See Tina Cross & Aaron Dance Live

Tina Cross and Aaron Gilmore will be dancing today at the St Heliers Bay Community Festival.

The event runs from 10:00am to 3:00pm at St Heliers Bay Rd between Tamaki Drive and Polygon Rd. Tina and Aaron are scheduled to dance at 11:00am.

There will also be stalls and activities for all the family including face painting, clowns and a fairy grotto. Organisers are encouraging festival goers to make a gold coin donation for Tina’s Dancing with the Stars charity Hospice.


Photos: TVNZ

Grumpy Tina Cross

Tina Cross told the gossip mags this week that hubby Wayne nicknamed her “grumpy” during Dancing with the Stars as the stress of the competition started getting to her.

Tina’s grumpy that everyone thought she already knew how to dance – a point brought out in the first episode when Paul Mercurio said, "let’s clear this up, you’ve never learned Ballroom dancing". Despite this, Brendan Cole got stuck in and gave her a very harsh critique in her first outing.

She’s also grumpy that some “stupid” website said she’d had botox (which she denies). Miss Prozac pleads the Fifth.

Many viewers believed Tina had an unfair advantage. Seeing her do the splits didn’t help. Why this equates to dance training is a mystery. Angela Bloomfield did the splits in her routine with Jonny Williams and no one thought anything of it. Tina does the splits, and it’s because she knows how to dance. Hmmm. Goes to show, perception is everything.

And on the subject of perception, Tina missed out on her opportunity to drum up the sympathy vote. She says she has perforated ear drums, that surgery failed to cure, which affects her balance and hearing. Ouch!

However, Tina isn’t entirely grumpy about her time on Dancing with the Stars. She said to Sunday News about her “shock” elimination

"That's showbiz!".

To be perfectly honest, I haven't shed a single tear. [Nor did the voters, love. That was the problem]

It's been a great, wild, ride of a roller coaster and I'm just enjoying every minute of it. I put myself out there and I'm proud of it, especially at my age."

Miss Prozac suspects ultra competitive partner Aaron Gilmore was more upset by the elimination than she was. However, he has more than made up for it by grabbing his 15 minutes of fame.


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Photos: TVNZ

Tina Cross Sambas Off Dancing with the Stars

Tonight the theme for Dancing with the Stars was gay, gay, gay and occasionally camp. Although, there was a brief moment of fear at elimination time when it appeared that Camp Dancing With The Stars was about to morph into Polynesian Dancing With The Stars when the only white face left in the D-Leb line up was up for elimination. In fact, there were almost as many celebrities in the audience as there were on the dance floor with the likes of Shane Cortese keeping an eye on his lovely fiancée Nerida, Tim Shadbolt, Brendan Cole's mum and girlfriend and assorted D-Lebs looking on.

Just when judge Craig Revel-Horwood said New Zealand were voting for the good dancers, Tina Cross got dumped from the show in what host Jason Gunn described as the first real shock of the season. Clearly Jase hasn’t been paying attention. It will come as no surprise to regular watchers of Dancing with the Stars who have already voted Tina into the bottom two this season. Miss Prozac has lost count of the number of people that have said she shouldn’t be in the contest because she’s a professional entertainer. Never mind the fact that Miriama Smith learned Samba in Brazil, which seems somewhat more relevant, doesn’t it?


Tonight each of the contestants performed a samba and a group Viennese Waltz. Cadbury certainly got their money’s worth, with Jase mentioning at least four times that it was the Cadbury Viennese Waltz.

After the judges’ scores Miriama Smith led the contest with Cory Hutchings at the bottom of the leader board. However, his popularity with the voters saw him escape elimination. In a speech worthy of an Academy Awards thank you, Tina thanked her family and her charity and said it was the "wildest roller coast I've even been on". Beaming a big smile she got in her pitch for Hospice, and ended the show singing La Isla Bonita.



Week 1: Tina came out in her Chinese Lantern contest to do the cha cha cha, which was the subject of a fight between judges Brendan and Craig.




Week 2: Tina was a vision in pink as she quickstepped her way across the stage



Week 3: A jive was the subject of yet another skirmish between Brendan and Craig. We're really going to miss those fights, now Tina has gone.



Week 4: Tina did a fierce Paso Doble, which was amazing considering they only had four days to train, after they offered to switch dances when it was discovered TVNZ had made a snafu - too many couples doing the Tango.



Week 5: Tina’s Samba disappointed the judges who said it lacked flow and didn’t get into the party atmosphere – despite looking like an All Black Christmas present complete with lime green bow. Tina was gracious in defeat, and let's hope she managed to raise some decent coin for her charity.

We'll have a full episode recap and photos tomorrow.

Photos: TVNZ

Tina Cross Mutton Dressed up as Lamb

Tina Cross is either very brave or very confident. In this month’s Australian Women’s Weekly she says the invitation to appear on Dancing with the Stars came out of the blue, adding,

Why on earth would I turn down such a wonderful opportunity?

Here was a chance to be mutton dressed up as lamb…

Careful Tina, the oldies are being booted out of Dancing With The Stars at an alarming rate. A lamb to the slaughter may be a more accurate description...

Tina is an experienced performer, however, she says she’s had to unlearn her bop and groove tendencies at the hands of partner Aaron Gilmore who partnered Lorraine Downes to victory in 2006.

Tina appears to be this year’s Megan Alatini. Last year, many thought Megan shouldn’t be in the contest saying she had dance training (she didn’t) and that being a singer and having to learn routines gave her an advantage. People also said that Megan was overconfident (can’t deny that one).

Now, Tina is being tarred with the same brush. Despite being very polite to the judges and taking all their criticism with a smile, people are perceiving her as arrogant. Many already disliked her before the show started and can’t get rid of their preconceptions, despite some good performances. They’ve decided she’s a professional, and too pleased with her achievements and youthful body, and want her gone.

In the third episode, Tina got the least amount of votes, jettisoning her from third place to sixth. She was also the subject of yet another skirmish between opinionated judges Craig Revel-Horwood and Brendan Cole. But, as she told Candy Lane after the first argument on the opening episode, “I love it when the judges fight”. Don't we all?


Crying poor, about being brought up in Otara without money for dance or singing lessons, probably isn’t helping Tina, but you can't blame her for trying. Suzanne Paul tried the same trick with enormous success. She openly admitted that she garnered the sympathy vote after the wardrobe malfunction when Stefano Olivieri’s microphone got caught in her dress. She also courted the sympathy vote by talking about how old she was, her bruised ribs, and lustily sang the “So, I can repay my creditors” song to anyone who would listen.

Tina appears to be doing the same, talking about her age (she’s 49 years old) and being the middle of seven children from Otara. But, it’s not working. Instead she’s being tarred with the Megan brush. In another parallel, Megan was at risk of an early exit from the show, finding herself in the bottom two after placing second (out of six) on the judges’ scorecard.



Whatever happens, the extra publicity is likely to help Tina with her career. She is currently a member of singing group The Ladykillers with former NZ Idol judge Jackie Clarke, Suzanne Lynch and Taisha.

In the future, it’s not all about singing and dancing. Tina hopes to leverage her love of health and fitness to create workshops and seminars around fitness, nutrition and emotional well-being.

Tina is married to Wayne, and they have two children Sean and Leah who are all supporting Tina on Dancing with the Stars.


Photos: TVNZ, ACP Magazines

Craig Revel-Horwood vs Brendan Cole Round 2

Ding! Ding! Round 2 of the ongoing battle between Dancing with the Stars judges Brendan Cole and Craig Revel-Horwood continued in this week’s third episode.

Not only do the pair frequently disagree with each other but they make such a song and dance over the whole thing. They both have a habit of prefacing all their comments with, “I disagree with… [insert Craig or Brendan]” although the habit is more pronounced in Craig. Is it not possible for them to comment without drawing attention to the fact that they disagree with each other? And, why does Brendan appear to have it in for Tina Cross? Greer Robson speculates that it has something to do with the personal history between Aaron Gilmore and Brendan. Aaron used to partner Brendan’s sister Vanessa Cole in competitive dancing when he lived in Australia.

The most recent argument broke out during the third episode when the judges critiqued Tina Cross doing the Jive with Aaron. Brendan bagged the performance saying it was stiff, hard and frantic and didn’t have the jive essence. Later, Craig said Brendan was wrong; Brendan interrupted and spoke over the top of Craig, who told him to “shut it”.

CRH: I think Brendan is speaking a load of rubbish, to be honest. [Doesn’t he always?]

BC: Is that from your technical background? [Ooh, sarcasm]

CRH: You’ve had your turn Brendan. You can just shut it for a moment. [That's just rude.]

BC: Please, darling. [More sarcasm, although this one made Miss Prozac chuckle]

CRH: It had all three fantastic elements – performance, technique and a great partnership. [Very certain he’s right, as always]

BC: Once again Craig shows his lack of technical understanding. [Sulking now]

The resulting scores for the performance were Brendan 5, Alison 8, Craig 9, Paul 9 so Brendan was clearly the dissenting vote on this occasion. He was also somewhat sarcastic with his “Please, darling” mimicking Craig’s appalling habit of saying darling, and the once again…

Looking at the other Jives of the evening, Brendan gave a score of 7 to Monty Betham, 8 to Temepara George, and 5 to Cory Hutchings. The latter was the only performance on which the pair agreed with Brendan saying, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Craig was right, it was a bit rough.”

There is simply no way that Tina’s Jive should be awarded the same low score as Cory's. Surfing Dude Cory looked cute, and he appeared to be enjoying his routine more than Tina. He deserves points for that, as he made an emotional connection with the audience and a lust connection with Miss Prozac, but his timing was out and the technique was mediocre.

Verdict:
In Round 1 it was a narrow victory to Craig. We were hoping Brendan would come back strongly in Round 2 but it didn’t happen. Craig provoked him by saying he was speaking "a load of rubbish" and Brendan rose to the bait. Why can't Craig disagree nicely, like Paul Mercurio does? Craig won by default, despite his rudeness.

We agree with Brendan that Tina needed to loosen up in her Jive. Brendan’s a Latin American specialist and we usually agree with his comments, but you can’t go talking over the top of your other judges. We’re also concerned he’s so harsh on Tina.

Another victory to Craig bringing the score to 2-Nil


Photos: TVNZ

Peter Urlich's Last Tango + Photos

Peter Urlich and his partner Hayley Holt were the second contestants to be eliminated from Dancing with the Stars.


In the first episode, Peter impressed the judges with his heartfelt waltz, although it’s a mystery how the judges could see his footwork with all the dry ice swirling around the floor.


Last week he sat down on the job and blamed his poor performance in the Rhumba on a knee injury. It sounded pretty painful, but Paul Mercurio had a point when he said that even without the changes to accommodate his injury the routine still wouldn’t have been good enough.


This week he said he didn’t want to disappoint his Charity or ‘The H-Bomb’, as he dubbed his partner. But his tango wasn’t good enough for the judges, and the public vote couldn’t save him from elimination. Miss Prozac also wondered if he was on high doses of painkillers as he seemed a bit "dopey" and out of it during some of the video footage.




Tina Cross whom many say shouldn’t be in the competition, due to her past dance experience, was placed third after the judges’ scoring but surprisingly found herself in the bottom two. In all fairness, her dance experience is in other types of dancing (mainly Jazz) and anyone who has watched So You Think You Can Dance? will have noticed that being able to do one type of dancing doesn't automatically make you good at other types of dancing. But, it does help with learning new choreography.

Sounds like Tina needs to take a leaf out of Rodney Hide's book and do some campaigning if she wants to stay in the competition.

We’ll have a full episode recap and all the photographs tomorrow.


Photos: TVNZ

Tina Cross Dancing Star!

Tina Cross has to be the hot favourite for this year’s Dancing With The Stars crown. She may be 49 years of age but she’s also fit, strong and flexible, and bound to give the younger ones a run for their money.

Tina is known to be a gym junkie and health fanatic. One poster on the TradeMe message board reports that healthy Tina breakfasts on porridge, spirulina powder and liquid fish oil. Woah! Hope dance partner Aaron Gilmore doesn’t get too close to Ms Fish Breath.

In previous interviews, Tina has been dismissive of her dance experience. While it’s true that she hadn’t done Ballroom and Latin, Tina has danced in several musicals, including the demanding production Chicago – remember Catherine Zeta Jones in the film version? In our books, Tina is already a dancing star, but in this contest popularity is equally important. If she can capture the public vote we think she’s got a good chance of winning.

Tina’s experience in musicals means that she’s trained to pick up choreography. It also means that she’s also a wonderful performer who will be comfortable on stage, and has anyone seen her pins? Last year, the best pins of the show won the crown. We don’t expect this year to be any different!


Tina’s Bio
Last year, Tina Cross was honoured with the Officer of the Order of New Zealand (ONZM) in the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to the music industry.

Tina Cross started as a singer before moving into musicals and theatres. Tina appeared on New Zealand television show 'Ready To Roll' in 1978 and released four popular singles in 1979. When she won the Pacific Song Contest her success was assured, and since this time Tina has accumulated many awards and accolades.

In 1979 she enjoyed the success of having four singles of her own make the charts. They were 'Make Love To Me', 'Everybody Let's Dance', 'Lay Back In Your Lovers Arms' and 'Nothing But Dreams'. They made 15, 13, 38 and 47 respectively.

'Nothing But Dreams' was New Zealand's entry into the 1979 Pacific Song Contest, where it became the winner. The following year she again represented New Zealand with 'Once Again With You' taking second place.

Tina also sang the original Shortland Street theme song and was a vocal coach for TV2’s reality show, So You Wanna Be a Popstar? which was won by David Wikaira-Paul.

Her awards include Best Female Vocalist, Best Theatrical Performer, an Australian Mo, a first place win in the Pacific Song Contest as well as several Bennys for Top Female Vocalist.

She has appeared in several musicals including Rocky Horror Show, Cats and Chicago. If you want to read more about Tina there is a great article on her online at Plenty Magazine.


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Photos: TVNZ
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Confirmed Dancing With The Stars 2008 Line Up

The final four dancers in the 2008 series of Dancing With The Stars returning in February to TVNZ have been confirmed.

Former Silver Fern Temepara George, actor and restaurateur Geeling Ng, radio DJ and musician Peter Urlich, and World Surf Ironman champion Cory Hutchings, will team up with professional dancers for this year's series.

The final four will join boxer Monty Betham, actor Miriama Smith, radio and TV presenter Martin Devlin, and performer Tina Cross, who were confirmed in December.

While I’m delighted that this year’s selection means that we no longer have to put up with politicians clumping their way around the dance floor, I am disappointed at the strong sports bias in the selection. I think Cory Hutchings will be magnificent. He is always extremely cheeky and entertaining when he appears on Game of Two Halves and he makes great eye candy, but the lack of a good cross selection of celebs concerns me.

In the final tally the selection is limited to:

• Four sporting personalities (Temepara George, Monty Betham and Cory Hutchings plus a sports DJ and Game of Two Halves panellist Martin Devlin),
• Two singers/musos (Peter Urlich and Tina Cross), a third celeb that appeared in a singer’s video (Geeling Ng appeared in David Bowie's China Girl),
• And the inevitable ex Shortland Street actress (Miriama Smith).

Yawn.

Update Professional Dancers:
We also have the exclusive list of the professional dancers for the 2008 series of Dancing With The Stars.

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Photos: TVNZ

Dancing With The Stars 2008 Line Up

The worst kept secret in TV has been confirmed... Monty Betham will form part of the line up for TVNZ's 2008 series of Dancing With The Stars.

Also confirmed are actress Miriama Smith (Mercy Peak), who has been romantically partnered with previous contestants Brendon Pongia and Frank Bunce, Game of Two Halves lad and radio host Martin Devlin plus singer Tina Cross.

The final four celebrities will be confirmed early in the new year. Dancing with the Stars is a BBC format based on popular show Strictly Come Dancing.

Other stars rumoured to be taking part are Ironman and television presenter Cory Hutchings, ex Gloss star Geeling Ng (most famous for being David Bowie's China Girl and recently featured on Paul Holmes' show Whatever Happened To...?), ex Shortland Street actor Karl Burnett, Reality TV and gossip regular Aja Rock, netballer Temepara George and Lotto presenter Hilary Timmins. The show is currently scheduled to go to air in February 2008.

The judges will be confirmed in early 2008, but we understand Jason Gunn and Candy Lane have the hosting roles stitched up. Yummy Mummy Nerida Lister who is believed to have given birth to the world's first Dancing with the Stars baby will also be back.

The final confirmed contestants are listed here.

The list of professional dancers rumoured to be in DWTS 2008 are here.



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Photos: TVNZ