Strictly sashays back to deliver friendly formula of thrills and spills
all the preliminaries, another season of Strictly was finally under way.
There was a dash of novelty to news anchor Kate Silverton’s cha-cha-cha routine featuring a mocked-up newsdesk with her partner Aljaž Škorjanec playing the part of an enthusiastic cameraman with an unbuttoned shirt. Likewise going above and beyond was Seann Walsh, the comedian, who had come dressed as Richard Madden in Bodyguard and, opposite Katya Jones, brought the house down with his blokey tango (they could have called it a “mango”).
One of the feel-good moments of the night was provided by Lauren Steadman, the Paralympian, who – having just returned from winning gold in Australia – reduced a giddy audience to stunned silence with her waltz. An early front-runner had announced herself. She will be up against the slick double threat of former Pussy Cat Doll Ashley Roberts and Steps singer Faye Tozer, who finished neck and neck at the top the leaderboard with a score of 29 each.
Rather less breathtaking was Capital Radio presenter Vick Hope, whose jive stuttered amid wavering energy levels and showboating from new dancer Ashley Graziano Di Prima. The happy news is that she won’t be packing her bags just yet. Judges’ ratings carry over to next week, when the public will vote on the first elimination. A safety net didn’t bring much comfort to the more skittish competitors.
Susannah Constantine, the fashion guru, looked terrified counting down to her big moment, a Carmen Mirandastyle fruit hat wobbling on her head.
Her routine was almost as ripe as her headgear, though the judges generally tried to be kind (her score of 12 nonetheless put her at the bottom of the leaderboard). As is traditional, Craig Revel Horwood was the most plain-spoken of the adjudicators, jabbing the participants with perfectly spun put-downs.
The two hour-plus broadcast began with a twirling piece by the professional dancers against the historic backdrop, and enthusiastic fountains, of Somerset House. Missing, however, was the knife-edge tension of the elimination rounds.
It would have been unfair to put the contestants on the line after just a fortnight of preparation. Strictly has been a reliable ratings monster for the BBC across its 15 previous seasons and the 8.1million who tuned into the launch edition a fortnight ago testified to its continued good health. As last night’s outing made clear, the secret is its unerring faith in formula.
The celebrities twirled, the professional dancers flexed like pumas, the judges “oohed”, “aahed” and creased their brows. Just the same as every other Strictly live show ever then – a reliable serving of family entertainment that warmed the cockles with glittering aplomb.