Saturday 25 November 2017

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)

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