shallowness

I really enjoyed the Oliver! opening number. Kevin as the Artful Dodger to AJ’s Oliver worked, and AJ made me laugh with the high note, which is rare. The kids were a nice bonus. Amy judged the mood better than Chloe when they came on (but bless, Chloe was beaming so hard because she got screen time), and the closing segment worked too.

Enter Tess is something sane and flattering, enter Claudia in a mad version of her usual look (she might as well have kept Russell’s hat on after the Ts and Cs), enter Darcey and Shirley’s legs.

Gemma’s opening VT lulled me into a false sense of security about other VTs by not taking her to see some swans. I thought her quickstep was light and zippy, although I’d have liked more from her somehow, but Aljiaz choreographed the routine well to show her off. It’s amusing that Gemma gets slated for not acting when she’s an actress, but not helped any by Tess, who was generally annoying all episode.

Mollie was in the death slot. I thought that AJ went for the story in the routine (as with a few of them, I was seeing the musical more than the type of dance). Her mouth was doing weird stuff, there was an illegal lift (did Shirley really dock them a point? She can’t have been intending to give them a 10 otherwise, surely.) I think I fell halfway between the judges, with the fact that, unlike Tess, I’m not invested in them (although Mollie has grown on me to the point where I was sad for her that her family would never let her be Sandy).

Well done on Joe’s cheekbones, make-up. In his VT, they went for the Scottish vote now that Susan’s gone. There were a few mumbly admissions that he’s done musicals. His audition for playing the MC in Cabaret, I mean, samba was inevitably camp. It started off entertaining and then got disjointed, for me, and I wasn’t quite feeling the love the judges expressed. Craig and Darcey were definitely making it clear who they wanted through and who in the dance-off at this point.

Debbie and Giovanni’s American Smooth was exquisite. I felt the judges expressed my emotions about it – the fluidity, pulling us in, the pathos. For me, her best dance in terms of giving me feels. Giovanni knew how much to push her.

Cue more cat impersonations than we possibly needed to see, starting with Craig (a comment about why he didn’t give her a 10 would have been more to the point).

So, Phantom is the only musical that they did that’s on at the West End, then.

The opening to Davood’s routine of him coming down with the chandelier amused me because it was so Davood and so Phantom. For a while, I was seeing more paso and showdance than AT, but then the content got better. However, wobbliness is wobbliness, and Davood’s upward trajectory faltered. (Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if he got more votes than Joe. Also, I’m sure Nadiya’s new fiancé was FINE with the ending of the routine.)

Must have been weird for Alexandra to get the last slot after being in the dance-off. Sadly the VT was not just Gorka trying to say ‘supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’. But it was an exhilarating routine, Alexandra’s swivels were off the chart and I think the synchronicity was good (as ever, I was watching her, not Gorka). I loved how the lifts led us into the even more revved up second half, and she absolutely did not flag. Right call to put it last.

The whole Gorka’s weak swivel = Gorka can’t dance joke was overdone.

So, I voted twice for Debbie, aged 59, and once for Alexandra. Let everyone else vote for their favourites.