Strictly semis
Dec. 13th, 2016 06:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessSaturday
Louise got to open, and her dress looked better as she moved than it did on first sight. Crammed full of content (too much so when she had two dances to learn?) and as good as you’d expect. Bruno seemed to continue where he’d left off in terms of doling out 10s…
I will say that her VT seemed to have the biggest spread in age in supporters (in as much as you can use that as a guide to anything – I think one classroom of kids appeared supporting two couples). Obviously, this gimmick had diminishing returns, although the celebs got a boost out of it, especially from the cute kids.
I’d been excited about Danny’s salsa, and while it wasn’t quite as good as the samba – I can’t put my finger on why, was there a sticky bit in the second lift? – it was still pretty good and certainly deserved to equal Louise in scores. And there were some very nice, typically Oti, choreographic flourishes.
Claudia looked good in purple and her balance throughout was brilliant. Obviously AJ put in the developes to show her off, but in a year where nobody’s blown the judges away with their rumbas (although I’ve also rated the other semi-finalists' rumbas) it felt like they were a bit harsh in what they said, even if I see where the criticisms about the lack of hips and connection were coming from. Content-wise, I didn’t think she had quite enough to do leading up to the finish, but then I think AJ’s choreography isn’t as strong as others and maybe a more experienced pro might have been a better fit for Claudia overall. I mean, I'd like to see them give Chloe a celeb next year, but if she's around the same age as AJ, it might be difficult to pair her off with someone.
Ore, who with Jo had looked the best in the first set of dances, had a blistering quickstep. My only quibble was the stopping, I’d have preferred it if they’d kept moving and not, basically, done a pose. I suppose the idea was to emphasise his control, but it felt like a gimmick they’ve done in other dances. While the other three loved it, Ore went back to not winning Craig over (cue the first real judges spat – I mean Bruno falling over in shock is not unexpected).
I’d personally have given it as a tie for Louise, Danny and Ore, but the judges thought otherwise. At this point, it was all very interesting, because in the week leading up, my sense was that with Ore having been in the dance-off and Claudia getting the 10, the trajectory was leading us to Louise and Danny safely in the final and maybe us not getting to see The Jive (or for that matter The Singin’ in the Rain number) which I would not have expected in the first half of the season. I mean, that probably just goes to show I hadn’t thought about it in much detail, but with Ore the judges’ favourite (bar Craig) and the audience probably thinking they’d been MEEEN to Claudia and undermarked her, it was all to play for.
[Tuesday AM: What do I know?]
Bless the director for letting us see Claudia on the crashmat, because she’d really made Tess lose it, although I think we missed the worst of it.
For the second round of dances, we were having the judges’ commentary about Louise, which amounted to ‘confidence’ and ‘Argentine Tango’, which leads one to wonder if they were really harsh to her at that stage school of hers. As for the dance, it was very traditional and she kept her end up as well as you’d expect. Again, lots of content, but, compared with what was to come, not really anything ‘wow’ about it, which is possibly Louise’s bete noir for me.
Danny’s round-up did not mention his Halloween boo-boo, but rather the samba and Charleston, and how he’s been the one to beat for a while. He was also compared to Gene Kelly and I think wardrobe took that reference and ran with it, so I was reminded of An American in Paris. But what followed was OUTSTANDING. I had hands all over my face, it was that good. The choreography, the execution. I have to take issue with Darcey because that lift she’d quibbled about did work in context (it looked worse in the clip in the VT), and we were in the weird position of Darcey giving fewer marks THAN CRAIG. The judges certainly wandered off-script (in relative terms) tonight.
Anyway, THAT was my favourite dance of the night, absolute tops.
I was hoping that Claudia’d done the sportswoman thing and put the last dance out of her mind. In contrast to the earlier rock and roll quickstep, this was classic stuff, they got into it almost immediately and it was one of their infectious dances, and about as fast as Ore’s, and this time I have no complaint about AJ’s choreography or teaching. As the judges said, the patterns they followed on the floor were interesting and the sway in the turns (‘like waltzers’ I may have exclaimed) was gorgeous. I was delighted that she got a ’10 from Len’ who also addressed the height difference that has not been mentioned, although it has affected them about as much as it did Lesley and Anton. Anyway, that was her best dance, and although her strength and fitness obviously helped, it wasn’t about gymnastics.
Should also be noted that the pros in the Clauditorium were as raucuously enthusiastic throughout as they’ve been all series :)
Ore and Jo’s entrance into the AT was srs bsns, and legitimately great. It was all intense and he was in control and the lifts were excellent. I spotted the wobble, too, but I was also looking for a bit more leg action from him - there seemed to be no hooking, so I felt disappointed (and I may have become so entrenched in the Danny and Oti camp that I’m not unbiased?) It was good enough for Craig to bump him up to a 9. Well, Darcey got the ‘attentive partnering’ that she wanted and Len did make a fair point about his lack of dance training, although he's clearly strong and fit.
HENCE Ore was at the top of the leaderboard, mainly because of Darcey, not Craig, Danny was just off, and Claudia and Louise were joint third, i.e. bottom, with Louise having been more consistent scoreswise, but if you say that the rumba and samba are both tough, Claudia’s quickstep had more impact than Louise’s tango!
Well, I voted for Danny thrice and Claudia once, but I think the ladies are going to be in the dance-off, and while Louise ought to go to the final based on her overall dancing, I will want Claudia to make it. But the performances did shake things up a little.
[Tuesday AM: Yeah, I wrote that last paragraph on Saturday night.]
Semi-final results
The opening pro routine was cool, with Janette, inevitably, doing amazing acrobatics.
The recap put faithfully followed the scoring in how it ordered everyone's two dances.
Cue the first results, and Ore, having come top, was called first, which seemed fair. Cue emotional meltdowns (and shock) from Ore and Jo – I thought Kevin’s clear excitement for his sister was nice, actually, although I still thought he needed to rein it in because I thought it was going to be an all-girl dance-off, but no! In a shock twist it was Danny whose vote slightly collapsed – not in my household.
[Tuesday AM: At some point around here, Sting came on and was really boring and it took ages for Pasha and Oksana to turn up and do some showboating.]
Sadly, the last Len’s Lens didn’t give us Claudia’s shenanigans on the crash mat – let’s hope It Takes Two makes up for that.
And then Louise was called safe and Claudia wasn’t. (And in an odd way, let’s all thank Will Young for stopping s Strictly Come All Ye Cliftons.) Although they dangled ‘nerves of steel’ (whereas Danny had wobbled horribly at Halloween at us), Craig’s comments felt like goodbye and AJ’s advice had nothing to do with the upcoming dance, which suggested he knew the writing was on the wall. Danny would have had to drop Oti, possibly twice, not to get through.
It was horrible to watch my two favourite dances of the night again. Danny did a better job on the final catch. If Claudia had been facing Louise, I think they’d have found it hard to award it to Louise ‘based on the dance we’ve just seen’, but hey, that’s why her vote came out.
I’d forgotten about Claudia and AJ’s West Side Story referencing routine. Which is to say I think the three with the more memorable routines went through, and in the period after Ed had gone and before last week, the trio I was expecting.
So many tears!
Louise got to open, and her dress looked better as she moved than it did on first sight. Crammed full of content (too much so when she had two dances to learn?) and as good as you’d expect. Bruno seemed to continue where he’d left off in terms of doling out 10s…
I will say that her VT seemed to have the biggest spread in age in supporters (in as much as you can use that as a guide to anything – I think one classroom of kids appeared supporting two couples). Obviously, this gimmick had diminishing returns, although the celebs got a boost out of it, especially from the cute kids.
I’d been excited about Danny’s salsa, and while it wasn’t quite as good as the samba – I can’t put my finger on why, was there a sticky bit in the second lift? – it was still pretty good and certainly deserved to equal Louise in scores. And there were some very nice, typically Oti, choreographic flourishes.
Claudia looked good in purple and her balance throughout was brilliant. Obviously AJ put in the developes to show her off, but in a year where nobody’s blown the judges away with their rumbas (although I’ve also rated the other semi-finalists' rumbas) it felt like they were a bit harsh in what they said, even if I see where the criticisms about the lack of hips and connection were coming from. Content-wise, I didn’t think she had quite enough to do leading up to the finish, but then I think AJ’s choreography isn’t as strong as others and maybe a more experienced pro might have been a better fit for Claudia overall. I mean, I'd like to see them give Chloe a celeb next year, but if she's around the same age as AJ, it might be difficult to pair her off with someone.
Ore, who with Jo had looked the best in the first set of dances, had a blistering quickstep. My only quibble was the stopping, I’d have preferred it if they’d kept moving and not, basically, done a pose. I suppose the idea was to emphasise his control, but it felt like a gimmick they’ve done in other dances. While the other three loved it, Ore went back to not winning Craig over (cue the first real judges spat – I mean Bruno falling over in shock is not unexpected).
I’d personally have given it as a tie for Louise, Danny and Ore, but the judges thought otherwise. At this point, it was all very interesting, because in the week leading up, my sense was that with Ore having been in the dance-off and Claudia getting the 10, the trajectory was leading us to Louise and Danny safely in the final and maybe us not getting to see The Jive (or for that matter The Singin’ in the Rain number) which I would not have expected in the first half of the season. I mean, that probably just goes to show I hadn’t thought about it in much detail, but with Ore the judges’ favourite (bar Craig) and the audience probably thinking they’d been MEEEN to Claudia and undermarked her, it was all to play for.
[Tuesday AM: What do I know?]
Bless the director for letting us see Claudia on the crashmat, because she’d really made Tess lose it, although I think we missed the worst of it.
For the second round of dances, we were having the judges’ commentary about Louise, which amounted to ‘confidence’ and ‘Argentine Tango’, which leads one to wonder if they were really harsh to her at that stage school of hers. As for the dance, it was very traditional and she kept her end up as well as you’d expect. Again, lots of content, but, compared with what was to come, not really anything ‘wow’ about it, which is possibly Louise’s bete noir for me.
Danny’s round-up did not mention his Halloween boo-boo, but rather the samba and Charleston, and how he’s been the one to beat for a while. He was also compared to Gene Kelly and I think wardrobe took that reference and ran with it, so I was reminded of An American in Paris. But what followed was OUTSTANDING. I had hands all over my face, it was that good. The choreography, the execution. I have to take issue with Darcey because that lift she’d quibbled about did work in context (it looked worse in the clip in the VT), and we were in the weird position of Darcey giving fewer marks THAN CRAIG. The judges certainly wandered off-script (in relative terms) tonight.
Anyway, THAT was my favourite dance of the night, absolute tops.
I was hoping that Claudia’d done the sportswoman thing and put the last dance out of her mind. In contrast to the earlier rock and roll quickstep, this was classic stuff, they got into it almost immediately and it was one of their infectious dances, and about as fast as Ore’s, and this time I have no complaint about AJ’s choreography or teaching. As the judges said, the patterns they followed on the floor were interesting and the sway in the turns (‘like waltzers’ I may have exclaimed) was gorgeous. I was delighted that she got a ’10 from Len’ who also addressed the height difference that has not been mentioned, although it has affected them about as much as it did Lesley and Anton. Anyway, that was her best dance, and although her strength and fitness obviously helped, it wasn’t about gymnastics.
Should also be noted that the pros in the Clauditorium were as raucuously enthusiastic throughout as they’ve been all series :)
Ore and Jo’s entrance into the AT was srs bsns, and legitimately great. It was all intense and he was in control and the lifts were excellent. I spotted the wobble, too, but I was also looking for a bit more leg action from him - there seemed to be no hooking, so I felt disappointed (and I may have become so entrenched in the Danny and Oti camp that I’m not unbiased?) It was good enough for Craig to bump him up to a 9. Well, Darcey got the ‘attentive partnering’ that she wanted and Len did make a fair point about his lack of dance training, although he's clearly strong and fit.
HENCE Ore was at the top of the leaderboard, mainly because of Darcey, not Craig, Danny was just off, and Claudia and Louise were joint third, i.e. bottom, with Louise having been more consistent scoreswise, but if you say that the rumba and samba are both tough, Claudia’s quickstep had more impact than Louise’s tango!
Well, I voted for Danny thrice and Claudia once, but I think the ladies are going to be in the dance-off, and while Louise ought to go to the final based on her overall dancing, I will want Claudia to make it. But the performances did shake things up a little.
[Tuesday AM: Yeah, I wrote that last paragraph on Saturday night.]
Semi-final results
The opening pro routine was cool, with Janette, inevitably, doing amazing acrobatics.
The recap put faithfully followed the scoring in how it ordered everyone's two dances.
Cue the first results, and Ore, having come top, was called first, which seemed fair. Cue emotional meltdowns (and shock) from Ore and Jo – I thought Kevin’s clear excitement for his sister was nice, actually, although I still thought he needed to rein it in because I thought it was going to be an all-girl dance-off, but no! In a shock twist it was Danny whose vote slightly collapsed – not in my household.
[Tuesday AM: At some point around here, Sting came on and was really boring and it took ages for Pasha and Oksana to turn up and do some showboating.]
Sadly, the last Len’s Lens didn’t give us Claudia’s shenanigans on the crash mat – let’s hope It Takes Two makes up for that.
And then Louise was called safe and Claudia wasn’t. (And in an odd way, let’s all thank Will Young for stopping s Strictly Come All Ye Cliftons.) Although they dangled ‘nerves of steel’ (whereas Danny had wobbled horribly at Halloween at us), Craig’s comments felt like goodbye and AJ’s advice had nothing to do with the upcoming dance, which suggested he knew the writing was on the wall. Danny would have had to drop Oti, possibly twice, not to get through.
It was horrible to watch my two favourite dances of the night again. Danny did a better job on the final catch. If Claudia had been facing Louise, I think they’d have found it hard to award it to Louise ‘based on the dance we’ve just seen’, but hey, that’s why her vote came out.
I’d forgotten about Claudia and AJ’s West Side Story referencing routine. Which is to say I think the three with the more memorable routines went through, and in the period after Ed had gone and before last week, the trio I was expecting.
So many tears!
