And the winner of Let’s Dance is…

There has been weeks of preparation and more than likely most of that was spent by celebrities worrying about what they were doing with their careers. It was all for the final of Let’s Dance for Sport Relief and I found it hard to pick a winner as they were all worthy of getting to this stage.

But before the show could begin there was a royal opening as Queen Elizabeth II herself (or maybe a lookalike, I am never sure about these things) cut the ribbon and declared the phone lines open.

First up was Eddie the Eagle, where it was predicted that if Britain’s best ski jumping loser finally won something then it would prove the Mayans right and the world would self destruct. Nevertheless Eddie got up on stage to pay homage to Austin Powers in his energetic and fun performance.

Next performing to win the trophy was comedian Terry Alderton who donned his red, frilly dress and his gurning facial expression to become Tina Turner. He definitely gave it gusto but it didn’t feel like the winning performance, but full marks go to the face. Likewise The Cuban  Brothers and Fatima Whitbread with their rubbery tribute to The Bee Gees was enjoyable and silly but the standard was high for this finale.

Actor and comedian Omid Djalili, who impressed with his dance to a mash up of Singin’ In The Rain and Fight The Power, pulled it out the bag again. I liked the fact that the performance did also tell a story with a few cheeky references to the London riots and looters stealing rice. He also impressed  by having a VT that was funny as he spoofed X Factor contestants who experience something dramatic in the run up to their performance. It led to the producers sadly telling Djalili that having laryngitis did not affect his ability to dance.

Tyger and Dani, the stars from Outnumbered and Tracy Beaker respectively, wowed with their Bugsy Malone number as they made performing in a musical look easier. They also had a slightly embarrassing moment as the 16-year-old Tyger’s voice sounded as though it broke live on air, made worse as he explained that in fact his voice has broken many years ago. Ignoring that, a good performance which made some of the earlier performances look unworthy of being in the final.

Now the wildcard act, Radio 4 favourite Miles Jupp who luckily got into the final with his take on Firestarter. His hell raising performance seemed to visibly shock judge Arlene Philips who had to be explained the joke fellow judges Rhod Gilbert and Frank Skinner. Although I feel happy that Jupp got into the final it seemed clear that the joke wasn’t enough for Jupp to get his hands on the trophy.

Although Roland Rivron is relatively unknown now, although I do remember him fondly as the chef in 90s kids show Cats Eyes, it didn’t matter as he pulled it out the bag with an amazing re-enactment of Christopher Walken’s dance in the Fatboy Slim video Weapon of Choice. Frankly it was incredible, although his hairdo did make him look a bit like Piers Morgan.

And finally, the almost forgotten about Tameka and Laurie from Eastenders with their unique take on Lady Gaga and Beyonce’s Telephone. The latter half of contestants definitely made me think the beginning of the show was maybe a bit of a let down, apart from Eddie the Eagle of course. And this was reflected in the result as Rivron was handed the trophy from last year’s winners Charlie Baker and James Thornton.

Overall there were a number of great performances this year, and all for a good cause. It was good to see the show move away from half the contestants being male comedians dressed as women, but also good not to lose them completely. And if you want to see more fun and japes like this then tune into BBC1 next weekend for a whole night of Sport Relief entertainment. In the meantime catch up with the show on iPlayer.

Let’s Dance shocks nation with actual dancing…

I thought it wouldn’t be possible to top Miles Jupp’s glorious jumper from last week but if it’s possible, this week’s Let’s Dance for Sport Relief brought me even more pleasure in so many ways.

For starters the judging panel was such a treat! If past contestants and comedians Katy Brand and Ed Byrne, weren’t enough, we also had the musical comedy genius Tim Minchin who I just adore, guyliner, backcombing and all.

As well as great judges, the dance performances tonight were the best of the series so far, providing us with some genuine comedy, as well as…and here’s the shocker…some actual dancing- and good dancing at that!

First up was popstar Olly Murs, in an afro wig, with new friend, DJ Scott Mills, leaping about to LMFAO’s Rock Party Anthem and wearing crazy colours, prompting Tim Minchin to wish he could undress them and put the clothes on himself. A team of backing dancers doing a much better job than the boys, included a man with a box on his head. A surprise twist at the end saw Box Man whipping it off to reveal David Hasselhoff. What a delight!

Olly and Scott rock out with a disguised Hoff

Then came the hilarious Arabella Weir, doing an impressively accurate rendition of Kylie’s Can’t Get you out of my Head, right down to the strange white hooded ‘dress’ and a bit of leg-feeling. As Katy Brand quite rightly said, ‘I always like to see a woman enjoying her own legs.’ It was actually not bad, save for a little bit in the middle where she seemed to suffer a mind blank.

Next on were Dani Harmer and Tyger Drew Honey, young actors from Tracy Beaker and Outnumbered respectively. As a closet kids’ TV addict I love this pair but wasn’t sure what to expect. But if there’s one thing I love more than Tracy Beaker, it’s musicals, especially Bugsy Malone. Dancing to Fat Sam’s Grand Slam, dressed authentically as Bugsy and Tallulah they were genuinely really good, putting in an polished performance with proper choreography and impressive moves.

Kirsten O’Brien in an astonishing blue catsuit was fourth, dancing to Van Halen’s Jump, bouncing about on trampolines and ending in the splits (impressive enough but she gave birth just ten weeks ago!). Ed Byrne added, ‘The best thing was the air guitar- it was amazing!’

Finally came Omid Djalili who achieved the impossible and actually made a genuinely hilarious VT. I laughed out loud both at his earnest commentary about how he was looking forward to being taken seriously and at his mad capering and falling about pretending to try to do ballet. His resulting dance to a mash up of Singin’ in the Rain and Fight the Power, was full of content but also amusing with nods to the London Riots, including Omid posing with a bumper bag of rice. Indeed, Tim said: ‘As always, Omid works on so many levels. The symbolism throughout the routine was amazing.’ And Katy added that his dancing ‘was for people who can’t be bothered to watch the news.’

This week I’m not even going to mention all the cringey filler in between the dancing and the results- the less said about it the better!

So, to the moment we were all waiting for. Kirsten was sent home first, followed by Arabella. Then it was announced that Dani and Tyger had made it through. Going on their celebrity status this should have perhaps been surprising but they really were so good, it was a very fair result!

This left the judges to decide between Olly and Scott and Omid for the final. In the end it was a clean sweep for Omid as Tim and then Ed sent him through, leaving Katy’s vote irrelevant, but still Omid.

Episode 3 was so brilliant and I think Dani and Tyger will be hard finalists to beat. Next week’s got a lot to live up to!