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!
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