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)

Strictly Come Dancing 2017: Week 8

Blackpool-mania starts now, people! The fact that they even have a record says everything…..

Nice shimmy there Shirl, Darcey’s dress is…. Odd.

The Fashion Police Segment:

Tess or Claud?: Claud, hands down. The cut-out on Tess’ dress does not do her any favours.

Best Dressed Couple: Mollie & AJ, with Gemma & Aljaz close behind

Worst Dressed Couple: they’re not too bad this week, but Davood & Nadiya

Not a Match: Davood/Nadiya, Joe/Katya, Susan/Kevin, Jonnie/Oti

Audience celeb-watch: Caroline Flack, Joe Lycett (comedian), VINCENT!!, Matt Johnson

Susan & Kevin – Tango – “Firework”

1.       Her left hand looks odd in the training footage, hope that improves in the performance

2.       That was better danced than I thought. Her whole frame was a little off for me though, her right arm seemed loose and her left hand was positioned oddly throughout.

3.       She’s still taking steps that are too large for her sometimes, and I thought she had trouble closing her feet occasionally.

4.       The sharpness was great though, and Kevin’s choreography was brilliant as usual, perfectly matching the accents in the music.

5.       Scores about right overall. Loved Ruth with the pom-pom streamers (and no Janette hogging at the front, yay!)

Joe & Katya – Rumba – “One”

1.       I must admit, I did like Tess’ ‘get ready to Rumba’ joke, and the fact that their ‘last week’ VT had Muse as the background music.

2.       Kudos to him, nowhere near as cringeworthy as I worried it might be. Hip action could have been more flowing I think.

3.       Seemed a bit on one spot for most of it, and was a little off-balance at times.

4.       Lovely lyrical choreography, fully agreed with Bruno on the hands, that’s one thing that Joe really needs to work on as he had some issues with it in his Paso Doble too.

5.       A little overmarked for me, I would have gone for 30 myself. Credit to Katya for trying to get her leg as high as Debbie there.

Ruth & Anton – Foxtrot – “Mack the Knife”

1.       Well she enjoyed that a little too much didn’t she?

2.       Left hand position was incorrect, wobbles in the frame….

3.       GAPPING! Craig criticising Anton’s choreography (they were out of sync at the beginning)

4.       Ruth was going too quick and couldn’t keep up with Anton (bit harsh from Darcey about her being out of her depth!); Shirley criticising Anton too, and Bruno calling him ‘Antun’.

5.       Amy and Susan sneaking in in the Clauditorium, love how Dianne is holding Susan’s shoulders. Scores are sadly about right.

Davood & Nadiya – Charleston – “Lambeth Walk”

1.       So now we know why Nadiya wasn’t taken to Albert Square – because for once this week is a pure training VT!

2.       So Caroline’s market stall has been reused (was that produce from Ainsley’s Salsa?) and so has some of her choreography….

3.       It was going so well but I could see a fair few times where Davood was clearly waiting for the next move. The 2^nd lift seemed to go wrong too.

4.       Erm, were they seeing something different to me?

5.       I have to laugh at his daughters voting for Jonnie, but he’s going to be Bond next week? Sorry judges but that should not have got 10s, who are you trying to get rid of to keep Davood? Would go about 34.

Gemma & Aljaz – Viennese Waltz – “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me”

1.       Breakthrough dance, right there people!

2.       Her head position still seemed a little off to me, and her left hand sometimes clung to Aljaz, but I thought her footwork was good.

3.       I was with Matt Johnson after Shirley’s remarks (SMH).

4.       What are the judges on tonight? I thought she did show the emotion through the face, you don’t have to smile the whole way through a Ballroom dance for it to have emotion.

5.       “Go on Gemma, go on!” Thank you Neil. Undermarked for me, I would have gone all 8s for 32. Stop trying to read the autocue Aljaz!

Alexandra & Gorka – Argentine Tango – “Mi Confession”

1.       I much prefer Shirley’s explanation of the Argentine Tango compared to Len’s “ooher, gercha, sweaty pampas” blether.

2.       Same shoes as Susan there in the training VT

3.       That was pretty good, I have to say. Took a bit of time to get going but it was great.

4.       I did feel that Alexandra struggled with this dance a bit, she looked down at the floor at times and her free arm was sometimes a little off, but the footwork looked fantastic.

5.       Loved Claud asking Alex about standing on Gorka’s feet given that she did it in their Ballroom Tango. Overmarked for me would have gone 35.

Mollie & AJ – Paso Doble – “Layla” (RECYCLED SONG ALERT! – Laila & Anton in series 7)

1.       I think that VT is setting us up for a comeback dance.

2.       I cannot believe I am saying this, but AJ’s Paso with Claudia last year to “Shut Up and Dance” was better than this: AJ being shirtless saved it.

3.       She seemed off-balance quite a lot, and I do agree with Darcey on her throwing away her lines. And also agreed with Shirley on her head as it did drop at times

4.       Aww bless her she seems so upset, love AJ being so reassuring.

5.       Oh Mollie, it’s as if you think you’re going already. Bit stingy on the scores, for once I agree with Brendan saying undermarked, would have gone 24.

Jonnie & Oti – Foxtrot – “Someone Like You” (RECYCLED SONG ALERT! – Kimberley & Pasha in series 10)

1.       I liked Jonnie’s explanation of why his bum tends to stick out.

2.       That almost made me cry, beautifully acted by them both and choreographed by Oti.

3.       Again, what is with the judges? Bugger off Darcey his hold was a lot better, thank you Shirley for saying that he’s constantly improving.

4.       I do love Jonnie’s interplay with the judges, and haha Tess ‘he’s never danced before’…. Indeed.

5.       I did laugh at the celeb guys going ‘oooh’ when Oti mentioned about Jonnie leading. Undermarked, think that should be 26 at least.

Debbie & Giovanni – Salsa – “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”

1.       The forumites will be going on about injury porn

2.       He said ‘Debbie’ correctly!

3.       Entertaining but messy, not her best dance.

4.       Full credit to her for going all out on the lifts, but like Shirley I saw some mistakes and there was hesitation in places. I did think the footwork sometimes looked off, it was as if she couldn’t close her feet?

5.       A tad overmarked for me, I would have gone about 31.

My Leaderboard:

1.       Alexandra & Gorka – 35

2.       Davood & Nadiya - 34

3.       Gemma & Aljaz - 32

4.       Debbie & Giovanni – 31

5.       Joe & Katya – 30

6.       Susan & Kevin - 27

7.       Jonnie & Oti – 26

8.       Mollie & AJ – 24

9.       Ruth & Anton – 18

RECYCLED SONG ALERTS – this week: 2 (could have been a lot worse)

RECYCLED SONG ALERTS – overall: 29 (3 per week? Must do better little pixies)