shallowness (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shallowness) wrote2016-09-25 06:37 pm
shallowness) wrote2016-09-25 06:37 pm
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Yay! Strictly is back properly
Strictly Come Dancing – week one, Friday
Now that autumn is definitely about, it's time for the ultimate comfort TV.
They tried to convince us that Laura’s Irish dancing childhood was going to be a terrible hindrance. I think the fringing was more of a problem. She can move, but there were nervy bits and I didn’t think her hips and legs were right.
Titchy Claudia F was standing next to the Titan that is Natalie in the Clauditorium. Heh.
Naga (who is going to wear all the colours, hopefully) had also impressed in the first group number. While I wasn’t as taken with the opening, but didn’t see ‘the incident’ and only realised something was wrong when the music finished before them, there were promising bits there. She might be one of those people who turn out to be better at ballroom than she envisaged. Depends how she backs this up.
Oksana filled in an Ola-shaped gap (without wanting to get into geopolitics, she’s obviously a Russian-speaking Ukranian, right? Because of the geopolitics, I'm wondering why they went down that road) and Judge/Robert Rinder Went For It. I cackled. I agreed with Craig about his being frenetic and the unfortunateness of the face, but if they dial it down, he too is not terrible.
I was looking forward to Lesley doing a waltz and I’m so glad she got one in her first week. Despite the obviously hunched shoulders, there was something really tender about the routine. Poor thing, though, what is she going to do with the quicker dances?
Ore’s VT with his wife...seemed like the producers pre-emptively pulling the anti-showmance card, and Jo seems like an odd pro to worry about that with, although I’m relatively ostrich-like on these matters. Anyway, I was worried about how Jo would pitch it choreographically with someone who had to be better than Scott Mills (I’d been worried about Oksana and will be for all the other new pros) and the appearance of the Geeky Glasses and the non-tangoesque music added to my anxiety. I just knew Len would hate the ‘messing abaht’ and he did, and we had our first Pro Shoulders the Blame. But Ore’s legs in one of the early jumps made me sit up, and he was very, very promising, even commanding, at times, and he was the only male celeb of the night who had to think about appearing to lead.
Now, I’d got the impression that Greg was meant to be terrible, based on what he’d said and the downplaying of the VT, but the glory slot suggested otherwise. I had my annual grumble about it being really too early for the jive, but he went for it and was much better in terms of presenting the dance than I thought he’d be, and the jump over Nat, pretty much standing upright, made me squeal.
So, I was left not quibbling about the scoring – Craig went no lower than five! The comments were typical – Craig having the most to say about the dancing, and following a pattern of ‘negative criticism, negative criticism [audience boo] but a deserved positive comment. Lesley is the weakest, you’d presume, because of her age. They were all endearingly nervous – Ore is chatty! – but I expect the other nine (NINE!) are even worse after a relatively decent first night.
Saturday
Yes, I watched most of the Pointless Strictly special.
Lovely opening, with the future pros, older dancers and our pros doing formation dancing, the judges mixing in – I got a little distracted by Claudia W., who I remember being terrible on ITT, swaying with Anton. But it was a simple, clever idea, very well executed.
And Claudia probably could have thanked all the extra people the time it took Tess to interrupt her.
Louise (superstar? Ha. Not so much. But I do remember her being a judge on So You Think You Can Dance) got a jive, and it was very Kevin, and she was pretty good. I was a little less enamoured than the judges. It may be Kevin – the show should give him someone terrible, because that always makes the pros more likeable, but my attention wandered. Continuing the theme from Friday, we had a tearful mum (I presume) watching. And 8 paddles came out!
Melvin performed his Mexican cha cha with gusto, so the outfit didn’t overwhelm him, but the lack of hip action was glaring.
Obviously, losing a close family member right at the start of training would be hard for Daisy. I really liked her top line, I adored the choreography myself, and I thought Aljiaz was doing her the compliment of dancing full out. I did not expect a nine so soon (and I didn’t feel that Len had overmarked by his lights before then).
How do you follow that? Well, Oti seemed pleased in rehearsals and you could soon see why. Yes, Danny has obviously had training (and is probably hoping for stage roles after this) but his hips in the cha cha bits and the way he went for it all were genuinely exciting.
Tess skipped Craig's comments, and from the way Claudia filled and the fact that all the judges got to speak for everyone who came after, I think it was just a blunder. But a big one if Danny’s aim is to get Craig to cast him in one of his shows! If they can wangle the order, maybe they could have Craig comment on him first next week.
Tameka’s VT suggested she might eat Gorka alive, but worrying about her not being able to act seemed to be the main theme – bewilderingly. I loved that it had the traditional flavour, even if the song ended up being Eurovision cheeze. Attack, yes. A bit too much foofing her skirt and I’d like to see her in more proper ballroom and Latin to judge her properly, but we’re getting the Charleston next week. She may get on my nerves, although she does have comic timing.
Anastacia’s dance was a mix of things: great performance value, sometimes oddly careful, sometimes just right. What I did love was that, unlike the audience, as an American, she had no idea Craig’s disapproving ‘It was filth!’ was leading to ‘and I loved it’, but it was Len, not Bruno, who was closest to the crossing the line with her.
Katya is British, then? I actually liked the choreography and her dress and that she wasn’t overcomplicating things for Ed. I’m with Len; I quite liked this.
Claudia F. suffered from a new pro not managing his celeb in the routine, maybe? There may be a point about too many acrobatics (her split put Anastacia’s into perspective, but AJ jumping over her was less impressive than Greg jumping over Natalie, and the ending was just there for the gasps). Use it for punctuation is the lesson, I suppose, because I don't have much to say about the dancing, although this was one of too many 'THIS is their job' routines.
Will got the ending, and while we didn’t have a glitter canon, which wouldn't have surprised me, we got plenty of drama. It was telling that he didn’t snap out of the moment for a while after the dance. While I agree that the performance was better than the technique, the technique was mighty promising.
There is a LOT of potential. Obviously, shouldn’t judge until after we’ve seen them do another style entirely with less prep time and we’ll see who harnesses the nerves, but I didn’t feel like screaming ‘overmarked’, maybe the scouters did think that last year’s lot were a little too weak?
Now that autumn is definitely about, it's time for the ultimate comfort TV.
They tried to convince us that Laura’s Irish dancing childhood was going to be a terrible hindrance. I think the fringing was more of a problem. She can move, but there were nervy bits and I didn’t think her hips and legs were right.
Titchy Claudia F was standing next to the Titan that is Natalie in the Clauditorium. Heh.
Naga (who is going to wear all the colours, hopefully) had also impressed in the first group number. While I wasn’t as taken with the opening, but didn’t see ‘the incident’ and only realised something was wrong when the music finished before them, there were promising bits there. She might be one of those people who turn out to be better at ballroom than she envisaged. Depends how she backs this up.
Oksana filled in an Ola-shaped gap (without wanting to get into geopolitics, she’s obviously a Russian-speaking Ukranian, right? Because of the geopolitics, I'm wondering why they went down that road) and Judge/Robert Rinder Went For It. I cackled. I agreed with Craig about his being frenetic and the unfortunateness of the face, but if they dial it down, he too is not terrible.
I was looking forward to Lesley doing a waltz and I’m so glad she got one in her first week. Despite the obviously hunched shoulders, there was something really tender about the routine. Poor thing, though, what is she going to do with the quicker dances?
Ore’s VT with his wife...seemed like the producers pre-emptively pulling the anti-showmance card, and Jo seems like an odd pro to worry about that with, although I’m relatively ostrich-like on these matters. Anyway, I was worried about how Jo would pitch it choreographically with someone who had to be better than Scott Mills (I’d been worried about Oksana and will be for all the other new pros) and the appearance of the Geeky Glasses and the non-tangoesque music added to my anxiety. I just knew Len would hate the ‘messing abaht’ and he did, and we had our first Pro Shoulders the Blame. But Ore’s legs in one of the early jumps made me sit up, and he was very, very promising, even commanding, at times, and he was the only male celeb of the night who had to think about appearing to lead.
Now, I’d got the impression that Greg was meant to be terrible, based on what he’d said and the downplaying of the VT, but the glory slot suggested otherwise. I had my annual grumble about it being really too early for the jive, but he went for it and was much better in terms of presenting the dance than I thought he’d be, and the jump over Nat, pretty much standing upright, made me squeal.
So, I was left not quibbling about the scoring – Craig went no lower than five! The comments were typical – Craig having the most to say about the dancing, and following a pattern of ‘negative criticism, negative criticism [audience boo] but a deserved positive comment. Lesley is the weakest, you’d presume, because of her age. They were all endearingly nervous – Ore is chatty! – but I expect the other nine (NINE!) are even worse after a relatively decent first night.
Saturday
Yes, I watched most of the Pointless Strictly special.
Lovely opening, with the future pros, older dancers and our pros doing formation dancing, the judges mixing in – I got a little distracted by Claudia W., who I remember being terrible on ITT, swaying with Anton. But it was a simple, clever idea, very well executed.
And Claudia probably could have thanked all the extra people the time it took Tess to interrupt her.
Louise (superstar? Ha. Not so much. But I do remember her being a judge on So You Think You Can Dance) got a jive, and it was very Kevin, and she was pretty good. I was a little less enamoured than the judges. It may be Kevin – the show should give him someone terrible, because that always makes the pros more likeable, but my attention wandered. Continuing the theme from Friday, we had a tearful mum (I presume) watching. And 8 paddles came out!
Melvin performed his Mexican cha cha with gusto, so the outfit didn’t overwhelm him, but the lack of hip action was glaring.
Obviously, losing a close family member right at the start of training would be hard for Daisy. I really liked her top line, I adored the choreography myself, and I thought Aljiaz was doing her the compliment of dancing full out. I did not expect a nine so soon (and I didn’t feel that Len had overmarked by his lights before then).
How do you follow that? Well, Oti seemed pleased in rehearsals and you could soon see why. Yes, Danny has obviously had training (and is probably hoping for stage roles after this) but his hips in the cha cha bits and the way he went for it all were genuinely exciting.
Tess skipped Craig's comments, and from the way Claudia filled and the fact that all the judges got to speak for everyone who came after, I think it was just a blunder. But a big one if Danny’s aim is to get Craig to cast him in one of his shows! If they can wangle the order, maybe they could have Craig comment on him first next week.
Tameka’s VT suggested she might eat Gorka alive, but worrying about her not being able to act seemed to be the main theme – bewilderingly. I loved that it had the traditional flavour, even if the song ended up being Eurovision cheeze. Attack, yes. A bit too much foofing her skirt and I’d like to see her in more proper ballroom and Latin to judge her properly, but we’re getting the Charleston next week. She may get on my nerves, although she does have comic timing.
Anastacia’s dance was a mix of things: great performance value, sometimes oddly careful, sometimes just right. What I did love was that, unlike the audience, as an American, she had no idea Craig’s disapproving ‘It was filth!’ was leading to ‘and I loved it’, but it was Len, not Bruno, who was closest to the crossing the line with her.
Katya is British, then? I actually liked the choreography and her dress and that she wasn’t overcomplicating things for Ed. I’m with Len; I quite liked this.
Claudia F. suffered from a new pro not managing his celeb in the routine, maybe? There may be a point about too many acrobatics (her split put Anastacia’s into perspective, but AJ jumping over her was less impressive than Greg jumping over Natalie, and the ending was just there for the gasps). Use it for punctuation is the lesson, I suppose, because I don't have much to say about the dancing, although this was one of too many 'THIS is their job' routines.
Will got the ending, and while we didn’t have a glitter canon, which wouldn't have surprised me, we got plenty of drama. It was telling that he didn’t snap out of the moment for a while after the dance. While I agree that the performance was better than the technique, the technique was mighty promising.
There is a LOT of potential. Obviously, shouldn’t judge until after we’ve seen them do another style entirely with less prep time and we’ll see who harnesses the nerves, but I didn’t feel like screaming ‘overmarked’, maybe the scouters did think that last year’s lot were a little too weak?