid of dogs, but also surprisingly gullible when it came to Bradley Walsh’s impression of George attacking her.

As Justin Timberlake makes his musical comeback, comedian Tim Vine made the topical choice to dance in the manner of a JT who had spent his time away from music indulging in very little dance practice. To his credit, Vine unleashed some great “hat-ography” and was in time throughout (an achievement which says a lot about the show’s standard of dance).

A trio of unrecognisable comedians formed a Destiny’s Child tribute act which was disturbing rather than hilarious - very good sports, but perhaps avoid YouTubing this one. The final performance - Ricky Hatton as Robbie Williams – was built around Hatton flying through the air. Unfortunately something went wrong, meaning the routine consisted mainly of some skipping and then a prolonged bit of filler with the judges playing air guitar before an empty harness drifted forlornly across the stage. At least we were treated to seeing Ricky in what Giedroyc called a “nappy of sequins”.

After a reminder that the array of shambolic and occasionally traumatising routines we witnessed was all for a terrifically good cause, Tim Vine sailed through to the final on the public vote, and the judges sent the soap stars through. Neither of them screams winner, but there’s still time for the series to produce a classic routine. If nothing else, let’s just hope the costume budget for the men’s dresses and catsuits is a bit bigger next week.