Strictly Post Blackpool week
Outfits: The cape, the slit, the slit and shoulder and the sane one with the bonus swishy skirt. When the couples came out, Katya looked like the woman who’d got the costuming short straw and maybe that was too much red on Aljiaz. Mollie’s dress shouldn’t have worked, but did. All the other dresses looked good at this point.
Joe started us off with an excellently nimble and springy quickstep, featuring exciting choreography from Katya. The whole thing made me smile.
Alexandra’s rumba did draw me in, though I noticed there could have been more hip action, but there was more and more criticism, and Shirley’s point about the steps must have hurt. Didn’t buy the lack of connection claim, though.
My initial confusion about Gemma’s routine starting in a bed gave way to thinking it gave an interesting story for them to hang the routine on, and at least the routine had flow as a routine they danced together. Although some of the judges made the point that the story stopped the continuous samba flow, I think that Aljiaz made he right call choreographically because they were still likable. It was always going to be a tough dance for Gemma, and this was emphasised by the dances that Mollie and Susan got.
Claudia’s Joke With Tess was sold even more than usual by the laughter from the crowd. Up until this point, the running order seemed to have been dictated by upbeat/downbeat/upbeat.
Mollie deployed a cute nephew. I didn’t think there was any need for them to start where they did and come down the stairs - it was pointless messing abaht. But the routine was really quite well done (if not as textured as the other quickstep of the night). AJ did his patented waltzers move, which may be the rolling pivots Shirley referred to. Unlike the rest of the cast and Tess, I don’t see the AJ/Mollie.
Nadiya, dressed in an iceskater’s wedding dress, had busy hair. I got slightly bored during Davood’s waltz. (I was literally thinking about the scoring so far during it.) And then our old friend the accidental illegal lift returned. I really didn’t like it as much as the judges did, and didn’t buy the whole ‘simple and stripped back’ narrative given the big spins and fireworks.
Debbie and Giovanni’s Argentine Tango: wowee. Before that, her VT played up the vulnerability of being in the dance-off and being the only person who thought she might go, especially the ‘feeling her age’ line. (I don’t care what your age is, though, ripped jeans for an AT practice? No.)
Her legs were remarkable. I loved that it showed her off so much and it felt properly traditional. If anything, I’d have given it the edge over Joe’s quickstep.
So, Susan had the quick turnaround for the paso doublethon in that she was on ‘last’. Kevin can choreograph Astaire-referencing numbers beautifully, and she did hit those moments, but her balance on the bench was poor and I spotted the lack of synchronicity. Like the judges, I’m over her. Having said that, the reprise of the ‘Kiss!’ chant was funny and Claudia will rue not realising she was being set up with Gorka.
I enjoyed Shirley Explains the Paso-Doublathon, especially because of Neil and Anton’s sterling work. The ‘Black Friday Sale set to Spanish Music’ was not a car crash, though it was hard for the TV audience to judge. My take-outs were that Susan and Kevin were doing an entirely different dance to everyone else, with her caping. Giovanni and Gorka went for it and Joe may have spent most of his routine on his knees. When the scores came out, Davood and Joe did really well, given that they were up against the pro men, and it was nice for Gorka to win as a Spaniard, Gemma must be disappointed, because only coming third did her no favours.
I voted for my three favourite dances, partly because of the leaderboard: Alexandra, Debbie and Joe (even though he’s probably still safe). Let everyone else vote for their favourite too. Though if Susan’s fans save her, I will be Craig faced.
This entry was originally posted at https://shallowness.dreamwidth.org/304504.html.