Strictly @Blackpool
Nov. 20th, 2022 02:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessI'm experiementing with a new theme. Don't know if it will stick.
It Takes Two
On Monday, Tony cut through some of the usual spin by observing that all the contestants are of different ages and abilities, although the show does try to make it more about comparing your own performances. Helen was also bracingly honest about pretending that the judges’ comments to Hamza were directed at her.
Anton made an interesting comment as part of his answer as to when a dance deserves a 10, in that it was when he thought it was the best they could do in the time they had. I still think he’s too soft, but it was a fair point.
Apparently Kym was in pain after her Argentine tango, which had restricted the how much they’d rehearsed the lifts. Rhys was very droll about watching Nancy partnering someone else.
Strictly Blackpool/Week 9 live show
So, apparently nothing (except maybe COVID-19?) happened in Blackpool over the past three years. But now the Strictly pros (in their natty raincoats) had come to dance with the illuminations and Blackpool itself and the judges and the celebs in a big opening number. I loved the colour of Tess’s dress, while Claudia had decided Blackpool was worthy of both her shoulders. Of the judges, Shirley’s golden gown and swishable skirt beat all comers. They hadn’t quite got the sound mix right at the beginning, and it occasionally got a bit echoey in the Tower ballroom. Tess, madly, I thought, tried to put pressure on Craig to get out his 10 paddle. (I’m bracing myself for next week’s comedown.)
Hamza and Jowita opened with the first American smooth of the night, and, as ever, they made me smile, and I thought there was a little extra pop about the open work. Clever to have the extra dancers as background, really, and for the focus to be on them as the stars of the show – the blue of Jowita’s gown stood out beautifully. The judges purred over the footwork. A very good 38.
Lazy to get Sam Ryder to read the Ts and Cs when he’s performing on the results show.
Molly and Carlos were next with the jive. I thought this might be good, and it was that and stylish. She was on top of it and that’s probably my favourite routine from them since their quickstep. (I wondered whether the lifts would count against them, but stopped worrying about that because apparently it doesn’t count because BLACKPOOL. Or maybe that was a factor in Craig giving it a 9.) But I liked the use of the extra pros, and, despite my usual rumbling about Carlos’s choreography, the choreography.
Kym and Graziano were doing a paso to Rihanna (who should feel snubbed, because Strictly is all about the Beyonce this year), and it was in and out for me, or rather I never connected with the whole routine. I loved her skirt work; I loved the unusual for a paso colours of the underskirt. There were good bits but there were not quite so good bits, and the judges’ comments and scores reflected that. Graziano’s hopeful ‘on cloud 9’ comment was only rewarded by an Anton 9. Oh, and this was about when Anton started channelling Bruno and making Shirley wish they had the Elstree judges’ set up, not ye olde table.
Tyler and Dianne‘s VT was one of the more memorable of the Blackpool VTs as a portion of it was Tyler screaming his head off in abject terror on a rollercoaster. Interesting choice, everyone. They were doing a salsa made up of salsa, disco and KERAZY LIFTS. I didn’t think the ratio of disco to salsa was right. But he strutted with confidence around the pros. It’s pretty clear that (as Craig suggested on ITT a few weeks ago) other celebs have honed the technique better than him.
Ellie and Johannes’s American smooth was next, and I have to commend his choreography. It was simple, but not in a bad way, the storytelling, from the use of the backing dancers to the ending worked. Shame that they had a very dodgy camera moment. She looked beeyootiful. Ballroom is her strength, but she understandably got the pickiest comments from the judges of the night and the lowest score (which I think is fair enough when compared to the other celeb ladies left).
I am not sure that I was meant to gather from the next VT that Helen pulled pints as a child, but…
She and Gorka had a quickstep and I could tell it was stylish and well done. There was a fun story with the other dancers almost as a chasing pack at one point, but I spent most of the routine hating Helen and the ladies’ dresses. So I was a little surprised by the crowd’s reaction to the local girl and, indeed, the judges’. 39 - that’s their best score with 10s plural (and they were now top of the leaderboard.)
In Fleur’s couples choice VT, one of the things I learned was why Fleur’s husband isn’t particularly bothered about Vito, or if Fleur dances sexily with him.
So, that was a commercial Beyonce roleplay, then? Obviously, Fleur OWNED IT (but pickily I thought there were a couple of moments where you could tell she wasn’t a pro) and although I take Shirley’s point about the counterbalance thing, I thought it was a 49.75 and was shocked Craig reached for his 10 paddle for it. (Minority view?) Anton peddled the ‘Strictly has taught you control’ storyline some more.
There was also a bit to unpack in the talk of how Fleur’s dad was such a Strictly an that he grumbled at having to watch The X-Factor for his daughter (remember The X-Factor, kids?) Obviously, he’s not around to tell her that your actual Michelle Williams (to whom she jokingly compared Vito) was on this show once, after, er, her singing career fizzled out too. Sorry if that comes off as bitchy, I like Fleur’s personality and I’ve loved many of her dances, if not this one as much as everyone else. And I am not mocking her loss of her father at all.
To close, Will and Nancy’s samba and it was JOYOUS. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he showed no fear and went for it, but was not too wild (as I’d feared he might be.) Again, clever choreography from Nancy. And then meow, Craig, you didn’t need to swipe at Tyler out loud (we were all thinking it!)
And so, that was the Blackpool live show, as over-excited as you like. They left Vito and Nancy out of talking about what dancing for the first time/on Strictly/with a Strictly partner at Blackpool meant for them, which felt unfair as they’d given Jowita, Graz, Carlos and Johannes a chance.
With Tony gone, it felt like it would be whoever had a bad night, now, but for me Ellie, Tyler and perhaps Kym’s weaknesses were shown up, but who knows? For myself, I went for the totally subjective ‘how much did I enjoy it?’ measurement, although it might be coloured by how much I like the couples/celebs, because I wavered over giving Will my third vote. I had thoroughly enjoyed the routine but ultimately didn’t want to be responsible for listening to Will wang on some more, so I voted for Hamza twice and Molly once.
[Edited for typos 14/2/25.]
It Takes Two
On Monday, Tony cut through some of the usual spin by observing that all the contestants are of different ages and abilities, although the show does try to make it more about comparing your own performances. Helen was also bracingly honest about pretending that the judges’ comments to Hamza were directed at her.
Anton made an interesting comment as part of his answer as to when a dance deserves a 10, in that it was when he thought it was the best they could do in the time they had. I still think he’s too soft, but it was a fair point.
Apparently Kym was in pain after her Argentine tango, which had restricted the how much they’d rehearsed the lifts. Rhys was very droll about watching Nancy partnering someone else.
Strictly Blackpool/Week 9 live show
So, apparently nothing (except maybe COVID-19?) happened in Blackpool over the past three years. But now the Strictly pros (in their natty raincoats) had come to dance with the illuminations and Blackpool itself and the judges and the celebs in a big opening number. I loved the colour of Tess’s dress, while Claudia had decided Blackpool was worthy of both her shoulders. Of the judges, Shirley’s golden gown and swishable skirt beat all comers. They hadn’t quite got the sound mix right at the beginning, and it occasionally got a bit echoey in the Tower ballroom. Tess, madly, I thought, tried to put pressure on Craig to get out his 10 paddle. (I’m bracing myself for next week’s comedown.)
Hamza and Jowita opened with the first American smooth of the night, and, as ever, they made me smile, and I thought there was a little extra pop about the open work. Clever to have the extra dancers as background, really, and for the focus to be on them as the stars of the show – the blue of Jowita’s gown stood out beautifully. The judges purred over the footwork. A very good 38.
Lazy to get Sam Ryder to read the Ts and Cs when he’s performing on the results show.
Molly and Carlos were next with the jive. I thought this might be good, and it was that and stylish. She was on top of it and that’s probably my favourite routine from them since their quickstep. (I wondered whether the lifts would count against them, but stopped worrying about that because apparently it doesn’t count because BLACKPOOL. Or maybe that was a factor in Craig giving it a 9.) But I liked the use of the extra pros, and, despite my usual rumbling about Carlos’s choreography, the choreography.
Kym and Graziano were doing a paso to Rihanna (who should feel snubbed, because Strictly is all about the Beyonce this year), and it was in and out for me, or rather I never connected with the whole routine. I loved her skirt work; I loved the unusual for a paso colours of the underskirt. There were good bits but there were not quite so good bits, and the judges’ comments and scores reflected that. Graziano’s hopeful ‘on cloud 9’ comment was only rewarded by an Anton 9. Oh, and this was about when Anton started channelling Bruno and making Shirley wish they had the Elstree judges’ set up, not ye olde table.
Tyler and Dianne‘s VT was one of the more memorable of the Blackpool VTs as a portion of it was Tyler screaming his head off in abject terror on a rollercoaster. Interesting choice, everyone. They were doing a salsa made up of salsa, disco and KERAZY LIFTS. I didn’t think the ratio of disco to salsa was right. But he strutted with confidence around the pros. It’s pretty clear that (as Craig suggested on ITT a few weeks ago) other celebs have honed the technique better than him.
Ellie and Johannes’s American smooth was next, and I have to commend his choreography. It was simple, but not in a bad way, the storytelling, from the use of the backing dancers to the ending worked. Shame that they had a very dodgy camera moment. She looked beeyootiful. Ballroom is her strength, but she understandably got the pickiest comments from the judges of the night and the lowest score (which I think is fair enough when compared to the other celeb ladies left).
I am not sure that I was meant to gather from the next VT that Helen pulled pints as a child, but…
She and Gorka had a quickstep and I could tell it was stylish and well done. There was a fun story with the other dancers almost as a chasing pack at one point, but I spent most of the routine hating Helen and the ladies’ dresses. So I was a little surprised by the crowd’s reaction to the local girl and, indeed, the judges’. 39 - that’s their best score with 10s plural (and they were now top of the leaderboard.)
In Fleur’s couples choice VT, one of the things I learned was why Fleur’s husband isn’t particularly bothered about Vito, or if Fleur dances sexily with him.
So, that was a commercial Beyonce roleplay, then? Obviously, Fleur OWNED IT (but pickily I thought there were a couple of moments where you could tell she wasn’t a pro) and although I take Shirley’s point about the counterbalance thing, I thought it was a 49.75 and was shocked Craig reached for his 10 paddle for it. (Minority view?) Anton peddled the ‘Strictly has taught you control’ storyline some more.
There was also a bit to unpack in the talk of how Fleur’s dad was such a Strictly an that he grumbled at having to watch The X-Factor for his daughter (remember The X-Factor, kids?) Obviously, he’s not around to tell her that your actual Michelle Williams (to whom she jokingly compared Vito) was on this show once, after, er, her singing career fizzled out too. Sorry if that comes off as bitchy, I like Fleur’s personality and I’ve loved many of her dances, if not this one as much as everyone else. And I am not mocking her loss of her father at all.
To close, Will and Nancy’s samba and it was JOYOUS. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he showed no fear and went for it, but was not too wild (as I’d feared he might be.) Again, clever choreography from Nancy. And then meow, Craig, you didn’t need to swipe at Tyler out loud (we were all thinking it!)
And so, that was the Blackpool live show, as over-excited as you like. They left Vito and Nancy out of talking about what dancing for the first time/on Strictly/with a Strictly partner at Blackpool meant for them, which felt unfair as they’d given Jowita, Graz, Carlos and Johannes a chance.
With Tony gone, it felt like it would be whoever had a bad night, now, but for me Ellie, Tyler and perhaps Kym’s weaknesses were shown up, but who knows? For myself, I went for the totally subjective ‘how much did I enjoy it?’ measurement, although it might be coloured by how much I like the couples/celebs, because I wavered over giving Will my third vote. I had thoroughly enjoyed the routine but ultimately didn’t want to be responsible for listening to Will wang on some more, so I voted for Hamza twice and Molly once.
[Edited for typos 14/2/25.]
