SCD Week 9 Review

Just to make sure that it's posted :) 


So we waved a sad farewell to Michael and Natalie. I'm sure Michael will be fondly remembered for the worst (and yet most hilarious) Jive in Strictly history. I have to applaud him though, he tried his hardest each and every week and I now fully appreciate Natalie because of their partnership. Kudos to Ms Lowe.


Was Tess best dressed?: Hmm, not as good as last week. The split in her dress was too high and the bling was not necessary. 7/10


Kimberley & Pasha - Jive - "Land of 1000 Dances"

Definitely overmarked this week. She was doing alright but she did tire quite badly towards the end and really can't do spins. Suffice to say I think the song was a bit too quick and Pasha might have put too much content in for Kimberley to handle. She needs to come back, refine the technique and dial back the performance a bit.

Judges' scores: 9, 8, 8, 9
My score: 7.5

Dani & Vincent - Viennese Waltz - "That's Amore"

What is it with the judges and undermarking Dani? This was so much better than Kimberley's effort, I'm starting to wonder if she's doing better in the vote than we all thought. She still struggles to fully extend in the arms and feet but I feel she did all the extensions quite well. Vincent has excelled himself again with the choreography.

Judges' scores: 8, 8, 9, 9
My score: 8.5

Michael & Natalie - Samba - "Tequila" 

Oh Michael, thank you for carrying on from Victoria in terms of car-crash Latin. It wasn't actually too bad though. Natalie had taken tips from Ola in trying to do 90% of the work, and Michael didn't look awful apart from the hip thrusting (it never looks right when male celebs do that though). It's a shame that he's gone as he got into the spirit of Strictly and then some.

Judges' scores: 5, 7, 6, 6
My score: 5.5

Nicky & Karen - Argentine Tango - "Skyfall"

I actually thought this was quite good for the most part. At least he was actually doing some dancing and not just posing/lifts (see Colin and Kristina). In my opinion, he wasn't being that aggressive at all, so not sure what the judges were seeing there. He needs to refine the technical side, especially for the Ballroom dances, but he should be ok for any Latins that he has left. 

Judges' scores: 7, 8, 7, 8
My score: 7.5

Lisa & Robin - Quickstep - "Bring Me Sunshine"

This was what I'd say "wasn't Lisa's dance". She doesn't seem to be able to master travelling in hold, and seeing as that's what the Quickstep mostly is, this wasn't technically very good. Her footwork was terrible - hardly mirroring Robin at all and she struggled to pick up her feet. She did however give a good performance again, and the roll-over onto the sofa made me smile. Robin needs to try and choreograph so that she's able to keep up with him and then it will look a lot better.

Judges' scores: 7, 8, 8, 8
My score: 6

Denise & James - Salsa - "Rhythm of the Night"

I might not like this pairing, but for about the first third of the dance I thought Denise was doing really well. Like Kimberley, there seemed to be too much content for her to cope with. The meltdown from James (supposedly him) just topped it off. This was better than her Cha Cha Cha and I reckon James might just decide to skip the Rumba, seeing as Denise can't seem to master hip action. Denise needs to watch Kimberley for if she has the Samba.

Judges' scores: 8, 8, 8, 8
My score: 7.5

Louis & Flavia - Charleston - "Dr Wanna Do"

Call me cynical but as soon as I realised that Louis was towards the end of the show I knew he'd get his "breakthrough". I actually quite liked this dance and he did finally give a performance (so kudos to him for that), but for me, some of the technique seemed a little messy and I can't understand the 10s. To improve, he needs to keep it up with the performance at all times, but not at the expense of the technique. He'd do well to have a look at some of Harry's dances.

Judges' scores: 8, 10, 9, 10
My score: 8.5


My Leaderboard:
=1. Dani & Vincent - 34
=1. Louis & Flavia - 34
=3. Kimberley & Pasha - 30
=3. Nicky & Karen - 30
=3. Denise & James - 30
6. Lisa & Robin - 24
7. Michael & Natalie - 22