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shallownessSaturday's show
Razmatazzy opening number, which I think some of the pros (Janette!) liked more than the others, bringing everyone in, although the celebs and judges had little to do (obviously filmed earlier).
TessnClaud both went for black again, but looked good in it – except for Claudia’s hair. If they’re not sure what to do with her hair being the length it is, I don’t think putting in those waves is the answer.
Speaking of costumes, about half of them were quite monochrome thanks to the demands of the numbers, weren’t they? Georgia made a fetching Belle, and Kellie a credible Strictlified Nancy, while Kevin as the Artful Dodger was A1. The wig of the series made its return on Katie’s head and Jay wearing jeans among all the rest was hilarious.
As it turned out, making dances with a definite character work as interpretations of often well-known numbers with their own definite character was a challenge for pros and celebs. I’d say Katie and Jay were fortunate in the dances they got, it doesn’t matter for Georgia and Kellie (that’s a compliment!) and possibly Helen, but definitely Anita was unlucky.
We started with Georgia and Giovanni doing Beauty and the Beast, and despite my having seen BatB in the cinema at an impressionable enough age to have strong feelings about it, I really never got engaged with the dance. Although is it fannish to note that first of all, Giovanni was dancing as Adam, which is all wrong because the ballroom scene and song are about Belle falling in love with the Beast as is (I don’t love Adam post the transformation, tbh and am fine with adaptations that don’t transform the Beast. Why yes, I did read McKinley’s ‘Rose’s Daughter’ this year.)? Presumably, he or the PTB didn’t like the make-up. It’s no hardship to have to put up with his face (although you know that Pasha would have kept the make-up on.)
My main problem with the routine was the backing dancers, who were dressed like Lumiere, Mrs Potts, Cogsworth and the wardrobe, in impressive but chunky costumes, and who were hanging about between the GGs and the judges. As Bruno tried to see what was going on in a very eye-catching way, I was actually watching all of that brouhaha and not the dance, and then I was looking to see what they’d do about the candelabra, because the studio’s no Blackpool. Which is to say I barely watched the dance, and I was cross about the backing dancers, because there was no need for them to distract from what could have been a gorgeous foxtrot – it probably was. Anyway, for me it was a repeat of my Blackpool frustration with these two (and because I think Georgia is this year’s idiot, they were already never going to be my favourites.)
Why did Jodi Prenger sing the terms and conditions in an American accent?
Next came Anita and Gleb’s Argentine Tango, and I thought the mood-setting and use of backing dancers was much better. Clever Gleb and the way he played the prison officer made me giggle with appreciation. I thought Anita went for it, as ever, and it was an enjoyable routine, with a good use of the lifts, if not an Argentine Tango, per se. The musicals theme came off best, thought I, until Bruno went off on his Bob Fosse rant (they were running behind with the show from this point on, I think!) Six was harsh from Craig, but it was funny that Len had turned around 180 degrees from last week and ‘loved it’ enough to give it a nine. Anita’s previous comments about 31 being ‘a good score’ in the intro hung about in the air, but it wasn’t a good enough score last week or this, love, and it makes her a prime candidate for (joining Kellie in) the dance-off.
Speaking of, Oompapa and the Viennese Waltz as a fusion was a bit head-scrambly, but Kevin has pulled off a few of these, sort of, this year, so…This felt like a real West End number, definitely. It featured the return of the Hogwarts table, and I’d have liked a little more rehearsal of the time that Kellie aimlessly wandered on to it and kicked some implements, but she danced with gusto and it felt like a valid interpretation of the VW on musicals night. Tied with Georgia she may be, but as she’s already been in the dance-off twice, I don’t know if it’ll be enough to get people to vote for them.
Claudia corpsing over the fake choc ice was the best (although I think Tess had legitimately made me laugh at one point already in the show). Although I don’t wish Bruce ill health, I’m not disappointed about the news he won’t be involved in the Christmas special.
And then, instead of the Acting Coach for Jay we’ve all been expecting, we had Ronan Keating - I didn’t know he’d been in Once. The show was about as subtle as it ever is about pushing a showmance (I know I speculated about it at one point, but I think that Aliona firmly sees Jay as the toddler who may win her this thing again) in the summary of the show and Craig’s later comments. Also, can we take a further moment to appreciate that they didn’t pretend to play instruments (like Giovanni and Tristan’s clunkers), just held them long enough to nod to the musical? Good call, that.
ANYHOW, have I not been looking forward to this dance since Jay’s first eye-opening ballroom? It’s a beautiful song, he’s shown enough to make me believe he could pull of the technique that you need to make the rumba more than wafting about, and he did. Aliona was dancing full out, I think, but it wasn’t too glaring; they do feel like they’re dancing together by this point. There was continuous movement and it was expressive enough that I don’t think I breathed till it was over.
Oh, Craig, boo to you. Also, for Jay to pull off the ‘difficult for men’ rumba when other contenders have been let down by the content (which their pro didn’t trust them to do) is great. Furthermore, it was the dance with the fewest gimmicks of the night.
Next, Katie. Her daughter is obviously not as cute as Kellie’s son, but did manage to remind us that a lady pulling off chairography was old enough to have a daughter that age. Look, if Katie and Anton were doing a Latin, this would be a different dance altogether, he wouldn’t have been as interested in teaching it, and it wouldn’t have been as good. I say that as someone who is entertained by them! There were a few nods to the musical beyond her look, but mainly the dance looked classy and elegant, which is where Katie does best. The score felt fair, but I’m wondering about the Latin next week, because they’re surely doing two routines…so.
It made sense that Helen and Aljiaz got the last slot. No so much because last week was theirs as the scale of the routine. Les Mis and Paso? Not the only weird match-up of the night, and getting her to practice on a stage was definitely better than sending Anita to the Tower of London. Again, a really entertaining routine in and of itself, big and dramatic. Helen looked a bit frenetic in the middle of it all and maybe Aljiaz should just avoid putting her in lines with other dancers.
I voted for her because of her position on the leaderboard and because I want to see her Argentine Tango, if I can. (Sorry, Anita). Obviously, also I voted for Jay, out of appreciation.
Results
While the Lion King cast were wonderful, and I think the pros may have been wonderful (I heard wardrobe, hair and make-up use words that made we worry on ITT), they didn’t gel together at all, for all the bigging up of this special event.
The T, C and D decided on short dresses and they were all flattering in their own way.
I concentrated on the recap and what it implies, although it seemed to be fair (cue close-ups of Anita’s bad footwork).
Under the lights, and the first SHOCK! Kellie and Kevin (like me) had assumed they’d be in the bottom two. But they had done enough to get people to vote for them! And as her dancing is good enough that she deserves to be there on that score, I’m not going to whine about being wrong. Also through, Jay! I’m glad he’s doing the Viennese Waltz, and he may, somehow, get away with the Charleston if he can put together all the wacky faces he’s done on the show and put away the vacant expressions.
Everyone was acting like Helen being under the red light was a complete shocker, but if Kellie wasn’t in the dance-off, the couple who came fifth out of six was always in danger, TESS, DARCY and CRAIG.
Cue Josh Grobin singing nicely, and Anton and Joanne ballrooming nicely, although, for some reason, I was feeling the age gap, but I loved that the camera cut away from the start of the big old lift – it was still going on by the time it cut back - and I really liked their reprise.
Len’s lens recapped the judges’ spats (and not that thing that Len said about Anita’s AT), showed off Jay’s good footwork and I like to think that Bruno got punished for going on about Fosse/we saw Kellie and Kevin singing along to their dance, which Craig, for once, didn’t carp about.
Back under the lights, and another SHOCKER. Anita’s reaction said it all. She’s a woman of sense and expected to be dancing again and booted out, but no, clever Gleb and mean Craig (let’s be honest) put her through. Couldn’t call it at this point, because Katie was the slightly weaker dancer, but there’s obviously public support for Anton FINALLY doing well. Conversely, what about all the little girls who love little Georgia?
Well, they didn’t phone in droves is what. Joint second Georgia’s vote collapsing really was the shocker of the night.
(Did everyone else hate the backing dancers too? Or was it just that the other four had more of a thing for people to vote for?)
Er, Anton and Katie’s ‘Latin’ is a Charleston? And they can both mug for Britain. (I like them, but I think they’ve been really jammy given that her Latin is the weakest of the last six.)
Watching Helen and Georgia face off, I half expected both to have a meltdown on the floor. It really was a shocker that they were both there: I was banking on them making it all the way to the final. Georgia’d had the better score and the kinder dance, so went in the slight favourite. I actually concentrated on the dance, and the only negative I could see was that she wasn’t smiling, but that was kind of understandable (except that she’s an actress). Helen went for it with all she had, and I thought she fought the dance into a little more submission, but apparently not enough. Although I liked them more as a couple, I can’t quibble with the call on the night. But I won’t see her do an Argentine Tango!
Razmatazzy opening number, which I think some of the pros (Janette!) liked more than the others, bringing everyone in, although the celebs and judges had little to do (obviously filmed earlier).
TessnClaud both went for black again, but looked good in it – except for Claudia’s hair. If they’re not sure what to do with her hair being the length it is, I don’t think putting in those waves is the answer.
Speaking of costumes, about half of them were quite monochrome thanks to the demands of the numbers, weren’t they? Georgia made a fetching Belle, and Kellie a credible Strictlified Nancy, while Kevin as the Artful Dodger was A1. The wig of the series made its return on Katie’s head and Jay wearing jeans among all the rest was hilarious.
As it turned out, making dances with a definite character work as interpretations of often well-known numbers with their own definite character was a challenge for pros and celebs. I’d say Katie and Jay were fortunate in the dances they got, it doesn’t matter for Georgia and Kellie (that’s a compliment!) and possibly Helen, but definitely Anita was unlucky.
We started with Georgia and Giovanni doing Beauty and the Beast, and despite my having seen BatB in the cinema at an impressionable enough age to have strong feelings about it, I really never got engaged with the dance. Although is it fannish to note that first of all, Giovanni was dancing as Adam, which is all wrong because the ballroom scene and song are about Belle falling in love with the Beast as is (I don’t love Adam post the transformation, tbh and am fine with adaptations that don’t transform the Beast. Why yes, I did read McKinley’s ‘Rose’s Daughter’ this year.)? Presumably, he or the PTB didn’t like the make-up. It’s no hardship to have to put up with his face (although you know that Pasha would have kept the make-up on.)
My main problem with the routine was the backing dancers, who were dressed like Lumiere, Mrs Potts, Cogsworth and the wardrobe, in impressive but chunky costumes, and who were hanging about between the GGs and the judges. As Bruno tried to see what was going on in a very eye-catching way, I was actually watching all of that brouhaha and not the dance, and then I was looking to see what they’d do about the candelabra, because the studio’s no Blackpool. Which is to say I barely watched the dance, and I was cross about the backing dancers, because there was no need for them to distract from what could have been a gorgeous foxtrot – it probably was. Anyway, for me it was a repeat of my Blackpool frustration with these two (and because I think Georgia is this year’s idiot, they were already never going to be my favourites.)
Why did Jodi Prenger sing the terms and conditions in an American accent?
Next came Anita and Gleb’s Argentine Tango, and I thought the mood-setting and use of backing dancers was much better. Clever Gleb and the way he played the prison officer made me giggle with appreciation. I thought Anita went for it, as ever, and it was an enjoyable routine, with a good use of the lifts, if not an Argentine Tango, per se. The musicals theme came off best, thought I, until Bruno went off on his Bob Fosse rant (they were running behind with the show from this point on, I think!) Six was harsh from Craig, but it was funny that Len had turned around 180 degrees from last week and ‘loved it’ enough to give it a nine. Anita’s previous comments about 31 being ‘a good score’ in the intro hung about in the air, but it wasn’t a good enough score last week or this, love, and it makes her a prime candidate for (joining Kellie in) the dance-off.
Speaking of, Oompapa and the Viennese Waltz as a fusion was a bit head-scrambly, but Kevin has pulled off a few of these, sort of, this year, so…This felt like a real West End number, definitely. It featured the return of the Hogwarts table, and I’d have liked a little more rehearsal of the time that Kellie aimlessly wandered on to it and kicked some implements, but she danced with gusto and it felt like a valid interpretation of the VW on musicals night. Tied with Georgia she may be, but as she’s already been in the dance-off twice, I don’t know if it’ll be enough to get people to vote for them.
Claudia corpsing over the fake choc ice was the best (although I think Tess had legitimately made me laugh at one point already in the show). Although I don’t wish Bruce ill health, I’m not disappointed about the news he won’t be involved in the Christmas special.
And then, instead of the Acting Coach for Jay we’ve all been expecting, we had Ronan Keating - I didn’t know he’d been in Once. The show was about as subtle as it ever is about pushing a showmance (I know I speculated about it at one point, but I think that Aliona firmly sees Jay as the toddler who may win her this thing again) in the summary of the show and Craig’s later comments. Also, can we take a further moment to appreciate that they didn’t pretend to play instruments (like Giovanni and Tristan’s clunkers), just held them long enough to nod to the musical? Good call, that.
ANYHOW, have I not been looking forward to this dance since Jay’s first eye-opening ballroom? It’s a beautiful song, he’s shown enough to make me believe he could pull of the technique that you need to make the rumba more than wafting about, and he did. Aliona was dancing full out, I think, but it wasn’t too glaring; they do feel like they’re dancing together by this point. There was continuous movement and it was expressive enough that I don’t think I breathed till it was over.
Oh, Craig, boo to you. Also, for Jay to pull off the ‘difficult for men’ rumba when other contenders have been let down by the content (which their pro didn’t trust them to do) is great. Furthermore, it was the dance with the fewest gimmicks of the night.
Next, Katie. Her daughter is obviously not as cute as Kellie’s son, but did manage to remind us that a lady pulling off chairography was old enough to have a daughter that age. Look, if Katie and Anton were doing a Latin, this would be a different dance altogether, he wouldn’t have been as interested in teaching it, and it wouldn’t have been as good. I say that as someone who is entertained by them! There were a few nods to the musical beyond her look, but mainly the dance looked classy and elegant, which is where Katie does best. The score felt fair, but I’m wondering about the Latin next week, because they’re surely doing two routines…so.
It made sense that Helen and Aljiaz got the last slot. No so much because last week was theirs as the scale of the routine. Les Mis and Paso? Not the only weird match-up of the night, and getting her to practice on a stage was definitely better than sending Anita to the Tower of London. Again, a really entertaining routine in and of itself, big and dramatic. Helen looked a bit frenetic in the middle of it all and maybe Aljiaz should just avoid putting her in lines with other dancers.
I voted for her because of her position on the leaderboard and because I want to see her Argentine Tango, if I can. (Sorry, Anita). Obviously, also I voted for Jay, out of appreciation.
Results
While the Lion King cast were wonderful, and I think the pros may have been wonderful (I heard wardrobe, hair and make-up use words that made we worry on ITT), they didn’t gel together at all, for all the bigging up of this special event.
The T, C and D decided on short dresses and they were all flattering in their own way.
I concentrated on the recap and what it implies, although it seemed to be fair (cue close-ups of Anita’s bad footwork).
Under the lights, and the first SHOCK! Kellie and Kevin (like me) had assumed they’d be in the bottom two. But they had done enough to get people to vote for them! And as her dancing is good enough that she deserves to be there on that score, I’m not going to whine about being wrong. Also through, Jay! I’m glad he’s doing the Viennese Waltz, and he may, somehow, get away with the Charleston if he can put together all the wacky faces he’s done on the show and put away the vacant expressions.
Everyone was acting like Helen being under the red light was a complete shocker, but if Kellie wasn’t in the dance-off, the couple who came fifth out of six was always in danger, TESS, DARCY and CRAIG.
Cue Josh Grobin singing nicely, and Anton and Joanne ballrooming nicely, although, for some reason, I was feeling the age gap, but I loved that the camera cut away from the start of the big old lift – it was still going on by the time it cut back - and I really liked their reprise.
Len’s lens recapped the judges’ spats (and not that thing that Len said about Anita’s AT), showed off Jay’s good footwork and I like to think that Bruno got punished for going on about Fosse/we saw Kellie and Kevin singing along to their dance, which Craig, for once, didn’t carp about.
Back under the lights, and another SHOCKER. Anita’s reaction said it all. She’s a woman of sense and expected to be dancing again and booted out, but no, clever Gleb and mean Craig (let’s be honest) put her through. Couldn’t call it at this point, because Katie was the slightly weaker dancer, but there’s obviously public support for Anton FINALLY doing well. Conversely, what about all the little girls who love little Georgia?
Well, they didn’t phone in droves is what. Joint second Georgia’s vote collapsing really was the shocker of the night.
(Did everyone else hate the backing dancers too? Or was it just that the other four had more of a thing for people to vote for?)
Er, Anton and Katie’s ‘Latin’ is a Charleston? And they can both mug for Britain. (I like them, but I think they’ve been really jammy given that her Latin is the weakest of the last six.)
Watching Helen and Georgia face off, I half expected both to have a meltdown on the floor. It really was a shocker that they were both there: I was banking on them making it all the way to the final. Georgia’d had the better score and the kinder dance, so went in the slight favourite. I actually concentrated on the dance, and the only negative I could see was that she wasn’t smiling, but that was kind of understandable (except that she’s an actress). Helen went for it with all she had, and I thought she fought the dance into a little more submission, but apparently not enough. Although I liked them more as a couple, I can’t quibble with the call on the night. But I won’t see her do an Argentine Tango!
