Strictly Come Dancing 2017: Week 10

Another quick one this week, but it is going up early with the Dance League Table to follow.


Joe & Katya - Quickstep - "Jumpin' Jack"
1. Wowzers, this made me sit up and take notice. Fantastic choreography there.
2. Joe's footwork looked absolutely on point, those rotating pendulums were amazing.
3. I did however see Joe's frame wobble a few times, and it's as if he was pushing his left arm and shoulder forward too much?
4. Props to the special fx team, that skyscraper floor graphic at the end was superb.
5. I can't give a 10 for the mistakes, but I'm happy to give a solid 9, so 36 from me. 


Alexandra & Gorka - Rumba - "Halo"
1. Not for me I'm afraid, I really don't like when dances that are designed to be sloooow end up being frantic, it just doesn't work and it didn't here either.
2. I was surprised that Alex actually did this dance, I thought this was the one she'd skip as it would likely cause her the most problems?
3. I can kind of see what the judges meant about the lack of connection; most of the time Alex was looking away from Gorka and so that chemistry which you need in a Rumba wasn't there, but when they did have gazes locked I could sort of see it. 
4. It didn't really feel like a dance for me, completely agreed with Shirley on Alex dancing through the 1 when she shouldn't have, but also because of the lack of connection, there was no storytelling which you need for a Rumba. The choreography didn't seem to connect with the song as such?
5. I'm struggling a little on where to place this, I think I'm more on Craig's side of things so I'm going to go with a 29 (I did wonder whether the spin in the middle was an illegal lift, but the thumbnail shows it wasn't)


Gemma & Aljaz - Samba - "The River of Dreams"
1. I'm not a fan of this one either, this dance is a great example of when a crap concept ruins a dance.
2. The whole theme just made the Samba they did do look a little lacklustre, and I was missing the double bounce action from Gemma through most of that. She did get the voltas correct though as Shirley noted.
3. Is Aljaz not a fan of the Samba? I thought this dance was lacking a bit in terms of content.
4. Aljaz isn't the best actor of the male pros, but he's still better than Pasha.
5. One of Gemma's worst dances, I'll give it 22.


Mollie & AJ - Quickstep - "Umbrella"
1. That was going ever so well, and then something went wrong at the end, was Mollie meant to do running splits Natalie Lowe-style?
2. Mollie's frame was so much better, hand placement was consistently flawless, and those rolling pivots were stunning.
3. I did feel that there was a bit of a disconnect when they first got to the floor and were doing the side-by-side section, AJ's steps had him picking his foot off of the floor a fair bit whereas Mollie's moved a little but not as much. I don't know whether that was deliberate but it didn't look right. 
4. It took a little too long to start the dance properly, but great choreography from AJ again. His work for the Ballroom dances seems a fair bit better than his Latin.
5. I thought this was underscored, I'd give 34.


Davood & Nadiya - Waltz - "With You I'm Born Again" (RECYCLED SONG ALERT! - Natasha & Brendan in series 1, Mark & Karen in series 4, Denise & James in series 10, Helen & Aljaz in series 13)
1. Can we retire both this song and Espana Cani (used for the PD-athon) now please?
2. Now this I did give a standing ovation to, if only because Davood has finally managed to close his mouth when he dances!
3. All joking aside, he's managed to maintain the great Ballroom that he had from his American Smooth, and Nadiya has kept up the simple but beautiful choreography; this dance actually reminded me of Abbey's Waltz with Aljaz a little.
4. Only a couple of things I noticed: Davood needs to fully extend his arn lines through the hand as his hand looked a little 'spatulistic' (as Craig would say) during the standing spin with Nadiya near the start. Also, his left elbow dropped a few times so he needs to watch that.
5. I did love this though, so fully agreed with the scores and therefore Davood gets 35.


Debbie & Giovanni - Argentine Tango - "Por Una Cabeza" (RECYCLED SONG ALERT! - Tom & Camilla in series 6, Holly & Artem in series 9)
1. You could actually hear a guy say 'Wow' in the middle of that, think that says it all.
2. It looked a lot better on rewatch, do think Debbie was slightly shaky at one point, but I did love this routine (kudos to Vincent, that guy can choreograph and then some!) and I felt the connection between them.
3. Debbie's attitude at the start on the chair was fabulous, that little snooty look she had as she did the splits, oh yeah, totally feeling that.
4. That little leg brushing move always amuses me, as it was done for the lady of the night to see how much money the male had; and it always reminds me of Britney Spears doing the same in the video for 'Toxic', only she did it with her bottom rather than her leg. Same reasoning though.
5. Again, fully agreed with the scores so 38 it is.


Susan & Kevin - American Smooth - "Beyond the Sea" (RECYCLED SONG ALERT! - Ashley & Ola in series 11)
1. This is another one that looks so much better on rewatch, and I think it was also Kevin's little homage to his bench-tastic showdance with Frankie from a few years ago.
2. I would have liked more in hold, but I do feel that this was meant to be in a similar vein to their Quickstep so it didn't bother me too much.
3. A little bit clunky in the transition to that last lift, and Susan needed to extend her arm lines some more, but I smiled watching this, the realisation of Susan's little crush on Kevin. *sighs*
4. I can't think of this song without hearing Robbie Williams sing it, and I think the singer sounded a little like him on this one.
5. I'm going to go higher than the judges, and I do think this was better than Gemma so I'm going to give 25.


The Paso Doble-athon: not as fixed as previous years, let's leave it there.


My Leaderboard (PD-athon excluded):
1. Debbie & Gio - 38
2. Joe & Katya - 36
3. Davood & Nadiya - 35
4. Mollie & AJ - 34
5. Alex & Gorka - 29
6. Susan & Kevin - 25
7. Gemma & Aljaz - 22


RECYCLED SONG ALERTS! - this week: 3 (3 out of 7 is pure laziness)
RECYCLED SONG ALERTS! - overall: 35

The Apprentice 2017: Week 8 - "Doggy Business"

The Rude Awakening & The Briefing:

·         8am, candidates having a lie-in and LAS buzzes the door, Jade goes to answer (50 points to her in replacement of the phone)

·         Harrison not wanting to come down, bless, interesting bed hair Andrew, and notice that him, Charles and Liz aren’t wearing glasses (Michaela looks a lot better here than she usually does) but Anisa is

·         The teams must provide mobile services: either a canine spa or some doggy agility training

·         +50 Jade

Initial Stages:

·         Vitality: Charles finally gets PM over Anisa (with backing from Michaela as he’s had dogs in the family) whilst James is PM again for Graphene (40 points for Charles and James, 20 for Anisa)

·         James/Harrison/Bushra mobile team, Liz STL with Joanna (15 points to Liz)

·         Charles makes Andrew STL over Anisa (he claims Andrew has leadership qualities that override him not having dogs, Anisa is not happy she’s been overlooked) (15 points to Andrew for being made STL and another 15 for Charles praising him)

·         11am and the teams split. Liz and Joanna have a little bonding moment over the small dogs being the feisty ones (‘like me’ says Joanna)

·         Liz goes to see the doggy spa first, shown grooming parlour and spa – pawdicure, facial. Joanna wants to know how easy it is to learn the technique but admits she doesn’t have much experience with dogs (and Claude criticises her for not filling the owners or him with confidence). Charles/Jade/Michaela follow on, £15-£35 charges. (Joanna loses 30 points for Claude’s critique)

·         Liz and Joanna head to the agility centre, doggy dancing class (£12, 8-10 people). Michaela has 4 dogs and reckons they’d love the agility class.

·         Joanna wants to go for spa and Liz agrees; Jade also wants the spa, but the owner feels Joanna wasn’t a dog lover and goes with the other team. Liz is still positive. Michaela claims to have had a load of botox?

·         Anisa wants ‘Dirty Dogs’ as a brand name for the poop-scooping sideline but Sarah thinks it’s offensive. She wants £20 pp per hour but Anisa wants to go higher (overruled by Andrew) (Anisa loses 15 points for being overruled)

·         Sarah leads the pitch, Andrew goes for £120 and swears in front of the client, Sarah was ‘mortified’ by this and reckons they could have got £180. Harrison promises a lot in terms of waste removal and treating, James claims £200 for 2 hours and a partial refund if they don’t complete within that time (Claude says ST has overcomplicated and made a mess of it). (Andrew loses 15 points for Sarah’s comments, James/Harrison/Bushra lose 30 each for Claude’s criticism)

·         Vitality want all 3 services sold at £120 altogether. Liz and Joanna go for £25 for their sessions. Vitality ST have some knockbacks; Bushra says ‘close second is not good enough’, Liz says ‘more focus on the positives’ Joanna ‘hopefully she hasn’t had any close seconds’. (I'm loving this more witty Joanna btw)

·         The poop-scooping client go for Vitality as they feel that James’ ST overpromised. Andrew ‘I’m so happy about picking up poo’

·         2hr photo shoot for £475 quoted by Sarah, goes down to £225 but Andrew wants £250 (this gets brought up by the client) and Sarah then goes down to £200, client says they’ll think about it; Harrison meanwhile does some tricks with the dog, James quotes for £250 and Bushra knocks it down to £150 (a considerable drop according to James that could affect them), again client says they’ll think about it (they’ve clearly watched this show) – (Bushra loses 15 points)

·         James reckons he can up the £25 quoted by Liz and Joanna and gets £35 (without consulting his ST)

·         Charles wants his ST to make prospecting calls for them but Andrew wants to concentrate on handing out flyers, he gets agitated with Anisa chiming in and Michaela then takes the phone to ask Andrew if they can do it ‘No’ and puts phone down. (Andrew loses 95 points for a phone cut-off)

·         Jade/Charles/Michaela brush up on grooming techniques; they don’t however get the photo shoot contract

·         +40 Charles, +15 Liz, +10 James, +5 Anisa, -30 Joanna/Harrison, -45 Bushra, -80 Andrew

The Mane Event:

·         8am and Graphene team update: James says fully booked and most at £45 (reckons they needed to up the money)

·         Vitality team meeting: Andrew and Charles start to have a set-to but Michaela stops it, she chases a few more leads.

·         10am: ‘Elizabeth be gentle with me’ Joanna, Jade ‘this is one for you Michaela’ (bottle of prosecco)

·         Claude describes Liz as a force of nature and no need to change the course when customers are waiting (hopes they don’t get any refunds) (Liz loses 30 points)

·         Charles’ spa team are chasing a no-show with Michaela, can’t catch up with them

·         Vitality ST try to organise some treatments along with the poop-scooping and are told ok but must be done by 12. Karren reckons big contract at low rate, end up picking up bird poo (blames Sarah), Anisa flapping about. (Sarah and Anisa lose 30 points each for Karren’s comments)

·         Anisa reckons she's doing all the work and Andrew just standing there ‘do you wanna swap then?’ (good comeback Andrew)

·         Graphene have no morning appointments and so try to drum up some business door to door. They do get a job (£100 for a simple job quoted by Harrison, Claude reckons they have a great opportunity to earn some cash)

·         £144.98 quoted by Jade for a spa treatment, Charles directs his team (Jade and Michaela used to combing hair as their hair is long and he’s prompting them along, but Karren reckons Charles is sitting back and letting them do all the work) (Charles loses 30 points)

·         Vitality’s poop scoop client drops the price to £135 as haven’t cleared all of the bird poo. Andrew ‘I’m pooped’

·         Claude says the photo shoot is all very cute but the sweatshirts are the reason for the shoot and you can barely see them – the photo client agrees and they get £125 for all of the shots (Bushra loses 30 points as she was the one who took the photos)

·         Liz and Joanna dog training class – problems with some customers paying more than others due to James and they go back to £25 (Liz says James overcharged people and they’re talking between themselves about who paid what) so that they can try to sell the products (James loses 15 points)

·         Andrew and Sarah tell Anisa to calm down so that the 6 pooches they’re taking photos of can be captured (Anisa loses 30 points)

·         Liz and Joanna find that the products are being sold more now that the refunds have happened

·         Last hour: £125 for James, Vitality reunite to take on more poop scoop jobs and Jade struggles with the poo. ‘Come to me turds’ Charles. £55 for Andrew.

·         More products being sold for Liz and Joanna

·         High 5s all around says Charles, Andrew reckons they should get some prosecco

·         -15 James, -30 Liz/Bushra/Sarah/Charles, -60 Anisa

The Initial Boardroom:

·         Vitality: Karren brings up that Anisa wanted to be STL and Charles said his experience of her last week meant that he didn’t think she could handle the pressure. Got the spa that they wanted, and also got the poop scoop. Didn’t get the photo shoot, Sarah admits it was muddled in terms of how they negotiated. Andrew reckons good thing they didn’t take on the prospecting that Charles asked for. Andrew asked why didn’t up the price for the bird poo, Sarah admits should have done that but they did put a treatment on top which they sold. Karren reckoned Anisa was overwhelmed. Tumbleweed when asked if Charles was good leader (Andrew’s face is a picture) Sarah says didn’t have much contact and left to own devices. (Anisa loses 15 points for Charles’ comment, and an extra 30 for Karren’s statement, Charles loses 40 for no-one saying he was a good PM and a further 15 for Sarah’s criticism)

·         Graphene: Liz is dog lover but barking mad also, James put Liz in charge of the training team ‘Miss Bossy Boots’ and LAS expected her to be PM. Wondered why James didn’t go there himself as that was the money maker. Didn’t get poop scoop client as Harrison went in too enthusiastically. LAS backs up Liz and Joanna in terms of the price of the training and reckons James made a big mistake there. Photos bad. (30 points lost for Harrison and James)

·         Vitality: £325 spa, £375 mobile, £114.75 extras = £814.75

·         Graphene: £435 training, £435 mobile, £407.92 extras (thanks to the dogged determination of Liz according to Claude) = £1277.92 (Liz gains 30 points for Claude’s comment)

·         Treat: Thai Square Spa, James is happy he took the risk of being PM 2 weeks in a row, Harrison reckons needs to step up as PM

·         Losers Café: Andrew claims lack of urgency and not enough speed (blames Anisa: useless and whinges all day), Charles claims Sarah’s numbers all over the place and can’t see what she’s done this task. Michaela calls Andrew defensive and disruptive for claiming that Charles should have put himself and Michaela in different teams as they both have dogs (‘I don’t;’ says Charles) (15 points lost for Anisa, Sarah and Andrew)

·         +30 Liz, -15 Andrew/Sarah, -30 Harrison/James, -60 Anisa, -70 Charles

The Losing Team Boardroom:

·         LAS needs to work out whether wasting time with certain candidates. Charles should have realised that more dogs = more money, only processed 4 dogs. Jade claimed didn’t have time and asked ST to take over on leads, Charles blames Andrew for going too low a price on the poop scoop. Anisa states did ask to go in high ('why do they not listen to you?'), Andrew criticised for swearing during the pitch. Jade blames lack of structure, Michaela thinks Charles should have done more. Michaela felt she was PM at times. Charles brings back Andrew and Anisa. (Charles loses 30 for LAS’ initial comment, and a further 30 for Jade and Michaela’s feedback; Andrew loses 45 (15 for Charles blaming him and 30 for LAS having him over the swearing) and Anisa loses 30; Andrew and Anisa lose a further 60 points for being brought back)

·         -60 Charles, -90 Anisa, -105 Andrew

The Final 3 Boardroom:

·         Charles: ‘lost 6 out of 8’ (LAS) ‘loves a bit of delegation’ (Karren) ‘not done much’ (Claude)

·         Andrew: ‘man-child’ (Karren) ‘has tried’ (Claude)

·         Anisa: ‘completely unfocused and would drive LAS mad’ (Karren), ‘doesn’t have approval of other colleagues’ (Claude)

·         Andrew asked on swearing ‘doesn’t come from corporate world’, Charles taken over family business and doesn’t think has shown true ability, Anisa asked on why business should be fun. Andrew says Anisa should be more decisive, Anisa blames Charles for not making enough sales. Charles says no-one has confidence in Anisa. Andrew blames Charles first and then Anisa. Anisa and Andrew argue and Karren calls Anisa ‘flustered’. (Anisa loses 15 for Andrew’s initial comment, another 15 for Charles saying that no-one has confidence in her, another 15 for Andrew blaming her, and another 30 for Karren’s criticism; Charles loses 30 for both Andrew and Anisa blaming him)

·         Andrew – immature, don’t like swearing and was warned, undervalued poop scoop, honest opinion is he’s here 4 or 5 years too early. Not ready and therefore he is fired. Why is Anisa not listened to? Charles is Mr Hindsight, nice enough fellow but like the dogs seems to lay around and do nothing, has made life difficult but Anisa is also fired. LAS is looking for a business partner who leads and not a consultant, is wished the best of luck but Charles is also fired.

·         -30 Charles, -75 Anisa

Roll Call and Points Tallies:

He Came Too Early: Andrew (-200)

A Vote of No Confidence: Anisa (-280)

A Close Second is Not Enough: Bushra (-75)

‘Cause I’m Mr Hindsight: Charles (-150)

He’s Alive, Alert, Awake, Enthusiastic: Harrison (-60)

“This One is for You Michaela”: Jade (+50 but only for answering the phone so really 0)

Why Did He Have to Go and Make Things So Complicated?: James (-35)

Queen of the Quip: Joanna (-30)

Barking Mad: Liz (+15)

De Facto PM: Michaela (0)

Held Her Hands Up and Admitted Everything: Sarah (-45)

Points Rankings for the Week:

1.       Jade (by default for the phone): +50

2.       Liz: +15

3.       Michaela: 0

4.       Joanna: -30

5.       James: -35

6.    Sarah: -45

7.       Harrison: -60

8.       Bushra: -75

9.       Charles: -150

10.   Andrew: -200

11.   Anisa: -280

Strictly Come Dancing 2017: Week 9

Yep, this is another late one which I do apologise for, I've been ill all week and going to bed early plus continuing sleep problems means I haven't been able to work on this much. As of next week though, I'm having some time off work so the posts should be up more quickly.


Mollie & AJ - Charleston - "Wings"
1. She definitely enjoyed this one, which I haven't always felt with her Latin dances
2. Could have had more swivel action in that first section, but she was on it with the backing dancers in the second
3. THOSE LIFTS! AJ must be deceptively strong to be able to pull off that series towards the end there
4. I like the fact that AJ didn't overdance it like he sometimes has a tendency to do, and Mollie looked all the better for it. I would have liked a bit more energy though, the song is so fast that they looked slooooow at times.
5. I think Craig's 6 was harsh, although the score was about right so I'll give it 30.


Susan & Kevin - Paso Doble - "Scott & Fran's Paso Doble" (RECYCLED SONG ALERT! - Lesley & Anton in series 1, Mark & Karen in series 4) 
1. This gets a lot better on a second viewing.
2. I would have liked to see just a tad more attack from Susan, but the flamenco section was great.
3. She still throws the lines away sometimes, a little more shaping and extension would do wonders for her
4. This was thoroughly entertaining though, loved it.
5. Score was about right, think I'dve given one more so 26 it is.


Debbie & Giovanni - Samba - "Wannabe/Who Do You Think You Are?"
1. At least it wasn't 'Spice Up Your Life' yet again
2. The wig looks even worse in the thumbnail
3. Loved that they changed the lyrics to 'Debbie McGee, doesn't come for free' 'And as for G, haha, you'll see'
4. I think the music hinders the watching of the dance as her technique is actually pretty good and she doesn't look out of place amongst the backing dancers at all. Again, sometimes didn't extend fully in the arm lines, but she does usually so I know she can do it on future dances.
5. Agreed with the score again, but as usual I'll add one so 34 for me.


Jonnie & Oti - Tango - "Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This" (RECYCLED SONG ALERT! - Louisa & Vincent in series 4, Russell & Flavia in series 9)
1. Like Susan's, this looks so much better on second viewing
2. Ok, he can't really help the bum sticking out as that's how he balances on his prosthetic. As much as I respect him for wanting to be treated as an equal, I do think the judges could have taken that into consideration rather than bleat on about it every bloody week. If he's got it tucked under as much as he can without it affecting the prosthetic, that's good enough for me.
3. Other than that, I thought he really got the sharpness of the Tango. A bit of gapping though, but that's to be expected somewhat with the bum issue.
4. Have to say though, loved the styling of this dance and Oti's choreography was awesome.
5. I think he could have gotten a bit more in terms of the score, I'd give it 28.


Gemma & Aljaz - American Smooth - "Downtown"
1. Finally, a dance of Gemma's that I love!
2. So much elegance, the lifts and the transitions into and out of them were fantastic, arm lines were fully extended, head carriage (thanks Claire Balding) much better.... need I go on?
3. Aljaz sticks his bum out......
4. I honestly couldn't spot any faults, bravo Gemma!
5. Seeing as I couldn't see anything wrong, I have to give this a 40.


Davood & Nadiya - Paso Doble - "Live & Let Die" (RECYCLED SONG ALERT! - Letitia & Darren in series 5, Caroline & Pasha in series 12)
1. This song is so overused, I remember it being used for a BBC Newsreaders dance on Children in Need many moons ago, one which I'm pretty sure involved Natasha Kaplinsky (either that or her lookalike Kate Silverton)
2. Congrats wardrobe, you've found the one outfit to make Davood look massive around the middle.
3. Loved the little nod to London 2012 with him coming down in a parachute
4. I don't know, it was suitably dramatic (much better choreography by the way Nadiya) but it was missing the shaping for me (not sure what Shirley was on about with the twist turns and neither was Vincent on Choreography Corner this week)
5. I'm going to be harsher than the judges on this one and give it 31 just because of the lack of shaping.


Alexandra & Gorka - Quickstep - "We're in the Money"
1. Sorry, this was pretty damn great but not a 10 for me.
2. Craig, where's your '10 second rule' rulebook? It took them quite a while to get into hold and even then they came out of it quite quickly.
3. I felt Alexandra dropped the left elbow a little on occasions, and something seemed to go wrong when they were getting back to the coin at the end.
4. Fantastic footwork and musicality though.
5. I'll give this 36 - I can't give a 10 but it was still fabulous.


Joe & Katya - Salsa - "Ride on Time"
1. So brave of Joe to come down on the clock when he's afraid of heights.
2. Kudos to Andrea, she sung that perfectly.
3. I seriously loved this and I was hoping it would be reflected in the scores, which it was.
4. I think he missed a couple of arm grabs, but the lifts and tricks were spectacular and he has good hips for a guy of 42. This dance reminded me of Jake's Salsa and Samba a lot, which can only be a good thing.
5. Score was about right, I'm agreed on 34.


My Leaderboard for the week:
1. Gemma & Aljaz - 40
2. Alex & Gorka - 36
=3. Debbie & Giovanni, Joe & Katya - 34
5. Davood & Nadiya - 31
6. Mollie & AJ - 30
7. Jonnie & Oti - 28
8. Susan & Kevin - 26


RECYCLED SONG ALERTS - this week: 3 (3 out of 8 is just laziness, song-picking pixies!)
RECYCLED SONG ALERTS - overall: 32 (just over 3 per week)

The Apprentice 2017: Week 7 - "Advertising - Cars"

The Rude Awakening & The Briefing:

·         5am and Anisa answers the phone (+50 for her)

·         Love the background music btw; Anisa and James are being set up for PMs

·         Andrew talks to Charles about how they’ve only won one task

·         They arrive at the Dunton Technical Centre

·         Launching a brand new car with some digital advertising screens; LAS has ultimate decision

·         Sarah moves back to Vitality, Liz has her glasses off, and no-one plays Scarf Wars, and everyone has their coat on properly

·         Liz is apparently 6 foot?!?

·         +50 Anisa

Initial Plans:

·         Anisa volunteers for PM as does Michaela, everyone backs her; Claude is worried as Anisa should be a natural choice with her PR and branding experience (+40 Michaela, +20 for Anisa volunteering but -30 for Claude’s comment)

·         James is PM for Graphene, a few misgivings about the market, but Sajan heads up the TV ad with Liz making sure there’s a woman (and she heads over there); Joanna is STL (+40 for James, +15 for Joanna being STL)

·         Michaela chooses Anisa for STL and Jade and Andrew will join the PM for the TV ad (+15 for Anisa)

·         Some brainstorming of brand names: Andrew comes up with Miami, Jade visualises an idea as does Andrew, Michaela backs Jade as they’re both females and therefore the target market. Saj is going to direct for Graphene, Liz ‘back seat drives’ according to the voiceover and wants to go for a comedic advert with herself as the star. Saj describes Liz as a dominant person, but he’s the director so it will be his decision. (+15 for Jade with her idea being backed, -15 for Liz after Sajan’s statement)

·         James goes for an old setting with a new car (Norman village) – Karren reckons they don’t get when the Norman era was….. (-30 for James/Sajan/Liz)

·         +40 Michaela, +15 Jade/Joanna, +10 James, +5 Anisa, -30 Sajan, -45 Liz

The Advert Takes Shape:

·         The teams go to Exterion media to create the digital display:

·         Joanna comes up with a rambling storyboard which Bushra and Harrison struggle to understand (and the photographer is looking at his watch) Joanna reckons Bushra is just looking to ridicule whatever point she makes (-15 for Joanna and Bushra)

·         Anisa has misgivings on the name, and Charles calls Michaela aggressive and a control freak saying that she should listen to the team. (-15 for Michaela)

·         Sarah describes Anisa as being too PR and style over substance (Claude looks confuzzled) (-15 for Anisa)

·         Liz reckons the set is a pretend village and correctly describes it as a pretend Norman fort. Liz thinks they’re scuppered, and James wants to speak to ST to check that the brand is consistent with the advert, and Sajan (with Liz’s help) come up with ‘Conquer Life’. Harrison doesn’t get what conquer is ("is it what comes off of a tree?"). Liz reckons the brand name sounds like a comic strip whilst Joanna describes it as futuristic. Harrison is concerned about the chickens. (-100 for Harrison with his stupid question)

·         Michaela’s ST get an Essex housing estate with Andrew as a star, Andrew describes Michaela and Jade as big characters with it being difficult to get a word in edgeways and that they’ve sidelined him. He’s worried about the time going and the amount of takes, but Michaela reckons there’s enough to pad it out to 20 seconds of advert (-15 for Michaela and Jade from Andrew’s criticism)

·         Liz says Saj is too bothered with cinematography and camera angles and not enough with actual direction (-15 for Sajan)

·         6pm at the media place: Joanna wants to show a story with Expando, whilst Anisa takes control of Vitality’s ad. She doesn’t want to be in the boardroom again (you weren’t even brought back love!)

·         Michaela likes Anisa’s digital ad, she’s nervous about pitching but says she’ll have to prove she can do it and find confidence from somewhere; Anisa and Sarah are worried and they decide to ask Michaela if they can pitch – Michaela however reckons she’s doing a good job, and ‘thanks for the confidence guys’ (-30 for Michaela with the girls having no confidence in her, -15 for Anisa and Sarah with Michaela’s ‘thanks for the confidence’ comment)

·         Jade/Michaela/Andrew on editing, Michaela admits not as much footage as they would like; she wants Andrew to write down the 10 key points but he reckons there would be too much for 20 secs (‘I’ll just tell you which ones are wrong then’) ; Michaela says Andrew is getting on her nerves ‘jack of all trades master of none’ wants to do stuff but not doing anything productive (-15 for Andrew)

·         Liz/Saj/James editing: Liz still back seat driving acc to the voiceover; she completely takes over and Karren criticises James for not taking ownership of any decisions himself. (-30 for James)

·         Harrison/Bushra/Joanna do some market research – they don’t notice much apart from that it’s for a car and the brand name; Bushra and Joanna argue about being constructive and Bushra reckons Joanna’s a bit too aggressive (-15 for Joanna)

·         Anisa/Charles/Sarah market research: they think it’s for a rental car rather than an actual car that can be bought

·         Michaela, Anisa and Sarah do the pitch; Charles comes up with a solution to the rental car problem (+15 for Charles)

·         James, Liz and Bushra to do the pitch; Joanna criticises Bushra doing the pitch and thinks it should be her or Harrison (-15 for Bushra)

·         James/Liz/Bushra: James starts off well, but Bushra loses it and Joanna has criticism, James says Liz is 6ft 2 so shows lots of space in the car; asked how the digital panels and TV ad are part of the same campaign (James and Liz pass the buck to Bushra who BS’s – Joanna reckons they can’t get the right answers because Bushra disagrees with everything); asked on the strapline and name and Bushra answers both. Saj says name was a joke (-30 for Bushra with Joanna’s 2 critiques)

·         Michaela/Anisa/Sarah: Michaela freezes when starting off the pitch but brings it back and Jade/Charles reckons she sounds good, Anisa talks with her hands which Jade and Charles criticise and she also hesitates a little and struggles to read the panel (Andrew: oh my god), asked on strapline as not to use ‘fast’ and Anisa says ‘we thought we got away with it’, Jade/Andrew/Charles all want her to stop admitting to all the criticism and to stop talking (Andrew ‘take her out, tackle her, just do something’) (+30 for Michaela with praise from Jade and Charles; -75 for Anisa: -30 for the initial critique of Jade and Charles, and -45 as that whole ST criticises her)

·         Vitality – confusion over what ad is, cannot use ‘fast’

·         Graphene – baffled by name but felt pitch was good, didn’t match up to advert and confusing

·         +15 Charles, -15 Jade/Sarah/Andrew/Sajan, -30 Joanna/James/Michaela, -60 Bushra, -100 Harrison, -105 Anisa

The Initial Boardroom:

·         Vitality: why was Anisa not PM? As Michaela only has a construction magazine, Jade came up with the advert and Andrew designed to sit in the car and ‘look pretty’ (Michaela), LAS liked the use of the drone, and calls the strapline an escape from prison, criticises the panels being confusing, Michaela asked on the others not thinking she was the best to pitch (blames nerves and broad accent), asks Andrew on ‘Anisa shut up!’, was Michaela happy with the pitch? They’re proud of her facing demons and Jade/Charles said she was good (-15 for Andrew with Michaela’s backhanded compliment, +40 Michaela for the team saying she was a good PM)

·         Graphene: Bushra’s idea for family, Saj did 26 shots on the ad, Liz and James talk the confusion over the setting, Joanna seems proud of the name Expando, Liz asked whether they killed any wildlife (‘no!’), LAS trying to work out link between panels and advert and Harrison admits there isn’t any, Joanna talks about Bushra disagreeing with everything, Bushra feels she was blocked out by Joanna and Harrison (-15 for Bushra/Joanna/Harrison)

·         LAS awards the win to…… Vitality as their panels had some link to the ad, and ‘clearly the best’ – sends them as treat to the Orbit in the Olympic Park and the world’s largest tunnel slide

·         Michaela is delighted that she won as PM, Andrew reckons done more than enough to prove that fresh and young and can be whatever LAS wants him to be, but Michaela calls him all over the shop, unprofessional and could never be LAS’ business partner (-15 for Andrew)

·         Joanna blames Liz, Saj blames Liz and James, Harrison tells Liz that if she thinks the strapline caused the loss then she’s completely wrong, Liz blames James for poor decision-making (-45 for Liz with Joanna/Saj/Harrison all levelling some blame at her; James loses 30 for Sajan and Liz blaming him)

·         +40 Michaela, -15 Bushra/Joanna/Harrison, -30 Andrew/James, -45 Liz

The Losing Team Boardroom:

·         LAS says both STs were rubbish, James admits not good at creative task and looks to delegate, blames Joanna’s ST; Bushra says Joanna went with what she wanted and wanted to block Bushra from taking credit; Joanna had the name and Harrison the strapline; Sajan asked on directing of the ad, where was the story? Saj talks on camera angles and James criticises the advert ‘why did the chicken cross the road?’ (good one LAS), James says the ad was embarrassing, Liz asked on doing everything (says it wasn’t the Elizabeth show and can rein it in if she was too strong). James brings back Joanna and Saj; Liz told the failure of the task had a lot to do with her and LAS brings her back. (James’ comment means Joanna/Bushra/Harrison lose 15 points each, -15 for Joanna with Bushra’s statement, -15 for Sajan with James’ comments on the advert; -60 for Joanna/Sajan/Liz all being brought back)

·         -15 Bushra/Harrison, -60 Liz, -75 Sajan, -90 Joanna

The Final 3 Boardroom:

·         Liz: ‘louder she shouts something, more will be listened to’ (Karren)

·         James: ‘couldn’t cope with Liz as a strong character’ (Claude)

·         Joanna: ‘full of excuses’ ‘difficulty in accepting did something wrong’

·         Saj: ‘if truly creative, could adapt storyline to setting but didn’t’ (Karren)

·         Liz says been team member in every task they had won, Joanna says she’s a control freak and overpowered James, she says James let Liz PM the team and Saj agrees, LAS asks Saj what has he done that’s creative (he says his photobooth business is creative and LAS disagrees). Says difficult to be creative when had disruptive member of team (ie Liz). Saj criticises James for listening to Liz; Karren criticises Liz and Joanne for speaking at same time, Liz asks Joanna who she wants to speak. LAS says Joanna takes credit for team winning and passes the buck when losing ‘can talk’ acc to LAS and she reckons Saj should have put his foot down with Liz. James asked what needs £250k for when he was earning £200k a year, Saj asked why he should stay in ‘not finished article, got long way to go but has passion and hard work, I am your business partner’; James says ‘this is a creative task but I am numbers guy’; Joanna ‘I am youngest, know I’ve made mistakes’. (-30 for Liz with critique from Joanna and Sajan, and loses another 30 for the comment from Karren; -45 for James (2 comments from Saj and 1 from Joanna); -45 for Saj blame from LAS and Joanna; -60 for Joanna with criticism from LAS and Karren)

·         Liz – worry that control freak mannerisms won’t work with him, Saj – cannot see any standout moments of creativity, Joanna – argumentative and confrontational which worries him, James – let the others walk over him, weak leadership and persuaded easily by Liz which puts him in awkward position. Not seen anything from Saj in this task and he is fired. James told if good with numbers then he would know that certain amount of people left and only 5 tasks; Liz given benefit of the doubt but if any repetition, won’t need to come back to boardroom as she’ll be fired.

·         Saj reckons shouldn’t have gone, makes no sense

·         Andrew says more than one to go, Harrison says James deffo back but Bushra not sure.

·         -45 James/Sajan, -60 Liz/Joanna

Roll Call and Points Tallies:

Michaela’s NOT Part of His Fan Club: Andrew (-45)

“Take Her Out, Tackle Her, Just Do Something!”: Anisa (-50)

Computer Says No: Bushra (-90)

He Finds Solutions, Not Problems: Charles (+15)

He Didn’t “Conker”: Harrison (-130)

She Has A Vision: Jade (0)

The Numbers Guy: James (-95)

Playing the Age Card: Joanna (-180)

Back Seat Driver: Liz (-210)

A Matter of Confidence: Michaela (+50)

As Creative as a Cardboard Box: Sajan (-165)

“There”: Sarah (-15)

Points Rankings for this Week:

1.       Michaela (+50)

2.       Charles (+15)

3.       Jade (0)

4.       Sarah (-15)

5.       Andrew (-45)

6.       Anisa (-50)

7.       Bushra (-90)

8.       James (-95)

9.       Harrison (-130)

10.   Sajan (-165)

11.   Joanna (-180)

12.   Liz (-210)