So it's the week after Blackpool, and good news - Claudia's back! I thought the applause for her at the beginning of the show, and Kristina's welcome back for her were really nice touches. Also, applause to Zoe for doing such a great job standing in for the last 3 weeks. Loved Claudia's sparkly jumpsuit too, she won in the style stakes for me (although my dad reckoned both her and Tess were in need of some fake tan).
Onto the main show - we saw 10s galore, Craig's 4, and oh Jake's Samba I did adore! If only for the music if nothing else. *sings and dances along*
Steve & Ola - Jive - "Little Bitty Pretty One"
Most people will know this as the music from Matilda where she uses her magic around her room. I'm still a bit 'huh?' in regards to the relevance of the American football theme - if the song was 'Broken Heels' by Alexandra Burke then I might understand it as it was the theme of the video, but as it's this one, I don't get it. Answers on a postcard please! Ola's cheerleading outfit was awful by the way, I used to be a cheerleader myself in a former life and the outfits were much better than that (normally it's either bright and vivid, or dark colours, and the top - for me anyway - was like a jersey or vest in a v-neck style, with no belly on show), well, more flattering at least. Onto the dance itself, and c'mon guys, let's go through the patented Latin Ola-ography steps present in this dance: pivots? CHECK. Knee slide? CHECK. The only thing missing was the Starfish (it's alright though, as Jake had that one later on). Steve has a fused ankle which meant that this particular dance was always going to be difficult for him, and sadly it showed. His kicks and flicks weren't great (needed more energy and his foot should have been pointed more), and he seemed to forget the beginning of the routine - after the knee slide when he started dancing with Ola. Apart from the jump into the ending position, there were about 3 or 4 illegal lifts in this routine - funny how the judges never mentioned anything about them. If Steve gets to next week, which is doubtful on this showing, get him back to slow Ballroom, and NO LIFTS.
Judges' scores: 4, 7, 6, 6 for a total of 23/40
My score: 5
Caroline & Pasha - American Smooth - "Mack the Knife"
Lovely dress for Caroline for once, so I should have known that something would go wrong. She tripped over it at the very beginning of the routine, and my mom commented that she looked to have had a 'Chelsee Healey' wardrobe malfunction near the end. Seriously, if these so called 'professionals' can't design dresses that are of the right length for the celebrity and won't cause malfunctions in the chest area then they should be sacked. We hardly ever got these in the earlier series, yet last year we seemed to have one a week and there's been a few during this series as well. It is ridiculous and it is spoiling dances for the celebrities - Caroline was upset at the end of this routine and I don't blame her. As for the dance, I'm astonished that Len can remark on the lack of 'in hold' content in this routine when Jake's last week had hardly any Foxtrot in it either. This style of routine for an American Smooth is what I like, with the jazz elements and the old Hollywood glamour. Credit to Pasha as I loved the choreography and the way that they got into the last lift was really clever. I'm not sure what happened with the floor spin - did Caroline not initially get the right grip or did Pasha miss going for the grab? Part of the problem that Caroline has is that she shows on her face when either something goes wrong or she's uncomfortable with the routine, which means that we all notice it too, so she just needs to 'save face' in future if it happens. Another Ballroom for her next week I would think, Argentine Tango please?
Judges' scores: 7, 8, 9, 9 making a total of 33/40
My score: 8.5
Pixie & Trent - Charleston - "Sparkling Diamonds"
Probably the first duff song choice that Pixie has had this series. It was way too quick for a Charleston and although she and Trent did well with it, it wasn't worth a 10. I think the routine hindered her rather than helped her - there was a lot of 'side by side' or shadow sequences, and she lost sync with Trent a fair few times. They didn't seem to be a partnership in this dance, more 2 people who happen to be doing the same routine. A lot of people also noticed that her legs were oddly bent throughout the dance which made her look ungainly on occasion. This was more of a Showdance than a Charleston, so let's just hope that this is Pixie's bad dance and she can get back on track next week. Cha Cha Cha anyone?
Judges' scores: 9, 9, 9, 10 for a total of 37/40
My score: 8.25
Mark & Karen - Tango - "Love Runs Out"
I had hoped that this would be the dance for Mark but sadly it wasn't to be. I wasn't a fan of Karen's choreography, it almost seemed too slow for the music at times - Mark was lacking in staccato and his footwork looked messy at some points. Was the music too slow for the dance? Maybe. If you compare this to Jake's week 1 Tango, Jake actually looked better, and it may have been down to the slightly faster music that he had. Mark might be back in the bottom 2 with this one I fear. Should he survive, hmmm, I don't think he's done the Viennese Waltz yet so that might be one for him.
Judges' scores: all 8s for a total of 32/40
My score: 7
Frankie & Kevin - Viennese Waltz - "What's New Pussycat?"
If you want to know how to make a Viennese Waltz interesting, watch this dance. Kevin has done it again in terms of choreography, working with the song to create a dance that is full of musicality. The only faults I noticed from Frankie were that she had to quickly correct her hand position and shaping on Kevin's shoulder when they first got into hold, and was that an accidental lift I saw? It looked as though Frankie's foot came slightly off the floor. Apart from that though, it was wonderful. I believe Frankie has more Latin dances left, so a nice little Jive next week would be a good option.
Judges' scores: 9, 9, 10, 10 for a total of 38/40
My score: 9.25
Jake & Janette - Samba - "Macarena"
Ok, hands up if you were doing the dance whilst watching this? Well I would have been, but my dog hates anyone dancing and would have barked his head off, so my inner Macarena queen had to stay quiet. About the dance itself........ *giggles uncontrollably* I think I'm as bad as Darcey was. It wasn't all there in terms of technique, but like his Salsa, he just gave it the kitchen sink and then some. The performance was bloody brilliant. His faces alone made the performance. On the results show it was confirmed that Jake is doing an Argentine Tango to 'Zorba the Greek', well this should be interesting to watch *goes to listen to 'Zorba the Greek'*.
Judges' scores: 9, 10, 10, 9 for a total of 38/40
My score: I'm gonna have to give 2 scores here - 7.5 for technique and 10 for performance, which averages out to 8.5, but it wasn't as good as Pixie's so an 8 it is.
Sunetra & Brendan - Waltz - "Last Request"
After being in the dance-off last week, I was so hoping that Sunetra, being back in her favoured Ballroom, would make a comeback. I don't know what happened but she didn't look comfortable in this. Her hold seemed a little off too, she had some stumbles, and the height difference looked very noticeable here - was she wearing lower heels perhaps? Also, not liking the arrangement of the song - why not use songs that are already in 3/4 time rather than taking 4/4 time songs and having to transpose them into 3/4 time? With her position on the leaderboard, she might end up in the dance-off again, and I'm not sure that she could escape it for a second time. If Sunetra makes next week, she has more Latin dances available to her, so my choice for her would be the Paso Doble.
Judges' scores: 7, 7, 8, 8 for a total of 30/40
My score: 7
Simon & Kristina - Salsa - "Let's Hear it for the Boy"
*RECYCLED SONG CHOICE - Scott & Natalie in series 8*
Say what you like about Kristina (and I know I do), but boy can she help put together a good Salsa. This is the only dance of Simon's in recent times (apart from his week 1 Jive and his Charleston) that I've loved. I was actually surprised to see that this didn't get any 10s - if they can give them to Jake then Simon can have at least 1, right? Yes his steps were too big but he handled the lifts with aplomb, and that armography section was fantastic. If he's in the bottom 2 tonight then there's something wrong. Simon has to do a Ballroom next week as he only has 1 Latin left (he'll have to skip the Cha Cha Cha as he did it in the Christmas special that he did with Katya a few years ago). His options are the American Smooth, the Foxtrot and the Waltz. It looks as though he might be doing the Waltz, as he's going to Austria for his 'Around the World' dance.
Judges' scores: all 9s for a total of 36/40
My score: 9
Strictly Leaderboard:
=1. Frankie & Kevin, Jake & Janette - 38
3. Pixie & Trent - 37
4. Simon & Kristina - 36
5. Caroline & Pasha - 33
6. Mark & Karen - 32
7. Sunetra & Brendan - 30
8. Steve & Ola - 23
My Leaderboard (marks multiplied by 4):
1. Frankie & Kevin - 37
2. Simon & Kristina - 36
3. Caroline & Pasha - 34
4. Pixie & Trent - 33
5. Jake & Janette - 32
=6. Mark & Karen, Sunetra & Brendan - 28
7. Steve & Ola - 20
Dance-off: Steve & Ola vs Sunetra & Brendan. Not that surprising really, they were the bottom 2 on the leaderboard so fair enough. I felt sorry for Steve though that he had to go into the dance-off on his worst dance (this was his worst scoring one I think).
Elimination: Steve & Ola. Could have gone either way with this one. Sunetra has done the better dances overall, but she also made more mistakes (to my eye at least) in the dance-off. I probably would have saved Steve - Sunetra was in the bottom 2 last week so it's likely she would be there again next week, and also because this dance was never going to go well for Steve with his injury and I think he has more potential overall: Sunetra struggles with the Latin, whereas apart from this one, Steve usually does quite well and he was improving in the Ballroom side. It was probably a close call for the judges.
Just the one recycled song choice this week, taking the total up to 32 for the series.
Hmm, I wonder if that little VT before the dance-off gave away the countries/dances. Pixie had a Spanish book, and indicated a Cha Cha Cha, Caroline had Turkish (not sure on that), Sunetra had Portuguese and mentioned a Rumba, Simon had German and mentioned 'the hills are alive' (that might be what they're dancing to), Frankie had American (could be anything, but maybe a Jive), Mark might be staying in England if his phrase book was anything to go by. I doubt it's as clear cut as that, but Jake's and Simon's were both correct with what had already been confirmed.
Next week: will the 'Around the World' theme trip up the celebs even more? Somehow I think the costumes will be .....erm, ....... interesting to say the least.
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