Joanne Clifton: "I really want to go back to Strictly"
In her last blog for RadioTimes.com, Joanne talks about living with Katya and Neil in 'Glitterball House' – and why the Strictly final has made her want to return to the show
I’m so emotional about the whole Strictly Come Dancing final, and I don’t know whether it is because I'm remembering the emotion of winning last year with Ore Oduba but everyone’s just done such a great job and this weekend has made me go ‘Oh my God, I want to go back’. I’ve missed it. I’m very happy doing musical theatre and my goal is still musical theatre. Also I’m on tour next year with Flashdance at the same time as Strictly’s on so I can’t go back next year, but I’m now thinking I really want to go back – maybe the year after next? I would just love to go back and do it again! I am over the moon that Joe McFadden and Katya Jones won. I’m so proud because at the moment I live with Katya and Neil Jones and we’ve now renamed the house Glitterball House because we have the two trophies. We’ve even changed our WhatsApp group name to Glitterball House as well! I’ve seen it first hand how Katya was up all hours choreographing. Often I’d wake up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water and she’d still be up at 3am with bags under her eyes, choreographing. She's worked her bum off and she really deserves it. Although it’s not sunk in for her yet at all. She’s gone straight off on holiday, she’s sending me messages on WhatsApp going ‘Jo, when are you in the house because I need to sort out when the cleaner’s coming...’ and I’m like ‘Do you understand that you’ve just won Strictly Come Dancing?! You’re talking about the cleaner with me – are you serious?!’ She’s just being so normal. But it will sink in eventually. The same thing happened to me – and I only started watching our dances back six months after winning. We've each got our Glitterballs in our bedrooms but we might now put them together in the living room – that would be fun. We just need Neil to win one now! Although the finalists were all absolutely brilliant, I think Joe and Katya’s Showdance was the most unexpected. I got goosebumps watching Alexandra Burke’s, though, because she’s an inspiration to me when it comes to performing and musical theatre. Debbie McGee had a beautiful song and concept of being a ballet dancer in a music box. The way that she used her legs and feet to me is amazing and it’s an inspiration. I’d love to be like her when I’m her age. With Gemma Atkinson, you could see that she was trying so hard and that they’d put right so many things in their other two dances. She’s corrected a lot of stuff from the other dances and I just thought ‘go on, girl!’- she’s good at the Paso Doble fierce style and getting a character out and I thought it was the perfect Showdance for her. I was so impressed, honestly. There has been a lot of inspiration this series as well. Whether it’s people who have surprised us like Susan Calman, or whether they’ve just embraced the whole Strictly experience like Rev. Richard Coles or Brian Conley – or the likes of Jonnie Peacock who just came out and is able to dance all this amazing stuff, Debbie being able to do the splits and everything else at her age. It’s inspiring what you can do. And then you’ve got people like Joe and Gemma who have just come on a journey and you think how they started out and what they have achieved. The pros have been really adventurous this year, too, pulling out all of the stops and playing to the strengths of the celebrities. People have to realise the amount of work that the professionals do. They have to come up with routines quickly and they have to teach a non-ballroom and latin dancer the right technique, the right steps, the right posture and add performance value on top of that in four days. It’s very stressful and it’s non-stop work. I don’t think they get enough credit and I can’t explain enough how impressed I am by them this year. Strictly just continues to go from strength to strength and I cannot congratulate the BBC, executive producer Louise Rainbow and the show's head of choreography Jason Gilkison enough. Yes, I’ve complained a little bit about this series, but actually Strictly is just a brilliant flipping show and after the ups and downs, seeing how happy everyone was in the final just makes the programme what it is. And it’s made me so happy, too! Joanne Clifton currently stars in Flashdance – The Musical in theatres across the UK.
Joanne Clifton's advice to the Strictly finalists - and what she makes of those Shirley Ballas quitting rumours
The RadioTimes.com columnist was far more impressed with the performances on this week's Strictly Come Dancing semi-final
I thought everybody in Strictly Come Dancing’s semi-final last weekend upped their game and I was actually very, very, very pleased! Firstly, I loved Alexandra Burke’s Salsa. Loved it, loved it, loved it. I was like ‘yes!’ because that was the kind of energy, grit and determination that I got from seeing her Jive to Proud Mary in week four. That was exactly what I meant last week – to come out and do something amazing. And those lifts - she just absolutely went for it. She was fearless and she just absolutely jumped into it! And then Debbie came out and did her Jive, which is a fast dance for someone her age. I know Craig commented on her faces being similar to the ones pulled by Judge Rinder when he was on the show, but that was probably because Judge Rinder was sat there in the audience. I was actually quite happy with her expressions because it looked like she wasn’t just being the normal, very precise, very elegant Debbie; she was actually putting more into it which is exactly what I wanted. The 7 Debbie got from Craig for that performance was harsh, and like the other judges, I’d have given her a 9. The kicks and flicks could have been a little bit better, a little bit more energetic. But I really enjoyed watching it. And if I enjoy watching a performance, then it tells me something. Not only that, but Shirley Ballas was really positive this week, too. I was like, ‘Yes!’ It’s better when the show opens with a bit of positivity. Also, I really doubt Shirley will leave after this year. I hope not, anyway. I know I criticised her last week, but I do think she’s the perfect replacement for Len. She more than knows her stuff and she’s like a walking technique book. And I don’t know who else could do it. The only thing that was a little bit inconsistent on Saturday was this rule about being in hold and being not in hold. Giovanni got pulled up on it for his Foxtrot with Debbie, but it was only towards the end when they separated - but Gorka and Alexandra had a lot more time out of their Viennese Waltz this week and it didn’t get mentioned. Again, that’s not Alexandra’s fault - let’s explain that. It’s just that the judges need to be fair. They didn’t get pulled up on this 10-second rule, but Giovanni did. Craig said he was taking a point off Debbie for that, but I don’t think it should have been deducted because they went into hold straight away and off they were. And, yes, they weren’t in hold at the end but if that was divided into a bit of the beginning and a bit at the end, so it would probably amount to the same amount of time. Like Bruno, I would have given their performance a 10 because for me, in ballroom Debbie looked like an actual ballroom dance international competitor for her age group in that Foxtrot. She’s got one of the best ballroom holds that I’ve seen - and good on Gio for fighting Craig about that, because I didn’t agree with that either. And what I’ve said about Debbie’s ballroom hold I will say about Gemma’s legs and feet. Her legs and feet are possibly some of the best I’ve seen on Strictly for a girl in Rumba. She was really good and I was so impressed. I wish it would have continued up into her body! Joe’s Argentine Tango performance as a whole was amazing. And that ending thing... I mean, Katya’s a genius! The core strength that they must have - I bow down to them, honestly. I did notice he needed to point his feet more but I’d still have given it a 10. It really could be anybody who wins Strictly this weekend and I think it’s just going to depend on what happens on the night. Luckily for Ore and I in the final last year, our dances and our Showdance went really, really well and I think that’s going to be the case here. If you take any of them on the day, they could just win it. Anybody could go wrong, anybody could have an off-week. You just don’t know. Going into the final this weekend, I think for Debbie and Alexandra they’ve each got the opposite strengths and they’ve both got to find a balance. For me, Debbie has got so much precision, lines and beauty, that I need a little bit more performance - which she did in the Jive. Because if we can feel that she’s really enjoying it, then we enjoy it too. Whereas Alexandra has got the right amount of character, attack and performance and she needs to make sure she’s got a balance of that and precision. Similarly if Gemma’s got ballroom in the final, she needs to work on staying out to the left a bit more than she did in the Tango this week. But she did get into it so much that I think it’s kind of a good thing, and she did it perform it very well. For Joe, I would just say to him to just continue with what he’s doing. Carry on what you’re doing because you love it and give it 150% in both performance and technique. And overall my advice to them would be: yes, try your hardest because you’ve done so well to get this far, and it’s really difficult. But at the same time, I just think what’s more important is to embrace your last week of training together, of Strictly itself, of being able to perform live on this amazing TV programme, don’t get too obsessed over the Glitterball, and flipping enjoy it. That’s what me and Ore did – we didn’t put so much pressure on it and I think that came across. I had my final Flashdance performance of 2017 last Saturday and I was the only one who cried! I’m coming back next year (so is Ben Adams!) so everyone was going ‘what you crying for? You’re going to be doing this until October next year!’ and I was like ‘I know, but we’ve been a family for the last six months!’ I didn’t miss any of the performances in that time, either. Imelda Staunton is my absolute idol and I saw her (five times!) in Gypsy in the West End. I don’t know if this is true but I had heard that she hadn’t taken a show off, and I made that goal - because if she can do it at her age then I should be able to do it. Right now I’m rehearsing for a production of Top Hat in London. It’s the absolute opposite of Flashdance and I’m literally having my wigs measured now. Getting into the famous Ginger Rogers wig is a bit different from Alex Owens’ perm! Strictly Come Dancing will return on Saturday 16th December on BBC1. Joanne Clifton currently stars in Flashdance – The Musical in theatres across the UK in 2018.
Joanne Clifton: Strictly's Alexandra Burke and Debbie McGee are "flat, predictable and safe"
The former Strictly professional says she wants their performances to be braver – and the judges' scores fairer – after the pair failed to wow in Musicals Week
If I were to sum up Strictly Come Dancing’s Musicals Week it’d be that there were moments of frustration and moments of confusion – as well as some show-stopping moments. But not from who you think… This might be a bit controversial, but if the dances were being judged on improvement, performance, production, choreography and difficulty, I would’ve put Debbie McGee and Alexandra Burke in the bottom two. I know a lot of people will disagree with me on this, but I just think at this point in the competition we’re expecting something wow from these two – and they weren’t wow. I’m kind of disappointed that Alexandra and Debbie come out and do the same thing over and over again every week. Debbie’s performance of the American Smooth was just the same as the dances she’s been doing for a while – we all know she can kick her legs. And with Alexandra, you want to see her come out and do something amazing. I don’t know whether it was the routine for the Charleston, but she just didn’t do it. They’re just not doing anything where you go ‘Oh my God! That was amazing!’ It’s like ‘come on, we’re seeing the same thing from you two, week after week’. It’s flat, predictable and very safe. They both have the ability so I’d say to them to just take risks – do something flashy and work your arse off for it. Because they could both do something incredible. I want to see Alexandra come out and do something like her Jive from week four, and hopefully with the semi-final next week they will. I feel like the judges kind of ruined it for themselves this year because the one moment that should’ve been huge is Debbie’s Argentine Tango. But the problem there was that they’d already tried to give a ‘wow’ moment to Debbie’s Tango a few weeks before when Craig did the whole palaver of getting on his knees for a dance that was technically good – but wasn’t 'wow'. They gave themselves nowhere else to go once they did that. Why was Craig going on the floor? As a professional, the technique was great. It was a great dance. But it wasn’t a performance. It was a really well-danced Tango, but then when she came out and did that Argentine Tango it wasn’t so much of a moment as it should’ve been. When you look back at Strictly over the years, you remember Danny Mac’s Samba, Sophie Ellis Bextor’s Charleston, Ed Balls’ Gangnam Style… you can remember the outfits, the mood, the setting. But I can’t even remember the song Debbie danced to or what kind of dress she was wearing or anything for that Tango. Basically, there’s not really been a ‘WOW!’ moment this series. Everybody wants to get to the final so maybe they’ll up their game a little bit in the semi-final. I'm really hoping so. The other thing that annoyed me this week was Mollie and AJ’s lift in the Rumba. It wasn’t fair that they got 9s. I was like ‘seriously?’ They have to be penalised for that, and that’s the judges’ fault. Fine if AJ put the lift in – he should know better and it’s not fair on the other pros – but he put it in knowing full well that he would get points deducted. But the judges can’t give her 9s when it’s got an illegal lift in. And it wasn’t just a little lift – it was a massive lift! And then Gemma, who stayed in the rules and danced great, got a 6, 7 and 8s. It’s not fair – and it’s not fair on the pros because they won’t know what to do now. If I was one of those pros I would be like ‘maybe I should put in lifts in all of my routines? Because if people are getting 9s with big old lifts in there…’ And that’s not Mollie’s fault. She’s just doing what she’s told. And I thought she was greatly improved. Her footwork and her leg action in that Rumba – and Rumba is a really, really hard dance to look good in – she danced it really well, especially with the little ballet shoes on. I thought she was excellent. It was a shame there was that big lift in it, but I have to be fair and say it was over marked because of the lift, not because of her. And then let’s talk about the 10-second rule. Gemma’s Quickstep was a great dance for her. She could’ve been a little bit better but the production value of it, the whole spectacle of it, the extra dancers, the fun, the performance… It was such a good number. I really, really enjoyed it – and she gets a 6. Whereas Alexandra’s Quickstep at Blackpool, she had the same level of technique and there were problems in the hold, with the gapping – and plus they did so much more than the 10-second rule – and she gets a 10! Two Quicksteps, one’s Alex, one’s Gemma, the same level of technique a few weeks apart but such different scores. What is that?! You can’t just give Alex 10s when it’s gone against the rules. And this is nothing to do with the actual dancers themselves, this is the judges. Joe McFadden performed the Samba well and is up there with Alexandra and Debbie as the three best dancers left in Strictly. He had a great number and was technically good. Mollie, Gemma and Davood Ghadami were all really good and I enjoyed their performances – but are the weaker dancers. I thought Davood did a really good Argentine section. The choreography was great and he did a really hard flicky bit in the middle and some great lifts again, but he’s not the best dancer and maybe it was right that he went. But I’d have been in a little bit of difficulty with the decision of who to send home in the dance off, to be honest. And Kevin isn’t leaving Strictly, no. He flipping loves the show and he’s going to be another Anton Du Beke – he’ll be on it until he’s 80! He’s a great choreographer, so maybe he could choreograph musicals one day? He could also star in musicals because he can sing so maybe he’d like to have a go at being in musicals as well? Who knows! For me, obviously having managed to win Strictly, I always had another goal in my head anyway – I had other dreams that I wanted to follow and I was quite satisfied with my dance career anyway in the competition world. I did absolutely love Strictly and I probably will (hopefully!) go back some day if they’ll have me. I’d also love to be a judge on the show one day, although I doubt that would happen if Kevin was still on it! Strictly Come Dancing will return on Saturday 9th December on BBC1. Joanne Clifton currently stars in Flashdance – The Musical in theatres across the UK.
Joanne Clifton predicts who will make the Strictly 2017 final with just six celebrities left
Joanne says now was the right time for Susan Calman to leave as she looks ahead to a vital few weeks in Strictly Come Dancing
Although I loved their routine and it would have been great to see them go further, it was definitely Susan and Kevin's time to leave Strictly Come Dancing this week. Susan definitely improved during her time on the show and I know that she worked hard, but I think it gets to a point where the public go, ‘Do you know what, let’s start voting for the actual dancing now and not just the entertainment.' And the winner of Strictly Come Dancing 2017 will be… 6 things we learned behind the scenes at Strictly Come Dancing 2017 Strictly Come Dancing week 10: who is top of the leaderboard? Their American Smooth was worth more than the 4 Craig gave them, but it was their time. We could all see she was the least talented dancer left in the competition. Because Alexandra Burke did have a weak week, when she landed in the dance off it wasn’t as shocking as when Aston Merrygold was in the bottom two. It could have been anybody this week. At the end of the day, all of the celebrities left are so close in level. They’ve all got their strengths and their weaknesses and they’re all really close. Alexandra's Rumba was very exposing and I did agree with the judges, it wasn’t her best – although I was a bit shocked at her 7 from Craig, It was still good, it just wasn’t her best one. Debbie McGee was absolutely out of this world and it was a great comeback from when she was in the dance off last week. She had all the posture, all the legs, there were no slip ups at all. It was so precise and it was quite a difficult routine. She should have had all 10s, hands down. I wish I could dance an Argentine Tango like that! Debbie is a little bit more polished in her performances. With Alexandra, even though she goes for it 150 per cent each time, she’s not as precise and not as technically good as Debbie. Although I think Alexandra will definitely make the final, I don’t think she’ll win. For me, the final four are Alexandra, Debbie, Joe McFadden and Mollie King – but my fourth person keeps on changing. I thought it was Davood Ghadami who has come up very quietly. I did love his Waltz this week but he is more reserved than Mollie so I don’t know if the audience will love him as much as they love her. I'm really, really warming to Mollie. Although she’s isn’t the best dancer, if she’s having this effect on me as a professional, maybe the whole of the nation is seeing this as well? And that Quickstep! It looked like her and AJ Pritchard were in an actual ballroom competition. She was great, and so genuinely happy that she got her first 9. Mollie has been in a heck of a lot of dance offs and she’s come out the other end. She’s not the best but she’s taking it on the chin and I think maybe the public will see that and vote for her. I don't know about those romance rumours between Mollie and AJ; I haven’t heard anything and I am quite in the loop with the Strictly lot but I haven’t heard that. None of the pros have said to me that there’s something going on – and I’d normally know! There was still some under marking with the judges this week, too. I think Debbie, Mollie, Alexandra and Gemma Atkinson were scored lower than they should have been. Gemma got 6s and a 7 but I would have probably given her an 8. I know the judges were commenting on her arms, but wasn't that the concept of the routine? She was meant to be sleepwalking and I thought she did quite well. They were perhaps marking her down on the choreography because although she could have had a bit more bounce, it was there. She had the hips, she had her feet turned out: I thought it was quite good. However, she’s not a finalist for me. She impressed me a lot early on but she’s been up and down. Maybe she’ll come back fighting next week? I do love Musicals Week - and I'm into musical theatre now as well so it is probably my favourite week. I really enjoyed dancing the Foxtrot last year with Ore to Pure Imagination - even though we were in the dance off. It's going to be nice, and I'm looking forward to the big group dances. I think the winner of Strictly 2017 will be between Joe McFadden and Debbie. But if I had to put money on it? It’d be Joe. The Paso-Doblethon was probably the best group dance challenge that I’ve ever seen. It looked and felt like a proper dance competition; I think Shirley was the one who said that it looked like it could have been in the Winter Gardens. Everybody really went for it and it was good to see them moving around the floor and dancing quite close to one another. At this stage the final is in sight, and everybody would love to make it. It is tiring though - you’ve done 10 weeks, plus the three weeks of training before the first dance, so you’ve done so much work and now the final is just around the corner and you really want to get there. It can be a little bit stressful because when you’re so close you don’t want to be knocked out. I remember that I did shed a few tears, but it was just because I was so tired! But when you get in the training room and you see that your celeb partner wants to do well and you’re still having a great time, it is lovely. Even if you're tired and stressed, you feel like you’re really achieving something. Joanne Clifton currently stars in Flashdance – The Musical in theatres across the UK.
Joanne Clifton on Strictly's Blackpool Week: "I wouldn't have given anyone a ten"
Nobody delivered a perfect dance last weekend, writes Joanne Clifton in her RadioTimes.com Strictly blog
I may be channelling Craig Revel Horwood – but this week I wouldn't have given anybody a ten. Gemma Atkinson did perform a beautiful American Smooth and I think she deserved to be right up at the top. But for me as a ballroom dancer, she didn't get her feet closed on her heel turns, and the "slow quick quick" wasn't smooth enough. So I would have given her a nine, even if both Bruno Tonioli and Shirley Ballas gave her a perfect score. Who’s out of Strictly Come Dancing 2017? The full list of eliminated celebrities and professional dancers Who will win Strictly Come Dancing 2017? Debbie and Giovanni narrowly avoid elimination as Strictly sends home its eighth couple And then there's Alexandra Burke, who got three tens. First of all, I absolutely loved Gorka Marquez's routine: I loved the grandness of it, I loved the style, the era, the music. But if they're going to have the "ten second rule" for the Quickstep for other people, they have to have it for them as well! The ten second rule is where you're only allowed ten seconds out of hold, but they did much longer than that and didn't get in trouble. It has to be consistent. The other thing is, I don't think her frame was amazing. It's difficult to keep the frame, because it's a fast dance and you're jumping around. But she needs to be much further out to the left, and I thought it was a bit of a messy frame. So I would have given it a nine on technique and on the dance itself – and then I would probably have to take off a penalty point for being out of hold. This also wasn't a great week for Debbie McGee. Even so, I was surprised she was in the dance off. When I heard, I just thought: "What?!" This was probably her worst dance. It wasn't really for her, and in the Samba it's very easy to look really uncoordinated and quite messy. The Samba rolls were really, really good as the judges said, but I just don't think she was as amazing as she's been up until now. Still, I think she'll come back fighting next week with a different dance. In the results show, I do think the judges made the right decision and it was time for Jonnie Peacock to go. At this stage in the competition you've got to pull out the performance side of it, and I have said for quite a while that he doesn't show the emotion in his face. He needed a lot more of what Alexandra has, that energy and performance side of it. But having got all the way to Blackpool, Jonnie has just shown that everyone can dance and I think that's a great thing. This could pave the way for more disabled contestants in future series of Strictly. Now we're beyond Blackpool Week, I have to admit I didn't honestly think Susan Calman would get this far! At the very beginning I saw her perform the group dance for the launch show, and I looked at her and thought, "Oooh, she's not going to go very far." And then when she got paired up with Kevin Clifton, I actually said to him: "You're probably going to get quite an easy series this year! I don't imagine you're going to get that far in the competition." But she came out and showed us she can actually dance. She's surprised me and I think she's surprised quite a few people. Joe McFadden's Salsa was great and I think Shirley was right: he's the "dark horse" of the competition. He started out kind of good-ish, but quietly got better and better. A few little hiccups along the way, but he's just creeping up, creeping up and I think he might actually win. The British public, they love an underdog, don't they? So you've got the likes of Alexandra who's absolutely brilliant, she's amazing, she's so good. But we've seen that from the beginning and people go, "Oh she'll win because she's amazing." Or Debbie, who has been at the top apart from this week. She's been amazing from the beginning, so I don't know whether people will vote for that when it actually comes down to it. Davood Ghadami is another dark horse for me. At the minute my ones to watch would probably be Alex, Debbie, Joe and Davood. They're my finalists – with Joe being the potential winner. This week I've been ultra-critical like Craig, but perhaps that's because Craig himself has been showing his support for my new single. He did a show on Radio 2 this week and actually played the song I've recorded with my Flashdance co-star Ben Adams, Here and Now – which went straight to number one on the iTunes soundtrack chart. I couldn't believe it when I heard it. I was actually in tears, because I didn't imagine for a minute that my voice would ever be on the radio singing. Joanne Clifton currently stars in Flashdance – The Musical in theatres across the UK.
Joanne Clifton: Mollie was "grossly undermarked" on Strictly Come Dancing this week
The former Strictly pro gives her verdict on the weekend, from how much she loved Davood to why she believes the judges are being "disrespectful"
The judges on Strictly Come Dancing were being extra picky on Saturday. It's an important week for who gets to Blackpool, and rather than looking for the good things they were probably looking for the bad. That said, I thought Mollie was grossly undermarked. It was a real shocker and I don’t know what that was about, because I thought she definitely came back fighting from being in the dance off two weeks running and did a great Paso Doble. OK, there were a few moments where she was a little bit uncoordinated, but she did a great job. Craig Revel Horwood reveals what he REALLY thinks of new Strictly judge Shirley Ballas Strictly's Mollie and AJ respond to romance rumours Ruth and Anton bow out of Strictly with their 'signature' move When we saw her come through the doors after the scoring she looked like she was about to cry. I would as well; her and AJ were training 12 hours a day, and after what happened last week with Aston Merrygold a lot of people had been saying it was wrong she was still in the competition. But I thought she really attacked it and I think the public voted for her because she was just so undermarked. I don't know what the judges marked her down for and it was a real shame that she got those scores, but there are a few little weird things happening with the marking this year. I don’t know whether it’s favouritism - that’s not really allowed and I think Shirley is professional enough not to do that. Maybe she’s judging the dances and celebrities on their individual ability, but still: I know Susan got the steps right, she was sharp, she had expression and the feeling was there – but bits of it weren't great. Her frame was a little bit weak, her hold was not back enough and sometimes her arms were wobbling about. I don’t know if you can give an 8 to Susan just because she got the steps right, when Mollie got the steps right and did a great Paso as well but only got 5s and 6s? It wasn’t really that fair and it was slightly weird. For me, Mollie was definitely the most improved celebrity this week. I was very glad that the public kept her in. She deserved it and at the end of the day she got through and she’s going to Blackpool. In the dance off between Ruth Langsford and Jonnie Peacock, when Ruth came over Tess said something to the judges like, "What’s she got to do?". With Jonnie, one of them said, 'Focus on this and that' but when they went to Ruth, bless her, Bruno sat there and the first thing he did was laugh. I was like, ‘That was a bit unfair!’ It wasn’t a great dance but still, give her some courage. I keep having a go at the judges and I do respect them a hell of a lot, but there are a few little things like that that are getting to me. I think it’s quite disrespectful, and you could see from Ruth’s face you could see she was like, ‘I’ll try my best’. I think we could all already guess that she was going home, but you don’t laugh at her. Maybe he was laughing at what Tess said, I don’t know. I just thought it was a bit horrible because what I took from it that he was laughing at her because she didn’t have a chance. This week, however, I absolutely loved Joe and Davood. This is the second week that Davood has come out with a great dance. It was really fun, he got all the swivels - and that’s quite a difficult thing to do. The lift at the end was amazing, and I think Nadiya has discovered that he is really really strong and he can do all sorts of things. Meanwhile, Joe had hip action, chemistry, shaping – it was a slow dance and the slower the routine is, the more details can be seen. It’s very exposing; for a beginner male to look good in a slow Rumba it is quite hard but Joe did - he looked great! I would now say that Davood and Joe are contenders for the final. Joe's Rumba was a proper competition Rumba. He’s come up from not having danced and I think Davood’s the same - and the British public love an underdog. I particularly enjoyed Giovanni’s beginning to his dance with Debbie: "D-E-B-B-I-E - Debbie!" It was so silly and funny, but dancing wise they were so cool. I liked that first lift they did where he was holding her by one leg – you have to have a lot of courage and trust to do that. I don’t think I’d let anyone do that to me! Again, though, some things went wrong. It was a little bit messy coming out of one of the lifts but these things happen. When it comes to Alexandra's Argentine Tango I haven't really got anything to say, other than it was simply amazing. I just loved it. It was such an intricate routine, like when she walked on Gorka’s feet. She is the best performer on there and I would have given her a 10 for that. This week she was by far the best. View oEmbed on the source website I have to say though, what made me cry my eyes out this week was the group dance in the Sunday results show. The pros were absolutely amazing and I was literally in tears as it was danced so well. A big round of applause to them and choreographer Chris Scott. Also this week, my single with my Flashdance co-star Ben Adams is coming out. It's called Here and Now and it's out on Friday, but it can be pre-ordered on iTunes. It’s exciting times. We’re going to be the new Kylie and Jason! Strictly Come Dancing will return on Saturday 18th November on BBC1. Joanne Clifton currently stars in Flashdance – The Musical in theatres across the UK.
Joanne Clifton is unimpressed with Strictly's Halloween Week: "The judging was all over the place"
Why were the judges so harsh to Susan Calman but so nice to Ruth Langsford? And were their comments to Davood Ghadami unfair?
Can I be a real killjoy and say, Halloween Week is the show that I've enjoyed the least? The judges all seemed to be in a really bad mood and were criticising a lot. At the same time, if I was a judge I would have been criticising the couples a lot as well – because there were a lot of mistakes and a lot of people went wrong. But the judging was all over the place. Two couples, Kevin Clifton and Susan Calman and Nadiya Bychkova and Davood Ghadami, got slated because there "wasn't enough content". I disagree – I think there was. And then you get Aston Merrygold at the other end, who was definitely amazing, but he got absolutely praised out of this world from Craig who was saying: "Yeah there was a lot of bopping and popping and you don't do that in a Paso Doble but I loved it anyway!" And tens! Well you can't really do that. First of all, these comments are mainly directed towards the pros rather than the celebs, because the celeb can't do anything about the routine – they don't know what should be in a Paso Doble or what should be in a Foxtrot or what should be in a Rumba. You can't really say, "I'm going to take marks off because there wasn't enough Rumba content" or whatever, because that's not the celeb's fault and that's no judgement on the celebs and how well they're doing. And you can't then say, "Oh I'm going to give this one really high marks because there was bopping and popping but I loved it in a Paso Doble." That sends really confusing messages to the pros and the celebs and even the audience. Now what do they do next week? As an ex pro, if I'd have seen that, say I had a Paso Doble next week, I'd be thinking: "Should I put some kind of other style of dance in? Should I put some tap in a Paso Doble to make it interesting? Or will they absolutely slate me for it because they want to see more Paso Doble content?" But I think a lot of people made mistakes, a lot of people went wrong. I expected better. Other people got marked tens when there were quite clearly some mistakes in there. Debbie McGee made some mistakes so I wouldn't have given her a ten. She was off balance and she nearly fell – although performance-wise she was absolutely brilliant. If you're going to be harsh then you have to be harsh on everybody, and there was an obvious bit where she nearly fell. So you can't really give it a ten, although I do agree that she is amazing, especially at her age and she's a performer as well and she's technically great, she got all the swivels, she's very flexible for someone her age. And then Susan didn't go wrong, she didn't make a mistake. I know Kevin's my brother and I know this will come across as though I'm defending him because he's my brother, but I don't agree at all with what any of the judges said about there not being enough content and not enough Foxtrot and "it wasn't graceful". First of all, Kevin did answer back – but it was just more of an Anton Du Beke kind of way, that actually made everyone laugh. And secondly you're not going to make a graceful Foxtrot out of a Mother of Dragons Game of Thrones Halloween style dance are you, really? It's not exactly the thing that they were going for, the gracefulness of it. But the judges saying that there wasn't enough Foxtrot content and stuff like that – I don't agree with that at all, in the slightest. They even put quite difficult steps in there, like a Tumble Turn. They were quite difficult steps, and she did them. In the end, it was time for Simon Rimmer to go. He hasn't been great and he has been in the dance-off the last few weeks. Bless him, he was injured and he only had three days' training, and he had eight hours in total to learn this dance. It was technically not great and he was doing some crosses instead of closes, he wasn't closing the feet properly. But Mollie King being in the dance-off was a surprise. I thought she did quite well on Saturday night! She got a few harsh comments as well from the judges but I quite enjoyed it. The Cha Cha is probably one of the hardest dances to do, just for the speed of it and moving the hips and getting the straight legs, getting the feet turned out, getting the strong arms and stuff like that. I think she did really well actually. By contrast, Ruth Langsford did make a lot of mistakes, but she kind of got praise for making mistakes and then getting back into it. Whereas other people made mistakes and they got slammed for it! I feel like I was seeing a different show to what the judges were seeing, and it was the same with Davood Ghadami. I agreed there weren't enough basic Rumba steps, I think they went a little bit too heavy on the tricky steps, but again that's not his fault. That's Nadiya, but she's a new pro and she's come straight out of the competition world, so she's choreographed him a competition number – which I actually think he performed really, really well. I sat there and enjoyed watching it, but then the judges didn't like it. View oEmbed on the source website It can be hard for the new pros. The first year I came in was with Scott Mills, and I didn't really know what to do. I made a lot of mistakes with Scott. The first week I came out and I'd given him a competition Cha Cha, and I gave him quite difficult steps. I'd given him a step that was a crowd pleaser, but obviously that didn't come across on someone like Scott who was a complete beginner and couldn't dance. So you've got to bring them up from basics first, which is a lesson that I quickly learned. I think Susan will get to Blackpool – at least I hope she will. I hope that people will get past the fact that they think she's just a comedy act, because she's not – it's the same as Ed last year. He wasn't just a comedy act. They both can dance, they both try really hard and if they focus a lot on technique, and getting the steps right – it's what makes them great. So I'm hoping that people will get past that soon and just stop thinking that she's the comedy or entertainment one. She actually can dance. Talking of Blackpool, I'm performing Flashdance there this week. We're in the Opera House, which is in the Winter Gardens. Which is really weird! Because I've obviously danced in the ballroom at the Winter Gardens all my life. And then I'm actually filming something in Blackpool on Thursday for Strictly – you'll have wait and see what that is... Strictly Come Dancing will return on Saturday 4th November on BBC1. Joanne Clifton currently stars in Flashdance – The Musical in theatres across the UK.
Joanne Clifton: Joe McFadden should have topped the Strictly leaderboard ahead of Debbie McGee
In her weekly blog for RadioTimes.com, Joanne Clifton also reveals why Strictly was missing a magic ingredient without Bruno Tonioli
Strictly Come Dancing this week was very weird without Bruno Tonioli. His energy, funny comments and the way he stands up and throws his hands around – I did miss that a lot, so I’m glad he’s coming back next week. That missing ingredient of fun wasn’t there. Sometimes you don’t really realise that someone brings so much to a show until they’re not there. You’ve got Craig Revel Horwood who’s nasty, Shirley Ballas who’s harsh but fair and then you’ve got Darcey who’s lovely. I think you need that bit of craziness in there with Bruno! And having the four different judges with four different personalities brings something else. I didn’t even like when they were reading the scores, with only three of them. Although Craig’s impression of Bruno was amazing. That was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen – he just didn’t care and got so into it! With the celebrities being marked out of 30, a lot of people had the same scores. Four of them were at the bottom on 16 and four were on 24. That made it interesting because then it was all down to the audience vote. I thought both Brian Conley and Simon Rimmer were actually better this week, but they were still the right celebrities to be in the dance off. Simon went for it again and it looked like he was having fun, but Craig was right – he didn’t have the swivel. It’s one of these things that I don’t know if you can teach, though. My former partner Scott Mills didn’t have it either, and I just know it’s really hard. I just don’t think Simon could get his head round it. Brian was better than usual. He did a good Jive and it was close between them, but Simon did try the swivel in the dance off which is why I think he got through. They’re just not dancers, them two! View oEmbed on the source website Sometimes if you’re in the dance off the week before, people get behind you more because they didn’t expect it. And it wasn’t expected that Davood Ghadami would be in the bottom two last week, so the audience probably thought ‘Oh! Maybe he’s not as safe as we thought he was?’ and they started voting for him. He put a lot into his Jive, but it was a bit slack and heavy-footed for me. And there wasn’t enough retraction for the Jive kicks. I’m hoping Davood might surprise us, but personally he’s not one of my frontrunners. He needs to up his game as at the moment he’s somewhere in the middle and that’s probably why he ended up in the dance off last week. Joe McFadden was my frontrunner and favourite from Saturday and really improved the most from the previous week. He fully deserved that 10 from Shirley and I think Joe should’ve been at the top of the leaderboard this week instead of Debbie McGee. If you take Debbie, there were aspects of her routine which were amazing. Her legs and feet were phenomenal and absolutely out of this world. But if you look at her back, it barely moved and you need to get some movement in those shoulder blades – squeezing out the movements to look soft. So she was good in the bottom half of her body but the top half wasn’t as good. View oEmbed on the source website Whereas with Joe, his performance was very good for a Paso Doble. He looked great in all the positions he did – he even did a double turn and landed on one knee. His whole body looked like he was in it. Katya Jones’s routine was amazing – he showed some incredible lines and shapes in that Paso and he really did pull it off. I really don’t know why Craig gave him a seven. He was being really, really picky on Saturday – maybe because Bruno wasn’t there so he had more time to speak, but he seemed to have lists for people. ‘This didn’t happen, then this and this didn’t happen’... shut up, Craig! Obviously the judges love different things and they will look up at different times from writing things down, but a seven?! That Paso was amazing – what was he talking about? He was just jealous because he couldn’t get away with having his chest out like that. One performance I was very impressed by was Mollie King’s Viennese Waltz – normally I criticise her, and although she got a few steps wrong on the fleckerl and her shoulders came up, I think she had the best frame and her head was absolutely great. I could tell in her face she was really enjoying it. She improved a lot this week. View oEmbed on the source website However Susan Calman’s performance wasn’t as technically good – it wasn’t her best dance, especially after last week when she came out and did that amazing Quickstep. But then again, like I’ve said before, Cha Cha is a really difficult one because of the speed, straightening your legs and moving your hips at the same time. She definitely told the story, but it wasn’t quite as good as usual. Although Alexandra Burke performed another amazing dance with that Samba, her turned out feet do need working on. Last week she scored 39 and this week she got 23, but maybe that will help her. If you bring someone down after an incredible week, then they realise they have to work on it. Aston Merrygold, Jonnie Peacock and Gemma Atkinston all scored 24 but I’m going to be very picky with Gemma in particular because I’m behind her and I think she might be able to win it. I know she got great scores and great comments, but I wanted more from her this week with that Foxtrot. There was a bit of gapping going on – she was concentrating so much on keeping her head up that it was stiff and her eyes were looking up at the ceiling! And because she was concentrating on it so much, other things went wrong. It wasn’t as good as I was hoping from her – but this is positive criticism in a sense that she was concentrating on being so good that it ruined other stuff! View oEmbed on the source website I’m picking faults with all of them, really, because as you go through the competition you get more critical. Aston is a great dancer and there were moments when his frame looked amazing in that Waltz, but there were moments when it didn’t look so good, and I want him to get that stuff right because I think someone of his level already shouldn’t have these dips. When it comes to Jonnie, he had a great hold and he did great with the steps and everything, but I do agree with the judges who said he needs more acting in there. He had it in moments where it was starting to come out but sometimes you could just tell he was concentrating on the steps. Hopefully next week we’ll get more personality coming out, because he is brilliant and he is a contender for the final. But he does need to get that performance side out of him to get there. He needs a bit of what Alexandra’s got. Halloween Week is always great because it’s when people get dressed up, come out as characters and you see a bit more of that fun side. But it was always my downfall. View oEmbed on the source website I got knocked out on that week with Scott Mills after our Addams Family routine, and last year with Ore Oduba we were the only couple out of all the couples left who looked awful. Everybody else looked like Halloween scary sexy, but we looked dreadful! I had a wart, fake teeth… I don’t really know what we were supposed to be. Not only that but we messed up a lift and got the lowest score we’d had for weeks. This week, I’ve recorded a few songs for the Eugenius album – it’s a musical that my Flashdance co-star Ben Adams has written all about comic book characters and superheroes that’s going to be launching in January in London. We’ve said that maybe we’ll do an album together. We’ll see how our duet of Here and Now from Flashdance goes down and then we’ll see if we can do a musicals album of duets. Then maybe I’ll even do stuff on my own, we’ll see! We’ve had another really busy week performing in Liverpool Empire which holds about 2,000 people and then we’ve come to Blackpool and our first show was on Monday in a venue that holds 3,000 people! Plus it’s my birthday on Tuesday! We have shows and are supposed to be in rehearsals but I think we might just go to the Pleasure Beach instead! Strictly Come Dancing will return on Saturday 28th October on BBC1. Joanne Clifton currently stars in Flashdance – The Musical in theatres across the UK.
Joanne Clifton: Charlotte Hawkins was the right celebrity to leave Strictly this week - and Gemma Atkinson is becoming the dark horse
In her weekly blog for RadioTimes.com, Joanne Clifton talks about why she felt an affinity for Alexandra Burke's high score and where Joe McFadden is going wrong...
It was a very exciting week on Strictly Come Dancing because I think a lot of people came out and smashed it. Alexandra Burke had absolutely the best dance of the series so far – and I think she fully deserved those 10s. She came out and attacked it. It was a proper, full-on performance and she danced it with heart. It was phenomenal and she deserved everything that she got. It must’ve been very emotional for her but she did her mum proud and the whole nation felt for her. I think she moved everyone to tears. I don’t know whether there’s something about the Jive but it seems to go down really, really well. There was Jay McGuiness and Aliona Vilani's Pulp Fiction performance in 2015, and it's really strange because last year in week four, Ore and I did the Jive and we also scored three 10s and a 9! So I definitely felt a connection with Alexandra this week because of that. View oEmbed on the source website Although I can understand the nine that Craig gave her, because she does have her feet turned inward and she and doesn’t always close her legs properly! It was the same with us last year – there were things wrong with Ore’s Jive – but to come out and do a dance like that in week four is amazing. There were a heck of a lot of good dances this week, but I don't think anyone else deserved a 10. To be honest, I'm really liking Gemma Atkinson. I know I said it last week, but her and Aljaž Škorjanec are creeping up and up and up the leaderboard. I think she’s actually turning into the dark horse of the competition. She just did an all-round great performance with brilliant conviction. Technically it was great, but if anything, I would say she could’ve gone a little bit more with the performance. She seems to be doing this every week now - she’s consistent and getting better rather than having ups and downs unlike Debbie McGee and Joe McFadden! It can go two ways at this point. The celebrities can either get used to it and start enjoying it and get over the nerves, or people can start feeling pressure more as more people get knocked out. They have got to be careful and I think that looks like what maybe Joe is doing. I know he got absolutely thumped by the judges for his Cha Cha, but I think technically there were a lot of good things there. I could see what Katya Jones had worked on with him and they were good high, level technical elements. View oEmbed on the source website If you watch It Takes Two, you see clips of him in training and he can look so good. SO good. If he could do what he does in the training room on the actual night, that would be great. Because I think nerves get to him a little bit or he puts too much pressure on himself. I don’t know, but he doesn’t quite pull it off as good as it looks in rehearsals. He needs a bit of what Alexandra and Susan Calman have. They have bags of confidence and bags of performance. And he needs that to come out; to let go a little bit and not concentrate too much on the steps. After practicing the steps all week, you can’t do anything more with that. You’ve done your training, now you need to go out and perform it - and I think he just needs to let go a little bit more. Aston Merrygold was still good this week. He had a great frame but I didn’t think it was as good as his last two dances, to be honest. He does have sickled feet and I know both he and Janette Manrara are only little, but they could’ve moved around the floor a little bit more. There was a lot of jumping up and down at different times – their bodies weren’t completely in sync when they were doing hops and jumps so I wasn’t as impressed with him as I have been recently. But who I was majorly impressed with this week was Ruth Langsford. She did the whole routine with Anton Du Beke in hold, which is not easy. She probably improved the most this week. She was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. She has to pick up her sternum and stretch out to the left a little bit more but I think she’s getting more and more confident as the weeks go on and it’s paying off. The thing with Mollie King is that she looks great and she has got talent, but she needs the movements to come from the inside of her body out to her hands and legs. It's the difference between a puppet that’s on strings and a hand puppet. A puppet on strings is that her outer limbs are being moved whereas if it’s a hand puppet, the outer limbs are being moved from the inside out. But she is a great performer and it’s a great partnership with AJ Pritchard who's doing a great job. She’s another one that could get better and better each week but she needs to be a little bit more co-ordinated. View oEmbed on the source website Charlotte Hawkins and Simon Rimmer were at the bottom of the leaderboard, but it was Davood Ghadami who was in the dance off. It was a bit of a shock because for me personally he’s one of the celebrities that you think ‘Oh he’ll be alright’ - and I didn't expect him to be in the bottom two. And he got quite good scores. Maybe the voters are kind of looking at him and going ‘The dance was OK, but it didn’t blow everyone away so they probably thought ‘he’ll be alright’ and so they instead voted for more entertaining, fun, striking dances. Davood was just caught in the middle there so maybe he needs to step up his game a little bit next week – come out and blow us all away. I used to hate being in the middle of the leaderboard! Because if you’re in the middle, that’s really dangerous. The British public like an underdog so they’ll vote for the ones who are right down at the bottom and the ones who are right at the top will be dancers that have done really well. The ones that come out and are just fine, they don’t get voted for. I do think Charlotte was the right celebrity to leave this week, although I think that it was the best dance she’d done. She listened to the judges’ comments and listened to people saying she needed to come out and be a bit more confident – and she really did. And that’s why I feel a little bit sorry for her. I do wonder what would have happened if she’d have been in the dance off with someone like Brian or Simon, because if Simon went wrong again – you never know. They might have kept her in. I think Brendan was upset because she’s so lovely, he was having a good series and they were getting on. And it was good that Brendan didn't talk back at the judges again this week. He’s known for that kind of thing and it does get him into trouble but he kept quiet. He made it about Charlotte’s moment and that’s how it should be rather than him stepping in. View oEmbed on the source website It’s a tie between Alexandra and Susan for who my favourite was this week. I’ve got to be honest, I know he’s my brother and I said it last week as well, but they are amazing! I think the whole nation loves them, too. I didn’t expect her to be so light and quick on her feet, but I think to improve she needs to sort out the top half of her hold – picking up her sternum a little more with her head out a little bit more. But I can’t really fault her that much because for week four – for someone who we all thought wouldn’t be great – is amazing! She’s definitely improving. I filmed a music video with my Flashdance co-star Ben Adams last week and it went really, really well. I was a bit aware of myself because I’ve never done it before and I was looking at Ben who's used to doing music videos and he looked like he was really into the song - pulling all these faces and stuff. So I tried doing that but I just looked a div! I hate being myself on camera. Do you know what, that is one of the worst things about Strictly is that you have to be yourself and are filmed talking. That’s why I’m better off in musical theatre I think because I’m playing a character. But the song should be coming out this week, we might start playing it on some of the radio stations that we’re doing interviews on and we’re going to see if it can be brought out on Tuesday! Strictly Come Dancing will return on Saturday 21st October on BBC1. Joanne Clifton currently stars in Flashdance – The Musical in theatres across the UK.
Joanne Clifton: Brendan has to respect the Strictly Come Dancing judges' opinions
Joanne Clifton recaps Movie Week in her weekly blog for RadioTimes.com, and explains exactly why there was a difference of opinion over Brendan and Charlotte's routine
Strictly Come Dancing’s themed weeks are always exciting and Movie Week was brilliant this year. The opening La La Land-themed dance was absolutely phenomenal and I’ve got to congratulate choreographer Jason Gilkison and all the pros for that. I think they did a wonderful job. When it comes to the celebrities, Joe McFadden is the one who I think has improved the most this week. It was a massive difference from week two, although dancing Ballroom in hold with Katya Jones he’s got to work on his posture. His bum sticks out a bit and he leans forward. So now he’s got his hold right, he has to get his bum right. Then, I think he’ll be fine! I know I’ve been nice to Simon Rimmer from the beginning, but I’ve got to be brutal about him for a second. If you’re going to come out dressed like Buzz Lightyear, you have to embrace it and you’ve got to perform. And he didn’t. He looked like he was concentrating so much on technique it was all very calm – I mean, it’s a Quickstep! You’ve got to attack. It was very tame. You could just tell that he was concentrating too much on technique and there was gapping – a lot of gapping! View oEmbed on the source website I know I said he could be the Ore Oduba of the series, but if he doesn’t start embracing the Strictly experience then he’s going to struggle. You have to go for it and you have to perform. I think he’s got to step it up now. He was alright for the first two dances but I was slightly disappointed this week. I’m hoping that he’ll change it up otherwise he might be in danger. I can see why he was in the dance off, but he’s not the worst dancer on the show. There were other couples who could’ve been in the bottom two. It’s a difficult one, but he needs to buck up his ideas about performing. However, technically Simon was much better than Rev. Richard Coles, so Richard was always going to go. Brian Conley is a bit like the opposite of Simon in that he doesn’t concentrate on technique, he just goes for the performance and whatever happens, happens. I did find myself smiling at Brian’s American Smooth but at the same time when he got into hold with Amy Dowden, his footwork was wrong, he was dancing on a straight leg and his hold wasn’t great. He’s a performer and he could definitely have been in the West End version of The Wizard of Oz. But when it comes down to the dancing, he’s not great. If he wants to get further in this competition, he really has to think of technique – you can only get so far on entertainment alone. Charlotte Hawkins was, again, very stiff. She looked stunning and in the moments that she’s in hold, she actually looks quite good. She just has to somehow shake off the nerves because she looks beautiful, she has a body to die for. She just needs to go for it – otherwise she’s going to be in danger as well. View oEmbed on the source website With the whole rise and fall thing, from watching it there was a lot of it where there wasn’t rise and fall. But in some bits there was. I did feel sorry for Charlotte at that moment. Bless her. Her dance partner was arguing with the judges – the judges who give the scores to keep them in! Brendan has got to do exactly what he’s said he’ll do now [Brendan said he was a “bit mouthy” and would take a “step back” in future weeks], otherwise it could be a disaster! The thing with dancing in a competition and having multiple judges is that one judge can be watching one bit at a different time to everybody else. So it might have been that, unluckily for them, Shirley Ballas was looking at that bit at that moment. It happened in the Viennese Crosses – Charlotte was trying to get round so she jumped a bit, and that could’ve been passed as rise and fall. But a lot of it wasn’t rise and fall. I will defend Brendan on that point – it’s just unlucky that Shirley looked up at that moment. I think he has already apologised, but the judges are the ones sitting there and you have to respect their opinions. Shirley is more than qualified but even if you don’t agree, I wouldn’t come straight back like that! Debbie McGee was very good again. When she did the Viennese Waltz, I commented that she had to improve her frame on her left side and pick her left side up and I still think she needs to work on that more. But she’s very competent, she can really perform and she knows styles. I know they had to take the points off for Giovanni Pernice’s routine, but I thought was a great routine. I really loved it. View oEmbed on the source website Every time Aston Merrygold comes out, he smashes it. Even when he’s dressed as a blue troll! I thought he had amazing hip action and he really understands each dance which is great to see. I’m looking forward to seeing him and Janette Manrara do some Ballroom again to see how that’s coming along because I think he might find that a little bit harder than the Latin. The reason he didn’t get a 10 for that routine is because if you watch the video back there’s some heel leads that crept in there which he needs to be really careful of. For that reason, I’d also have given him a 9 for that performance. He’s a fantastic dancer but he just has to be really careful that he doesn’t forget those technical little details, because I think it would have got a 10 if he have perfected his heels. I loved Gemma Atkinson’s Charleston this week – and who else but Aljaž Škorjanec would come out dressed like that? He was loving life looking like a big, fat bear! Like Shirley, Darcey Bussell and Bruno Tonioli, I’d also have given Gemma an 8. She had the swivel, there were bits of lindy hop in there which looked amazing. She’s really talented and she’s coming up quietly. It’s so funny how you see things change as the weeks go on. I thought Gemma was really good but I didn’t really have her as one of the top celebrities. And now I’m like ‘hang on, she could actually win it!’ Without sounding bias, my favourite couple this week has to be Susan Calman and Kevin Clifton. I know he’s my brother but their Samba was just brilliant! View oEmbed on the source website Susan is a prime example of someone who’s embraced everything after coming in as a complete non-dancer. I watched her back in the launch show and she was absolutely terrible – I’m sorry, but she would probably say that herself! Now, she’s walking like Beyoncé as if she owns the place! She’s literally the epitome of what Strictly Come Dancing is. It’s the same as Ed Balls last year – the thing with both of them is, look past the entertainment because they’re actually quite good dancers! I think she’s going to go really far and she’ll at least get to Blackpool. From what I’ve gathered, she works so hard. Sometimes Kevin will say ‘let’s have a break’ and she says no; I think she’s amazing. We were in Wimbledon with Flashdance this week and we had press night too. Whenever we didn’t have shows I was either filming Strictly's It Takes Two or filming other bits – just lots of filming! So much so my voice is going! We start performances in Dartford this week, and on Friday I’m going to be filming the music video for my duet with Ben Adams so our single will be coming very soon… Strictly Come Dancing will return on Saturday October 14 on BBC1. Joanne Clifton currently stars in Flashdance – The Musical in theatres across the UK
Joanne Clifton: Chizzy didn't deserve to be the first to leave Strictly Come Dancing
In her weekly blog for RadioTimes.com, Joanne Clifton reveals who she thinks could win and which celebrity has improved the most from week one
It was another good week on Strictly Come Dancing, but as it was the first elimination you saw some of the nerves coming through in certain couples. Simon Rimmer went wrong a tiny bit at the end of his routine, but I've been talking to some of the pros since Saturday night and they said that they also did things wrong, even though it wasn’t really noticeable on TV! But the nerves really got to Charlotte Hawkins – she looked amazing and so beautiful – but she messed up a little bit right at the beginning which messed her up for the rest of the routine. I think she’s more of a Ballroom girl, which is absolutely fine because I’m a Ballroom girl, too! But she really does need to work on the Latin and also the nerves, bless her. View oEmbed on the source website When it comes to what her partner Brendan Cole said afterwards, I mean it wouldn’t be nice to be laughed at – I wouldn’t like it either. Perhaps Brendan shouldn’t have put that step in if that was all she was thinking about. It is a difficult step for us pros to do – let alone beginners on the second week! For Charlotte, it was just a really bad night and at the end, she and Rev. Richard Coles were the bottom two celebrities on the leaderboard. I think based on their performances, they should have been there. Chizzy Akudolu, who was the first one to be eliminated, wasn't the worst dancer and she didn’t deserve to go. There were a few couples who were worse than her on the night so I’m going to say she wasn’t the right one to leave and if I was on the judging panel, I would’ve probably saved her. I love Brian Conley – he put a lot of effort into it – but they both made mistakes. Chizzy with timing, and Brian technically had a lot of things wrong. View oEmbed on the source website It’s so tricky to pick a favourite from this week, but I think my three were Debbie McGee, Alexandra Burke and Jonnie Peacock. As I wrote last week, Debbie is older and her ballet training was a long time ago. Plus it's a completely different style of dance, so for her to still be able to come out and dance like this is brilliant. Being at the top of the leaderboard after both weeks of dancing was well-deserved. She was stunning. A lot of the technical things were there, her shape, she was graceful, she flowed through the music... She’s going to be one to watch, that one. She’s going to be right up there. Debbie could definitely win! And Jonnie was incredible. I mean, he was just absolutely out of this world. I can’t believe he danced a Jive like that on the blade! You almost forgot that he had the blade on because he was dancing it so well. That choreography that Oti Mabuse did – it wasn’t easy. It was a full-on, competitive dancer routine and he pulled it off. View oEmbed on the source website And I think Alexandra deserved all 9s from all the judges. I wasn’t in the studio but I watched her dance on my phone and as soon as the music kicked in and she did this shape, I actually went ‘Oh!’ out loud! That was my reaction to it. It was just phenomenal! That’s the way to do Strictly. You’ve got to come out, you’ve got to give it your all. Alexandra had focus, she put energy and precision and intent into every single movement that she did. So it was very, very exciting and I think she deserves all the marks that she got. If anything, she just needs to turn those feet out for the Latin dances in the future. That’s the only thing! Ruth Langsford had definitely improved this week. She came out and was like ‘yeah, I’ve got this!’. She had the wig on – maybe that made her feel confident? I don’t know! – but she came out, she did the routine, got everything right and did it really, really well. She even got the swivel which everybody looks for in Charleston. Craig said something about her being lacklusture but I don’t agree. She chose to do the Charleston in that laid-back style. You don’t have to go full out all the time! I’m very excited to see Ruth's journey, actually, because I fully believe that the first week she was nervous rather than anything else. I'm touring with Flashdance at the moment and it's been another amazing week. We’ve got the press night on Tuesday and yesterday I signed a contract to do Flashdance for a whole year – I will be doing all the dates in 2018 and also Ben Adams and I might be bringing out one of the songs from the musical! We’ve recorded it already and we’re going to do a little video. I am absolutely living a dream right now! Strictly Come Dancing will return on Saturday 23rd September on BBC1. Joanne Clifton currently stars in Flashdance – The Musical in theatres across the UK.
Joanne Clifton on Strictly Come Dancing 2017 Week 1: Simon Rimmer is this year's Ore Oduba
In her weekly blog for RadioTimes.com, last year's winner Joanne Clifton reflects on low scores from the judges and what Giovanni Pernice told her about THAT kiss from Debbie McGee
Having performed at the launch show for Strictly Come Dancing this year and seeing the group number, I thought that as a whole, these celebrities weren't going to be as talented from the off as last year's. But I was very, very surprised when everybody came out and danced like that on Week One. I was like, "Do you know what? This is actually a really strong group." So I was wrong! What I did think was that the judges marked very low. Although this is the first show, and the marks got higher towards the end of the programme, I thought a few of the couples were under-marked. Without sounding bias, I thought Karen Clifton and Simon Rimmer didn’t deserve to be where they were on the leaderboard with 17 points. I also thought Alexandra Burke could have had a few higher marks, and even Gemma Atkinson, actually. She was out first and that's always difficult because the judges have nothing to compare you to. She got 20, but she was better than that! If I was looking to compare this year's group to last year I would say that Aston Merrygold is the Danny Mac of 2017, and I would put both Simon Rimmer and Joe McFadden as the Ore Odubas! Especially Simon for some reason. Ore and I didn’t start out bad, but we didn’t start out good either. We had a bad first and second week with our Tango and our Cha Cha, but at the same time, Ore really went for it – and so did Simon. There were moments where he looked amazing, and for an absolute non-dancer I thought he was really, really good. I think he should be one to watch! View oEmbed on the source website Aston was absolutely brilliant, too. They were criticised a little bit for their dance not looking like a Foxtrot – and OK, you can argue that if you want – but fair play to Janette Manrara. You need to come out with a bang, you need to look at what your dance partner does best – their assets, what they’re good at – and come out and put them in there straight away. She had the courage to do something different in a Foxtrot, which really hasn’t been done before. She was taking a risk because she knew that she’d get those type of comments, but I would have done the same if I had Aston as a partner! I think nerves got to Ruth Langsford, and she was the one who got things wrong the most. She kind of deserves to be at the end of the leaderboard, but at the same time, if she’d have got those steps right I think she would have earned a higher mark, because she did have the gracefulness and elegance of the Waltz. Now that she’s got the first show out of the way, she knows what’s going to happen and she has performed in front of an audience. I’m hoping that from next week onwards she’s a little bit more used to it. She was nervous, but she did carry on smiling and dancing with Anton Du Beke - and they are a really nice couple. View oEmbed on the source website When it comes to Rev. Richard Coles, he got 17 and he was in the right place on the leaderboard, because technically it wasn’t great. It was very entertaining, but I think Dianne Buswell needs to be careful, because I made a little bit of this mistake on some of my dances on my first year with Scott Mills. Sometimes, because he wasn’t the greatest dancer, I thought, 'We’ll be the funny couple’. And it didn’t quite work. The week we were knocked out we did a Foxtrot to The Addams Family and I didn’t go for funny. I went for technique, to make him feel like a proper dancer rather than thinking how entertaining the routine’s got to be, and that was the best he danced. If you have someone who’s not naturally talented, I think you have to be careful not to choreograph something too funny! Also from my own experience, I’m a Ballroom and Latin dancer, but for Flashdance – the musical I'm currently appearing in – I’ve had to learn Street Dance, commercial Hip Hop and stuff like that. It is hard! I’ve had to have choreography changed for me because I can’t do it; to go from doing Waltzes and Foxtrots to rolling around on the floor trying to look cool is actually really hard. So I’m going to defend the ones who have had dance training because this is an ongoing discussion. Debbie McGee is trained in ballet, but Ballroom and Latin are completely different styles. It would be so hard to free up the hips, the back and to become fluid. But her Paso Doble, wow, what a dance that was! Apart from Giovanni Pernice’s choreography, it was absolutely brilliant. Of course we know that she’s danced before and she’s great, but for that age? To do that!? View oEmbed on the source website I spoke to Giovanni after the show - we're really good friends because we trained together in Italy for nine years - and I asked him if that kiss was planned and he said, "No it wasn’t, I didn’t know what to do!” She just gave a proper performance, didn't give a monkeys how it came across, and I really admired that. What a surprise Kevin Clifton and Susan Calman were too! She came out and she absolutely smashed it – I couldn’t believe it. I think there’s a lot of love out there for them, and what I've heard from Kevin is that even though she has hectic schedules and is travelling up to Glasgow and back, she’s the one who says, "I need to go over it again and again and again, so when I actually get there it’s just in my body". I also think Shirley Ballas she proved herself to be the best replacement for Len that there could have been. She’s an excellent Head Judge because with every couple she was looking at the technique and that’s what you need. I didn’t think she was too harsh at all – she gave constructive comments and was very honest and I think she’s brilliant. She did a great job. I had lessons with Shirley when I was a child and she used to teach me - and she’s a tough cookie. She will stand up for herself; if Craig says something that she doesn’t agree with, I’m just waiting for her to explode. It’ll be hilarious! Strictly Come Dancing will continue on Saturday 31st September at 6.45pm on BBC1. Joanne Clifton currently stars in Flashdance – The Musical in theatres across the UK.