Strictly semi final post
Dec. 12th, 2022 05:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessIt Takes Two stuff Kym and Graziano’s goodbye interview on ITT was an opportunity to remember how good her samba, rumba and Argentine tango had been, and that her confidence boost had come with her movie week Charelston. ITT also felt the need to balance out the main show pushing Molly on to the West End stage by asking whether Kym and Fleur would ever consider treading the boards (well, Kym has apparently done so before, but now she’d be able to do more dancing.
The way they told Vito about his disqualifications in the pro challene was MEAN
I was indignant that none of the Friday panel thought Amy could win the pro challenge and supported her accordingly. Also, she's Welsh so I might have anyway. AND SHE WON.
Strictly semi on a Sunday
The judges got involved in the intro, which also featured snippets of a spooky cover of ‘The Final Coundown’ (heh), which made the earnest contestants’ bits more tolerable.
Enter Tess in pink, Claud in an even more asymmetric black, Shirley in a metallic gown with a skirt to swish, the men looked dapper but dull, while Motsi wore a zebra-print flarey pantsuit, because, of course. Though to be fair, I think Shirley still dresses to dance and Motsi has more of an eye to a statement top as she’s mainly sitting down.
Before Fleur did her paso, she was the first to watch the judges say mostly nice things about her in the VT, which brought her to tears.
My first thought as the dance started was ‘ooh, full skirt’ but then they overdid the skirtography to the point where it felt like a third dancer (and interestingly, Craig said she’d gone wrong when they were using it.) It was good, I thought there was enough balance between the power and the fluidity. Motsi’s score was the hardest to predict based on what she’d said. Anton!10 for a 35.
Novel location to do the Ts and Cs from there, Greg James.
I rather liked the balanced contrasts of colours in Helen and Gorka’s outfits for their waltz. I thought the dance was good, but not excellent and the judges were agreeing, apart from Motsi who seemed to be sticking to uttering gnomic comments but in a way that made the contestants feel good. No 10s, but she also got 35.
Hamza was dancing his Charleston in a kilt, underlying what I‘ve been saying about what a gift he is to the wardrobe department. And it was such a fun routine – you’d want to be in THAT living room - rhythmic and joyous. The lifts lived up to the build-up with the final one topping them all. No wonder they collapsed on the sofa. Boo to Craig, but Shirley’s encomium was lovely. 39 (I thought this might be his strongest dance based on the footage on ITT.)
The judges, and indeed the whole show, tried to address Molly being in the most dance offs. I don’t think it’s the way her dancing performance comes through the telly as much as her life story is: she went to a stage school, got a job on TV and will probably end up on the West End. Early dance-offs made people not that bothered to vote for her, and Fleur and Kym got the ‘unfairly in the dance off’ votes.
Ahem, anyway, her American smooth – there was an ugly/unfinished move when they were up on the higher level. Overall, it was maybe a little too quiet, especially as she was in cool colours, but all her turns on the dancefloor were really good. Anton’s 10 lifted her above the other ladies at 36.
Will had a paso – presumably why Fleur was first and he was last and the next paso would be a fair few dances away too. The initial capeography became faffing about with a cape. (Or it lacked air/breadth according to the judges.) It was a routine of several sections for me – and the first Flamenco one was the best – but it didn’t really cohere as a whole. The judges piled in, and divided into 7s (well, Craig had already used his 8 paddle and clearly thought this was worse, and Shirley’d been clear that it wasn’t good enough for a semi.) 32, with Claudia and Nancy engaged in Operation Stop Beating Yourself Up, Will. I mean, he wasn’t wrong in his assessment, even if it didn’t fit with the preferred narrative, but he did need to focus on the second dance.
Halfway point, and Hamza was well in the lead, Molly’d done just enough, and Fleur and Helen were tied in the middle, while Will had been scored like he wasn’t fit to be in this company, which was quite the reversal from last week. Hamza’s first dance was easily my favourite and guaranteed at least one vote from me.
As Fleur would be the first to dance her second dance, she was also the first to get friends’ and family’s supportive messages in her VT.
Their Neapolitan Charleston started with Vito eating spaghetti, which was a total mistake, but the dance proper was something else. The style of the Charleston suited Fleur, she could dance ugly to match the speed, although she also did quirky and stylish at times. I really liked it, but I didn’t think it was quite as good as Hamza and Jowita’s Charleston, and so I was a bit sniffy about it getting a 39.
Helen’s Argentine tango started with her onstage alone (a bit of a cliché by now, Gorka), but I noted that her legs were sharp yet soft, and her legwork throughout was ace. I thought it was very strong, but questioned whether it was a purist’s Argentine tango (or as good as Fleur, Kym and Hamza’s.) Craig and picky!Shirley had issues – her more than him, getting out the 8. 37.
Hamza’s messages made him cry the most in this set of VTs. As for his waltz, well it was lovely. I did notice a few hitches, though, and the judges bemoaned that he was doing a waltz on a night of two dances, but Motsi (I can’t blame her for having a soft spot for him) gave him a 10 and so he too had a 37.
Next came Molly’s paso, and someone took that song (Survivor) as an inspiration. She was FIERCE. There were some really nice choreographic details, loved the drops, and Molly executed them all well. I loved the drama of this paso from Carlos. It was totally a message to the viewing public (as maybe Helen’s AT had been to her ex husband.) Paso of the series! Heh, Craig got booed for his 9, and his short comments hadn’t really prepped for it.
Will was doing a couples choice so the VT was him taking Nancy to his hometown (I may have been distracted, because I’d started watching nearly 10 minutes after the show started and so I wanted to sort out my online votes and I knew if I hadn’t voted for Will’s samba that I was never voting for him.)
The style was 90s-referencing commercial/hip hop and he was good, but Nancy was better. I loved the shapes she pulled in the lifts. Guess which two judges gave it a 9 and which a 10? I thought the 9s were fairer.
Nancy, Vito and Carlos ought to have followed in Jowita’s footsteps and practiced their answer for why their celeb should be in the final. Huh, Gorka has way more experience at this than them.
So, overall, Hamza won the first lot of dances, Molly the second lot. Fleur wasn’t quite as good as either on their strongest dances for me. But, leaderboardwise, the shake-up from, say, last week stuck, as Will, particularly, dropped his level in the paso, and was lucky to have a couples choice which is all about playing to your strengths. Helen had a slght drop-off, while Hamza and Molly topped the leaderboard. Having said that, I’d be shocked if Hamza and Helen didn’t make it through, and past results suggest that Will may be rescued, even though if you’re going on pasos, Molly and Fleur outdanced him. If the votes were to accord with the leaderboard, Helen might be in trouble, because though she was more consistent, Will had the couples choice.
Most notably, Shirley had decided to be picky enough that she got booed and even scored more harshly than Craig!
I voted for Hamza twice and Molly once. One of those votes was sheer favouritism, as his Charleston and her paso were the only dances that I loved. Weird to have a results show on Monday (is the football going to shunt the final to Sunday as well? Stupid FIFA.)
[Edited for typos 17/2/25.]
The way they told Vito about his disqualifications in the pro challene was MEAN
I was indignant that none of the Friday panel thought Amy could win the pro challenge and supported her accordingly. Also, she's Welsh so I might have anyway. AND SHE WON.
Strictly semi on a Sunday
The judges got involved in the intro, which also featured snippets of a spooky cover of ‘The Final Coundown’ (heh), which made the earnest contestants’ bits more tolerable.
Enter Tess in pink, Claud in an even more asymmetric black, Shirley in a metallic gown with a skirt to swish, the men looked dapper but dull, while Motsi wore a zebra-print flarey pantsuit, because, of course. Though to be fair, I think Shirley still dresses to dance and Motsi has more of an eye to a statement top as she’s mainly sitting down.
Before Fleur did her paso, she was the first to watch the judges say mostly nice things about her in the VT, which brought her to tears.
My first thought as the dance started was ‘ooh, full skirt’ but then they overdid the skirtography to the point where it felt like a third dancer (and interestingly, Craig said she’d gone wrong when they were using it.) It was good, I thought there was enough balance between the power and the fluidity. Motsi’s score was the hardest to predict based on what she’d said. Anton!10 for a 35.
Novel location to do the Ts and Cs from there, Greg James.
I rather liked the balanced contrasts of colours in Helen and Gorka’s outfits for their waltz. I thought the dance was good, but not excellent and the judges were agreeing, apart from Motsi who seemed to be sticking to uttering gnomic comments but in a way that made the contestants feel good. No 10s, but she also got 35.
Hamza was dancing his Charleston in a kilt, underlying what I‘ve been saying about what a gift he is to the wardrobe department. And it was such a fun routine – you’d want to be in THAT living room - rhythmic and joyous. The lifts lived up to the build-up with the final one topping them all. No wonder they collapsed on the sofa. Boo to Craig, but Shirley’s encomium was lovely. 39 (I thought this might be his strongest dance based on the footage on ITT.)
The judges, and indeed the whole show, tried to address Molly being in the most dance offs. I don’t think it’s the way her dancing performance comes through the telly as much as her life story is: she went to a stage school, got a job on TV and will probably end up on the West End. Early dance-offs made people not that bothered to vote for her, and Fleur and Kym got the ‘unfairly in the dance off’ votes.
Ahem, anyway, her American smooth – there was an ugly/unfinished move when they were up on the higher level. Overall, it was maybe a little too quiet, especially as she was in cool colours, but all her turns on the dancefloor were really good. Anton’s 10 lifted her above the other ladies at 36.
Will had a paso – presumably why Fleur was first and he was last and the next paso would be a fair few dances away too. The initial capeography became faffing about with a cape. (Or it lacked air/breadth according to the judges.) It was a routine of several sections for me – and the first Flamenco one was the best – but it didn’t really cohere as a whole. The judges piled in, and divided into 7s (well, Craig had already used his 8 paddle and clearly thought this was worse, and Shirley’d been clear that it wasn’t good enough for a semi.) 32, with Claudia and Nancy engaged in Operation Stop Beating Yourself Up, Will. I mean, he wasn’t wrong in his assessment, even if it didn’t fit with the preferred narrative, but he did need to focus on the second dance.
Halfway point, and Hamza was well in the lead, Molly’d done just enough, and Fleur and Helen were tied in the middle, while Will had been scored like he wasn’t fit to be in this company, which was quite the reversal from last week. Hamza’s first dance was easily my favourite and guaranteed at least one vote from me.
As Fleur would be the first to dance her second dance, she was also the first to get friends’ and family’s supportive messages in her VT.
Their Neapolitan Charleston started with Vito eating spaghetti, which was a total mistake, but the dance proper was something else. The style of the Charleston suited Fleur, she could dance ugly to match the speed, although she also did quirky and stylish at times. I really liked it, but I didn’t think it was quite as good as Hamza and Jowita’s Charleston, and so I was a bit sniffy about it getting a 39.
Helen’s Argentine tango started with her onstage alone (a bit of a cliché by now, Gorka), but I noted that her legs were sharp yet soft, and her legwork throughout was ace. I thought it was very strong, but questioned whether it was a purist’s Argentine tango (or as good as Fleur, Kym and Hamza’s.) Craig and picky!Shirley had issues – her more than him, getting out the 8. 37.
Hamza’s messages made him cry the most in this set of VTs. As for his waltz, well it was lovely. I did notice a few hitches, though, and the judges bemoaned that he was doing a waltz on a night of two dances, but Motsi (I can’t blame her for having a soft spot for him) gave him a 10 and so he too had a 37.
Next came Molly’s paso, and someone took that song (Survivor) as an inspiration. She was FIERCE. There were some really nice choreographic details, loved the drops, and Molly executed them all well. I loved the drama of this paso from Carlos. It was totally a message to the viewing public (as maybe Helen’s AT had been to her ex husband.) Paso of the series! Heh, Craig got booed for his 9, and his short comments hadn’t really prepped for it.
Will was doing a couples choice so the VT was him taking Nancy to his hometown (I may have been distracted, because I’d started watching nearly 10 minutes after the show started and so I wanted to sort out my online votes and I knew if I hadn’t voted for Will’s samba that I was never voting for him.)
The style was 90s-referencing commercial/hip hop and he was good, but Nancy was better. I loved the shapes she pulled in the lifts. Guess which two judges gave it a 9 and which a 10? I thought the 9s were fairer.
Nancy, Vito and Carlos ought to have followed in Jowita’s footsteps and practiced their answer for why their celeb should be in the final. Huh, Gorka has way more experience at this than them.
So, overall, Hamza won the first lot of dances, Molly the second lot. Fleur wasn’t quite as good as either on their strongest dances for me. But, leaderboardwise, the shake-up from, say, last week stuck, as Will, particularly, dropped his level in the paso, and was lucky to have a couples choice which is all about playing to your strengths. Helen had a slght drop-off, while Hamza and Molly topped the leaderboard. Having said that, I’d be shocked if Hamza and Helen didn’t make it through, and past results suggest that Will may be rescued, even though if you’re going on pasos, Molly and Fleur outdanced him. If the votes were to accord with the leaderboard, Helen might be in trouble, because though she was more consistent, Will had the couples choice.
Most notably, Shirley had decided to be picky enough that she got booed and even scored more harshly than Craig!
I voted for Hamza twice and Molly once. One of those votes was sheer favouritism, as his Charleston and her paso were the only dances that I loved. Weird to have a results show on Monday (is the football going to shunt the final to Sunday as well? Stupid FIFA.)
[Edited for typos 17/2/25.]
