The Peoples Strictly?

yes, she is

Thanks Olive - it seems that they have a good selection of characters with stories to tell for the show.

The 3 men are:
Phil Barnett
http://www.cornishman.co.uk/Kidz-R-f...ail/story.html

Cassidy Little
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncCDpwjTJgs

and Michael Pattie
http://www.itv.com/news/border/topic/meningitis/

In terms of dancing, Cassidy has done some dancing before losing his lower right leg, so it looks like he could maybe do with some adaptation to his artificial leg to allow him to dance better. Amy Purdy had a similar situation on DWTS. She is a double amputee and danced with Derek Hough.

Fantastic news. Thanks Olive!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...en-s-toys.html

See article in DM

It's seems the DM is fixated on Kristina's love life.....
Side by side in the top picture Aliona is stunningly beautiful

what a shame they cant report on the event they are at instead of filling the article with Kristina's love life!

http://cache4.asset-cache.net/gc/461...NMqgT33g%3d%3d

They both look pretty - its a nice promo to be doing.

Aliona's hair and the dress go very well together and she looks young.

This is just too pretty to not include it.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B7zUFpvIgAAXRzW.jpg

Lovely pictures Aliona does look very young in them

Will 2011 turn out to be Aliona's last Strictly Live Tour?

Good one to finish on if it is - being her second landslide Tour win.

http://static.entertainmentwise.com/...5harryjudd.jpg

A good photo of Aliona and Rav.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/...75_468x728.jpg

They started off working very well together, but maybe lack of the SCD experience of both of them was a factor for them losing that connection.

I think Aliona learned from that and avoided the situation in future series.

The Rumba showed me that Rav had dance potential, and if they had stayed united and stayed in the contest, I think Aliona would have got some more good dances from him.

Aliona and Kristina interviewed at the toy fair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUK4Whf5EM8

Nice photo of Aliona and Harry, shows how well they got along.

http://weheartit.com/entry/17510821/...seyouliveilive

I give great credit to Harry's then fiancée Izzy and Matt Baker's wife Nicola for trusting their men and allowing the good friendships to exist between their men and Aliona. Without that, it wouldn't have been nearly so good and the chemistry when they danced would have been missing.

And Aliona always was someone who could be trusted.

I'm starting to think maybe Natalie has been paired with Michael Pattie for The People's Strictly, because she has been pictured with him in Scotland and has tweeted that she is training for People's Strictly there.

My guess was that Natalie would be partnered with Cassidy Little (based on height), but now I'm inclined to guess he is partnered with Aliona.
If so then that would be an interesting challenge for Aliona.
Is there a prosthetic leg which would help him dance better than his current leg?
Given what restrictions a prosthetic leg adds, which would be the best dance for Cassidy to do?

I think Aliona relishes challenges. Three days to produce a 3-dimensional dance using breathing apparatus, in a liquid 800 times denser than air, with almost no gravity to help contact the floor. Aliona and Harry underwater.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmz8k9UIzT4

I wonder if there is a prosthetic leg for dancing?

I would imagine it would have a hinged centre piece halfway along the foot, spring loaded so that the toes pointed when off the floor, but there was a stopper when the foot was flat, to stop the hinged part when you leant on it.
Apart from the rear half foot and the hinged centre toe part, the rest of the front shoe could be softer and the top of the shoe could be elasticated (which would help make the shoe look more pointed using less toe dip).

The mystery deepens!

Now Aliona has been up to Dumfries where Michael Pattie lives.

Its almost like they are shuffling the pack before dealing the cards on Friday, when we may hear what all the pairings are.

I wasn't really an Aliona fan back then my favourite was Lilia but I do remember Rav and Aliona and I thought they went too soon, he was very upset to be going home I think he was enjoying himself, I also seen a clip on ITT were he said his mum was watching and he couldn't look at her.
I became an Aliona fan that year though after watching the fabulous partnership with Matthew Cutler

The pairings for The People's Strictly have been announced and Michael Pattie will be dancing with Aliona.

I had wondered if Michael was the only one who had no traces of dancing in his past, but it turns out that Michael chose Strictly as one of his main thrusts locally to raise money for meningitis charities.

He sounds like a lively guy too, now I have learned some more about him here:-

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/lifesty...kes-tv-5175999

I'm looking forward to The People's Strictly more than the main show, because of the way the main show has gone in the last few years. This is more like the Strictly of old in some ways. All the pros are good choices for this type of show and I think it will probably work very well for it's purpose.

I'm liking Michael's knee.

http://i2.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming...JS52001908.jpg

Its not often Alison is the less exuberant one!

Michael and Aliona will be dancing a Tango. I think there's a possibility of a more light-hearted Tango, being for Comic Relief, but you never know.


Flashback to Harry and Aliona's Tango training.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NeroWIjmCc
and the result.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L64-1I0lNw



And a flashback action photo of Aliona on tour 2010 - Paso Doble with Ricky Groves.

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV...640_SY720_.jpg

I didn't realise there was a HD version of Harry and Aliona's Tango.

Nice!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aafV0V2n97k

Looking forward to this. What's the format? Is it weekly? Is one couple eliminated each week?

There will be 4 programs for Comic relief. The first two are introducing 3 of the contestants, their lives and why they were selected on each of the two shows.
The third show is catching up on the training and their Strictly experiences and the last show is a one-off contest at the Strictly studio. The judges' votes don't count. The viewers vote from after the show and the winner is announced on a Comic Relief show the following night.

Michael seems to understand the way Aliona teaches and her pushing him is a good sign that she can see some potential.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/lo...mfries-5177486

Michael and Aliona will Tango to Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps - which is more of a Cha Cha Cha song, so the only way I can see Aliona having chosen it is if she was asked to make a light hearted comedy Tango for Comic Relief.

http://www.whatsontv.co.uk/strictly-...credible-video

After Michael's story of dropping his wife twice, it seems Len won't be complaining about a lift in this Tango.

The picture I get is of Michael as a dominant, passionate, lothario who dances the Tango with a sultry femme fatal who is playing hard to get.

Whatever way it is played, it's going to be a challenge for Michael to play his role and also get the character of the Tango into the dance. If he can do it, it could be very impressive and show a whole new surprising side to him.

Do you know who Aliona and Michaels mentor will be?
I've just seen the list on the other thread was it too much to hope for Matt Baker

Hi Gill,

I guess Matt is very busy. I think its likely that Alison Hammond is Michael's mentor, as she was part of his reveal. Maybe not a bad choice as Michael has to transform himself into someone new and Alison has a go for it attitude and is very lively and fun, so I'm sure she will be very encouraging on that.

In this article Michael says that he is finding his character for the Tango a challenge.
http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Stri...ail/story.html

Because it's really a Cha Cha or Rumba song, Michael will have to display a strong Tango character with forceful moves - a kind of, 'I'm done with that bit, now I'm going over here and taking you with me' kind of attitude.

This is probably the most challenging routine of the 6, taking into account that Michael probably has no previous dance training and the music is not a natural fit for the dance.
Tango is also a very difficult first ever dance, if you are being taught to dance it with proper technique - which rarely happens on Strictly. I was annoyed at the judges when Rav danced his Tango because Aliona had been teaching him proper Tango technique and the judges never mentioned that he was trying to do a proper (difficult) Tango. It's like being criticised for trying to juggle 5 balls (like you are supposed to) and when someone else juggles three balls the judges are easy on them.

Thanks Fatskia I remember seeing the picture of Michael and Alison now I think she will be a very supportive mentor for him and good fun.
I agree about the Tango not only does he have a hard dance to learn but needs acting skills as well. I'm looking forward to seeing how they get on. Maybe they'll bring the panto dame back that helped Louis at Xmas

Lots of men have difficulty with getting the Tango persona.

Here is Katya showing Phil Tufnell how to be a man. He never got near as manly as Katya could do - he was prone to giggling when asked to be fierce.
Katya was brilliant at motivation. I wish she had been allowed to use a Taser. She usually was way more committed than her celeb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SaCYqu7kbk