Its only taken me 3yrs to get round to it after deciding I wanted a tattoo.... am delighted with the results. My husband is less keen ;) but I love it!
Sunday, 28 November 2010
Ink!
Its only taken me 3yrs to get round to it after deciding I wanted a tattoo.... am delighted with the results. My husband is less keen ;) but I love it!
It's all about the glitter....
Yesterday I was lucky enough to go to see Strictly Come Dancing being filmed. My friends want to know all about it, and in a similar way to my post Frankie Boyle feedback, there simply isnt enough room on facebook or twitter to write a full report, so once again I resort to my blog.
I have tried to get tickets to Strictly for the past 3yrs but unfortunately have never managed to be lucky enough to get any in the lottery. Friends had tickets but could not go, so kindly offered them to me (Thank you SO much Will and Steph!!! I will never forget last night!) so I got to go.... woohoo!
Given that the show is really popular I thought it best to do a bit of pre-show research re queuing etc and it seemed that 12 noon was a good time to arrive, and that you probably shouldnt leave the queue for loo breaks after about 2.15pm.
My friend Emma and I left home at 10am, driving into London. We planned to park at Westfield but when it was 11.40 and we were only just at Hammersmith we decided to abandon the car and get the tube for the final bit of the journey. We arrived at the venue at 12.10 and joined the queue.
It was absolutely freezing cold but we had dressed for the weather - I had tights, leggings, trousers, dress, jumper, cardigan and 2 pairs of socks on, plus a thick coat, scarf and 2 pairs of gloves. Despite this I could still feel the cold, brrrr!
We thought we were about 60 from the front, so we felt quite sure we were going to get in.
At 2.30 the production team came out and started handing out numbered stickers onto our tickets. If you werent in the queue you didnt get a sticker - this happened to 2 people behind us, who had gone off to Westfield to go to the toilet/shopping! By the time they came back they were stickering 100 or so later in the queue, so they lost their place by 100 places.
We were numbers 98 and 99.
The production team said that they were going to let us in early as it was so cold, and at 2.45pm they started to let us in. The very first thing that happens is that they take your phones off you (OMG I cannot cope being 'offline' and I regularly reached for my phone to update friends but remembered I didnt have it with me), and then you go through airport style security.
You are then shown into a lounge area, with a bar and small BBC shop. Everyone starts stripping off their layers, and glamming up. The queues for the toilets and bar start to grow and there are big screens showing clips from old SCD shows. You have to hand your coats/bags into a cloakroom as you cannot take them into the studio.
Eventually they start calling people for the studio, in small groups in number order. We were in the 5th small group to go through (nos 80-100). You are shown into the studio and taken to your seats. What we found really strange at this point is that they randomly fill the studio, so just being there early does not mean the good seats. Despite being in the first 100 people there, we were shown to a small 'cave' like area with just 14 seats in, under the stairs/area where Tess interviews the dancers. We were next to the cameras, so were never really seen on screen at any point.
The seats were all tied together, and all overlapped at the back, so the small seats were even tighter than they should be. They really did try to cramp as many people in as possible!
So what we found was that people who were on standby, who had arrived at 3pm or later, actually got better seats than we did but we couldnt do anything about it. The whole feeling for the day was that you should just be grateful to be there, it doesnt matter how long you queued or that you couldnt necessarily see much, or that you were squashed into tiny seats.
One of the benefits of sitting where we did was that some of the dancers and the judges were also standing around near us, and we were waved at by Alisha, and Artem gave me the biggest smile ever!! Woohoo! We were also waved at by some of the dancers as they went up the stairs, including Scott which made everyones day!
We also got to have some banter with the cameramen, and one of them shared his sweets with us too. We had amazing views throughout the show, so no complaints really. Also being in the cave meant that we didnt have to 'perform' throughout the show as there was no risk of us being on camera. This meant we could have a bit of a giggle and we were sat with some really lovely girls who we chatted with throughout the evening (not during filming naturally!)
The studio filled up slowly and we noticed Ali Bastian on the front row. She is incredibly skinny and beautiful, the most amazing legs. We could not see any other 'celebs' and the studio was pretty much full. Then Max Branning from Eastenders arrived, together with another actor from the show (sorry I dont know who, I dont watch it any more). There were no front row seats for them so they were given 2 seats on the side of the dance floor. Unfortunately they werent happy with these, so a couple in the 3rd row were told to move so that they could have their seats instead. They sat there for 5mins but no, these werent good enough either, and 2 people next to Ali Bastian were then asked to move so that they could sit there.
We also saw other people who had good seats being asked to move so that friends and family of the dancers/production team were able to sit there instead. We were really shocked by that.
The filming was for Sat nights live show, and also for the Sunday night results show. So one of the first things we saw being filmed was James Blunt who is singing his new single for the results show tonight. We were instructed that we had to clap loudly for him, and that this performance would definitely warrant a standing ovation at the end! We all did as instructed ;)
We then watched an amazing professional dancers performance - Artem and Brendan are mind blowing to watch in real life, and the female dancers are stunningly beautiful.
One thing I was surprised about was Tess - I thought she would be really natural and down to earth. However I found her to be rather uptight and a little bit stroppy, and she didnt really seem to want to interact with the audience at all (unlike the dancers and judges who were all really friendly).
The live show started, and we were instructed beforehand that we had to clap, cheer and whoop at any lifts, or fancy footwork. We were also told we had to laugh at Brucie's jokes, especially the opening joke (which was very poor indeed).
The performances were amazing. You will no doubt have seen them so I dont need to comment much. Ann and Anton were hilarious, I sort of want them to win, more for Anton than anything else as he approaches it all with such good humour. When Artem is on the dance floor you cannot take your eyes off him, not for one second, so i have no idea whether Kara was any good or not. Gavin Henson is far too pretty, he is so lovely to look at, though he struggled a bit with the jive (his geeky look was just too cute though!). My performance of the night though was the amazing Pamela - wow!
The judges dont discuss the scores theyre going to give with each other, but they do look at what each other is scoring as they make up their own minds. And twice Craig went to score one thing, but someone in the audience seats next to him (so likely to be production/dancers friends/family etc) encouraged him to increase his score by 1 point.
After the live show was over, we were told we had to leave the studio, to go back to the lounge until we were called back.
After about 45mins or so we were taken back to our seats for filming of various segments for the Sunday night show. As we walked back into the studio we realised Max Branning and the other actor from Eastenders were in front of us. We got talking to them about our rubbish 'cave' seats and the fact we saw them moving 3 times until they got the seats they wanted. They were both incredibly friendly and we had a nice time talking to them. Sad though it might be, this sort of made the night for us!
As the Sunday night element wasnt being shown live, it was filmed in various sections. We saw yet another stunning professionals performance from Ola and James - Ola is incredibly stunningly beautiful, and their dance was amazing.
And then they filmed the results..... I wont give away who was in the bottom two, nor who went, I dont want to spoil it for anyone.
Overall it was an amazing evening. The BBC didnt make us feel particularly welcome and there was not a friendly feel to the way we were dealt with. However, despite that, the show and the opportunity to meet/see the stars up close was worth it and we would definitely do it again!
I have tried to get tickets to Strictly for the past 3yrs but unfortunately have never managed to be lucky enough to get any in the lottery. Friends had tickets but could not go, so kindly offered them to me (Thank you SO much Will and Steph!!! I will never forget last night!) so I got to go.... woohoo!
Given that the show is really popular I thought it best to do a bit of pre-show research re queuing etc and it seemed that 12 noon was a good time to arrive, and that you probably shouldnt leave the queue for loo breaks after about 2.15pm.
My friend Emma and I left home at 10am, driving into London. We planned to park at Westfield but when it was 11.40 and we were only just at Hammersmith we decided to abandon the car and get the tube for the final bit of the journey. We arrived at the venue at 12.10 and joined the queue.
It was absolutely freezing cold but we had dressed for the weather - I had tights, leggings, trousers, dress, jumper, cardigan and 2 pairs of socks on, plus a thick coat, scarf and 2 pairs of gloves. Despite this I could still feel the cold, brrrr!
We thought we were about 60 from the front, so we felt quite sure we were going to get in.
At 2.30 the production team came out and started handing out numbered stickers onto our tickets. If you werent in the queue you didnt get a sticker - this happened to 2 people behind us, who had gone off to Westfield to go to the toilet/shopping! By the time they came back they were stickering 100 or so later in the queue, so they lost their place by 100 places.
We were numbers 98 and 99.
The production team said that they were going to let us in early as it was so cold, and at 2.45pm they started to let us in. The very first thing that happens is that they take your phones off you (OMG I cannot cope being 'offline' and I regularly reached for my phone to update friends but remembered I didnt have it with me), and then you go through airport style security.
You are then shown into a lounge area, with a bar and small BBC shop. Everyone starts stripping off their layers, and glamming up. The queues for the toilets and bar start to grow and there are big screens showing clips from old SCD shows. You have to hand your coats/bags into a cloakroom as you cannot take them into the studio.
Eventually they start calling people for the studio, in small groups in number order. We were in the 5th small group to go through (nos 80-100). You are shown into the studio and taken to your seats. What we found really strange at this point is that they randomly fill the studio, so just being there early does not mean the good seats. Despite being in the first 100 people there, we were shown to a small 'cave' like area with just 14 seats in, under the stairs/area where Tess interviews the dancers. We were next to the cameras, so were never really seen on screen at any point.
The seats were all tied together, and all overlapped at the back, so the small seats were even tighter than they should be. They really did try to cramp as many people in as possible!
So what we found was that people who were on standby, who had arrived at 3pm or later, actually got better seats than we did but we couldnt do anything about it. The whole feeling for the day was that you should just be grateful to be there, it doesnt matter how long you queued or that you couldnt necessarily see much, or that you were squashed into tiny seats.
One of the benefits of sitting where we did was that some of the dancers and the judges were also standing around near us, and we were waved at by Alisha, and Artem gave me the biggest smile ever!! Woohoo! We were also waved at by some of the dancers as they went up the stairs, including Scott which made everyones day!
We also got to have some banter with the cameramen, and one of them shared his sweets with us too. We had amazing views throughout the show, so no complaints really. Also being in the cave meant that we didnt have to 'perform' throughout the show as there was no risk of us being on camera. This meant we could have a bit of a giggle and we were sat with some really lovely girls who we chatted with throughout the evening (not during filming naturally!)
The studio filled up slowly and we noticed Ali Bastian on the front row. She is incredibly skinny and beautiful, the most amazing legs. We could not see any other 'celebs' and the studio was pretty much full. Then Max Branning from Eastenders arrived, together with another actor from the show (sorry I dont know who, I dont watch it any more). There were no front row seats for them so they were given 2 seats on the side of the dance floor. Unfortunately they werent happy with these, so a couple in the 3rd row were told to move so that they could have their seats instead. They sat there for 5mins but no, these werent good enough either, and 2 people next to Ali Bastian were then asked to move so that they could sit there.
We also saw other people who had good seats being asked to move so that friends and family of the dancers/production team were able to sit there instead. We were really shocked by that.
The filming was for Sat nights live show, and also for the Sunday night results show. So one of the first things we saw being filmed was James Blunt who is singing his new single for the results show tonight. We were instructed that we had to clap loudly for him, and that this performance would definitely warrant a standing ovation at the end! We all did as instructed ;)
We then watched an amazing professional dancers performance - Artem and Brendan are mind blowing to watch in real life, and the female dancers are stunningly beautiful.
One thing I was surprised about was Tess - I thought she would be really natural and down to earth. However I found her to be rather uptight and a little bit stroppy, and she didnt really seem to want to interact with the audience at all (unlike the dancers and judges who were all really friendly).
The live show started, and we were instructed beforehand that we had to clap, cheer and whoop at any lifts, or fancy footwork. We were also told we had to laugh at Brucie's jokes, especially the opening joke (which was very poor indeed).
The performances were amazing. You will no doubt have seen them so I dont need to comment much. Ann and Anton were hilarious, I sort of want them to win, more for Anton than anything else as he approaches it all with such good humour. When Artem is on the dance floor you cannot take your eyes off him, not for one second, so i have no idea whether Kara was any good or not. Gavin Henson is far too pretty, he is so lovely to look at, though he struggled a bit with the jive (his geeky look was just too cute though!). My performance of the night though was the amazing Pamela - wow!
The judges dont discuss the scores theyre going to give with each other, but they do look at what each other is scoring as they make up their own minds. And twice Craig went to score one thing, but someone in the audience seats next to him (so likely to be production/dancers friends/family etc) encouraged him to increase his score by 1 point.
After the live show was over, we were told we had to leave the studio, to go back to the lounge until we were called back.
After about 45mins or so we were taken back to our seats for filming of various segments for the Sunday night show. As we walked back into the studio we realised Max Branning and the other actor from Eastenders were in front of us. We got talking to them about our rubbish 'cave' seats and the fact we saw them moving 3 times until they got the seats they wanted. They were both incredibly friendly and we had a nice time talking to them. Sad though it might be, this sort of made the night for us!
As the Sunday night element wasnt being shown live, it was filmed in various sections. We saw yet another stunning professionals performance from Ola and James - Ola is incredibly stunningly beautiful, and their dance was amazing.
And then they filmed the results..... I wont give away who was in the bottom two, nor who went, I dont want to spoil it for anyone.
Overall it was an amazing evening. The BBC didnt make us feel particularly welcome and there was not a friendly feel to the way we were dealt with. However, despite that, the show and the opportunity to meet/see the stars up close was worth it and we would definitely do it again!
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