Oh Blackpool, you never disappoint.
While, so far as seaside resorts go, you may not quite match the crystal azure waters or paradisal sandscapes of the Maldives or the Caribbean, there is one night of the year which guarantees you to be the hottest ticket in town.
I am, of course, talking about the Strictly Blackpool special; otherwise known as Strictly on steroids.
Every year, as the contestant numbers dwindle, the BBC ups sticks to the “home of ballroom” for one night only, putting on a ground-stomping show inside the Blackpool Tower.
The routines become more daring, the ambition more intense. Suddenly, the celebrities are flanked by a long line of backing dancers, adding to the spectacle. Even the judges up their game, with Craig Revel Horwood in particular scrutinising the performances for even the most microscopic of misplaced fingers.
It is for this reason that, without doubt, the star of the Blackpool special is, indeed, Blackpool itself. But that did not stop the celebrity contestants pulling out some impressive numbers on the night.
The community’s “last man standing” as it were, Judge Robert Rinder, brought the Rio Carnival to the windy Lancashire seaside, delivering an exuberant salsa to the Spice Girls’ Spice up your life.
While, in recent weeks, the TV judge has shown his more poised, serious side on the dancefloor, this time out he ensured his flamboyant and outrageous personality came back with a vengeance as he looped his hips in warp speed around the room. He even pulled out a cartwheel at the very end; how many lawyers can do that?
The judges were suitably delighted, with Craig calling him “hiptastic” and Bruno Tonioli saying he was “spicier and hotter than a scotch bonnet”. He is, evidently, incredibly popular with the viewing public - although his score of 33 was on the lower end of the leaderboard, he once again sailed into next week’s show.
But if Judge Rinder has any hope of winning, he has some strong opposition on his hand from the other male contestants.
Actor Danny Mac delivered a Charleston that was, by the judges’ standards, perfect. He received the series’ first score of 40, making him an undoubtable frontrunner. Likewise, sports presenter Ore Aduba, whose Viennese waltz was debonair, slick and a joy to watch. He too is tipped to go to the very end of the contest.
Finally, Ed Balls proved once again that politicians are far better suited to pirouettes than Parliament.
Some things are better left unsaid, but I want to leave you with one lasting image that is sure to confound, amuse and terrify in equal measure: picture the former Shadow Chancellor suspended from the ceiling, on a piano engulfed with flames, before launching into a jive with a bevy of backing dancers to Jerry Lee Lewis’s Great Balls of Fire.
Reader, it actually happened.
All this is why Blackpool, once again, proved to be an absolute triumph. Seriously, with pageantry like that, who needs the Maldives?
Charlotte Oliver
