Strictly Come Dancing 2017: Week 1 Review (5 thoughts)

Ahh, Strictly's back, and it's one of those shows that (like Great British Bake Off) just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm just going to do a '5 thoughts' style review whilst there are so many couples, but I may come back and do a full review at some point. Do bear in mind that I type up these notes beforehand and then put them on here so the formatting will be a bit off (and for whatever reason, the font sizing is broken so I've had to make the writing bigger; apologies if it's a little too big and bright for you, I've done what I can to fix it as much as possible). 

Anyways, on with the show!



Thoughts before the dances:
1.  Loved the pro dance – saw Janette with AJ, and Anton with Dianne
2.  Tess and Claud both look awesome
3.  Shirley looked nervous on the judges’ walk-in, bless her
4.  Ruth's hair is awful (looks like it's clipped on at the side)
5.  Mollie & AJ/Aston & Janette don’t match
6.  Amy looks like Amy Lee from Evanescence 
7.  Simon looked huge (as in fat), his outfit was not doing him any favours
8.  Best dressed has to go to Charlotte, worst is probably Simon

Gemma & Aljaz – Cha Cha Cha – “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back”

1.       Still continuing the ‘I’m a Northerner and sexy is not in my vocabulary’

2.       The workplace visits have started already

3.       She does seem incredibly nervous, lots of looking at the floor so she’ll need to work on that

4.       Lacking in a bit of energy I thought, she was thinking too much about where she needed to go next, seemed a bit placed?

5.       Her legs are much better than her upper body, so agreed with Craig on the free arm and the ‘heaviness’. Overall, probably a 23/40 I’d give – and I’m not normally more lenient than the judges; Aljaz’s remark about expecting 1s was a bit….. hmm.

Brian & Amy – Tango – “Temptation”

1.       Brian looks like David Hasselhoff with that tan

2.       Note he can’t say ‘oldest’ outright because of Ruth, who looks a lot younger than he does

3.       Laughter yoga? Eh?

4.       He had a decent hold, but he was very loose out of it. Footwork looked ok, but not as sharp as it could have been.

5.       He did certainly get the feel of it, although he did remind he of Ainsley Harriot’s camp tango in parts. Darcey said ‘the boys are right’ – DRINK! Score-wise, I’d probably put this at a 17 (compared to what I gave for Gemma) – judges agreed for the most part. Brian has the Cha Cha according to Claud, probably a better dance for him.

Alexandra & Gorka – Waltz – “(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman” (RECYCLED SONG ALERT!: Nicholas & Nicole (series 4), Alex & James (series 9), Jennifer & Tristan (series 12))

1.       Very touchy-feely these two.

2.       Hmm, not sure what to think. She was good, but the choreography was a bit too manic for my liking, it reminded me of a Kristina Waltz.

3.       Craig had good points on the posture – it didn’t look right but I wasn’t entirely sure why. It was as if she was too closed-in, didn’t open out as much as she could have.

4.       She does have great musicality though and she followed through on nearly all of her arm lines, did stumble or hesitate a little at times.

5.       Oh bless her, we all know why she’s emotional. I’d score her a 26 I think, she’s definitely going to be one of the good ones.

Simon & Karen – Paso Doble – “Song 2” (RECYCLED SONG ALERT!: Jodie & Ian (series 6), Fiona & Anton (series 11))

1.       How is he 54? And love him for making Karen work in the kitchen.

2.       He coped well with the fast-paced choreography, but his posture and arms were awful (don’t think the jacket helped). Darcey was completely right on the shaping, his hands were particularly dreadful.

3.       Footwork was decent, and he did get into the feel of the dance – I felt the intensity but it was all in his face.

4.       Karen could have possibly done a bit more with him, too much time with the drape at the beginning and the stomping as Craig mentioned.

5.       In terms of score, on par with Brian, maybe a little less. 15 maybe? (First time I’ve been harsher than the judges) He has the Waltz so Karen has to get his posture sorted.

Charlotte & Brendan – Foxtrot – “The Best is Yet to Come” (RECYCLED SONG ALERT!: Nicky & Karen (series 10))

1.       Loved how they re-showed the launch show with Brendan goofing like ‘yeah, I know it’s me’

2.       Right up there with Alex for me, that was a lovely surprise. Some touches of Kevin-ography in there.

3.       Good footwork, she did lose her posture on occasion and Brendan had to keep trying to maintain the gapping, her hand shaping was sometimes lost, but a very good attempt at a difficult dance. Holding onto Brendan for dear life occasionally.

4.       I get what Craig meant about the ‘dancing as one unit’, you could see the concentration on her face at times and oh! ‘This girl’ already? DRINK!

5.       Agreed with the score (in comparison to everyone else), I’dve given a bit more personally (24)

Chizzy & Pasha – Cha Cha Cha – “Boogie Fever”

1.       Alison & Aljaz all over again? Although Pasha is not as good an actor as Aljaz…..

2.       Yep it is, choreography included. Although, at least they got the theme dance out of the way

3.       She did forget the steps at times, but I loved the energy, and well done Pasha on not overdancing.

4.       Her hips are very good, upper body a little stiff but she can work on that. Loved Craig’s little head-bob (see Sue Sylvester when Mercedes was doing ‘Disco Inferno’ on Glee); and oh Shirley! Forgetting her name already!

5.       Yep, Alison & Aljaz on repeat. Score-wise, I’d say judges will put her in same bracket as Gemma, for me (being more lenient) I’d say 22. Not liking all the ‘can I just say?’ though (but it was really good of her to give a shout-out to colleague John Michie who's had a bad time recently).

Jonnie & Oti – Waltz – “When I Need You” (RECYCLED SONG ALERT!: Jaye & Andrew (series 3), Patsy & Robin (series 8), Rachel & Pasha (series 11)) 

1.       Another lovely surprise. More lyrical choreography from Oti as we saw last year.

2.       Good hold for the most part, just needs to watch the shoulders and he did hunch at times.

3.       Craig was right about the hands. He almost had them down, the lines were great but he did throw a couple away without fully extending.

4.       Darcey and Bruno had a point about the characterisation – he was seriously nervous at the start but he’d relaxed and got into it by the end. I was charmed too Bruno, I could easily fall for him.

5.       In scoring terms, probably about 18 from the judges, I’d give him 20 I think. Loved Oti’s ‘not on TV!’ about her training methods, and Janette was so happy on the scores. Jive next time, think this will be a tough one.

Joe & Katya – Jive – “Rockin’ Robin” (Technically this isn't a 'RECYCLED SONG ALERT!' as it hasn't been used on the main show, but it was used in the Christmas Specials for Louisa & Vincent (series 4) and JB & Ola (series 10))

1.       Oh I do like his voice. I don’t normally like an Irish accent, but his, ooh……..

2.       Haha love the Aqua song in the background, thank you Strictly! (That would have made a half decent Jive actually....)

3.       YES! That is what I’m talking about! So quick and fluid, his legs were so good.

4.       Needs to watch the free arm, and you could tell from his face that he had gone wrong a couple of times and lacked energy on occasion.

5.       He’ll top the leaderboard I reckon, I’d give 28 myself but I see 25/26 from the judges (feels so good to be wrong, as are you Claud, Abbey Clancy?). Haha Craig, I knew the glazed over expression at the end from you meant you loved him! The crowd were cheering so much that Darcey and Shirley couldn’t hear them.

Susan & Kevin – Viennese Waltz – “Mad About the Boy” (RECYCLED SONG ALERT!: Phil & Katya (series 7))

1.       My favourite couple here, and can I just say that Kev looks really good tonight? It’s odd. Hehe on the literal song choice (liked their singing in the car too).

2.       I started off laughing and I was almost crying by the end, think this’ll be one that I’ll be rewatching.

3.       She seemed to pick up her feet a little too much? Also she lost her posture at times.

4.       Arm and hand lines were very good though, just needed to fully extend into the hand slightly more. Also Kev did overdance just a tad (as he tends to do).

5.       I think I am going to love Kevin more this year than I already do. Scores, about 21-ish? I’d give 22/23 myself.

Debbie & Giovanni – Paso Doble – “Be Italian”

1.       Gio actually looked scared in those chains. And at the end of the dance! She was scarily good though.

2.       So flexible, and she was really good at the characterisation too, loved the choreography from Gio.

3.       Did look at the floor a few times when spinning, needs to watch that. I got reminded of Helen George a few times for some reason?

4.       Did she actually snog him at the end? It looked like it – she did?!? Good on her. Good Spanish arms too.

5.       Score-wise, I personally thought she was better than Joe, so 30 for me. Oh I love this little partnership, yay for them being top.

Davood & Nadiya – Cha Cha Cha – “Dedication to my Ex”

1.       Nadiya reminds me of someone facially and I can’t think who, it will bug me.

2.       Oh Davood, don’t do the Danny Dyer impression.

3.       And we have a gurner; that being said, quite decent indeed. I used that song for a Strictly game a few years ago so I loved that it’s been used.

4.       The energy went downhill a couple of times and he did keep looking at the floor; but it was very dynamic and his footwork was good.

5.       I’d give 25 as a score – they remind me of Gethin & Camilla actually so high hopes for them. Leaderboard position about right I think.

Ruth & Anton – Waltz – “This Nearly was Mine”

1.       Not as bad as I expected. Slight balance issues and you could see her shaking on occasion, but her hold was good for the most part.

2.       Just needed to be over to the left a little more, she was too upright. It looked so elegant though (when she wasn't going wrong).

3.       Hand shaping on Anton’s shoulder was good, she wasn’t really clinging onto him (I disagreed with Shirley and Bruno there but it may well have been that the camera angles made it look better).

4.       Not really worth commenting was it Craig?

5.       I’d put her at the bottom sadly with Simon, and looks like I was right. Charleston should be a good dance for her though. Look at Jonnie’s, Pasha’s and Nadiya’s faces during Anton’s antics in the Clauditorium.

Richard & Dianne – Cha Cha Cha – “There must be an Angel”

1.       Dianne seems more dressed for a Charleston than a Cha Cha Cha (with the headpiece)? She does look like the perfect partner for him though.

2.       Oh good lord, that start. But I LOVED IT!

3.       I can’t decide where he fits on the campness scale – somewhere between Gregg Wallace and Judge Rinder is my verdict (with a bit of Ainsley Harriot thrown in)

4.       Footwork was ok, kept time for the most part, bit of gurning though.

5.       Needs to place his arms a little better, just threw away those lines. He needs to think of Bruno (nutty as he is, that man has exquisite arms). 18 for a score I reckon? He reminds me of Mark Benton a bit (with the bonkers Iveta). Bit harsh Craig! Thank you Shirley.

Mollie & AJ – Jive – “Good Golly Miss Molly” (RECYCLED SONG ALERT!: Natalie & Vincent (series 7), Simon & Kristina (series 12))

1.       She looks a lot younger tonight, good job make-up team.

2.       AJ wasn’t that bad at singing actually, but Mollie was definitely auto-tuned on the Saturdays tracks (her voice was a fair bit higher on those).

3.       She did still look a bit uncomfortable and seemed to lose time and forget a few steps, but AJ packed in the content and she coped with it well for the most part.

4.       She’s like a cross between Pixie Lott (looks-wise) and Rachel Riley (dance-wise, somewhat).

5.       Hmm, about 22/23 for a score. Judges will probably go about 24 (which would be harsh on Alexandra). Loved Chizzy mopping AJ’s brow afterwards.

Aston & Janette – Foxtrot – “It Had to be You” (RECYCLED SONG ALERT!: Michelle & Brendan (series 8))

1.       I want to like Aston, but I get the sinking feeling that he’ll be a mix of Lewis Hamilton and Peter Andre personality-wise.

2.       Bra-vo! For the first time, I loved Janette’s choreography. I got flashbacks to Ore’s American Smooth and Harry’s with Joanne from the Christmas Special. Haha good one Darcey.

3.       He’s possibly a little too sharp for this dance, but he was seriously good (even though I was hoping for him to fall off of the stairs when he was sliding down the rail).

4.       For a score, I’d give 32 (and I think that’s where the judges will go). He was better than Debbie – Latin will be where he shines but a very good showing for his first Ballroom.

After all of that, I’d say Alex was undermarked a fair bit (and I thought she’d be the new Louise of the series); Brian’s pretty much a certainty to go first, and I reckon I’ll like more of the partnerships than I thought I would.

For a comparison, here's my leaderboard with the difference between the judges' scores and positions in brackets:

1. Aston - 32 (score: +1 compared to judges, position: = compared to judges)
2. Debbie - 30 (score: =, position: =)
3. Joe - 28 (score: -1, position: =)
4. Alexandra - 26 (score: +2, position: +1)
5. Davood - 25 (score: -2, position: -1)
6. Charlotte - 24 (score: +2, position: +1)
=7. Gemma, Mollie - 23 (score: +3 for Gemma/= for Mollie, position: +2 for Gemma/-1 for Mollie)
=9. Chizzy, Susan - 22 (score: +1 for Chizzy/+2 for Susan, position: -1 for Chizzy/= for Susan)
11. Jonnie - 20 (score: =, position: -2)
12. Richard - 18 (score: +1, position: =)
13. Brian - 17 (score: +1, position: +1)
=14. Simon, Ruth - 15 (score: -2 for Simon/-1 for Ruth, position: -2 for Simon, = for Ruth)


All in all, a good first show and I do believe that this year will be competitive. We can't say that anyone is a JudgePet as yet (although Davood and Mollie are the closest so far, with Simon being a little protected as well), and Shirley looks to be the technical voice that we were missing (Len did give some critique, granted, but it was more about his soundbites than anything else).

Bring on week 2 and the first elimination I say!

RECYCLED SONG ALERT COUNT: 7 - the Song-Picking Pixies have been quite lazy this week (especially the Waltzes, with 2 out of 3 having songs that have been recycled 3 times now)!