Monday, 9 October 2017

Strictly Come Dancing 2017: Week 3 Review (5 thoughts)


And it's Movie Week, where the costumes are mostly awful, the songs are shoehorned into the dances and the choreography goes a bit bananas, so just like any other week really. And if I haven't stated previously - there may be some swear words, but they are generally just as part of a phrase so I apologise to anyone who may be offended.
On with the show!

Interesting who they sat with in the pre-show VT; Mollie with Joe, Richard and Ruth, Simon and Alex, with Jonnie and Aston on their own (Aston needs a haircut more than Jonnie does, the mushroom top looks awful)

Opening Pro Dance: Brendan and Nadiya opening, Karen with Rev Rich playing the piano; love the cameos from the celebs in costume (Joe looked awesome in their dance bit at the end, I must say)

Tess and Claud look fabulous again, but I’ll have to give it to Tessy this week, if only because she wears colours other than black.

Shirl still looks awkward as fuck, and that’s saying something when Darcey cannot dance the walk-on.

The Fashion Police segment:

Best Dressed Dancers: Charlotte & Brendan/Debbie & Gio

Worst Dressed Dancers: Aston & Janette all day long

Not Matching: most of them, but it’s intentional this week so I’ll let it slide



Simon & Karen – Quickstep – “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” 

1.       This must be decent if they’re on first. Although really they should have been Woody and Jessie, any idea why not? (Nice touch for Karen to get the call from ‘Woody’ though)

2.       Why so bloody slooooow to begin with? It’s a Quickstep, the clue is in the name.

3.       Simon looked great in the side by side section (and when he initially started Quickstepping when he was heading towards the bottom right corner), although he did lose his frame about halfway through and he was picking up his feet too much. Lots of gapping too. His costume did nothing for him though, he looks massive around the middle.

4.       Craig was too harsh, although Shirl’s eyebrow raise when Darcey was talking about the scattered chasees (I don't know how to spell this and neither does my computer) made up for it.

5.       I’d probably give about 23 myself (wasn’t really a fan of the choreography either). That 19 will put him in the danger zone. Nice cameo from Neil as a shark when Claud was reading out the T’s & C’s.

Ruth & Anton – Rumba – “Diamonds are Forever”

1.       2nd slot (ie death slot) means that this will be awful and TPTB want them out.

2.       If Eamonn is going to be on every week then they might as well split Ruth’s fee between the both of them. (Also, when they showed Eamonn and their son Jack in the audience afterwards, Jack’s hair was gelled up with one random curl hanging down at the back)

3.       As a Rumba, it could have been a lot worse. Ruth was out of synch with Anton, didn’t have hip action, didn’t fully extend for her arm lines; Craig was right on the acting part, could have seen some more in the face. Ruth had the same costume problem as Simon.

4.       Darcey said ‘the boys are right’ – DRINK! Always find it funny when Anton ‘does a Brendan’ and argues with the judges. Shirl informative as always, I do like this because then I understand the actual style of dance more.

5.       I’d go for a 13 score-wise, Shirley being as harsh as Craig was a surprise. Anton ‘who needs 7 types of walk’ – bit of Shirley shade there?

Mollie & AJ – American Smooth – “Climb Every Mountain”

1.       Did anyone else think Mollie saying to AJ ‘don’t walk too close to me’ could be a little snippet of their relationship?

2.       Wow, best dance from her yet. Loved that choreography from AJ. Nice shot of Una in the audience.

3.       Agreed with Craig and Darcey on the transitions from the lifts, and hand positioning on AJ’s shoulder was perfect to begin with although she did lose it further on in. Footwork looked great, arms were lovely and elegant, I just loved this and I think this will be on the rewatch list for sure.

4.       Score of 30 for me, and still love the show’s little piss-take of Ore crying.

5.       AJ looked gorgeous again tonight, what is wrong with me?

Rev Rich & Dianne – Paso Doble – “Flash's Theme”

1.       That cape swishing in the VT just before the dance was so camp!

2.       I hate to say it, but I think Ed Balls could have done that routine better than Richard did.

3.       No shaping whatsoever, stompy, too much on his own (Dianne needs to incorporate more partnering choreography into her routines as his Cha Cha Cha and American Smooth were similar in that aspect); but he did have great timing as always.

4.       Think that audience shot just after Tess made the awful joke ‘Well he is Flash Gordon’ says everything about their opinion of her repartee.

5.       I’m struggling with my score a little, but think I’ll go for around a 15 (he was better than Ruth, Craig!).

Debbie & Gio – Quickstep – “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off”

1.       Gio saying ‘Debbeh’ will never cease to amuse me.

2.       So much smut about ‘keeping up with Giovanni’, Debbie's a girl after my own heart.

3.       That was awesome, it was like a Kevin routine in some ways (it reminded me of his with Susanna).

4.       She did have a couple of wobbles, thought Shirley was harsh on the faff, it wasn’t that bad compared to some (Joe being so far in the closet that Narnia was only a few inches away, and that was not a euphemism). Footwork was great, and as for Craig on the out of hold section – did you not see Simon’s just a few dances before?

5.       I’m starting to think she’ll be the one that’s marked down and criticised more in order to prop someone else up (good one from Claud about how she’s never heard of the 10 second rule, neither have I?). That was better than Mollie judges! I would have given about 32 for that.

Brian & Amy – American Smooth – “If I Only had a Brain”

1.       Amy’s Welsh accent was much stronger in that VT than it’s ever been on the show, does she tone it down normally?

2.       Aww that was lovely, great choreography from Amy there. Agreed with Bruno that the characterisation was brilliant.

3.       He does still need to work on his arm lines and extend them more, but his footwork was great for the most part (although he did get his feet tangled when they were near the judges’ desk towards the end).

4.       Craig and Darcey both shading the choreography (as did Shirl a little bit), ooher.

5.       I’d give about 26 I think, so much better and what a nice thing with the shout-out to Chizzy as it was her birthday. Amy and Brian going mental on the scores was funny, but aww Brendan was so happy for them.

Gemma & Aljaz – Charleston – “The Bare Necessities”

1.       I totally loved Gemma’s reference to ‘Creature Comforts’ in the VT (‘Alan, Alan, Alan’, ‘Steve, Steve, Steve’)

2.       Gemma’s reaction to Aljaz humping the tree was exactly mine.

3.       She clearly wasn’t comfortable with some aspects of the routine, and she shows it in her face too much. Agreed with Craig that the energy was excellent, and she’s been struggling with the swivel all week so wasn’t surprised that there wasn’t too much of it.

4.       I saw the same as Darcey in terms of characterisation, well done to Aljaz for correcting Shirl on the choreography. Loved Shirl’s calling Craig ‘the Charleston King’ (bit of shade there), and she was cowering into Darcey terrified when Bruno was out of his seat – see Pasha, this is what acting is.

5.       I would say about 27 for that, again, she wasn’t better than Debbie, sorry.

Charlotte & Brendan – Tango – “Danger Zone”

1.       Brendan’s making all of his dreams come true this week, now how long until he heads for Erin Island?

2.       Bless her she looked uncomfortable again this week. It did lack sharpness and she had some wobbly moments (courtesy of Brendan apparently). Sorry Brendan but Shirley was spot on about the rise and fall; if I noticed it then Brendan must have. Good on Bruno for telling him to be more respectful.

3.       That was nice from Craig, think he may well have felt that the others had said all he would have done.

4.       I’d give around 17, it was a little better than Richard I would say.

5.       If I was to drop a male pro after this series so that Neil could get a partner, I would say Brendan without question (even over Anton) after that display. If you think you know better Brendan, then go back to New Zealand to judge DWTS like you did before - oh wait, that's right, you can't as it's been axed.

Jonnie & Oti – Paso Doble – “The Raiders March”

1.       Well, Jonnie does not look like his mum, does he?

2.       I must admit I’m a bit disappointed, I so wanted him to do a masculine Paso, and yet it looked like he CBA whatsoever. I see they recycled the rope swing at the beginning from Kevin’s Samba with Susanna.

3.       Don’t think the trousers helped, but I would say his weight was too far forward (agreed with Bruno there but I liked Jonnie’s comeback about it being to get an extra point from Bruno)

4.       They were really nice about it weren’t they? Hmm.. he does look hot though.

5.       I’m a bit undecided on where to place this, I’d probably go a bit lower than the judges and say about 23-ish.

Susan & Kevin – Samba – “Wonder Woman Theme”

1.       When even Kevin’s acting is better than Pasha’s, you know you’re in for a treat.

2.       Oh good lord, if I loved Kevin before then I think I love him even more after THAT!

3.       Susan giving Craig a smacker was awesome; she did seem to lack the Samba bounce a little but her energy was wonderful and I loved the characterisation.

4.       Brilliant choreography from Kevin.

5.       Is she doing too well in the voting maybe? I would have thought that was better than Jonnie, so I would give about 25.

Joe & Katya – Viennese Waltz – “Somewhere, my Love”

1.       Lovely choreography from Katya, that was beautiful.

2.       Joe was a bit hunched over in his frame for me, but he did have that swing which few celebs manage to get. He almost missed a hand grab at the beginning and had to quickly adjust, but the footwork was good.

3.       I’m with the judges on this one, perfect score. 
4.       Erm, nice hat Katya?
5.       I’m struggling to say much about them so they must either be boring or the ‘dark horse’ couple, I’ll go for the second.

Aston & Janette – Cha Cha Cha – “Can’t Stop the Feeling”

1.       Janette’s impression of Craig was pretty good.

2.       Imagine if they broke the glass? Loved Craig’s little cameo.

3.       He’s everything that she wished Peter Andre was, and she’s remixed some of the choreography from her Cha Cha Cha with him too.

4.       He was better than Janette in places, that’s how good he was. I normally find Cha Cha Chas really hard to watch but that was exciting. I do wonder whether Janette was shading Brendan a little by putting in the pot stir. The only thing that Aston needs to improve on is his arms, the free arm was just hanging in a few places, but that is the only thing that would stop me giving a 10 for this.

5.       This was always going to be a good dance for him, I’d give 36 for it, ‘twas that good.

Alexandra & Gorka – American Smooth – “Wouldn’t it be Lover-ly?”

1.       Gorka’s elocution was better than Alexandra’s.

2.       That was very charming, great work there Gorka.

3.       She seems to struggle with making the arms as elegant as the feet, but the footwork was lover-ly (sorry).

4.       Basically what Craig just said. Darcey seems to be the new Len.

5.       Probably about 32-33 for the score for me.

Davood & Nadiya – Samba – “Staying Alive” (RECYCLED SONG ALERT!: Kelly & Brendan in series 5)

1.       Nadiya’s face when Davood revealed the disco shirt, you know she was going to say ‘What. The. Fuck’

2.       That was all going so so well until Nadiya decided to put what looked like another illegal lift in. *sigh* she really is the new Gleb.

3.       The judges’ faces when Davood was up on the desk, they were gold, Shirl especially.

4.       I do agree with Craig that the hands weren’t great, and he was gawping quite a lot.

5.       I think I’ll go with about 28 for that? Craig was way too harsh there.

So here’s how I would rank them (the difference between myself and the judges in terms of score and leaderboard position will be in brackets and bolded):
1.  Aston & Janette – 36 (score: +1, position: =)
=2. Debbie & Gio, Joe & Katya, Alexandra & Gorka – 32 (Scores: +3/=/-1, position: +4/+1/=)
5. Mollie & AJ – 30 (score and position: =)
6. Davood & Nadiya – 28 (score: +3, position: +2)
7. Gemma & Aljaz – 27 (score: -4, position: -3)
8. Brian & Amy – 26 (score: +4, position: +1)
9. Susan & Kevin – 25 (score: +3, position: +1)
=10. Simon & Karen, Jonnie & Oti – 23 (scores: +4/-3, positions: +1/-3)
12. Charlotte & Brendan – 17 (score and position: =)
13. Rev Rich & Dianne – 15 (score and position: +1)
14. Ruth & Anton – 13 (score: -2, position: -1)

WEEKLY RECYCLED SONG ALERT COUNT: 1, have the Pixies been locked up? Please keep them there if so!
OVERALL RECYCLED SONG ALERT COUNT: 13









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