It's Thursday night, and so I'm here with part 2 of my week 5 musings.
I must admit, I was a bit upset when Deborah went out. She had a brilliant attitude to the whole thing, she could actually dance, but the best part was that you could tell she was loving every second of it. I wish more celebs could be like that really.
Anyway, here's the final 6 dances of Saturday night (so going from Rachel to Sophie).
Rachel & Pasha - Paso Doble - "Maneater"
For the second week in a row, I'm disappointed with Pasha's choreography. It was too much posing and posturing and nothing like a Paso Doble. The role of the pro is to make their celeb look good, and Pasha doesn't seem to be doing that with Rachel. She just looked stiff and awkward, he probably needed to get her into hold at the beginning, and then have some small sections apart to make her feel more comfortable. He also should have told her to point her toe on the leg extension. I feel a bit sorry for Rachel as having that much fabric on the dress can't have helped her. Skirt wafting does not equal Paso. However, the song choice was completely wrong and whoever thought that would suit a Paso has clearly never listened to it as it's much more a Tango song. This week, Rachel's got the American Smooth, which they will use a Viennese Waltz base for. If I remember rightly, Harry & Aliona did a beautiful VW-style American Smooth so the potential for greatness is there.
Judges' score: 22/40 (4, 6, 6, 6)
My score: 5 (not great choreography, but she did get into the character of the routine)
Mark & Iveta - Waltz - "Apologise"
I thought this was so lovely. The song in its original arrangement isn't in 3-time, but I really liked how the band adapted it to suit the Waltz. Iveta's choreography was great as usual, and Mark danced it superbly. Only a few minor issues - he needs to tuck his bum under a little more, and to shape his hands whenever he's doing an extension. The only other thing was that the sweeping move that he did with his left leg in the middle didn't look smooth, but I think that's the side that his knee injury is on, so I guess that's as elegant as he could make it. Mark has brilliant musicality, and he gets into the character and feel of the dance every time. If he was younger and fitter, I'd say he'd be the main contender to Natalie. As it is, I hope he gets to dance at Blackpool at least, he deserves that. Mark has the Paso Doble this week, and the song that he has to dance to - oh good lord.
Judges' score: 28/40 (7, 7, 7, 7)
My score: 7 (he's more than half a point behind Natalie on technicality, but he just performs every dance perfectly)
Ashley & Ola - Jive - "Johnny B Goode"
*RECYCLED SONG ALERT!* (Kelly & Brendan from series 5). 20 seconds of faffing there at least. Ashley definitely needs to work on his arm placement, he can do it for the Ballroom dances but it seems to disappear when he does the faster Latins (excluding his Samba). Also, he looked to mess up on the solo spin a little - I'm not sure if it was a case of him not spotting properly or if it's because he had to do it so quickly that it unsettled him a bit. Ola's gone back to her usual Latin choreography I see - for god sake Ola, this is the first good celeb that you have had in years, if ever, so give him more actual dancing to do! Not playing guitar for 20 seconds followed by a knee slide and a leap over your head. He can do the choreography, so challenge him with it. Otherwise, you're going to struggle to break into the mid-30s and beyond. I can see Ashley's point about the dance shoes - they did curl up slightly at the front, making it look as though he wasn't point his feet on the kicks and flicks when he may well have done. They've got the Tango this week, which could be a good dance for Ashley as he gets to show another side performance-wise.
Judges' score: 31/40 (7, 8, 8, 8)
My score: 6.5 (he didn't have as much content as Mark and there were a few mistakes)
Susanna & Kevin - American Smooth - "Sunny Side of the Street"
I really liked this routine and what Kevin did with it choreographically, much better than last week's Samba. Susanna seemed to mess up one or two of the leg kicks, and it looked like they'd missed a hand grab towards the beginning. Besides that, her footwork was good and her frame and arms were too. She has the same issue as Natalie in that she's trying a bit too hard with the facial expressions, and the transitions into the lifts were a little off. It was classy, elegant, and very enjoyable to watch. Susanna has the Charleston this week. If she can get the technique sorted then this could be a very good dance for her. Kevin also needs to make sure that he doesn't overdance as he tends to do in the Latin dances (I know Charleston isn't technically Latin, but for some reason it is on this show so........).
Judges' score: 32/40 (8, 8, 8, 8)
My score: 7 (some errors in technique and the faces did detract from the performance a little)
Ben & Kristina - Quickstep - "I'll Be There for You"
*RECYCLED SONG ALERT!* (Diarmuid & Nicole from series 2). Friends theme tune! Sorry, that's the first thing I think of when I hear this song. Also, why was there a female singer on the track, let alone having her mic turned up so high? The male singer was doing a fine job on his own, thank you. Onto the dance itself - at least 20 seconds worth of faffing at the beginning, and it had the same problem choreographically that Rachel's Quickstep had: they were doing a slower routine to a quick song, and it just didn't work. Also, the height difference really hindered the dance as there was so much gapping, and this was perhaps because Ben and Kristina were effectively going at different speeds, they were never in sync (Kristina probably had to take 2 or 3 steps for every one that Ben did). I don't know what the judges saw as this dance was so overmarked. They had a good song there and Kristina could have, and should have, done much more with it than she did. Ben has the Paso Doble this week, and I feel a bit sorry for him as it's probably going to pale into comparison with Mark's PasoDisco offering. At least they're dancing to one of my favourite songs, by one of my favourite bands.
Judges' score: 27/40 (6, 7, 7, 7)
My score: 5.5 (a lot of things wrong technically, even though I can't really blame either of them for that, and at least Kristina attempted to make an effort with the choreography)
Sophie & Brendan - Cha Cha Cha - "P.Y.T"
Oh Sophie, can you not be bothered to put in effort for the Latin dances anymore now that you've got the Charleston out of the way? There were a few technical issues - some of her arm extensions (especially those at the beginning) weren't finished properly, she kind of just 'threw them out' really. Also, like some of the others, she seems a bit uncomfortable with spins. Similar to Fiona in her Quickstep, it looked like Sophie pre-anticipated some of the steps. I was a bit disappointed with Brendan's choreography - it didn't feel as though Sophie was really doing all that much (even though she was), and the beginning wasn't great either. She really needs to lose the 'too cool for school' attitude for when she performs the Latin routines - it makes them look worse than they are because the performance isn't coming from her. She got the performance right in her Charleston, so she just needs to adapt, assume a character for the other dances if it helps. The judges are always telling people that they need to 'let go' in the Latin numbers and I think that's what Sophie needs to try and do. She's got the Jive this week, I hope she can get it together and produce both good dancing and a good performance.
Judges' score: 30/40 (7, 8, 7, 8)
My score: 6.5 (I agree with her being about the same as Fiona - Sophie probably edges it on technique, but Fiona gave a better performance)
So my leaderboard for the week goes like this:
1. Abbey & Aljaz - 8
2. Natalie & Artem - 7.5
=3. Mark & Iveta - 7
=3. Susanna & Kevin - 7
=5. Patrick & Anya - 6.5
=5. Fiona & Anton - 6.5
=5. Ashley & Ola - 6.5
=5. Sophie & Brendan - 6.5
9. Deborah & Robin - 6
10. Ben & Kristina - 5.5
11. Rachel & Pasha - 5
12. Dave & Karen - 3.5
And a list of what the couples will be dancing this week:
American Smooth - Rachel & Pasha
Charleston - Fiona & Anton, Susanna & Kevin
Jive - Dave & Karen, Sophie & Brendan
Paso Doble - Ben & Kristina, Mark & Iveta
Quickstep - Patrick & Anya
Rumba - Abbey & Aljaz
Tango - Ashley & Ola
Viennese Waltz - Natalie & Artem
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