It's Monday night and here I am again with my usual ramblings. So as a quick recap of last time, it was Love Week and Natalie & Artem topped the leaderboard with their Rumba, whilst Vanessa & James Tango-ed their way out of the competition against Julien & Janette (again) in the dance-off.
We're now a third of the way through the series - it's gone quick hasn't it? Soon we'll be at the final, and that's a scary thought (but not as scary as the thought of Halloween week in 2 weeks - awful song choices just to fit the theme, just another normal day at Strictly as far as I'm concerned :D).
Let's get on with the blog. I'll be running through the first 7 dances in this part (so from Sophie & Brendan up to and including Ben & Kristina).
Sophie & Brendan - Foxtrot - "Cheek to Cheek"
It's probably mean of me to say this, but I really want Sophie to lighten up a bit, as sometimes she looks very detached and disinterested - as if she doesn't really want to be there, and as much as I like Brendan it's not helping me to warm to them as a partnership, as much as I want to like them. Onto the dance itself - I think Sophie was excellent in this, only minor issues really. Her arms and hands needed a bit more work, she had what Craig would call 'pancake hands' and she didn't extend her arm as much as she could have at the end. Also, there was quite a bit of gapping in the first half of the dance and you could see Brendan trying to keep her in place. The final thing, and it might just be me not knowing any better, but her head placement seemed a bit odd - Darcey is always telling people to extend so that you can see the neck, and well, I couldn't see Sophie's at all during that routine. That being said, Ballroom is definitely her forte. Currently we don't know her dance for next week, but I feel she'll be doing a Latin.
Judges' score: 35/40 (8, 9, 9, 9)
My score: 7.5
Fiona & Anton - Rumba - "World of our Own"
First off, whoever picked this song should be hung, drawn and quartered, and then shot just to make sure. WooO (funnily enough the initials are perfect for a Rumba) is way too fast for a Rumba, and I just can't believe that no-one would have been able to foresee just how bad this would be. Fiona managed only one good arm extension throughout the whole routine, she definitely forgot most of it (you could tell she was looking at Anton for the next step) and it just looked awful. That being said, either Anton shouldn't have put in the floor parts, or he should have worked out an elegant way for Fiona to get up from them. Also, just before the spin at the end, she caught her heel in the bottom of the dress, which is what made her stumble (and you think the costume people would have thought about that possibility when they designed it). Her worst dance and deservedly her worst score. Fiona has the Quickstep next week, and I reckon Anton will have to do what he did with Jerry Hall and make it quite slow for her so that she can keep up.
Judges' score: 22/40 (4, 6, 6, 6)
My score: 3
Mark & Iveta - Cha Cha Cha - "You Can't Touch This"
I LOVED THIS! Sorry, just had to say it. Iveta's choreography was brilliant once again, Mark can do comedy and he can dance. The section with the shifting feet and then the body rolls from side to side was awesome. I had to dance to this song once back when I used to do cheerleading, and we had to do similar moves for that section - it's difficult to make it look good but Mark managed it so props to him. Ok, so there might not have been much recogniseable Cha Cha content to us non-dancer viewers (although apparently there was quite a bit in there), and he shouldn't have got 8s, but I think the overall score was about right. Again, we don't know what dance they're doing next, but I think they'll be doing Ballroom, as according to Mark his dance is 'totally different' to the Cha Cha Cha and that we 'might be surprised'.
Judges' score: 26/40 (3, 8, 8, 7)
My score: 5.5 (I loved it enough to give more, but I did take into account that it wasn't really a CCC)
Ashley & Ola - Viennese Waltz - "Angel"
Whoever thought this song would suit a Viennese Waltz should also be punished. It's a Waltz song, although I thought Ola did really well in trying to choreograph a routine to it. The only thing is that I wish she didn't put in that bit when Ashley was doing the 'walking whilst floating and extending alternate arms in front of him' (don't know what it's called hehe), it just looked very awkward and out of place with the rest of the routine. Ashley has definitely been working on improving his hands and arms as they were so much better in this dance. To be honest I think they were underscored - you don't need 'gusto' in a Viennese Waltz, and any shortcomings in the performance were down to the song choice really. I thought Ashley should have at least been tied with Patrick, if not one point higher. They have the Jive this week, and I think this may well be Ashley's breakthrough dance. I'll have to see how it looks in training but I have high hopes.
Judges' score: 31/40 (7, 8, 8, 8)
My score: 8 (purely because I personally found more errors in Sophie's routine, I was thinking about an 8.5 score, but then I don't know if he should be a whole point above Sophie in my marking. 8.25 would be more like it)
Julien & Janette - Salsa - "Spice up your Life"
I have to give props to Janette on this one, she did do better with the choreography (and so she bloody well should, she's a Salsa specialist). But, she does like her signature moves doesn't she? (That thing with her head going from side-to-side at the start, and then the extended arm in hold going down and then up, that last one was in their Tango routine) I think Julien knows he probably can't do the choreography well and so just goes for it on the performance side in the hope of making up for it. The problem with that is that he actually is decent in places, but he just can't sustain it throughout the whole routine. So the trouble for him is that he isn't a Dave who's just bad full stop but is entertaining with it, and he isn't a Mark who can do the comedy but can also dance well with it. It's just kind of middle ground and I think it's one of the reasons that he hasn't been doing well in the public vote.
Judges' score: 23/40 (4, 6, 7, 6)
My score: 4.5 (much better than Fiona)
Rachel & Pasha - Quickstep - "Johnny got a Boom Boom"
Is it just me or did it seem to anyone else that they were doing a slow routine to a quick song? No? Just me then. What I can agree with everyone else on is this: what on flipping earth was she wearing? Trousers, as we all know, are a death omen (well, not death, just possible elimination but you get the drift). Onto the routine itself - I'm sorry Pasha but this was a mess, and even you looked ropey in parts. Rachel was struggling to keep up and there was quite a big gap between them on a few occasions. She messed up a leg kick on one of the choruses and I think they both mistimed the little jumps towards the end. Not a good performance from either of them and so I'm kind of not surprised that they were in the bottom 2. We don't know what dance she's doing this week, let's just hope that it isn't a Jive.
Judges' score: 26/40 (5, 7, 7, 7)
My score: 5.5 (I agree that she was on a par with Mark: you have Mark doing non-traditional choreography but executing it well, vs Rachel who has traditional choreography but messing up quite a bit. For me it amounts to the same thing really)
Ben & Kristina - Salsa - "Hard to Handle"
Interesting that Kristina would have danced this dance to this song with Jason had they got through to the final 2 in 2011. So kind of a *recycled song choice* rather than a *RECYCLED SONG CHOICE*. As for the dance itself, well it wasn't really a Salsa was it? Just Kristina doing her usual trick of making it all about her to hide the celebrity (the pro dances do this as well, just making it all about Kristina), and it's a shame that the judges are still falling for it. How the hell was that worth the same as Ashley's routine, or better than Susanna's? It was just lifts and him doing dad dancing for most of it. A bit of faffing at the start (about the same time as Rachel & Pasha spent faffing - 20 seconds) too. He did do well on the armography section though, that was great. And that little backheel to lift Kristina back up was risky but it looked amazing. We learned last week with the Rumba that Ben actually can dance, and yet Julien actually did more Salsa than he did. I'm not looking forward to having to suffer Kristina's choreography for the next 5 or 6 weeks (as I'm expecting Ben to be placed much higher than he should). They have the Quickstep next, so please Kristina, let him actually dance!
Judges' score: 31/40 (8, 8, 8, 7)
My score: 5.5 (the tricks were great but there wasn't much Salsa in there)
So my leaderboard at the moment looks like this:
1. Ashley & Ola - 8
2. Sophie & Brendan - 7.5
=3. Mark & Iveta - 5.5
=3. Rachel & Pasha - 5.5
=3. Ben & Kristina - 5.5
6. Julien & Janette - 4.5
7. Fiona & Anton - 3
The last 6 dances will be covered in part 2, which I'm planning to be up on Thursday :)
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