Shadbolt out of dance competition just in time for pantomime

TAURANGA- Tim Shadbolt ain't no twinkle toes, but timing was everything when the surprise favourite on TV's Dancing with the Stars stumbled on Sunday night.

His dramatic fall from public favour avoided a dilemma of almost farcical proportions for the show's producers.

Invercargill's celebrity mayor had to lose the semifinal because this Friday the curtain lifts in Tauranga on the hilarious pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk -- starring Shadbolt.

With the best will in the world, he could not have been in two places at once.

Shadbolt chortled with pleasure during rehearsals yesterday at how close the live television show came to courting disaster. His commitment to play Baron Wasteland in Tauranga pre-dated the dance show.

He said Dancing with the Stars had not counted on him staying in the contest for so long.

But the judging panel's less than flattering opinion of his dancing abilities was not shared by the public, who advanced him each week by the sheer force of their vote.

Ask him why his winning streak ended on Sunday and the politician shines through.

Shadbolt said he knows in his bones when to expect a win and a defeat, and he thought he was on a winner on Sunday because of the huge media build-up last week, including women's magazines and the Sunday papers.

"It was a remarkable reversal of fortune because the public vote had got me through every time.''

And while the numbers behind the public vote are never disclosed, Shadbolt was definitely not complaining about not reaching the final, saying it would have been an absolute dilemma for the show and "mission impossible'' for him.

While rehearsals for Jack and the Beanstalk have been going for three months, it is a short lead-up to opening night on Friday for Shadbolt.

But the former student radical and concreting contractor says the years of touring with Gary McCormack, celebrity debates and speaking engagements will serve him well.

He even reckons he can bring something to Baron Wasteland from his job as mayor.

"After all, a mayor is a glorified tax gatherer, while the evil baron collects rent.''

It is his first encounter with pantomime and already he loves it, saying the script had him in stitches.

"It works at one level with kids and another for adults.''

Jack and the Beanstalk is the first pantomime to be performed on a grand scale in Tauranga for at least 20 years.

The two-week season coincides with the traditional mid-winter period for pantomime when everyone needs warming up with a good belly laugh.

The beauty of pantomime is that it allows absolute licence to inject local humour, and show director Dave Wilson is mining the rich vein of comedy around Shadbolt -- including solving one of New Zealand's great mysteries: What happened to Waitemata City's mayoral chains.

He has even given Shadbolt a particularly evil henchman.

"We decided the baron wasn't quite evil enough -- after all, it's Tim.''

- NZPA