´óÏó´«Ã½

Denmark: Teenage sensations
Mette Skou Elkjær and David Kim Ehlers Jørgensen

Mette and David are two 19-year-olds, who come from Vejle and Aarhus in Jutland. They have both been dancing since childhood, which, together and separately with other partners, has resulted in numerous medals in Danish and Scandinavian championships. The last one they received was a silver medal at the Danish championships in Latin American dance in 2006. The couple has a very broad repertoire and masters Standard and Latin Dance, as well as coaching in everything from classical ballet to disco and salsa.

Finland: Dancing for glory
Jussi Väänänen and Katja Koukkula

Both are professional dancers who have been fascinated by Latin rhythms for over 20 years. For additional power of expression, they have added classical and jazz dance to their repertoire. Having ended their competitive career in 2005, Jussi and Katja have continued performing and teaching in corporate and other events and dance sport clubs and contributed to a number of TV and theatre productions. The foundation of their work is to develop the dancers' basic facilities. Other focus areas include the expressive qualities and freedom of dance. Through their own hands-on experience as active dancers they are able to help others.

Germany: Beauty and the best
Wolke Hegenbarth and Oliver Seefeldt

She may look the part but dancing isn't the usual day job for Germany's beautiful female dancer Wolke Hegenbarth. She is actually an award-winning TV and film actress who came second in Let's Dance – Germany's answer to Strictly Come Dancing. With Oliver as her partner it's perhaps no surprise the couple came so close to winning as Oliver is widely regarded as one of Germany's best dancers. Oh, and he's a trained chef too. A man that can dance AND cook?! No wonder Wolke was keen to dust off her dancing shoes!

Greece: Costume drama
Rania Koliou and Spyros Pavlides

Dancing is undoubtedly in the blood of Greek dancer Spyros. His parents were professional dancers and he's been kick ball-changing since the tender age of six. By contrast his partner, red-haired Rania, has only been dancing for six years after swapping volleyball for ballroom. We think she might have recycled a little bit of her old volleyball costume for this slightly ... er, unconventional ballroom number!

Ireland: Lord and lady of the dance?
Nicola Byrne and Mick Donegan

Traditional Irish dancing is coming back to Eurovision! And who more qualified to bring it back than these two? They've held the lead roles in Riverdance, taught celebrities to dance a traditional jig and now Nicola Byrne and Mick Donegan will be kicking and flicking their legs in an attempt to impress viewers across Europe and win their votes. Mick's the world record holder for heel kicks so we're expecting to see some pretty fancy footwork!

Lithuania: Lithuanian Latin stars
Gintaras Svistunavicius and Gabriele Valiukaites

They became dancing partners in 2000. Between January 2000 and December 2002 they danced for Lithuania as amateurs. Between December 2002 and December 2003 they danced for Lithuania as professionals. They are Latin dancers. They are Lithuanian dance studio's "Sukurys" dancers and trainers (professional dance teachers). They are participants in World and Europe's championships and represent Lithuania. Their first competition was in Aarhus in Denmark. They joined together after Gintaras and Aina Zinciukaite split in December 1999 and Gabriele and Samuel Peron split in July 2006.

Netherlands: Brangelina, Bennifer and now ... Redlex
Redmond Valk and Alexandra Matteman

A touch of Hollywood is dancing its way into Eurovision! Like so many uber-glamorous couples before them Redmond Valk and Alexandra Matteman are better know as Redlex. And by the looks of things it seems their moves are as steamy off the dance floor as on it! After splitting with their previous partners, Redlex say that they were attracted to each other's passion, discipline and enthusiasm. It's obviously a winning formula as the Dutch public and a panel of expert judges voted for Redlex to represent them in the Eurovision Dance Contest in a Strictly style dance-off. At least if they win there won't be any argument about who gets to take home the trophy.

Poland: Dirty dancers
Katarzyna Cichopek and Marcin Hakiel

In 2005, Katarzyna and Martin danced their way to victory in Poland's Dancing With The Stars. Katarzyna was already a familiar face on Polish TV, staring as Kinga (not that one!) in the series L is for Love! Since a child, Marcin has aspired to be able to dance like Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing and it was the need to live that dream that saw them dancing to the music from the film in their Dancing With The Stars victory performance!

Portugal: Strictly champs
Sónia Araujo and Ricardo Silva

No stranger to performing in front of millions, Sónia is a famous Portuguese TV presenter and, along with Ricardo, won the country's version of Strictly Come Dancing. Clearly keen to make sure she was a step ahead of the competition, she has been taking dance classes since the age of nine. She also studied at the Escola de Ballett Parnaso for three years! Ricardo's currently training to become a dance judge – let's hope the European viewing public has an equally keen eye for great dancing!

Russia: Making headlines?
Maria Sittel and Vladislav Borodinov

Maria is an award-winning news presenter and in 2006 reluctantly agreed to take part in the Russian version of Strictly Come Dancing. Keen to not jeopardise her reputation and integrity for serious journalism, she entered the competition with great responsibility. Maria went as far as to study the history of all ballroom dances and by the time she met her partner, Vladislav, she practically knew all the theory behind the dances! Due to Maria being on-air every evening, she and Vladislav resorted to training at night – a commitment that paid off as the couple danced their way to victory in the series.

Spain: They'd Like to teach the world to dance!
Amagoya Benlloch and Abraham Martinez

Boys across Spain must be wishing Amagoya would make use of her degree in Education and ditch the ballroom for the classroom! There's little chance of that happening any time soon though – she's only been dancing with Abraham for a year and they're already champions of the Valencia region! Abraham also has plans to start his own dance school. This July, the couple were chosen to represent their country at Eurovision in a Strictly style dance-off; we're confident they've done their homework!

Sweden: It's a knock out!
Cecilia Ehrling and Martin Lidberg

Even former world wrestling champions are competing at this year's Eurovision Dance Contest! Martin and Cecilia (he's the wrestler!) first took to the dance floor together this spring in Let's Dance – Sweden's answer to Strictly Come Dancing. However, their romance and passion was not strictly for the ballroom. The pair became romantically involved during the series and they now live together in Stockholm.

Switzerland: Ice queen turned dancing queen
Denise Biellmann and Sven Ninnemann

Figure skater Denise is no stranger to winning. In fact she won her first international skating competition at just eight-years-old and has even invented her own spin – coincidentally called the Biellmann spin! As if that wasn't enough, she is also Switzerland's Sportswoman of the Century! So who could possibly take on a woman like that? Step forward Sven Ninnemann. A champion in his own right having won titles in his native Germany and his resident country, Switzerland. When he's not busy being a champion, Sven is also a dance teacher, choreographer, musician and DJ. Sounds like it'll be one hell of a party if they win!

Ukraine: All singing AND all dancing
Julia Akropiridze and Ilyia Sydorenko

Julia and Ilyia might be representing Ukraine in the Eurovision Dance Contest, but looking at their musical credentials, they could just as easily be entering the song contest! Ilyia can play the guitar, Julia can play the piano and they're both confident behind a microphone. Ilyia's favourite band is Metallica – the obvious choice of course for a man who also owns a Yorkshire terrier called Sussi... They've been dancing for most of their lives and began dancing together three years ago. They hope to be Ukrainian Hopaking their way to victory in London on the 1st!

United Kingdom: The last dance
Camilla Dallerup and Brendan Cole

Dancing together for the first time since they split as a couple three years ago, Camilla and Brendan have re-ignited the romance and passion for one last dance. They've taken part in every series of Strictly Come Dancing, but there's as much drama as there is dance with these two! They split as dance partners, and ended their engagement. Rest assured it'll be raunchy rumba rather than murder on the dance floor, for this their last dance together.

RELATED ´óÏó´«Ã½ LINKS:

RELATED WEB LINKS: