Strictly semis
Saturday -
Very high-quality salsa from Natalie and Artem - and the fact that Craig got his 10 out made sit up straight - but lacking in crowd-pleasing moments (that and your mostly poor jokes and disparaging attitude kept the audience seated, Bruce).
I thought that Anya made the right call in putting in crowd pleasing touches to Patrick’s waltz - I particularly liked the way she flowed through being spun around the floor to getting up herself. Clearly, there’s a technical term for that that I don’t know.
Sophie’s enraged paso face made me giggle, which affected my viewing of it. I thought the judges were fair to her.
Susanna and Kevin were very them, very likeable, and the dance itself was very them, but good, much better than we’ve seen of late. I liked the change of speed, although I tended to agree with Craig about the sugariness.
Abbey’s confidence and command has come on apace, she handled that samba well, and her and Aljaz’s glee at dancing is completely infectious.
So, scoring-wise, Sophie was in trouble, but the discussion in the room was about popularity (when I wasn’t railing at Bruce) and why Natalie (and Artem) are less liked than the other celebrity ladies and their partners. We didn’t talk much about Patrick, which says something.
The second half was much tougher, no more adorable moppets on tablets and Bruce reminding us of who’d been at the top of the leaderboard and at the bottom and in the dance off . Also, more generally, less wild hair from the lady celebs.
Natalie and Artem certainly gave the best Argentine tango of the season, which should be no surprise with her technical ability. It really drew me in. Craig’s points might be fair about her leading (was Artem less confident in this?) and it needing to have more of an improvised feel, but that’s pickiness. It would only be fair if we got to see them do their jive in the final - that’s the dance when she was sick - although I’m sticking to my early prediction of being knocked out of the final.
Patrick’s paso was not great. Not the right dance for him at this point in the competition at all. He did his best, but he clearly doesn’t have the popular vote, so even if people feel that Craig’s 7 was harsh he won’t have that support.
Sophie’s American Smooth was her best dance yet. The lifts were yummy (well choreographed, well done) and it showed off her style. And yet, she did make mistakes - frustratingly! - and I thought Bruno’s 10 was undeserved, while I can live with the fact that the other semi-finalists have had 10s at some point in the season.
Susanna’s salsa was much more of a crowd-pleaser than Natalie’s, from song choice to the way she played it, to the jumping about to the use of lifts. But it wasn’t as good. I’m torn, because the foxtrot was her being back to her best, but the salsa made me go ‘Don’t be Chris Hollins’ where popularity (and she and Kevin are likeable) may make people vote for her over better dancers. On Thursday, when Kevin awesomely won the world record for drunken sailoring, I did think that that was enough. But the foxtrot...
Thank goodness we ended with Abbey - I liked the point that she’s had a definite journey in Latin and has generally improved, plus she hasn’t had the dance training of Sophie or Natalie, and so, every thing that is said about Susanna’s surprise package-ness has to be said of her. I thought there was enough style to avert cutsiness, and they both clearly loved dancing that dance.
So, the leaderboard is intriguing - Natalie and Abbey deservedly at the top, Sophie in the middle (Family Members booed down my claim that Brendan was being a player by looking worried after their second dance, I countered with how long he’s been doing this show) because she’d been consistent - unlike Patrick and Susanna. I think Patrick is going to be in the dance-off, but who joins him will be down to popularity. It says something that I am sadder for Anya than him. And it makes a difference as to which dance they do - it is automatically the first/second/highest scoring or lowest scoring?
For what it’s worth, I again voted for Abbey. And Aljaz.
Special mention must go to the watching Pasha, who responded from the mezzanine to each dance like it was this amazing thing.
ResultsDynamo was, well, a bit pointless beyond giving the dancers a theme, really. I did love the pros’ costumes.
Why the 1970s bridal look, Tess? Everyone was wearing the second dance clothes, which I thought portended something.
I wasn’t too miffed or excited that Sophie was through, but I was pleased for Abbey. Not as pleased as she was!
Nobody was surprised that Patrick was at the bottom - but I am glad they got the choice of dance. Zero tension as to Patrick’s choice.
As Claudia said, the exhibition dance must have been terrifying for the celebs to watch. For what it’s worth, although what they were doing was obviously impressive, they weren’t interpreting the music, which I think is a basic requirement of dance. I like the idea of a glorious free-for-all that epitomises the couples and all the pros have learn and showing off, but what with the trick and lift madness, they rarely work.
Aaaaand Natalie’s vote collapsed. Are we racist? Or do we just like the underdog (because Sophie and Susanna have never been in a dance off)?
Depending on the order of filming, Artem must be rueing all the dancing, but Celine Dion really needed dancers to cover up the weird voice/miming, and Aliona and Artem were magnificent.
I liked that Claudia asked questions I wanted answered (i.e. why Natalie and Artem went for the AT, and their reason was fair enough). It’s sad that Patrick could go no further, and Anya (like Iveta) must come back next year. They never got around to asking Len if he agreed with the other three, heh.
This entry was originally posted at http://shallowness.dreamwidth.org/85058.html.
Very high-quality salsa from Natalie and Artem - and the fact that Craig got his 10 out made sit up straight - but lacking in crowd-pleasing moments (that and your mostly poor jokes and disparaging attitude kept the audience seated, Bruce).
I thought that Anya made the right call in putting in crowd pleasing touches to Patrick’s waltz - I particularly liked the way she flowed through being spun around the floor to getting up herself. Clearly, there’s a technical term for that that I don’t know.
Sophie’s enraged paso face made me giggle, which affected my viewing of it. I thought the judges were fair to her.
Susanna and Kevin were very them, very likeable, and the dance itself was very them, but good, much better than we’ve seen of late. I liked the change of speed, although I tended to agree with Craig about the sugariness.
Abbey’s confidence and command has come on apace, she handled that samba well, and her and Aljaz’s glee at dancing is completely infectious.
So, scoring-wise, Sophie was in trouble, but the discussion in the room was about popularity (when I wasn’t railing at Bruce) and why Natalie (and Artem) are less liked than the other celebrity ladies and their partners. We didn’t talk much about Patrick, which says something.
The second half was much tougher, no more adorable moppets on tablets and Bruce reminding us of who’d been at the top of the leaderboard and at the bottom and in the dance off . Also, more generally, less wild hair from the lady celebs.
Natalie and Artem certainly gave the best Argentine tango of the season, which should be no surprise with her technical ability. It really drew me in. Craig’s points might be fair about her leading (was Artem less confident in this?) and it needing to have more of an improvised feel, but that’s pickiness. It would only be fair if we got to see them do their jive in the final - that’s the dance when she was sick - although I’m sticking to my early prediction of being knocked out of the final.
Patrick’s paso was not great. Not the right dance for him at this point in the competition at all. He did his best, but he clearly doesn’t have the popular vote, so even if people feel that Craig’s 7 was harsh he won’t have that support.
Sophie’s American Smooth was her best dance yet. The lifts were yummy (well choreographed, well done) and it showed off her style. And yet, she did make mistakes - frustratingly! - and I thought Bruno’s 10 was undeserved, while I can live with the fact that the other semi-finalists have had 10s at some point in the season.
Susanna’s salsa was much more of a crowd-pleaser than Natalie’s, from song choice to the way she played it, to the jumping about to the use of lifts. But it wasn’t as good. I’m torn, because the foxtrot was her being back to her best, but the salsa made me go ‘Don’t be Chris Hollins’ where popularity (and she and Kevin are likeable) may make people vote for her over better dancers. On Thursday, when Kevin awesomely won the world record for drunken sailoring, I did think that that was enough. But the foxtrot...
Thank goodness we ended with Abbey - I liked the point that she’s had a definite journey in Latin and has generally improved, plus she hasn’t had the dance training of Sophie or Natalie, and so, every thing that is said about Susanna’s surprise package-ness has to be said of her. I thought there was enough style to avert cutsiness, and they both clearly loved dancing that dance.
So, the leaderboard is intriguing - Natalie and Abbey deservedly at the top, Sophie in the middle (Family Members booed down my claim that Brendan was being a player by looking worried after their second dance, I countered with how long he’s been doing this show) because she’d been consistent - unlike Patrick and Susanna. I think Patrick is going to be in the dance-off, but who joins him will be down to popularity. It says something that I am sadder for Anya than him. And it makes a difference as to which dance they do - it is automatically the first/second/highest scoring or lowest scoring?
For what it’s worth, I again voted for Abbey. And Aljaz.
Special mention must go to the watching Pasha, who responded from the mezzanine to each dance like it was this amazing thing.
ResultsDynamo was, well, a bit pointless beyond giving the dancers a theme, really. I did love the pros’ costumes.
Why the 1970s bridal look, Tess? Everyone was wearing the second dance clothes, which I thought portended something.
I wasn’t too miffed or excited that Sophie was through, but I was pleased for Abbey. Not as pleased as she was!
Nobody was surprised that Patrick was at the bottom - but I am glad they got the choice of dance. Zero tension as to Patrick’s choice.
As Claudia said, the exhibition dance must have been terrifying for the celebs to watch. For what it’s worth, although what they were doing was obviously impressive, they weren’t interpreting the music, which I think is a basic requirement of dance. I like the idea of a glorious free-for-all that epitomises the couples and all the pros have learn and showing off, but what with the trick and lift madness, they rarely work.
Aaaaand Natalie’s vote collapsed. Are we racist? Or do we just like the underdog (because Sophie and Susanna have never been in a dance off)?
Depending on the order of filming, Artem must be rueing all the dancing, but Celine Dion really needed dancers to cover up the weird voice/miming, and Aliona and Artem were magnificent.
I liked that Claudia asked questions I wanted answered (i.e. why Natalie and Artem went for the AT, and their reason was fair enough). It’s sad that Patrick could go no further, and Anya (like Iveta) must come back next year. They never got around to asking Len if he agreed with the other three, heh.
This entry was originally posted at http://shallowness.dreamwidth.org/85058.html.