It's Strictly time!
Sep. 22nd, 2019 06:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessI caught up with Strictly Come Dancing: The Professionals on Friday. I hadn’t known it was on last Saturday and had planned to go see Downton Abbey instead. As it was basically a clip show, I’m glad I didn’t change my plans for it. It was indeed mainly the pros, (I can live with Grazziano not having a partner, but Oti and Gorka!? No pressure, Neil, Luba and Andres) but with some celeb padding. ‘Who is that hot guy in the beard,’ I thought? Oh, it’s Danny Mac. Nice.
Ahem.
Otherwise, Neil wound AJ up beautifully and we learned that Aljiaz is still upset that the show sorted him into Hufflepuff. But…you would, wouldn’t you?
In hindsight, it is hilarious that the producers kept turning Kevin down (although Goth!Kevin must have been easy to say ‘no’ to.) What was more revelatory to me was learning that Nadiya is a mother, Gorka and Gemma had a baby and Giovanni and Ashley got together. Did not know that. Otherwise, it was a bit like a swankier version of It Takes Two items when the number of couples has been whittled down only with non-British dancers trying to do impressions and sounding like Brummies by accident or something.
Then, yesterday, the morning of the live show, I learned they’d got Oti a replacement celeb and went YAY! (I'm so all caught up. Not.)
Strictly – week 1
Most of the male celebs seemed to be standing still in the credits.
Nice opening routine, well, once the dancing started. Mirrors and all sorts. I liked the change from silvery hues to warmer yellows and orange.
Outfits: three trouser-suits. Claudia in black, of course, Tess, daringer in red, and Motsi channelling discos. While Shirley’s gown was lacy and white.
As per usual, a lot of song/theme choices were on the nose, trying to establish for the audience what these ‘celebs’ did for a living. Sometimes it was more grating than others – I mean, with Anneka Rice, it was inevitable.
From Alex and Neil’s quickstep, I’d say she’s got potential. Neil cleverly curtailed the amount she was in hold, though.
And then we realised we had to calibrate Motsi’s scores – they don’t seem that mad. Only big divide in the comments was with Shirley over Emma’s jive technique. However, there were a lot of sound issues with her, like the mike wasn’t in the right place, or they hadn’t quite calibrated for how loud she’d be.
Chris and Karen had a proper week 1 dance in the cha cha. I liked the colours of Karen’s outfit, but didn’t get why they’d scooped out the back of her jacket. He was a bit leaden and threw his arms around.
Catherine and Johnnes (let’s skip over the theme of their VT) had the VW, and clearly her strength and elegance weren’t there, and I take Craig’s analysis as to why. Technically there was a prop-related lift in there.
Granted, a tango is easier to blag than a VW, but there were some good bits to Saffron’s, then there were others (in hold) where maybe her feet weren’t in the right place and she was depending on AJ , but this was unquestionably the best dance so far.
I thought Katya gave Mike some clever choreography, especially in the second half (but you’d expect no less). His timing was okay, but there wasn’t much flow to it, for me.
Emma (she’s a lady) is another one who’s got potential. She could have gone bigger, performance-wise, obviously, but I was left looking forward to her ballroom.
Let’s do the thing the judges do when they have nothing good to say about the routine: James looked dishy in his suit, and Luba got the gown of the night. I was howling about his frame as he got more and more hunched, but Shirley did find it In her to observe that he’d done the routine cleanly. And then he got 11.
It was time to introduce Kelvin and his guns (I hope we get more details on ITT or something about the producers deciding on plan B and how exactly he was informed). So, there I was feeling sorry for him, getting the samba in week one with, presumably, even less prep time than anyone. That dissipated. The man can move, he danced with confidence and it was deserved – I was watching him, not Oti, and that’s not just because of my ovaries. Presumably there’s more than ‘my dad danced to Northern Soul’ past history with dance, but I don’t care. Oti’s feelings graph over the past fortnight or so must be a sight to behold. (I wonder if she’d have given Jamie all that choreography. My feeling is ‘no.’)
UGH. THAT SONG. It made me forget to put down the tall footballer partnering Nadiya’s name. I don’t think I got over the dissonance of that song for a foxtrot, but there was some good body contact, lightness, and it was better than I expected.
Michelle (and Giovanni) should be proud of that cha-cha. Initially, I thought she could have been bigger, but she drew you in to her dancing that dance on her terms, and she really was dancing it and owning it. I did not expect her to be this good.
Dev was also surprising. Nice frame and lightness – a much better first week foxtrot than I was expecting. I mean, he was helped by the song choice not being so out there as Three Lions, but he was trapped in the dorky jive-type costume.
By giving Anneka her theme song she was basically dancing to a song in which her name was repeated a lot. Biggest opeing of any routine. It was entertaining if not a good dance (less skipping, more focus on feet, legs and knees?) I hope she gets a dress next week.
I loved Will’s footwork and exuberance in his quickstep. They were upfront about what his disability would mean (maybe there’ll be more problems with other dances) but that was a lot of energy and content, and I think he can only be helped by being the most demonstrative of the athletes competing.
Until Kelvin happened, the boy Karem was the male dancer I was most excited about seeing, Again, loved all the energy and content. He was the star of the routine - memories of Aston, anyone? So, it’s up to Amy to carry on choreographing the right balance of recognisable dance steps and flashy tricks.
Can see why Emma (not a vicountess) got the final slot, and yet Will or Karem would have been a bigger high. Her jive was a little…prissy, but neat.
So, we got our first proper impression, and there were a few surprises. Obviously, Kelvin was the biggest one on several levels, but I didn’t expect Michelle to be the top woman, or Dev to be in the mix. Right now, it seems like it’s going to be a stronger year for the men, so let’s see if the women can adjust accordingly.
I am not a fan of their shifting the time slot for It Takes Two. I think it suits Zoe Ball more than the audience. Well, the part of the audience that is me. I’ll wait until I’ve seen him on the show, but the only thing I have against Rylan is that he hasn’t been on Strictly (well, and I’m wondering if they even asked Gethin.)
Ahem.
Otherwise, Neil wound AJ up beautifully and we learned that Aljiaz is still upset that the show sorted him into Hufflepuff. But…you would, wouldn’t you?
In hindsight, it is hilarious that the producers kept turning Kevin down (although Goth!Kevin must have been easy to say ‘no’ to.) What was more revelatory to me was learning that Nadiya is a mother, Gorka and Gemma had a baby and Giovanni and Ashley got together. Did not know that. Otherwise, it was a bit like a swankier version of It Takes Two items when the number of couples has been whittled down only with non-British dancers trying to do impressions and sounding like Brummies by accident or something.
Then, yesterday, the morning of the live show, I learned they’d got Oti a replacement celeb and went YAY! (I'm so all caught up. Not.)
Strictly – week 1
Most of the male celebs seemed to be standing still in the credits.
Nice opening routine, well, once the dancing started. Mirrors and all sorts. I liked the change from silvery hues to warmer yellows and orange.
Outfits: three trouser-suits. Claudia in black, of course, Tess, daringer in red, and Motsi channelling discos. While Shirley’s gown was lacy and white.
As per usual, a lot of song/theme choices were on the nose, trying to establish for the audience what these ‘celebs’ did for a living. Sometimes it was more grating than others – I mean, with Anneka Rice, it was inevitable.
From Alex and Neil’s quickstep, I’d say she’s got potential. Neil cleverly curtailed the amount she was in hold, though.
And then we realised we had to calibrate Motsi’s scores – they don’t seem that mad. Only big divide in the comments was with Shirley over Emma’s jive technique. However, there were a lot of sound issues with her, like the mike wasn’t in the right place, or they hadn’t quite calibrated for how loud she’d be.
Chris and Karen had a proper week 1 dance in the cha cha. I liked the colours of Karen’s outfit, but didn’t get why they’d scooped out the back of her jacket. He was a bit leaden and threw his arms around.
Catherine and Johnnes (let’s skip over the theme of their VT) had the VW, and clearly her strength and elegance weren’t there, and I take Craig’s analysis as to why. Technically there was a prop-related lift in there.
Granted, a tango is easier to blag than a VW, but there were some good bits to Saffron’s, then there were others (in hold) where maybe her feet weren’t in the right place and she was depending on AJ , but this was unquestionably the best dance so far.
I thought Katya gave Mike some clever choreography, especially in the second half (but you’d expect no less). His timing was okay, but there wasn’t much flow to it, for me.
Emma (she’s a lady) is another one who’s got potential. She could have gone bigger, performance-wise, obviously, but I was left looking forward to her ballroom.
Let’s do the thing the judges do when they have nothing good to say about the routine: James looked dishy in his suit, and Luba got the gown of the night. I was howling about his frame as he got more and more hunched, but Shirley did find it In her to observe that he’d done the routine cleanly. And then he got 11.
It was time to introduce Kelvin and his guns (I hope we get more details on ITT or something about the producers deciding on plan B and how exactly he was informed). So, there I was feeling sorry for him, getting the samba in week one with, presumably, even less prep time than anyone. That dissipated. The man can move, he danced with confidence and it was deserved – I was watching him, not Oti, and that’s not just because of my ovaries. Presumably there’s more than ‘my dad danced to Northern Soul’ past history with dance, but I don’t care. Oti’s feelings graph over the past fortnight or so must be a sight to behold. (I wonder if she’d have given Jamie all that choreography. My feeling is ‘no.’)
UGH. THAT SONG. It made me forget to put down the tall footballer partnering Nadiya’s name. I don’t think I got over the dissonance of that song for a foxtrot, but there was some good body contact, lightness, and it was better than I expected.
Michelle (and Giovanni) should be proud of that cha-cha. Initially, I thought she could have been bigger, but she drew you in to her dancing that dance on her terms, and she really was dancing it and owning it. I did not expect her to be this good.
Dev was also surprising. Nice frame and lightness – a much better first week foxtrot than I was expecting. I mean, he was helped by the song choice not being so out there as Three Lions, but he was trapped in the dorky jive-type costume.
By giving Anneka her theme song she was basically dancing to a song in which her name was repeated a lot. Biggest opeing of any routine. It was entertaining if not a good dance (less skipping, more focus on feet, legs and knees?) I hope she gets a dress next week.
I loved Will’s footwork and exuberance in his quickstep. They were upfront about what his disability would mean (maybe there’ll be more problems with other dances) but that was a lot of energy and content, and I think he can only be helped by being the most demonstrative of the athletes competing.
Until Kelvin happened, the boy Karem was the male dancer I was most excited about seeing, Again, loved all the energy and content. He was the star of the routine - memories of Aston, anyone? So, it’s up to Amy to carry on choreographing the right balance of recognisable dance steps and flashy tricks.
Can see why Emma (not a vicountess) got the final slot, and yet Will or Karem would have been a bigger high. Her jive was a little…prissy, but neat.
So, we got our first proper impression, and there were a few surprises. Obviously, Kelvin was the biggest one on several levels, but I didn’t expect Michelle to be the top woman, or Dev to be in the mix. Right now, it seems like it’s going to be a stronger year for the men, so let’s see if the women can adjust accordingly.
I am not a fan of their shifting the time slot for It Takes Two. I think it suits Zoe Ball more than the audience. Well, the part of the audience that is me. I’ll wait until I’ve seen him on the show, but the only thing I have against Rylan is that he hasn’t been on Strictly (well, and I’m wondering if they even asked Gethin.)
