How I’m A Celebrity's Arlene Phillips flawlessly created the choreography for Elton John’s ‘I’m Still Standing’ video

18 November 2021, 13:48

By Hannah Lovejoy

@HanLovejoy

Dancing legend Arlene Phillips has achieved many things in her nearly eight decades of life and she’s choreographed dances for some of the world's most successful artists.

Arlene Phillips is set to be joining the I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! camp for 2021 - it won’t be the first time that she's worked alongside famous faces.

The former Strictly Come Dancing judge has choreographed dances for iconic artists including Whitney Houston, Duran Duran and Robbie Williams.

One of her most unforgettable pieces of work was her choreography for Elton John’s ‘I’m Still Standing’ video and it also featured Bruno Tonioli (showcasing him in a truly unique way).

Several years ago, Arlene appeared on Holiday of My Lifetime with Len Goodman and spoke about the process of making the video.

Arlene was in conversation with Strictly legend Len Goodman and they spoke at length about the difficulties of bringing the ‘I’m Still Standing’ video to life.

Elton John opens up about 'wasting' his life on years of drug use

Read more: Ed Sheeran: 'I speak to Elton John on the phone every single day'

“Part of the video was coming up from the mountains and riding down in a car, Elton in the front of the car, [clear] glass window sugar glass [and] Elton driving through the glass window,” Arlene explained.

“Suddenly, the police said it was too dangerous and so the whole story of the video was gone.”

Explaining further, Arlene said that there was panic about what the production would look like and she came up with an alternative idea.

She continued: “Well, my friend has got a dance school, let’s get loads of dancers and we’ll dance everywhere.

“So they got permission to dance everywhere and Bruno was saying ‘what am I going to do? I was doing the catching’.”

Arlene mentioned the lengths that the production team went to in order to bring the new concept to life.

Elton John - I'm Still Standing

Read more: Elton John admits he accidentally snubbed a birthday serenade from Stevie Wonder

“We got costumes from the shop, we got a body paint artist. It was so much fun,” she added.

Speaking on the White Wine Question Time Podcast, Arlene explained how the moment quickly came together.

“The director said ‘let’s get them body painted’, and everything was choreographed on the spot,” Arlene said.

“It was like pouring out instant soup. Right, we’ve got this hotel, let's come down the stairs! We’ve got La Croisette, let's dance along it!”

She also spoke about Bruno’s appearance in the video - after he was supposed to be sitting in the car with Elton in the original video concept, Arlene got creative and tried to get him dancing in different situations in the new story.

She explained: “Bruno Tonioli was supposed to be sitting in the back of the car when Elton drove down the mountainside. Instead, we played around.

“Bruno here, Bruno there, just use Bruno! [He] hates taking his clothes off, hates his body being seen!”