Strictly Come Dancing 2014: Week 5 (part 2)

Apologies for this being late, I've been kept busy this week and I was just exhausted after work. I'm going to try and make up for it though (hopefully).

So last time I went through the dances from Jake to Mark. This segment will go through the remaining 5 dances (Simon to Pixie) and I will give my thoughts on the dance-off and elimination.


Simon & Kristina - Viennese Waltz - "Somebody to Love"

*RECYCLED SONG ALERT - Will & Hanna in series 3, Dan & Katya in series 9*

The dry ice got another airing I see, something you want to tell us Kristina? I jest, Simon actually didn't do too bad considering that the VW can be a tricky dance for any celeb, but particularly a celeb male (I've seen Ballroom dancers on the forums saying that the VW is the last dance that they learn, because the footwork and everything is so complex) what with having to lead and that. I didn't like the beginning of the routine: too much faffing around and they could have just done the end position on the top of the steps and walked down before getting into the routine - as it is, it was nearly 25 seconds before they properly started (too long in my opinion). I couldn't see the feet enough to accurately judge him there but the footwork looked decent, although he did seem to be putting in maybe too much rise and fall, it wasn't smooth enough and looked skippy at times. Simon also needs to keep his frame up throughout as he dropped his right arm on occasion (especially during the standing spins), and maintain the performance all the way through the routine, as he dropped it towards the end. He's got a Paso Doble this week, and I'm not too sure that he'll evade the dance-off with that, he has struggled with the more serious dances (Tango and Rumba) and this might be another struggle for him.

Judges' scores: all 7s for a total of 28/40
My score: 6.75


Judy & Anton - Charleston - "Varsity Drag"

First of all *stands up and gives a standing ovation* that is more like it Judy! That is certainly her best performance I think, sorry judges but you seriously undermarked her. She should have been about the same as Alison. So for the critique: Judy needed to put a lot more enthusiasm into the execution of the steps - she seemed to have most of the technique down, but she just needed to take her lead from Anton. I'm going to do something surprising and actually praise Anton here - he might have his faults where Latin choreography is concerned, but you can't say he ever overdances, unlike some of the other pros. He always seems to tone it down a notch to make his partner look better, and it was the same here - if it were KFG on the other hand..... I'll leave that to your imagination. The tricks weren't good - leave those to Steve and Ola, didn't he do an 'around the world' in his Salsa? - but then I suppose they enhanced the performance. She's got the American Smooth this week, getting all Cruella de Vil on us - I think this could be her breakthrough dance. Judy has more experience with lifts now, and it's a Ballroom which Anton excels in. Plus I've seen her dress and wow! 

Judges' scores: 3, 5, 5, 5 for a total of 18/40
My score: 5


Caroline & Pasha - Paso Doble - "Live & Let Die"

*RECYCLED SONG ALERT - Letitia & Darren in series 5*

Another awful dress for Caroline - c'mon wardrobe, you always produce lovely dresses for Frankie and Pixie, put some effort into Caroline please! Onto the dance itself: I thought all the cape action at the start was bad, it just looked messy and not very Paso-y. Also, at least Caroline only had a bit of skirt-swishing to do, but I do think it's just lazy choreography whenever the girls have to do that (apologies to Kevin, Artem, and pretty much every male pro). She looked seriously good during this routine, but I would have just wanted a tad more attack from her - she had the shaping, she had the Flamenco elements down beautifully, but just a touch more attack and it would have been explosive. Caroline has the Samba this week, and you just know that she'll be compared to Pixie - not the best song choice for her, but then Pixie & Trent have all those....

Judges' scores: 8, 9, 8, 9 for a total of 34/40
My score: 8.5


Steve & Ola - Waltz - "I Wonder Why"

*RECYCLED SONG ALERT - Sarah & Brendan in series 2, Cherie & James in series 6, Nicky & Karen in series 10*

Is this the most overused song in Strictly history? It might just be me but it seems to crop up every other series (didn't Nicky Byrne do this one as well). Anyway, *gives another standing ovation* this was an important dance for Steve, so he could show us that he can do the softer Ballroom, as all of his other dances have been much quicker. He got it with style! Lovely performance, I can even excuse the 'Olaography' trademark pivots this time. He had good rise and fall, he just needs to work on his frame a little more - he's still hunched over slightly and he dropped his hold during the pivots. Steve has the Charleston next week, and his training looks decent. I am a little worried that he could drop into the dance-off with this number, but he had good Charleston moves in his Quickstep, so hopefully I'm just being cynical.

Judges' scores: 7, 8, 7, 8 for a total of 30/40
My score: 7.75 (higher than Jake and Sunetra for me)


Pixie & Trent - Samba - "I Yi Yi Yi Yi"

Everyone knows by now how I feel about these two. I think this is going to be the pair that I just can't take to - it's not as if either of them have a bad personality (see DVO and James) but just something about them that I can't quite put my finger on why I don't like. I had this problem with Louis & Flavia back in series 10, and it's the same with Pixie & Trent: I want to like them, but for some reason I can't. Onto the dance itself, took a while to get going properly but Pixie showed that she can do the hip action that she was missing in the Rumba. I'm going to have to agree with a fellow forumite who said that Mark did better (I'm not sure how you spell it but bachacadas?) than Pixie did. Other than that, I think the only criticism I can give her is that she sometimes does her arm lines too upright - I'll try and explain what I mean. She finishes off her lines exquisitely well, but she sometimes throws them too close to her head and they can look messy as a result (an upright arm with the wrist folding over to create the hand shaping, whereas it looks better if the line is further away, closer to a 45 degree angle, but this is just my preference). Pixie has the Tango this week, and I love her song (I've used it for a Strictly game myself, but for a Paso Doble), really intrigued to see how the singers will do it. I presume Chris will be doing the male vocals on that, but I'm not sure who out of Hayley and Andrea will be doing the female vocals, possibly Andrea. 

Judges' scores: 8, 9, 9, 9 for a total of 35/40
My score: 8.75 (I do agree with Caroline and Pixie's scores, and Pixie was a little above Caroline for me)



Strictly Leaderboard:
1. Pixie & Trent - 35
2. Caroline & Pasha - 34
3. Mark & Karen - 33
4. Frankie & Kevin - 32
5. Jake & Janette - 31
=6. Sunetra & Brendan, Steve & Ola - 30
8. Simon & Kristina - 28
9. Thom & Iveta - 27
10. Alison & Aljaz - 23
11. Scott & Joanne - 19
12. Judy & Anton - 18

My Leaderboard (my scores are multiplied by 4):
1. Pixie & Trent - 35
2. Caroline & Pasha - 34
=3. Frankie & Kevin, Mark & Karen - 32
5. Steve & Ola - 31
6. Sunetra & Brendan - 30
7. Jake & Janette - 29
8. Simon & Kristina - 27
9. Thom & Iveta - 23
10. Judy & Anton - 20
11. Alison & Aljaz - 18
12. Scott & Joanne - 14


Dance-off: Simon & Kristina vs Thom & Iveta. I'm surprised to see Thom here, but not Simon. When you have 2 dance-off appearances under your belt in the space of 3 weeks, you know there's something wrong. I wonder if the problem is that the viewers can't take to Simon, or if his perceived 'attitude problem' is only part of it and Kristina might be exacerbating that, given that she isn't too popular herself? I'd personally say it's the second one, especially given that his bandmates all got much further in their respective reality shows (Anthony being 3rd on I'm a Celeb, Duncan 4th on DOI, and even Lee managed to get to 6th in CBB at the start of the year). As for Thom, well, he had probably his worst dance so far (excluding his week 1 Waltz) and he didn't have much to do in it.

Elimination: Thom & Iveta. Now this was a tough one, and I think it depends on your criteria as to who you would have picked. If you were judging solely on the dance-off, then I think Simon had to be saved. Otherwise, Thom & Iveta. I can see why Craig and Darcey voted to save Thom, but I can also see why Bruno and Len saved Simon. Personally, I would have been with Craig and Darcey and saved Thom - he was improving all the time and just had a bad week. Simon on the other hand has struggled with a few of his dances and had been in the dance-off already, it's obvious that he's lacking public support. I don't see the need for Len to have the casting vote, just revert back to the public vote if the judges can't agree - it's fairer that way I think. I feel sorry for Thom, and I wonder if Simon will be the Lisa Snowdon of the series and knock a few people out who are arguably better than him (I can see both Sunetra and Steve going before he does, possibly Mark too, maybe even Jake on a bad week).


Next time: it's Halloween week, which is another excuse for odd costume choices, odd song choices, and a bad case of overmarking. We will also see the following: Judy as Cruella de Vil, Scott as Uncle Fester from the Addams Family, Frankie as Elphaba from Wicked, and possibly the most hilarious one ever - Alison & Aljaz as Cathy and Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights.

Until then,


KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP READING!

Strictly Come Dancing 2014: Week 5 (part 1)

Yep, it's back to 2 parts this week. I hate to say it, but this week and last I've found the show a bit boring, no real 'stand out' dance.

Loved Tess' outfit, the black and red was so striking. Contrast with Claude, who had a nice black dress on that then got ruined by the hanging curtains on her arms (I'm sure there's a 'Hanging Curtains of Winkleman' joke to be made, but Monkseal will probably offer one). As for the celeb outfits: Caroline and Alison got a rough deal from wardrobe (as usual), I mistook Frankie for Janette a couple of times, and Joanne looks more like Karen Hardy with every passing week.

Onto the dances, and in this part I'll go through dances 1-7 (so from Jake up to and including Mark).


Jake & Janette - Quickstep - "I'm Still Standing"

Do the producers never learn? Harry & Aliona's Salsa was ruined in some people's eyes as they did it to this song - funnily enough both this and "Build Me Up Buttercup" have now been used for 3 different dance styles (thanks to StigOfTheKrump from Digital Spy for that factoid). I wasn't a fan of the beginning - because they started on the top stage, it took them about 25 seconds to get into hold and start the routine properly. Also, I am going to harp on a little about the choreography I'm afraid: most of it was great, but the assisted jump and floor spin weren't needed and Jake seemed a bit put off after the jump. I'm also a little tired of seeing the spin in Jake's Ballroom routines where he has to hunch over slightly as he and Janette turn - it doesn't look elegant and actually makes Jake look a lot worse. He does seem to struggle with his hold as well, particularly his head positioning (too upright) and I hope Janette gets onto fixing it as soon as possible - this might be an odd opinion, but I thought Steve's hold in his Quickstep was better. Somehow I get the feeling that after having Jive and Quickstep back-to-back, he's probably going to have the Halloween Charleston.

Judges' scores: 7, 8, 8, 8 for a total of 31/40
My score: 7.25


Sunetra & Brendan - Viennese Waltz - "Anyone Who Had a Heart"

*RECYCLED SONG ALERT - Patsy & Robin in series 8*

Love how they styled Sunetra's hair to look like Sheridan Smith's in the recent ITV drama about Cilla. Not sure about the dress though, I would have put her in a lighter colour than brown. Actually, it looked as though wardrobe weren't sure what colour to put her in - the top part was black with a silver glittery bodice, the skirt was brown, and then the fluffy hem was a champagne colour. She made it work but it's a bit odd. Onto the dance, and Sunetra's footwork looked great, she just needs to sort out her arm positioning when out of hold: she still doesn't fully extend and this makes it look messy. Now this is where the technical experts might help me - I always thought that in Ballroom, the lady's head should be slightly tilted to the left to match the topline? I might be wrong on that but if not, then Sunetra needs to work on this as well. I'd like to see her do a Jive and see how she copes with quicker choreography, her Cha Cha Cha and Salsa have been her quickest dances and she didn't look entirely comfortable with either of them.

Judges' scores: 7, 7, 8, 8 for a total of 30/40
My score: 7.5 (I do think she should have been slightly higher than Jake)


Scott & Joanne - Charleston - "Flash, Bang, Wallop"

Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Where do I start? I know the pros get help with choreography for this dance, but surely the lifts could have been simplified a bit for Scott? He didn't exactly drop her when lifting her from the floor, I think what happened is that his hands slipped and so it looked like a drop, and he got put off by that, struggled to lift her for the next bit (when he was fine with lifting her for an earlier trick) and then was trying to get back on track. He did put more personality into it, which was great, but I would have liked some more enthusiasm from him in executing the steps - Joanne looked as though she was really outdancing him (which let's face it, is easy to do when it's Scott) and so he looked even worse. Give him a nice slow Waltz, chance for more control and more time to execute, and he'll probably get over 20 at least.

Judges' scores: 4, 5, 5, 5 for a total of 19/40
My score: 3.5


Thom & Iveta - Cha Cha Cha - "It's My Party"

Is it just me or was this song slowed down from the original Jessie J version? Or maybe just in a different key? Either way, this was basically the Iveta Show (set up on a rival channel to the weekly airing of the Kristina Show). Thom's hip action was good, but he just didn't look comfortable with this dance, he couldn't really stamp personality onto it like he did with the Charleston and Foxtrot (and his Salsa to a lesser extent). This was like a much worser (apologies for the bad grammar, I know worser isn't really a word but just go with it) version of his Salsa. Iveta also needed to tone it down a bit herself, another example of the pro overdancing it sadly. I think he could do with something like a Quickstep next week, it's fast-paced but allows for a bit of personality. Unfortunately, with where he is on the leaderboard, I can see him being in trouble.

Judges' scores: 6, 7, 7, 7 for a total of 27/40
My score: 5.75


Frankie & Kevin - Foxtrot - "Daydream Believer"

Sorry but to me, this is the song from the 'Evergreen' ads: "Oh if your lawn, is a farce, weeds a right pain in the grass......" *sings along to the advert* Where was I? Oh yes, Foxtrot. Normally I love Kevin's choreography, but I think he got it wrong on this one, The sections done in hold were lovely, but out of hold was just a bit too cutesy for my liking. I would have said it was the song, but then Thom & Iveta had an unconventional Foxtrot song last week and Iveta had the choreography spot on, just the right amount of sweetness. Frankie danced it well, and she put some personality into it, but this wasn't one of my favourite dances of hers. I'm hoping for a Jive for her next week, her Charleston was fast-paced and I'd like to see her do another fast Latin.

Judges' scores: all 8s for a total of 32/40
My score: 8


Alison & Aljaz - Tango - "Addicted to You"

Another monstrosity from wardrobe, seriously, they should be able to make flattering costumes for larger ladies. This was not Alison's dance: the song choice was awful, which meant that the choreography wasn't great, and there wasn't much in terms of story. She tried her best to do the 'staccato' action but it just wasn't coming together for her. Why can't the producers give everyone decent songs for every dance? These modern song choices just smacks of trying to compete with X Factor (what's the point when you start early enough anyway) when I'm sure the audience is more skewed towards the older generation. Bad song choices don't a good dance make - I'm not a music aficionado by any means, but I'm sure I could do a much better job of it than the PTB. *and breathe*

Judges' scores: 5, 6, 6, 6 for a total of 23/40
My score: 4.5


Mark & Karen - Samba - "That's the Way I Like It"

You don't really think Samba when hearing this song ('Give it Up' is better, and from the same artist) - carrying on from my rant above, just look at how bad this song choice is compared to Pixie doing the same dance style: it's called favouritism, and Mark has really suffered from it (first his Paso compared to Frankie's, then his Quickstep compared to Caroline's, and now his Samba compared to Pixie's. I'm not a fan of the guy but give him a chance fgs). As for the dance itself - he pleasantly surprised me. Ok, so the technique wasn't entirely there, but he got into it and did really well for a male celeb (although I wouldn't have said he was only 5 points worse than Matt Baker's). I would have liked a bit more movement as there were a couple of occasions where he wasn't really doing anything, but really impressed. VW next week maybe? I think he's going to beat out Simon, and in all honesty, I would think he deserved it if he did.

Judges' scores: 8, 9, 8, 8 for a total of 33/40
My score: 8



Next time, I'll review the final 5 dances (Simon, Judy, Caroline, Steve and Pixie) and give my thoughts on the dance-off and elimination. Until then,

KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP READING!

Strictly Come Dancing 2014: Week 4

Yep, I'm going to attempt to get this week's blog done in just 1 sitting! Normally I have time on Sunday/Monday mornings to get the 2 parts up, but that's not the case this week so I'm giving myself just under 4 hours to do it all tonight.

Last time, we saw Jennifer & Tristan exit stage left as they lost out to Simon & Kristina in the dance-off in Movie Week. This week, no theme but we still have unflattering costumes, strange song choices, and conspiracies of overmarking. Now before I get into the blog, I just wanted to add that I try and guess the scores after each dance. I was either spot-on, or just the odd mark or two away for all of them except 2 couples - and for these 2 I was about 4 marks under what they actually got.

Btw, I absolutely loved Claudia's dress from last night, and the one she has on tonight (the results show has just come on whilst I'm writing this) is nice too. Well done to her stylist - wardrobe would never do anything as nice as that.


Frankie & Kevin - Cha Cha Cha - "Call Me Maybe"

Frankie has said all week that she's been struggling with this dance, so I wasn't getting my hopes up too much. But seeing as this was the opener, I thought 'this must be pretty good then'. Sadly, I think the song hindered her - it's a bit stop-starty, which meant that she lost her flow a bit. I noted the hip-swinging move with Kevin was lifted from Kara & Artem's Cha Cha Cha - not a bad comparison, and they got similar scores, but considering this was 3 weeks later, I was expecting a bit better from Frankie. She didn't always fully extend in her arm lines, and she seems a bit uncomfortable when spinning. Her leg action wasn't completely there either, but on the whole, I think she did well. I'm surprised that this was the dance she struggled with though, I would have thought the Charleston might have been more of a challenge for her. Hopefully she'll have a lovely Ballroom for next week, something like a Foxtrot or American Smooth will get her her mojo back.

Judges' scores: all 8s for a total of 32/40.
My score: 7.5


Mark & Karen - Quickstep - "Tiger Feet"

I wasn't expecting much of this, as Mark's been ill this week, and this is the first quick dance he's had. I have to say though, I was impressed. Mark kept up well, only a bit of skipping, and he looked pretty good. He just needs to maintain his hold when he's travelling - as he's hunching over a little and his shoulders go up sometimes. His footwork was great though, particularly in the Charleston section. If anything, and I can't believe I'm saying this, Karen was almost underdancing it. Mark seemed to put a lot more energy into it than she did, especially towards the end. Give him a Salsa or Samba next week and we can see if he's improved his Latin to the standard of his Ballroom.

Judges' scores: 7, 7, 7, 8 for a total of 29/40.
My score: 7.5


Judy & Anton - Tango - "Jealousy"

*RECYCLED SONG ALERT - Alesha & Matthew in series 5*

I think I remember this being Alesha's Tango song back in series 5 (will edit with the alerts soon). The floor throw was awful, but apart from that, it was one of her better dances. Her hold was seriously improved, that hand tucked into Anton's armpit was perfect pretty much all of the way through. All she needs to do now is keep that other arm locked as it looked a bit loose in places, and to move her head slightly more to the left, and tilt it a bit more. Her footwork seemed decent too, and that leap into Anton's arms at the end was fantastic. She has Charleston next week, god help her.

Judges' scores: 4, 6, 6, 6 for a total of 22/40
My score: 5.5


Simon & Kristina - Charleston - "My Old Man Said Follow the Van"

Loved the singers on this one. Not sure if Kristina was overdancing or if Simon just lacked a bit of energy - now it was so much better than his Tango and Rumba, but not quite up there with his week 1 Jive for me. Loved the choreography too - Simon just needed to put some more energy into it and it would have been fantastic. He had a couple of moments where it looked as if he wasn't entirely sure of the next step, and the ending to that last lift was messy (but it was choreographed that way so I can't really blame him for that one. He can do the fast dances no problem, but he seems to overdo the control in the slower dances, so I want him to have a go at a slower Ballroom next week, something like a Waltz or a Foxtrot so he can prove to us that he is able to up his standard on the slower dances.

Judges' scores: 7, 8, 8, 8 for a total of 31/40
My score: 7.25


Alison & Aljaz - Samba - "Bootylicious"

Everyone knows by now that I love this pair, so I'm trying my best to not be biased. This was a lot better than her Jive last week, and that's why she got the marks she did (this was one of the ones that I correctly predicted) - not really overmarking as such.  She got into the performance as she always does, and that is something that not many people can get right (taking this week as an example - Frankie and Caroline looked a bit uncomfortable during their routines). Her footwork is dodgy, but she has the right idea and just can't complete it technically at the moment. Tango for her next week, and we know she can do serious (somewhat) from her Foxtrot, so I have my fingers crossed for her.

Judges' scores: 6, 7, 7, 7 for a total of 27/40
My score: 6 


Scott & Joanne - American Smooth - "Total Eclipse of the Heart"

If he can't look good doing a slower dance like this, then there isn't much hope for him. After this, there's not much hope for him. I'll give him a little bit of credit and say that the lifts were great, but apart from that, there was just so much wrong with it that I'd be here all day describing what went wrong. Just give him a Charleston and get him out then. Oh yes, I liked Joanne's choreography this week.

Judges' scores: 2, 5, 4, 4 for a total of 15/40
My score: 2.5 (but I guessed it would be about 4s)


Steve & Ola - Salsa - "Jump in the Line"

*RECYCLED SONG ALERT - Anita & Robin in series 9*

I've always liked Steve, he's seriously good for a total non-dancer. Well, it's a Salsa, so we knew with Steve's upper body strength that the lifts would be good. As Craig said, that 'around-the-world' lift was awesome. He seemed to have some trouble getting Ola in position for the overhead lift at the end, but after that shaky start it was great. Ola's predictable choreography came back this week with the knee slide at the beginning, I'm just surprised that there were no pivots to go with it, or the starfish. Steve did well with a difficult dance, but the problem for me was that they seemed to be dancing too slow to the music, that dance needed to be sped up a little. 

Judges' scores: 6, 7, 7, 7 for a total of 27/40
My score: 6.25


Pixie & Trent - Rumba - "Stay With Me"

I didn't really connect with Pixie this dance, and I thought that this would be the one to get me to warm to her. I loved her Quickstep last week so I hoped she'd do well in this too. I could see what the judges meant about the hip action - now don't get me wrong, there was hip action in there, she just needed to make it a bit more pronounced as it was so subtle that it was a struggle to notice it unless you were particularly looking for it. I wasn't totally impressed by the choreography either. Trent got it right for the most part, but there were some instances where things looked too frantic, and out of timing with the track. Contemporary-style Rumbas can be great, but those instances were just a bit too contemporary for my liking, and I would have liked her to take her time to form some shaping, like Caroline did last week. There were a couple of occasions where Pixie didn't finish off her arm lines, so this would have helped her I think. Ballroom is definitely more her thing, and she just needs to take her Latin up one notch.

Judges' scores: all 8s for a total of 32/40
My score: 8.25


Tim & Natalie - Paso Doble - "Simply the Best"

Oh good lord. I was dreading watching this as the song choice didn't seem right to me. This is one instance where traditional music would have really helped the dancer. Tim was just walking about for a lot of it, and very exposed when he was on his own. As always, he tried his best, but this just didn't work. I'm still trying to work out whether he went wrong with the beginning cape work - was he meant to be in sync with Natalie and swishing the cape to the same side that she was swishing her skirt? I'm sad he's gone as he was entertaining, but in a good way. His Waltz was lovely and he can always be proud of that. 

Judges' scores: 3, 6, 5, 5 for a total of 19/40
My score: 2.5 (this was one of those where I thought he'd score lower than Scott, as he was just walking around whereas Scott was doing steps)


Sunetra & Brendan - Salsa - "Turn the Beat Around"

Ok, I must confess that when watching this again, I was looking for the wardrobe malfunction. Sadly I couldn't spot it. Oh well, onto Sunetra. I thought she was really uncomfortable in this dance, she was able to hide it well but you could see she was struggling. Her footwork looked decent, and her hip action was there, but she needs to finish off her arm lines and try and put a bit more energy into it, like her Cha Cha Cha. Lifts and spins are not her forte and she really needs to work on her positioning for those (either that or don't put so many in Brendan). Her Ballroom is great, so she just has to try and get her Latin up to the same standard. I'd like her next Latin to be a Paso, not as quick as her other Latins but providing her with a better performance and more opportunity to perfect the routine.

Judges' scores: 6, 7, 7, 7 for a total of 27/40. 
My score: 6 (now before I get jumped on, normally Sunetra is better than Alison, but this week I feel they were about the same, with Steve being better than both)


Thom & Iveta - Foxtrot - "Build Me Up Buttercup"

Sorry but this has to be said - the singer really messed up! He came in too early, and tried to cover it but it was pretty obvious. As for Thom, he is definitely the dark horse of this year. His footwork was good, his hold was good, his lines were good. With him, it's just a case of polishing everything up - fully extending on his arm lines (he's almost there, just the last bit of extension needed), pulling up a little straighter in hold, maintaining body contact just a tad more. I was impressed by him last week and I am once again this week. I've now got him down to reach the semis, and he would deserve to get there based on the last couple of weeks, so long as he maintains that standard.

Judges' scores: 6, 8, 8, 8 for a total of 30/40
My score: 7.75


Jake & Janette - Jive - "All Shook Up"

I wasn't sure about the song choice, as I thought it was a little slow for a Jive. I liked the choreography, Janette obviously trusts him to let him start the routine on his own. His kicks and flicks were great, he just needs to decide what to do with that free arm, and to not overdo it so much that he struggles to keep it up near the end. It was a shame about the trip, as he was doing so well until that point. He's great at both styles of dance, and I'd like to see how he does with something like a Foxtrot, as he's better at dances with a bit of speed. I love how he gets into the performance each week, you can see how good an actor he is as he's very reserved off-floor. 

Judges' scores: 8, 9, 8, 8 for a total of 33/40.
My score: 7.75


Caroline & Pasha - Quickstep - "We Go Together"

*RECYCLED SONG ALERT - Rav & Aliona in series 7*

Perfect song for this dance, but this was a case where the theme hampered the performance. Caroline looked uncomfortable in places and it seemed as if she was sometimes struggling to keep up with Pasha. It was a great dance, but I felt as though Pasha could have simplified the choreography a bit for her. This was a dance that didn't play to her strengths, so I have to commend her for doing as well as she did. On this showing, Jive might be difficult for her, unless she gets a slightly slower track like Jake's. Not top of the leaderboard for me.

Judges' scores: 8, 8, 9, 8 for a total of 33/40
My score: 7.5 (not much that looked wrong, although I couldn't see a lot of the feet)


The Strictly Leaderboard:
=1. Jake & Janette, Caroline & Pasha - 33
=3. Frankie & Kevin, Pixie & Trent - 32
5. Simon & Kristina - 31
6. Thom & Iveta - 30
7. Mark & Karen - 29
=8. Alison & Aljaz, Steve & Ola, Sunetra & Brendan - 27
11. Judy & Anton - 22
12. Tim & Natalie - 19
13. Scott & Joanne - 15

My Leaderboard:
1. Pixie & Trent - 33
=2. Thom & Iveta, Jake & Janette - 31
=4. Frankie & Kevin, Mark & Karen, Caroline & Pasha - 30
7. Simon & Kristina - 29
8. Steve & Ola - 25
=9. Alison & Aljaz, Sunetra & Brendan - 24
11. Judy & Anton - 22
=12. Tim & Natalie, Scott & Joanne - 10


Dance-off: Tim & Natalie vs Mark & Karen. I had a feeling that Tim would end up there before too long, but I was a bit shocked that Mark was in the bottom 2. He must be struggling for votes more than I thought. 

Elimination: Tim & Natalie. Mark may have made mistakes in his dance-off performance, but he has much more potential than Tim, so this was a no-brainer and the right decision. Loved Tim's last dance with Natalie though and that they didn't just go to the hugs etc.

Recycled song alerts now stand at 17.


Until next time,

KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP READING!

Strictly Come Dancing 2014: Week 3 (part 2)

Last time, I reviewed the first 7 performances of the night, from the opener with Alison's Jive all the way up to the halfway point with Caroline's Rumba. So in this part, I'll be looking at the second half of the dances, from Scott's Samba until the ending number with Mark's Paso Doble. I will also be giving my thoughts on the dance-off, and the elimination.


Scott & Joanne - Samba - "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid

Poor poor Scott. This dance just reminded me of my brother-in-law's running joke of 'I'm a craaab! *pincer, pincer*', and Scott looked so uncomfortable in his crab outfit. I liked Joanne's choreography for this though, a better mix of the theme and the dance style here. That beginning when he stepped sideways with the pincers towards Joanne just makes me giggle every time I watch it. You can see he's really trying and for what it's worth he makes a decent attempt at the technique. His upper half isn't too bad, but his footwork is awful so he really needs to try and sort that out. A much better dance from him though, and he has the American Smooth this week which I believe will suit him much better.

Judges' scores: 2, 5, 5, 6 - with Donny scoring 7 to make it 25/50
My score: 4


Frankie & Kevin - Paso Doble - "America" from West Side Story

I was really unsure about using this song for a Paso Doble, despite its Flamenco stylings it doesn't really have that Spanish flair that more traditional songs have. I'm happy to say that I got proved extremely wrong after watching this routine. However, I'm not as impressed as others were. Dare I say it, I actually preferred Kevin's Paso with Susanna last year. There wasn't as much skirt-swishing for one (Susanna may have done a lot of it, but I'm pretty sure there was much more in Frankie's routine) and I think Susanna got the performance element of it much more than Frankie did - Frankie looked a little like a child having a tantrum at some points. I definitely don't think it deserved the first 10 of the series, bad Donny! It was a really good Paso, but I just don't think it was as good as Susanna's. 

Judges' scores: 8, 9, 9, 9 - with a 10 from Donny to make it 45/50
My score: 8.5


Jake & Janette - Waltz - "The Godfather Waltz" from The Godfather

*RECYCLED SONG ALERT - Brian & Karen in series 5*

I'm not a fan of this music, and I was a bit underwhelmed by the routine. What Jake did was good, I liked the concept and he got into the performance well as usual, but it was just missing something for me. A Waltz is meant (in my opinion anyway) to have a magical feel to it, and I think the song choice really hampered that. I get what Len is saying about swing and sway and Janette could have put some more of that into the choreography (although I feel that there was some in the routine), but I also agree with what Craig said about the theatricality and how it might be spoiled if there was additional swing and sway. In truth, I don't think any of the celebs or pros could choreograph a lovely traditional Waltz with that music (some of the more dance-minded will probably disagree with me there), so I think they were a bit hard on him in that respect. Whilst I'm on it, I think the judges should take into account that most of the time, the song and theme of each routine is decided by the producers and the pros can do nothing about it (this dance, Frankie's Charleston from last week to name but two from this series), rather than criticise them for it. I felt bad for Janette after this dance because of that, a more melancholic Waltz has been praised in the past (I can't remember for sure exactly who this was, but I know there's been at least one) and yet she gets criticism for something that she didn't have much control over. Onwards and upwards, hopefully.

Judges' scores: all 8s - with an 8 from Donny to make it 40/50
My score: 8 (scores were right but I think the critique was a bit too harsh)


Pixie & Trent - Quickstep - "Be Our Guest" from Beauty & the Beast

Oh look it's Barbie & Ken! Sorry, I mean Beauty & the Beast (although for some reason Trent decided to be Lumiére for this routine, love the work that wardrobe did on Pixie's dress though, that was perfect). Yeah, I think it's safe to say that I'm never going to be a fan of these 2. I have to say though, I absolutely loved this routine. I didn't like the end to it, and it took a while to get into proper Quickstep (about 30 seconds), but I loved Trent's choreography apart from that and it worked superbly with the song. Speaking of which, full marks to the singers on this one. I'm not sure who did the main singing but he was brilliant and so was the backing, bravo! Pixie messed up on the leap towards the end and she seemed to go wrong when they were in the top-left corner at the beginning (that might just be the shoddy camera work though), but she was spot-on everywhere else. She's got a Rumba this weekend, and I'm intrigued to see if she can match Caroline.

Judges' scores: 7, 9, 9, 9 - with a 9 from Donny to make it 43/50
My score: 8.5


Thom & Iveta - Charleston - "New York, New York" from On the Town

I haven't been too impressed with Thom in previous weeks, but he really surprised me with this dance, he is most definitely a Latin boy. He lacked a bit of swivel, and he was out of sync with Iveta or went wrong on a few occasions, but I loved the energy and performance that he had. I'm wondering if I might have seen his outfit somewhere before? I remember Scott Maslen's Charleston outfit being similar, and possibly Harry Judd's as well. In all seriousness though, wow, what an improvement! I'm hoping that he can inject this improvement into his Ballroom, because if he does, he will definitely be one to watch.

Judges' scores: 7, 8, 8, 8 - with a 7 from Donny to make it 38/50
My score: 7.5


Sunetra & Brendan - American Smooth - "The Way You Look Tonight" from Swing Time

Whilst Thom's a Latin boy, Sunetra is a Ballroom girl. Everything came together for this routine - traditional music, elegant choreography, classy dress - and this was a joy to watch. Sunetra got this perfectly - her arm lines were finished off beautifully the majority of the time, she had good footwork, and she gave a great performance. There's only 2 things that I found fault with in that routine: the first lift looked messy (as if she got caught off-balance in the transition), and that Sunetra needs to move her head just a little more to the left. That's genuinely it. If she can take the positives from her Ballroom and put them into her Latin, then she'll go far. 

Judges' scores: 7, 8, 9, 8 - with an 8 from Donny to make it 40/50
My score: 8


Mark & Karen - Paso Doble - "Theme from Superman" from Superman

Oh. My. God. Poor Mark. He could not look any less masculine if he tried (well, to be honest I compare every male to Mark Ramprakash who for me, exuded masculinity). I'm not sure if I can even really critique this dance. I'll try my best though - his hand shaping seemed a bit odd, and he messed up the leap, and the knee walks (he was off-balance) and then he looked to trip over when he was going towards the phone box at the end. I'll have to give Mark a compliment though - I don't think any other male celeb could have pulled this themed routine off in the way that he did. I hope he goes back to a lovely Ballroom next week, so that I can try and erase this routine from my mind.

Judges' scores: 6, 6, 7, 7 - with a 9 from Donny to make it 35/50
My score: ? I don't entirely know what to give this, so I'll be safe with a nice 5.5


The current recycled song count now stands at 14.


Judges' Leaderboard (excluding Donny's scores, so that it's out of 40):
1. Frankie & Kevin - 35
2. Pixie & Trent - 34
3. Caroline & Pasha - 33
=4. Jake & Janette, Sunetra & Brendan - 32
6. Thom & Iveta - 31
7. Steve & Ola - 28
8. Mark & Karen - 26
9. Simon & Kristina - 23
10. Alison & Aljaz - 21
=11. Jennifer & Tristan, Judy & Anton, Scott & Joanne - 18
14. Tim & Natalie - 17

My Leaderboard (scores multiplied by 4):
=1. Frankie & Kevin, Pixie & Trent - 34
=3. Caroline & Pasha, Jake & Janette, Sunetra & Brendan - 32
6. Thom & Iveta - 30
7. Steve & Ola - 24
8. Mark & Karen - 22
9. Simon & Kristina - 18
=10. Alison & Aljaz, Scott & Joanne - 16
12. Judy & Anton - 14
=13. Jennifer & Tristan, Tim & Natalie - 12


Dance-off: Simon & Kristina vs Jennifer & Tristan. Unlike most people, I wasn't surprised that Simon ended up in the bottom 2. A lacklustre dance, a Rumba nonetheless (ie the 'dance of doom' that put last year's winner Abbey Clancey in the dance-off), coupled with a not-so-popular pro, and the aspersions of Simon's arrogance, and it's not too shocking. Especially, given that Scott has a huge fanbase, Anton has a big fanbase, and Tim has the 'underdog' vote - it was only a matter of time before a mid-tabler like Simon was in the bottom 2. 

Elimination: Jennifer & Tristan. Right decision in my opinion - even if Simon had had a meltdown, he would have got through on sheer potential. It's said to say goodbye to them though, they had a lovely partnership and it would have been nice to see more of Tristan as a newbie pro. I guess it just means that he'll be in the Christmas Special, yay!


Next week's blog will see the celebs take on dances including the Paso Doble, the Tango, the Samba, the American Smooth, and the Quickstep. Until then,


KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP READING!

Strictly Come Dancing 2014: Week 3 (part 1)

So last week, we found that the Charleston that Gregg had cooked up with Aliona just wasn't good-looking enough, and we said goodbye to them as they were the first couple to leave the competition.

We now arrive at Movie Week, an excuse to shoehorn themed costumes, props and inappropriate songs in with some dancing (ie: any other week but we expect it more of a themed week and it's even worse than usual). Donny Osmond joins as a guest judge, and by the end of the night we wanted him to bugger off back to the US :p

Loved the opening pro-celeb number, with Aljaz and Tristan (iirc) running up the stairs to get to Tess and Claude to escort them down.

In this part of the blog, I'll be running through dances 1-7 of the night (from Alison to Caroline), and part 2 will cover dances 8-14 (from Scott to Mark) as well as the dance-off and elimination. The current recycled song count is at 10.


Alison & Aljaz - Jive - "Footloose" from Footloose

*RECYCLED SONG ALERT - Colin & Erin in series 3*

Another dance where the theme is that Alison and Aljaz are interested in each other, I'm spotting a pattern here. The beginning intro section was good, but the choreography for the first verse with them just sat on the steps not really doing much was unnecessary and was what I and Len would call 'faffing arahnd'. I think it's fair to say that this dance was never going to be good for Alison and so it proved to be. She was very flat-footed and lacked in energy, although I do think Aljaz was overdancing it a little and so she probably looked worse than she was. It's probably good in a way that she got this dance over and done with early in the competition, as the only real bad dance for her still remaining is probably the Quickstep.

Judges' scores: 4, 5, 6, 6 - with Donny scoring 7 to make it 28/50
My score: 4


Steve & Ola - Quickstep - "I Wanna Be Like You" from The Jungle Book

*RECYCLED SONG ALERT - Scott & Natalie in series 8*

Hopefully this is the end of the jungle/wild themed songs for Steve, the producers have had their fun now. Nice choreography from Ola here (excluding the end which was just weird), and Steve did well to keep up with it. He had good feet from what I could see, but he needed to maintain a bit more body contact with Ola. He also tended to lose his hold when turning, so he has to try and sort that out before his next Ballroom routine. It looked as though he slipped in front of the judges' desk too. This was probably his best dance though and I think he could be one of the 'dark horses' that tends to go out around top 6.

Judges' scores: 6, 7, 7, 8 - with Donny scoring 6 to make it 34/50
My score: 6


Jennifer & Tristan - Foxtrot - "Mamma Mia" from Mamma Mia

Love the Meryl Streep look on Jennifer, but I think wardrobe could have done a bit better with it so it didn't just look like dungarees stuck on a dress. Also, I'm still struggling to work out how on earth Mamma Mia is a Foxtrot song? And where does the rowing come into it? The choreography looked much better on a second viewing, but I was screaming at my telly for Jennifer to stop miming! It never makes you dance well and I'm not even going to list the mistakes as there's too many. She's in real trouble and I think she might be the one to go tonight.

Judges' scores: 3, 5, 5, 5 - with Donny scoring 5 to make it 23/50
My score: 3


Simon & Kristina - Rumba - "Take My Breath Away" from Top Gun

Not appropriate Rumba attire for Simon there, wardrobe seem determined that the young men should dance in skinny jeans for some reason. Well, Kristina tried her best, with as much distraction work as possible, but Simon really let her down here. He never seems to finish off his arm lines and there was a serious lack of hip action, which is pretty much a requirement in the Rumba. He needs something like a Quickstep or Charleston to get him back on track, but I think he'll end up being the shock exit of the series, and Frankie/Pixie/Jake/Caroline are all so far ahead of him now.

Judges' scores: 4, 6, 6, 7 - with Donny scoring 7 to make it 30/50
My score: 4.5


Judy & Anton - Quickstep - "Don't Rain On My Parade" from Funny Girl

Erm, performing a Quickstep to a track that has been used for a Foxtrot before, huh? Then again, Anton is the master at choreographing slooooow Quicksteps. I'm agreed with Craig here - the illegal lift was the best part of the routine. Judy was a lot better than previous - she kept up with Anton for the most part, and she seemed to maintain her hold relatively well. Her hand did slip on occasion, and she got caught off-balance towards the end, which put her off from then on (the end apart from the lift was awful). I don't know what dance will be a good one for her, so I'll be heading off to the loo whenever she's on from now on.

Judges' scores: 3, 5, 5, 5 - with Donny scoring 5 to make it 23/50
My score: 3.5


Tim & Natalie - Charleston - "Money Money" from Cabaret

Wrong song for a Charleston in my opinion, just a bit too slow, Natalie couldn't do much with it so had to go down the character route (she looked awesome btw). Loved the routine though, really played into the song. Judges, she really couldn't put much technique in there and I believe her when she said it was her fault that Tim started on the wrong foot for a section - it did look as if there was a prop malfunction and so Tim got turned around late as a result. He's got a difficult dance out of the way so that's good, although Paso next week should be interesting!

Judges' scores: 2, 5, 5, 5 - with Donny scoring 5 to make it 22/50
My score: 3


Caroline & Pasha - Rumba - "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" from Armagheddon

*RECYCLED SONG ALERT - Sarah & Brendan in series 2, Nicky & Karen in series 10*

I'm fed up of hearing this song, as much as I might like it. Caroline really impressed me with just how good she was, so full credit to her as I thought this would be a bad dance for her. Those standing spins were gorgeous, absolutely stunning. She just needs to make sure that all of her arm lines are finished off (most of them are but on the odd occasion she doesn't fully extend), that and I was struggling to see the hip action, but I think it might be the dress at fault there. Nice use of the dry ice to hide the feet, but the hair-shaking bit wasn't needed. I actually feel that she was on her own too much and as it was a Rumba, they could have been together a little more. Loved this though, and I'm looking forward to see how she does next week.

Judges' scores: 8, 8, 8, 9 - with Donny scoring 9 to make it 42/50
My score: 8


Part 2 of the blog should be up tomorrow morning. Until then,


KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP READING!

Strictly Come Dancing 2014: Week 2 (part 2)

Current recycled song alerts: 9

So in this portion of the blog, I'll be covering the second half of the dances from Saturday night. I'll also be giving my verdict on the dance-off and elimination. 


Caroline & Pasha - Tango - "Blame"

I wasn't a fan of the song choice, it doesn't really have that Tango beat (see last year's RihannaTango). I think because of that, the routine didn't hold my interest, I found it boring to watch - that's both of Caroline's dances now where I've said that, and that's not a good sign. Caroline's dress was a bit too long and I was waiting for her to get her heel caught, which thankfully she didn't. As for how she did, there were good and bad points. Like with Simon's Tango, I felt she was a bit too fluid (in the hold mainly), not enough staccato for me. She did well on the performance side, but she did lose the aggression when she was out of hold, particularly at the end of the routine. Give her something like a Salsa, with a good song, and hopefully I'll end up transfixed to the screen. Unfortunately for her, she's got a Rumba, presumably to the Aerosmith song from Armagheddon. 3 words: god help her.

Judges' scores: 7, 7, 7, 8 making a total of 29/40 (and an overall of 56/80)
My score: 6 (making my overall total 48/80)


Tim & Natalie - Waltz - "When You Wish Upon A Star"

X Factor advert song from a few years ago (the one with Frankie Cocozza in), that's all I think of when I hear this song. After watching the routine, you just want to say 'awwwwwww'. It was so lovely, so moving and charming. I definitely put a vote Tim's way on the night and I'm glad he stayed, as this was such an improvement on last week. He did seem to be skipping slightly on some of the steps, as if he couldn't quite keep up. I'm not sure if he had gone wrong somewhere and that was his way of trying to correct it. I'd also say that he needs to straighten up a little in his posture, as he did look hunched over throughout the routine - just straighten a fraction and then the top line would be much better. Please be nice to him producers, and give him a slow routine (but not the Rumba) this week.

Judges' scores: 5, 6, 6, 6 making a total of 23/40 (and an overall of 41/80)
My score: 4.5 (making my overall total 32/80)


Sunetra & Brendan - Cha Cha Cha - "Million Dollar Bill"

I just remember Whitney Houston's wardrobe malfunction on X Factor when she was performing this song as a guest, her dress strap had come off if I remember rightly. Anyway, onto the dance. After watching it for a second time, I get the feeling that Sunetra actually forgot a bit of the routine, she was stood still for a bit as if anticipating the next step. She also looked to go wrong a few times as well, and went off-time in trying to get back on track. Sunetra also needs to work on her arm placement, and make sure that she finishes her lines off. It wasn't a bad dance for her, but I don't think she'll be the dark horse that some people had her down as after last week. Another Ballroom for her please!

Judges' scores: 6, 6, 7, 7 making a total of 26/40 (and an overall of 50/80)
My score: 5 (making my overall total 40/80)


Mark & Karen - American Smooth - "I'm Yours"

Bad song choice in my book, it made the lifts feel shoehorned in. Also, I was struggling to tell their base dance - I suspect it was meant to be a Foxtrot, but they were moving a bit too quickly for a normal Foxtrot, so no wonder I was confused! The lifts were great, Mark did really well in the transitions and the actual lifts themselves. I thought they could have had a little more in hold if I'm honest, and I wasn't a fan of the 'cutesy' touches in Karen's choreography, it made the whole dance just a bit too sweet. I liked how the props dept recycled Matt & Aliona's swing from their Viennese Waltz just 4 long years ago *sigh*. Mark performed this well, he just needs to watch his free arm when he's doing spins (by this I mean when he's spinning himself, not the underarm turns he did with Karen as those were nice) as he didn't seem to know what to do with it and it ended up flying away from him. There was a bit of gapping too. By the way wardrobe, what on earth were you thinking of by putting him in a jumper and what looked like skinny jeans?! I'd like to see him have to be serious, so a Paso or Tango please.

Judges' scores: 6, 7, 7, 7 making a total of 27/40 (and an overall of 51/80)
My score: 6.5 (making my overall total 48/80)


Scott & Joanne - Tango - "Stop"

Worst song choice of the century. Really, a Tango to the Spice Girls? You'dve been better off recycling 'I Will Survive' from Jason Donovan's Tango if you wanted to go down the comedy route. Oh dear, I felt so sorry for Scott. He was trying but it just didn't work, not his duckface, nor his hold, nor his feet. Again, I was disappointed by Joanne's choreography, I felt she could have got him to travel the floor a bit more, and always given him something to do rather than have him stand still (the leg kicks being one such moment). To be honest, I couldn't stop staring at the pout she had on, I know the Tango is meant to be moody, but that was just weird. Producers, can you give him a nice song and a nice slow dance next week please? Sadly if the trailer's anything to go by, you'll be giving him a Samba to 'The Little Mermaid'.......

Judges' scores: 4, 5, 6, 5 making a total of 20/40 (and an overall of 36/80)
My score: 2.5 (purely because he was trying,making my overall total 22/80)


Pixie & Trent - Waltz - "Come Away With Me"

*RECYCLED SONG ALERT - Martin & Erin in series 1, John & Kristina in series 6, Harry & Aliona in series 9*

I'm still not a fan of these two, Pixie if you're too busy to train then why did you sign up? It's not going to endear people to you if you keep going on about not having enough time. *rant over* Anyway, crop tops are inappropriate for Ballroom (what are the wardrobe people on this year?) and the bridge has been done so many times now - most notably Audley & Natalie's VW to 'I'm With You' by Avril Lavigne, where the very first line is 'I'm standing on a bridge', I kid you not - that it's not even funny. Some of the choreography was a bit iffy (the swan burrowing underwater before sticking its neck out being one) and repetitive (how many rende de jambes (hope I've spelled that right) do you want?), and I thought some of Pixie's arm lines were a little off. Suffice to say, I don't think she should have got 35, I thought Frankie's Waltz last week was better. Maybe Pixie is the 'overmarked of doom' contestant this year?

Judges' scores: 8, 9, 9, 9 making a total of 35/40 (and an overall of 62/80)
My score: 7.5 (making my overall total 54/80)


Steve & Ola - Cha Cha Cha - "Treasure"

Well it didn't have any pivots but I CALLED THE KNEE SLIDE! Seriously Ola, get some new choreography. Ahem, aside from that, I liked that she gave him a lot of steps to do on his own. Side-by-side can go horribly wrong if the celeb can't keep in sync with the pro, so Steve did well there. His lower half looked good, but he needs to work on his top half, and in particular his arms. He just needs to place them a bit better, and make sure that he finishes off his lines (same as Sunetra). That reminds me, is it just me or does he remind anyone else of Chris Hollins? Just with the gurning alone? It's actually quite scary. I felt Craig's tirade was uncalled for, and just a bit biased. Nice slow Ballroom next week please.

Judges' scores: 3, 6, 6, 6 making a total of 21/40 (and an overall of 47/80)
My score: 5 (making my overall total 46/80)


Frankie & Kevin - Charleston - "Happy Days Theme"

Firstly, poor Kevin trying to choreograph a Charleston to a '50s style' song that's more suited to a Jive/Rock n Roll routine. You'd think the judges would know that so why so much criticism? Have to say though, credit to Frankie for coping with such a fast and content-filled routine. I would have liked a little more on the performance side from her, but I can forgive her from that because of how quick the routine was (has any Charleston been quicker than that? I doubt it personally). I'm not sure what went wrong with the lift at the end, whether it was a mistake on Kevin's part or if Frankie didn't get to the position that she was meant to be in. She did lack a bit of swivel too. I'm still really impressed with them though and they got a difficult dance out of the way early. Maybe something like a Foxtrot or Cha Cha Cha for them next week?

Judges' scores: 7, 7, 8, 8 making a total of 30/40 (and an overall of 60/80)
My score: 8 (making my overall total 64/80)


So here's the judges' overall leaderboard (scores out of 80):
1. Jake & Janette - 63
2. Pixie & Trent - 62
3. Frankie & Kevin - 60
4. Caroline & Pasha - 56
5. Simon & Kristina - 53
6. Mark & Karen - 51
7. Sunetra & Brendan - 50
=8. Thom & Iveta, Alison & Aljaz - 48
10. Steve & Ola - 47
11. Tim & Natalie - 41
12. Jennifer & Tristan - 37
=13. Gregg & Aliona, Scott & Joanne - 36
15. Judy & Anton - 35

And here's my overall leaderboard (keep in mind that I can only do even scores):
=1. Jake & Janette, Frankie & Kevin - 64
3. Pixie & Trent - 54
=4. Simon & Kristina, Alison & Aljaz, Caroline & Pasha, Mark & Karen - 48
8. Steve & Ola - 46
9. Thom & Iveta - 42
10. Sunetra & Brendan - 40
=11. Jennifer & Tristan, Tim & Natalie - 32
13. Judy & Anton - 26
=14. Gregg & Aliona, Scott & Joanne - 22


Dance-off: Gregg & Aliona vs Jennifer & Tristan. That's not a surprising result. Judy was saved due to Anton and being bottom of the leaderboard, Scott has his Radio 1 fanbase, but neither Jennifer or Gregg have much of a fanbase to go on. 

Elimination: Gregg & Aliona (unaminous judges' decision). Right decision in my book, Jennifer has more potential, but I do think it's unfair that Gregg was eliminated on 2 'Latin' dances when everyone else had done at least 1 Ballroom. I don't think Aliona should bother coming back next year as she'll just get another duffer (Natalie too actually).

Next week, it's Movie Week, so expect badly themed costumes, songs and dances; yep, so just another normal week of Strictly. Until then,

KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP READING!

Strictly Come Dancing 2014: Week 2 (part 1)

Well last week we had some good dances, some 'alright' dances, and some 'what the bloody hell was that?!' dances. Somehow I think we might get that again this time.

Presenter watch: LOVED what Tess was wearing, apart from that there seemed to be a little bulge on the one side, just under the chest (only the one side though), bit weird. Claudia looked nice too, loved the colour on her. Wardrobe dept have clearly responded to Tess' memo after the last 11 series spent being hit and miss in the style stakes. Shame they couldn't be bothered for some of the contestants though......

In this portion of the blog, I'll be reviewing the first 7 dances of last night (so from Thom up to and including Judy), with the remaining 8 to follow hopefully tomorrow morning. 

Also, I'll be doing a little count of how many recycled song choices we have during the series. Last week we had 5 in total (Caroline, Jake, Mark, Steve, and Simon) - a little less than I was expecting. BUT in the annual 'week 1 let's make the songs have as tenuous a link to the celeb as possible' competition, there were a fair few contenders:

Tim - "Shop Around" (auctions), Jake - "Toxic" (Max Branning), Judy - "Mull of Kintyre" (Scottish), Scott - "Rock DJ" (radio 1), Mark - "I'm Your Man" ("if you're gonna do it, do it Wright"), Steve - "Born to be Wild" (presented The Really Wild Show), Thom - "You Raise Me Up" (being raised to do a lineout in rugby), Sunetra - "Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor" (plays a doctor on Casualty), Gregg - "Hot and Cold" (food can be hot or cold - yeah I said tenuous).

After that little ramble, let's kick off the reviews!


Thom & Iveta - Salsa - "Hot, Hot, Hot"

*RECYCLED SONG ALERT - the legendary Mark & Karen (the only Mark & Karen in my book) in series 4*

With what was to come later (spoilers for Jake's routine), why did they have this open the show? It wasn't great and I would have saved it for a bad spot in the running order - suffered from a very bad case of overmarking as a result. To give him his due, Thom was a bit better here than last week. His hip action was good (which is quite remarkable for a male doing the Salsa) and the lifts and tricks were great, particularly the change of the arm when Iveta was doing the underarm turns, as that is pretty difficult to do. He did mess up on another underarm section at the end though, not sure what happened there. Thom needs to do some work on his arms, they were good sometimes but he just threw away the line often. He also needs to curb the gurning, he's not quite in Chris Hollins territory just yet, but he is starting to quietly approach the Patrick Robinson mark. I think he needs a dance like the Tango or Paso Doble, maybe even the Charleston to help him get his personality across better, as I feel he is quite bland and there's not much to him.

Judges' scores: 5, 7, 7, 6 making a total of 25/40 (and an overall of 48/80)
My score: 5.5 (making my overall total 42/80)


Jennifer & Tristan - Waltz - "(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman"

*RECYCLED SONG ALERT - Nicholas & Nicole in series 4, Alex & James in series 9*

So much better this week from Jennifer. She gave a good performance, and her footwork seemed good for most of the time, the standing spin at the end was lovely. She really needs to focus on her posture, her head position didn't look right and her top line wasn't quite there. She also needs to make sure that she finishes off her arm lines, as there were a couple of instances where she didn't fully extend. There was a bit of gapping during the routine too. I think she needs something like a Tango, which isn't as stiff a hold as for the other Ballroom dances, and if she can't do that then there might not be much hope for her in the Ballroom.

Judges' scores: 4, 5, 5, 5 making a total of 19/40 (and an overall of 37/80)
My score: 4 (making my overall total 32/80)


Simon & Kristina - Tango - "Sing"

Now unlike most people, I do think this is actually a decent song for a Tango. But I really did not like this routine. A bit like the Paso, the man should be strong, masculine, somewhat aggressive, and Simon didn't get that, so his performance suffered as a result. He had an odd expression on his face, and his hold seemed loose, with it completely going to pot on any pivot sections, his hand in Kristina's was shaped very oddly in those bits of the routine. It lacked a bit of staccato and was too fluid for me. Also, unrelated to the dance - Simon, stop sulking and doing your 'stand-up sit-down' routine in the Claudatorium, congratulate your fellow contestants. His attitude is starting to do my head in and I'm beginning to hope he is a shock early exit.

Judges' scores: 5, 7, 7 7 making a total of 26/40 (and an overall of 53/80)
My score: 5.5 (making my overall total 48/80)


Gregg & Aliona - Charleston - "Hey Good Looking"

Now this looked surprisingly decent in training, so I was hoping that on the night Gregg would be able to show us that he can dance. Sadly, his nerves took over again. He had somewhat decent swivel action, but that was about it. He forgot a fair amount of the routine, and just looked very wooden and awkward. I felt a bit sorry for him by the end. The face-plant into the cake wasn't needed really. He seriously needs a Ballroom, where there's more control, more in hold, and less opportunity for Gregg to forget the routine; but I don't think he'll get that far.

Judges' scores: 3, 5, 5, 5 making a total of 18/40 (and an overall of 36/80)
My score: 2 (making my overall total 22/80)


Alison & Aljaz - Foxtrot - "I Just Wanna Make Love To You"

Still loving this pairing, they have such fun together and Alison's enthusiasm is infectious. Dare I say it, I think Aljaz might have a very small crush on her, judging by his theming of their first 2 routines. He seems much happier this year. I could watch this routine all day. Not much in terms of Foxtrot content admittedly, but there was enough for a purist like me to be happy. Love the fun spin put on it, there's a way to do entertaining without going into comedy mode (Anton, take note please) and Aljaz has nailed it. I actually think they  were undermarked in comparison to a couple of the others. Okay, so there was some gapping, and the top line wasn't as good as it should be, but I loved the feel of it, so I'm a happy blogger bunny.

Judges' scores: 5, 5, 6, 6 making a total of 22/40 (and an overall of 48/80)
My score: 6 (making my overall total surprisingly 48/80)


Jake & Janette - Salsa - "Mambo No. 5"

*RECYCLED SONG ALERT - Peter & Erin in series 8*

I wasn't expecting much of Jake, considering he was a 40+ male doing a Salsa, but miracles have happened (see Mark Ramprakash). Janette is Cuban by origin and a Salsa specialist, so I was hoping for a good routine from her. WOW, she didn't disappoint there! Lots of content, lots of hip action from Jake. Again he got into the performance right from the word go and just let rip. The tricks were excellent and that last lift was jaw-droppingly brilliant. I was impressed with him last week, but I am now thinking we might actually have our first over 40 Strictly winner right here. Props to Janette, it was a brilliant routine but she needed a fantastic dancer to do it justice, and she's got that in Jake. LOVED IT!

Judges' scores: 8, 9, 9, 9 making a total of 35/40 (and an overall of 63/80)
My score: 9 (making my overall total 64/80)


Judy & Anton - Cha Cha Cha - "She's A Lady"

*RECYCLED SONG ALERT - Jill & Darren in series 2*

I didn't see much of this on the night, had to make an emergency pit stop in the bathroom, so this was my first time seeing it properly.  Jeez this was awful. Judy's another one where the nerves seem to overtake her. So much went wrong during the first half of the routine that I'm not even going to list any of it as it would take me all day. She got much better in the second half though. Poor choreography from Anton, but what do we expect from someone who isn't best friends with Latin dancing? Too much time spent faffing around at the beginning, and at the end. Judy needs to work on her arms as she isn't finishing off her lines properly, and apart from that, erm, I'm not sure. I'm struggling to think of a dance that she'll be alright with, as you would think it would be the Waltz. Hmm, I'll get back to you on that one.

Judges' scores: 2, 5, 5, 5 making a total of 17/40 (and an overall of 35/80)
My score: 2 (making my overall total 26/80)


In part 2, I'll be reviewing everyone from Caroline up to and including Frankie. I'm hoping to get the part 2 blog up tomorrow morning, so until then:


KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP READING!