Strictly week 5
Strictly week 5
I knew Brendan was doubtful because of illness, but finding out Laura’d dished her ankle - is this going to be the year of injuries?
Judge Rinder got to start off the show with the first post-Ore jive. Fortunately it was a different style, he’s got his own personality and Oksana knows how to choreograph for it. It was lots of fun and very energetic (too much so with the high-kicking). I did understand his frustration that he’d got the same mark for his clean Viennese Waltz as his mistake-strewn Charleston.
Lesley got the death slot. They must have seen what was coming from the footage… Actresses normally get an automatic bounce doing the tango, but the opening was atrocious - crawling across a table is never going to look graceful, and, well, the height difference killed them, apart from her stumbling and what the judges went on about.
One thing I liked about Greg’s cha cha was the travelling across the floor in hold. Otherwise, he looked perturbed throughout the dance, and no wonder. Despite Natalie doing her best distraction dancing, he was badly exposed (and prepping to do the dance-off mentally.)
Anastacia had more dramah, having to quickstep with Gorkah instead of Brendan. Oh, the hardship! More seriously, actually, it must be difficult for a newbie to switch partners and for the pro who doesn’t know how the celeb learns best. She really took to the dance though, coming off as light-footed and the mix of elegance and hoofing really suited her. I minded the colour of her dress much less than I thought I would when I first saw it.
Speaking of outfits, Louise was next, and they gave her a dress with the same top at the front as last week, except in a cool grey. The bottom half was less successful but dictated by her dancing a rumba. It was my favourite ladies rumba of the series so far, I must say. She managed to maintain fluidity throughout and drew me in. Although I’ve been thinking the same thing as the judges said about her plateauing, I felt a bit irked on her behalf that they said it as she’d pulled off a high-quality rumba.
But WHY PARIS? They could have found a patisserie or French restaurant or danced outside the embassy. I doubt they practiced on Eurostar. That was a waste of practicing time, and although it was amusing that Parisians and tourists just ignored Louise doing rumba walks or them dancing together in front of the sights, it wasn’t enough to justify going there for me. They didn’t say there was some other reason they needed to go there, so I’m presuming it was the producers’ choice. (Is visiting European capital cities going to be Strictly’s response to Brexit?)
Back to the dancefloor and Ed had an American smooth and I mumbled during the VT about the lifts, and lo, I was proved right. It wasn’t great up until the liftfail, but after that I literally was peering through my fingertips hoping Katya (looking good in cullotte-dungarees, essentially) was okay. Intellectually, I know why he did the lift again after - blood chemistry, not sense - but oh, dear, he’s got unwatchable for me.
I was chuckling after Claudia W’s business (TessnClaud cracked up and Tess did not see Claudia’s gurning) and then because Ore fell during rehearsing the waltz. But I did calm down as another Clifton went travelling, but for Ore’s work-related business.
So, their waltz: it was good, but it didn’t quite draw me in. I think it’s because he’s set such a high bar for himself, but there were times when I didn’t feel they were quite in sync, and I was all the more disappointed because the opening was gorgeous. However, I loved that Jo proved that rushing into each others arms and spinning really fast worked for the big gear change in the song as well as the more obvious, but illegal lift that some would have gone for. The judges liked it more than me, and clearly really rate him (which I too do).
It was self-evident that Aljiaz’s concept for Daisy’s Charleston was cool and clever, but awfully exposing. She got away with it though. It was a joyful dance. Her smile was infectious, too, (overpowering even Aljiaz’s) and with her hair like that reminded me of Maggie Gyllenhaal. But why end on a lift if stamina is a problem?
Finally we got to the bit about Laura’s injury. (Realistically though, she’s sealed her doom re: leaving sooner rather than later.)
Danny was doing the rumba, setting the mark for all the male celebs. I loved it. It was my top dance of the night. Yes, there were one or two bits that didn’t quite work, but on the whole, it was great. Interesting that Oti was in red, because it’s not a rumba colour, normally, at all. She looked glorious, obviously, and oh fine, let’s be shallow. Where I wished Rinder would do up a couple of buttons on his shirt, I was fine with the wardrobe department having run out of black ones for Danny.
Claudia F got to close it, probably because the only other good dancer with an ‘up’ number was Daisy. First samba of the series, shockingly with a disco twist (although going the Rio route seemed like a gimme). From the VT, he was obviously pushing her hard, and as the dance progressed I was going ‘Oh, this is a lot.’ Too much, said the judges, although they won Craig over a little and despite criticising her for the timing, Bruno gave a nine. My instareaction was that AJ is not good at pitching the choreography, even if he feels Claudia F performs better under shedloads of pressure, but then I realised I’ve never got the feeling that the pros pick the music and the pace was dictated by that. They still need their surprising breakthrough.
So, Danny was my favourite dance, then I’d put Louise, Daisy and Anastactia (so I voted for Anastacia), even though I know Ore and Claudia were good. We’re going to be testing the popularity of Ed, Lesley, Greg and Judge Rinder…
I had planned to watch the results show this morning, but the dread updates prevented me. However, I’m proud of myself for avoiding finding out who went all day.
In hindsight, I'd probably have heard if it had been Ed. Anyway, So we started with Thoroughly Modern Millie at Goodman’s Department Store, (I did check the plot synopsis and no, I didn't forget the department store in TMM. There was none.) Janette gave it way more enthusiasm than most of everyone else. Weird colour choices, because apart from the reds and burgundies, everyone looked subdued. Apt characters for the judges, anyway and Darcey kept the ruff on all show.
People from the top half and Judge Rinder were safe. Lesley was not. Judge Rinder waxed articulate while we got teased about the Halloween episode, but it’s not really like the show has been all that understated up til now.
LeeAnn Rimes is probably not going to make us all stop solely associating her with ‘Can’t Fight the Moonlight’ with a song that makes me think ‘You’re too old to be kissing boys!’ But Oti and Gorka did a very nice whirly showdance. I gave up trying to work out if Oti was actually barefoot and have to commend her for selling being flung across the floor as the best thing that had ever happened to her with her face.
Len’s Lens showed in slo-mo that something Judge Rinder did wasn’t as good as Len had thought, and we got to see how bad Ed’s lift was again.
Agree with Claudia W that Anastacia’s reaction was The Best. Danny got objectified some more. Ed realised he was really very lucky (why, British public? He nearly broke the pro) And Greg, at least initially didn’t realise why the public vote they way they do. Daisy was the ‘shock'. But the result was a foregone conclusion…I thought Lesley was a bit better in the first half of her dance, but then it got worse. Anton saying she pushed him to be more creative, at least, felt sincere.
And I've just watched ITT and Lesley was rather brilliantly honest. Zoe tried to float a 'curse of the tango' theory, Zoe claimed Tom Chambers' showdance was the best evah, but I'd favour Natalie's, Camilla blamed the clothes for Daisy in the Dance-off. And apparently Katya was not afraid for her life during the lift.
This entry was originally posted at http://shallowness.dreamwidth.org/257205.html.
I knew Brendan was doubtful because of illness, but finding out Laura’d dished her ankle - is this going to be the year of injuries?
Judge Rinder got to start off the show with the first post-Ore jive. Fortunately it was a different style, he’s got his own personality and Oksana knows how to choreograph for it. It was lots of fun and very energetic (too much so with the high-kicking). I did understand his frustration that he’d got the same mark for his clean Viennese Waltz as his mistake-strewn Charleston.
Lesley got the death slot. They must have seen what was coming from the footage… Actresses normally get an automatic bounce doing the tango, but the opening was atrocious - crawling across a table is never going to look graceful, and, well, the height difference killed them, apart from her stumbling and what the judges went on about.
One thing I liked about Greg’s cha cha was the travelling across the floor in hold. Otherwise, he looked perturbed throughout the dance, and no wonder. Despite Natalie doing her best distraction dancing, he was badly exposed (and prepping to do the dance-off mentally.)
Anastacia had more dramah, having to quickstep with Gorkah instead of Brendan. Oh, the hardship! More seriously, actually, it must be difficult for a newbie to switch partners and for the pro who doesn’t know how the celeb learns best. She really took to the dance though, coming off as light-footed and the mix of elegance and hoofing really suited her. I minded the colour of her dress much less than I thought I would when I first saw it.
Speaking of outfits, Louise was next, and they gave her a dress with the same top at the front as last week, except in a cool grey. The bottom half was less successful but dictated by her dancing a rumba. It was my favourite ladies rumba of the series so far, I must say. She managed to maintain fluidity throughout and drew me in. Although I’ve been thinking the same thing as the judges said about her plateauing, I felt a bit irked on her behalf that they said it as she’d pulled off a high-quality rumba.
But WHY PARIS? They could have found a patisserie or French restaurant or danced outside the embassy. I doubt they practiced on Eurostar. That was a waste of practicing time, and although it was amusing that Parisians and tourists just ignored Louise doing rumba walks or them dancing together in front of the sights, it wasn’t enough to justify going there for me. They didn’t say there was some other reason they needed to go there, so I’m presuming it was the producers’ choice. (Is visiting European capital cities going to be Strictly’s response to Brexit?)
Back to the dancefloor and Ed had an American smooth and I mumbled during the VT about the lifts, and lo, I was proved right. It wasn’t great up until the liftfail, but after that I literally was peering through my fingertips hoping Katya (looking good in cullotte-dungarees, essentially) was okay. Intellectually, I know why he did the lift again after - blood chemistry, not sense - but oh, dear, he’s got unwatchable for me.
I was chuckling after Claudia W’s business (TessnClaud cracked up and Tess did not see Claudia’s gurning) and then because Ore fell during rehearsing the waltz. But I did calm down as another Clifton went travelling, but for Ore’s work-related business.
So, their waltz: it was good, but it didn’t quite draw me in. I think it’s because he’s set such a high bar for himself, but there were times when I didn’t feel they were quite in sync, and I was all the more disappointed because the opening was gorgeous. However, I loved that Jo proved that rushing into each others arms and spinning really fast worked for the big gear change in the song as well as the more obvious, but illegal lift that some would have gone for. The judges liked it more than me, and clearly really rate him (which I too do).
It was self-evident that Aljiaz’s concept for Daisy’s Charleston was cool and clever, but awfully exposing. She got away with it though. It was a joyful dance. Her smile was infectious, too, (overpowering even Aljiaz’s) and with her hair like that reminded me of Maggie Gyllenhaal. But why end on a lift if stamina is a problem?
Finally we got to the bit about Laura’s injury. (Realistically though, she’s sealed her doom re: leaving sooner rather than later.)
Danny was doing the rumba, setting the mark for all the male celebs. I loved it. It was my top dance of the night. Yes, there were one or two bits that didn’t quite work, but on the whole, it was great. Interesting that Oti was in red, because it’s not a rumba colour, normally, at all. She looked glorious, obviously, and oh fine, let’s be shallow. Where I wished Rinder would do up a couple of buttons on his shirt, I was fine with the wardrobe department having run out of black ones for Danny.
Claudia F got to close it, probably because the only other good dancer with an ‘up’ number was Daisy. First samba of the series, shockingly with a disco twist (although going the Rio route seemed like a gimme). From the VT, he was obviously pushing her hard, and as the dance progressed I was going ‘Oh, this is a lot.’ Too much, said the judges, although they won Craig over a little and despite criticising her for the timing, Bruno gave a nine. My instareaction was that AJ is not good at pitching the choreography, even if he feels Claudia F performs better under shedloads of pressure, but then I realised I’ve never got the feeling that the pros pick the music and the pace was dictated by that. They still need their surprising breakthrough.
So, Danny was my favourite dance, then I’d put Louise, Daisy and Anastactia (so I voted for Anastacia), even though I know Ore and Claudia were good. We’re going to be testing the popularity of Ed, Lesley, Greg and Judge Rinder…
I had planned to watch the results show this morning, but the dread updates prevented me. However, I’m proud of myself for avoiding finding out who went all day.
In hindsight, I'd probably have heard if it had been Ed. Anyway, So we started with Thoroughly Modern Millie at Goodman’s Department Store, (I did check the plot synopsis and no, I didn't forget the department store in TMM. There was none.) Janette gave it way more enthusiasm than most of everyone else. Weird colour choices, because apart from the reds and burgundies, everyone looked subdued. Apt characters for the judges, anyway and Darcey kept the ruff on all show.
People from the top half and Judge Rinder were safe. Lesley was not. Judge Rinder waxed articulate while we got teased about the Halloween episode, but it’s not really like the show has been all that understated up til now.
LeeAnn Rimes is probably not going to make us all stop solely associating her with ‘Can’t Fight the Moonlight’ with a song that makes me think ‘You’re too old to be kissing boys!’ But Oti and Gorka did a very nice whirly showdance. I gave up trying to work out if Oti was actually barefoot and have to commend her for selling being flung across the floor as the best thing that had ever happened to her with her face.
Len’s Lens showed in slo-mo that something Judge Rinder did wasn’t as good as Len had thought, and we got to see how bad Ed’s lift was again.
Agree with Claudia W that Anastacia’s reaction was The Best. Danny got objectified some more. Ed realised he was really very lucky (why, British public? He nearly broke the pro) And Greg, at least initially didn’t realise why the public vote they way they do. Daisy was the ‘shock'. But the result was a foregone conclusion…I thought Lesley was a bit better in the first half of her dance, but then it got worse. Anton saying she pushed him to be more creative, at least, felt sincere.
And I've just watched ITT and Lesley was rather brilliantly honest. Zoe tried to float a 'curse of the tango' theory, Zoe claimed Tom Chambers' showdance was the best evah, but I'd favour Natalie's, Camilla blamed the clothes for Daisy in the Dance-off. And apparently Katya was not afraid for her life during the lift.
This entry was originally posted at http://shallowness.dreamwidth.org/257205.html.