Well, this year’s Strictly Inverness is done and dusted – and what an event it was!
We always use the word ‘extravaganza’ when describing this competition – and this year was no exception. The joint fundraiser between ourselves and the Inverness Ice Centre spanned four days from 9-12 May, and we are hopeful that once the dancers’ sponsor money is in and counted we will have raised over £100,000 for the first time ever!
On Thursday evening, we kicked off proceedings with a fashion show and a mix of dancing and entertainment. Friend of the stars Steve Agyei led the audience to participate in a dance of their own, while Team Friday and Team Saturday each performed their group dances. A fabulous array of clothing from local suppliers was modeled superbly by our volunteer catwalk stars.
Friday saw our first Strictly Inverness adult competition, hosted by the inimitable Mr Brian Elrick, with eight couples competing for first, second and third place.
Judges for the evening were professional dance coaches Kelly Cameron and Louise Marshall and Inverness Leisure’s James Martin.
Our competitors danced their socks off performing two dances each as well as a fabulous rock n roll group dance choreographed by the talented Ms Alex Emerson. The atmosphere was electric!
A combination of judge’s scores and audience votes resulted in the following rankings:
First Place: Claire Peace and Marc Macdonald
Second Place: Alison Macleod and Graham Darcy
Third Equal: Jenna Clark and Andy Devlin, Lilian Falconer and Ronald Flint
While our Friday dancers were hanging up their dancing shoes and dusting off their glitter, Team Saturday were getting ready for their moment in the spotlight.
Ten couples hit the floor again performing two dances each – and what a range of styles we were treated to! Tonight’s group dance was a Michael Jackson medley, choreographed beautifully by Strictly stalwart Tristian Hill.
Judges for the evening were our three dance expert divas Amy Mullen (Stagecoach), Kelly Cameron (KC Studios) and Louise Marshall (Eden Court Creative) who all agreed that they were blown away by the standard of this year’s dances.
Again, the audience voted in their droves and their results, combined with the judges’ rankings, resulted in the following placings:
First Place: Angela Hamilton and Ross Naismith
Second Place: Louise MacLean and David Munro
Third Place: Jolee Young and Jason Winning, Heather Watt and JoJo Macdonald
And last but by no means least, our wonderful Strictly Inverness Junior show took place on Sunday 12 May, hosted by STV’s Nicola McAlley. This year, we had two separate competitions – Junior Strictly Inverness for couples with little or no experience – and Strictly Variety which was made up of couples with previous dance experience.
Judges for this event were Noel Hernandez, Amy Mullen and Dionne Montiero. Our young junior couples in each category danced their hearts out, impressing us all with the quality of their steps.
Winners were as follows:
Junior Strictly Inverness (little or no experience):
First Place – Katie Brown and Jamie Munro
Second Place – Lexi Leaver and Liam Cameron
Third Place – Meg Leaver and Owen Shewan
Junior Strictly Variety (with previous dance experience):
First Place – Rosaleigh Stewart and Bradley Macdonald
Second Place – Tia Anderson and David Maclennan
Third Equal – Kelsi Calvert and Ashleigh Bushell, Rowen Anderson and Keira Philip
Highland Hospice are grateful to each and every person (and there are hundreds of you) who helped to make Strictly Inverness 2013 such a success.
We thoroughly enjoy planning this event with our friends at Inverness Ice Centre and bringing it to you each year as a joint fundraiser between the two charities. In fact, we are already excited about next year’s show……. Watch this space!
