Strictly Come Dancing – week 1

[shallowness]

I currently like Ranj’s bit in the opening titles the most.

BIG opening number, and I’m never going to complain about referencing Moulin Rouge! I’m curious about the opening location. I’d only say that the blue gowns worked better in the studio. Grazziano/the Camera’s affair continues apace.

Amy and Danny’s outfits didn’t quite match. She’s Welsh, did you know?, and this year she wants ‘tins’. You could immediately tell why they opened with this foxtrot (Craig was right about how much of it was out of hold). It was much better than the gimmicky song and shirt, and I loved how he hit the accents.

Aljiaz seems to have learned everything he knows about news journalism from Superman, which is cute. I could have done with more crispness in Kate’s movement, which would have come from what the judges said about her technique, but you couldn’t fault her attitude.

Wisely, everyone fronted up about AJ nearly dropping the Paralympian as we all saw it, and the poor love had to face him meeting her ‘for training’ straight after a flight from Australia. Lauren was clearly nervous at first, but relaxed into the performance, and I thought it was rather beautiful (another Luhrman nod), and what she can do with her body is promising, especially if she only did it on two days’ training, although I think AJ could have waited for ITT to drop that info as we’re not voting yet.

Sean next with Strictly’s disco tango interpretation of Bodyguard. Thanks for causing me hysterics, Katya! His hand gestures were...memorable, and I thought the chuck/lift was a lift. Apparently the judges called Shirley and Craig are being strict this year, but we’ll see if it’s consistent.

Vick’s schtick is to remind people of Meghan Markle, as was. The speed of the dance did for her and put me in ‘stop giving them the jive in the first week’ mode. Claudia had to move Grazziano in the Clauditorium, and I’m sure he was confused because Jason Gilkis has pretty much always put him in the centre of shot with his choreography, so he thinks he belongs there.

Susannah got through her dance. Anton continued with last year’s high-camp, old-fashioned routine that gets in the basic steps approach. I spent most of the routine worrying about them falling over the round top of the maracas on the dancefloor. Good on Susannah for standing up to Craig. One was a bit harsh. But then Tess went in all Tesslike and made the situation worse. It’s early enough that I was mostly affectionate about her tin ear as a presenter.

Charles looked cool and in control throughout his cha cha. I thought he was promising from the off (the judges used the word ‘promising’ liberally, no?) and I’m glad he backed it up. The point about the lack of cha cha content was really for Karen, who took it on the chin, but Shirley would. Not. Let. It. Drop. Heh.

Fair play to Ashley who admitted what dancing she’d done. She’s like a cross between Reese Witherspoon and Carrie Underwood, lookswise, isn’t she? Her Viennese Waltz was really quite good, although she didn’t quite have the control not to make it look a tad frenetic, but the judges were right about the fluidity. First 8 of the night. (Darcey.)

The show did not follow Ranj into actual Casualty. (Okay, it would be a bit much for a show like Strictly if it did, but basically on the contributing to society front, the celebs need to start honing puppy-rescuing skills.) I feel that cha-cha suited his stature perfectly, and I thought his legwork was pretty good. He’s cute – it’ll be interesting to see if he can handle the characters of other dances. I thought Janette’s fake ending was a little too big. First 8 from Shirley.

Katie put out her disabilities quite straightly. I find her the most touching contestant and I had a soft spot for all the ladies’ waltzes. She was clearly the one who struggled with nerves the most, which most of the celebs without performing backgrounds (as far as I know) overcame.

Descending glittered cricket bat aside (oh, Strictly), I love Oti’s choreography and how she probably didn’t have the same associations that most of us do with the music and so thought it was great for samba. The cricketing etc references were so clever, because they worked as ways to make Graeme more comfortable because his body was used to the movements, whereas these things often feel gimmicky. He went for it.

But by this point I definitely wished they’d split the show over two nights.

Add the quickstep to the jive on the list of unfair dances to give in week one, because it demands fitness and stamina as well as getting used to everything else for the first time. Likeable Stacy put in a good effort. It was interesting that they opened with high energy levels that the music didn’t demand at that point, but it made for an exuberant number.

Duly noted that Lee was the first male celeb to do a waltz, and I thought he was beautifully attentive to his partner and seeming to lead a lot, which is impressive. As for the ‘lustfulness’ (TM Darcey, cue hysterics from Bruno who’d been building up to it all night), well, that’s Nadiya’s choreography for you.

Joe’s feet were surprisingly quick! Diane did pull out a smooth and cool performance out of him. I wasn’t a fan of the bit where they ran up in front of the band and messed about, but the judges’ point about giving him a breather was fair. Okay, show, maybe you are allowed to give them the jive in week 1.

Superfan Faye got to do the big finish, and I like that it was with a routine that was about the dancing, not the gimmicking (Steps referencing aside). The critique on the hips was fair enough, but she performed well and considering how much she and Giovanni were apart, they were in sync impressively.

PHEW. A bright impression, overall, although Craig wasn’t the only one to reach for the 3 paddle, but there are a lot of them that I’m looking forward to seeing again. Experience says that switching from Latin to ballroom and vice-versa may be hard on some, as will having less time to rehearse.

Right, let's see how many pages of Lethal White I can squeeze in before Bodyguard.