Strictly Come Dancing - Week 6/Halloween Week
Zoe was fine, self-deprecating about being the ‘supply teacher’ and better in the role than Tess ever was, but obviously I was a little disappointed that there was no Claudia for I’d been looking forward so much to seeing how she’d play Halloween. Still, maybe the Beeb can learn from this that having lots of women who may or may not be mothers on your shows can work!
And it could have been a lot worse, they could have called Brucie back from his golfing retirement (almost typed 'the crypt'). It is going to be a bit awkward when he returns for the very special episodes and everyone realises, beyond the catchphrases and not trying so hard to get the judges to be nice, he’s not got that much to offer. Well, I doubt he'll realise it.
Appearance wise, we had lots of guy-liner and Simon looked pretty sharp. I thought Judy, again, looked good, as did Frankie in costume. Oh, and Trent’s look was brilliant. I thought it worked in a Beetlejuice meets the Joker way (and in a way that Pixie’s outfit didn’t, apart from the too big hair, all the different parts didn’t come together). He has now made up for the Lumiere fail.
I think the Cliftons won the night choreographically, and probably having their parents down helped them up their game.
Some of the comedy VTs weren’t absolutely terrible. Some. I don’t know what I think about the sprinkling of mummy.
Sunetra had lots of bedography to disguise that Brendan didn’t think she could handle the jive content. I agreed with the judges there.
Then, there was what I’ll call the abomination. Clearly nobody involved in the Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights American Smooth (only Strictly) had ever read the book. I was left prostrate, moaning about how I’m pretty sure Heathcliff killed puppies. I know everyone loves Alison (although putting her front and centre when Sunetra and Jake are professional actors, like they did in the opening number, just because she mugs like Lisa Riley isn’t good enough, although TBH I didn’t see what the celebs really added to that number, which was all about Anton’s surprising cartwheels. Yes, I giggled.) All told, I think I'm over Alison.
Simon - if he’s in the dance-off again, what with the spiders, he’ll probably think he’s well out of it. However, based on the paso, he doesn’t deserve to be. I agreed that he went for it, and I liked the spidery flourishes of the routine. Has he done enough to get over people's indifference?
Was Steve next? He and Ola were nearly unrecognisable at first sight. The Charleston was a bit of a let-down, the timing was blatantly off too often and at least one of the lifts had a worrying fumble. I don't like being terrified for Ola. A real step back after last week’s delightful surprise.
They really built up the tango-off between Pixie and Frankie on It Takes Two and, to a lesser extent, the paso-off between Jake and Simon, although on the night it might have worked better if there had been more cases like that. I am a fan of having a lot of them do the same dance so viewers can judge them comparatively. But, as it was, the tangos were really different. I did find Pixie’s tango, although good in many ways, a little messy because of the quirky electric shock details, as the judges said. Also, I don’t know if Trent knows how to play the long game choreographically as well as, say, Kevin or Pasha.
Judy: The dogs went about as well as you’d expect. Everything about the rest of the dance apart from the lifts went about as well as you’d expect (i.e. not) and I didn’t enjoy watching it. (Though I sort of want a Disney-themed night after all this.)
I enjoyed Jake’s paso, although I did miss the shaping too. I didn’t think Janette needed the cat’s ears or whatever her headband was. We saw the slight return of her using Jake’s body as a climbing frame. That’s the first seven he’s had in a while. (So yes, I voted for him and also Caroline, and in both cases it was based more on what they’d done before than anything else. Well, possibly also a response to the scoring/judges’ comments.)
I thought Caroline’s hips were great, and the samba might have worked better without the zombie element.
The Addams Family foxtrot was easily the most enjoyable and credible routine Scott and Joanne (not Joanna, Darcey) have ever done - and I say that as someone who got a lot of glee out of the Little Mermaid farrago. The choreography really worked, the characterisation too - no need for Gomez to be jealous! - Scott seemed much less awkward, and I enjoyed most of it. They looked amazing, totally the part.
And then Tess made an excellent, knowing Donnie Osmond crack with Thing. Well done, Daly.
I have to admit to zoning out a bit through Mark’s jive. I don’t know if it’s him and Karen, the content or just their placement in the show, so I was surprised by the judges’ positivity, although, again, Karen’s reaction to the nines was brilliant - especially as it ignited a whirlwind of chaos for Zoe to deal with.
And then, absolutely the best routine of the night, even though I’m going to be picky about it. There was, for me, this whole Tango versus. doing Defying Gravity from Wicked battle going on, and I don’t know how else Kevin could have solved it, because on the first ‘I’m flying high’ when they leaped or kicked together, you knew it wouldn’t be enough at the end, so we had a good bit of the actual dance - which had been excellent, surprisingly so, in how it pulled in the tango technique and did what the song demanded - lopped off for the fabulous closing visual. It had to be done, and it was done well, but I was disappointed not to have more of the dance - and I think that Kevin judged the balance of difficulty and what Frankie could cope with and what looked good well (in comparison with Trent). Scoring-wise, I kind of feel that Bruno’s first 10 treaded all over CRAIG GIVING HIS FIRST NINE, which is always worth more. Again, Zoe had to deal with over-excited dancers, and did so very professionally. I’d like to see her and Claudia co-present, although I wish no-one or their children ill. But then, I was always curious about what Bruce and Claudia would be like, presenting together.
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