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shallownessOn Wednesday, the news was that Kym (and Graziano) were the first couple to be affected by COVID this series, so they had a bye for one week, all being well, which meant that ITT that night felt a little thin, although Janette did a decent job of grilling Craig on most of his scores at Blackpool and in general. He wasn’t wrong about Anton being too generous/thinking like a former pro. But also, no Kym will mean it’s harder for the rest (especially Molly, probably) now we’re at the sharp end and it’s post-Blackpool comedown week.
After its first week, this year’s pro challenge is proving to be disqualification carnage. I imagine they’ll all resist putting in this step in next year’s Charlestons.
So – week 10/post-Blackpool comedown.
TessnClaud went for restrained colours, although Claudia was showing more skin than Tess. Motsi went for hot pink, while Shirley went for metallic, and the gents were dull, but as I haven’t been that bothered when they’ve snazzed it up, that’s fine. Enter our couples, absent Kym (and Graziano), and they said she was resting.
First up, Will and Nancy with that ‘different Charleston’. I happened to catch Claudia’s show on Radio 2 on Saturday morning, when she was gently tweaking the producers for thinking Kula Shaker’s ‘Hush’ was the prefect song for a Charleston. But I have to say they almost pulled it off for me. It helped that they’d tweaked the beat a bit, and the look and approach owed something to commercial/theatre jazz. I thought Will almost got away with it too – sometimes the side by side work was unflattering, but he was always there for the lifts and the big accents. I’d have given it a 9, myself, as did Anton, surprisingly. (Craig’s comments obviously translated into a 9.) The two 10s meant that the bar was set for the rest of the show.
Next came 22-year-old Molly’s tango with Carlos, and I thought it was very good. She showed the right attitude, there was quality dancing and all the drama you’d want, but also style. I’m torn on the song – I liked that it got the crowd clapping from the get-go, and it helped with the attitude, but it felt slightly too modern for a slightly more classical dance. Then the judges were generally saying they were seeing something new but then they gave her the 35 she’s got so often, which didn’t help. There’s a woebegone sense that they don’t know what to do with this poor kid’s lack of popularity.
Ellie and Johannes’s jive was…not good enough for this stage of the competition, frankly, which is no surprise. The side-by side with Johannes was really unflattering, she was better off in Johannes’s arms, but you can’t do too much of that in the jive. I was relieved Shirley noted that she’d relaxed her standing leg and was slightly better towards the second half, but the judges were mostly left praising her performance skills and bemoaning her technique. Third out of three, with 10 points between them and second place.
Fleur and Vito next with the rumba, and for me, she wasn’t quite dynamic enough for a lot of it, and then the explosive bits were TOO MUCH. I disagreed with Craig, I thought the routine needed a clearer storyline. I also wished they’d either stuck with vocals and drums throughout or not bothered. So, I chose to feel vindicated by the judges’ comments – and it was pretty good, and the rumba’s tough, so that was a good score considering. The voices in Claudia’s earpiece quickly corrected her about wrongly claiming Fleur was joint top of the leaderboard. Ironic that the man at the top of the LB was her chosen person to throw to Tess instead of her.
Next up, Hamza and Jowita’s Argentine tango (and that’s the first male celeb AT of the series, right?) , and yeah, he was leading that. I was with the lady judges, and I really liked how Shirley made her comments, Anton’s were a bit fumblier, and while I might be able to admit that Hamza’s legs weren’t flawless, the way Craig and Anton hated on them was a bit much especially as they then gave him an 8 and 9 respectively). And I thought there was just enough intensity for there to be passion.
Helen and Gorka closed with a samba. That was very clever choreography from Gorka, because the dance built on past judges’ comments about Helen’s solo work and the boost of Blackpool, and allowed her to show off her greater confidence and freedom in her dancing. Yes, Craig was right about the body rhythm/action, but I was willing to go along with the narrative that was being peddled. (And I’ve subsequently caved, Googled and confirmed that her marriage ended this year.) The singer was way better than Emma Bunton.
If Craig’s 5 for Ellie was harsh, it was even more so for Helen. Scoreboard had Will just at the top above Hamza; Molly and Fleur tied at 35 (and we know which dance-off survivor has most successfully come back from those two); Helen below the 30 and Ellie, predictably, last. You could argue that Fleur and Helen had the two toughest dances, but you could also argue that Will aside, everyone had a post-Blackpool drop, although Hamza only dropped one mark. Well, and Molly got the same mark.
I voted for my two favourite routines, so the different flavours of tango. I liked Will’s dance a little less than last week, and I wasn’t feeling the rumba, and acknowledged that Helen’s samba wasn’t as good as her narrative. It’s just a matter of how entrenched whoever is voting for Ellie are in defying the judges.
[Edited for typos 14/2/25.]
After its first week, this year’s pro challenge is proving to be disqualification carnage. I imagine they’ll all resist putting in this step in next year’s Charlestons.
So – week 10/post-Blackpool comedown.
TessnClaud went for restrained colours, although Claudia was showing more skin than Tess. Motsi went for hot pink, while Shirley went for metallic, and the gents were dull, but as I haven’t been that bothered when they’ve snazzed it up, that’s fine. Enter our couples, absent Kym (and Graziano), and they said she was resting.
First up, Will and Nancy with that ‘different Charleston’. I happened to catch Claudia’s show on Radio 2 on Saturday morning, when she was gently tweaking the producers for thinking Kula Shaker’s ‘Hush’ was the prefect song for a Charleston. But I have to say they almost pulled it off for me. It helped that they’d tweaked the beat a bit, and the look and approach owed something to commercial/theatre jazz. I thought Will almost got away with it too – sometimes the side by side work was unflattering, but he was always there for the lifts and the big accents. I’d have given it a 9, myself, as did Anton, surprisingly. (Craig’s comments obviously translated into a 9.) The two 10s meant that the bar was set for the rest of the show.
Next came 22-year-old Molly’s tango with Carlos, and I thought it was very good. She showed the right attitude, there was quality dancing and all the drama you’d want, but also style. I’m torn on the song – I liked that it got the crowd clapping from the get-go, and it helped with the attitude, but it felt slightly too modern for a slightly more classical dance. Then the judges were generally saying they were seeing something new but then they gave her the 35 she’s got so often, which didn’t help. There’s a woebegone sense that they don’t know what to do with this poor kid’s lack of popularity.
Ellie and Johannes’s jive was…not good enough for this stage of the competition, frankly, which is no surprise. The side-by side with Johannes was really unflattering, she was better off in Johannes’s arms, but you can’t do too much of that in the jive. I was relieved Shirley noted that she’d relaxed her standing leg and was slightly better towards the second half, but the judges were mostly left praising her performance skills and bemoaning her technique. Third out of three, with 10 points between them and second place.
Fleur and Vito next with the rumba, and for me, she wasn’t quite dynamic enough for a lot of it, and then the explosive bits were TOO MUCH. I disagreed with Craig, I thought the routine needed a clearer storyline. I also wished they’d either stuck with vocals and drums throughout or not bothered. So, I chose to feel vindicated by the judges’ comments – and it was pretty good, and the rumba’s tough, so that was a good score considering. The voices in Claudia’s earpiece quickly corrected her about wrongly claiming Fleur was joint top of the leaderboard. Ironic that the man at the top of the LB was her chosen person to throw to Tess instead of her.
Next up, Hamza and Jowita’s Argentine tango (and that’s the first male celeb AT of the series, right?) , and yeah, he was leading that. I was with the lady judges, and I really liked how Shirley made her comments, Anton’s were a bit fumblier, and while I might be able to admit that Hamza’s legs weren’t flawless, the way Craig and Anton hated on them was a bit much especially as they then gave him an 8 and 9 respectively). And I thought there was just enough intensity for there to be passion.
Helen and Gorka closed with a samba. That was very clever choreography from Gorka, because the dance built on past judges’ comments about Helen’s solo work and the boost of Blackpool, and allowed her to show off her greater confidence and freedom in her dancing. Yes, Craig was right about the body rhythm/action, but I was willing to go along with the narrative that was being peddled. (And I’ve subsequently caved, Googled and confirmed that her marriage ended this year.) The singer was way better than Emma Bunton.
If Craig’s 5 for Ellie was harsh, it was even more so for Helen. Scoreboard had Will just at the top above Hamza; Molly and Fleur tied at 35 (and we know which dance-off survivor has most successfully come back from those two); Helen below the 30 and Ellie, predictably, last. You could argue that Fleur and Helen had the two toughest dances, but you could also argue that Will aside, everyone had a post-Blackpool drop, although Hamza only dropped one mark. Well, and Molly got the same mark.
I voted for my two favourite routines, so the different flavours of tango. I liked Will’s dance a little less than last week, and I wasn’t feeling the rumba, and acknowledged that Helen’s samba wasn’t as good as her narrative. It’s just a matter of how entrenched whoever is voting for Ellie are in defying the judges.
[Edited for typos 14/2/25.]
