Strictly Week 5
Oct. 20th, 2024 08:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessNick revealed on ITT Monday that he will now be getting treatment for his arm and his knee (!!) adding a whole new perspective on how badly he’d been injured.
I had only minor quibbles about the couples’ costumes. (Wynne and Katya’s were probably the most unfortunate.)
JB started off with a jive, which was polished and accomplished. I liked the extra fast bits, but suspected I was going to like other dances that might not be danced as well more.
It was time for Punam to bring her son into the VT. Her pale yellow gown worked well with the greyish palette. I liked the mood of the VW, although there were issues. The judges comments could be summarised as wanting more, though, and the score wasn’t high enough, although she’d danced it clearly.
Jamie would be doing a traditional paso (and on It Takes Two it had emerged that he hadn’t had much time for rehearsal this week.) Brilliant opening silhouette, and then very, very nice shaping and attitude. (In the VT, Michelle had told him his inspiration was that someone had stolen his lemons. I was very confused. Is that an Eastenders thing?) Very happy judges, dare one say an overexcited Anton throwing shade at Vito? Their scores came to 39, which matches Tasha from last week. I really liked it, and something has clicked with him to start dancing to his potential in recent weeks, but was it a touch overmarked?
Following that was Chris, waltzing to Liverpool’s song, whatever Rogers and Hammerstein might have thought about it. And although I was meant to be keeping a critical eye on his posture, I too felt that moment where he Walked Alone (because it’s such a big deal if you’re visually impaired), trusting Dianne would rejoin him. I agreed with the judges that the posture was improved if not faultless, and his footwork and timing are a given, but Dianne looked like she was gone by the end. (Waterworks.) Predictable that Shirley went emosh, but a nice shout-out to Tommy from Liverpool, sparing Tess from doing her usual shout-out, and his highest score yet for Chris.
Following that was Tasha, dancing the tango, and it was of course strong, yet flexible and very accomplished (the whole tarot influence was rather muted.) The judges all focused on the little lapse, yet admitted she was dancing at a high level. It says something that Tasha’s drop off still gave her a total most celebs would love to have, but she was, gasp! third on the leaderboard at this point.
Paul was doing a (disco) samba, and he really was trying. He’s come on from the first weeks, although let’s not get too carried away. He stopped at one point (not the point that Anton referred to), and his eyeline was really bugging me. The score was not great, but, hey, he was doing the samba.
Sam’s very little kids were deployed in their VT, and I thought her gown was gorgeous. ‘Unwritten’ is such a weird song choice for a quickstep, although they tried to arrange it so that it worked. I didn’t see all the mistakes the judges did, thought I wasn’t impressed by her topline. Shirley overcompensated a bit by calling her one of the strongest women, when Tasha, Sarah and Montell have consistently been better than her. She’ll be bitterly disappointed at having made mistakes.
I winced when I first heard Pete was doing a rumba, and ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ is a weird song choice for all that Oasis are suddenly Relevant. There was a bit of leaning into the couple’s chemistry by going for the wet look, but it’s also true to say that he’s a trier and he has come on from where he started too. Granted, it was the weakest rumba we’ve had so far this series. I was most curious about what the judges would do with the lifts. Shirley decided to let them slide, increasing Craig’s outrage, and he definitely docked them two marks. (Anton’s 7 was too generous.)
Sarah would be doing a samba with a wig that honoured Toyah and Jamie’s missing lemons. Vito gave her an astonishing amount of spins, but she was mostly on it. It was such camp fun, and a return to form scoreswise, with four 8s.
Shayne’s mum popped in to see them train for their American Smooth, and YASS Nancy and well done, Shayne. ‘What a start’ became ‘THOSE LIFTS!’ They were amazing and interesting and highlights to an emotive dance, with some quality in hold. Anton critiqued some storytelling, which Craig delighted in telling him off for. (I felt the judges were too busy having spats at times, and not giving enough attention to couples who had put in a week's work on their dances.)
Wynne took Katya to Caerphilly mountain in the VT. That’s Amy Dowden country, that is. Obviously, they felt the need to go all Wales Tourist Board because of the unmentioned controversy from last week. Anyway, they had a more suitable song for their quickstep. I thought he danced it very decently and the concept became increasingly funny. And I imagine the footwork is harder when you’re carrying toilet paper along.
Montell was closing with an Afro-Caribbean couples choice (so the VT was all Johannes gets adopted into another family) and her joy and the carnival spirit were infectious. Johannes was dancing full out and with a rare freedom, (he owned that bit of confetti landing on his mouth), which is a big compliment, and it says much for Montell’s energy levels (and joy) that she could produce another cartwheel before going up the stairs, where she too got 39!
If people were grumbling about overmarking last week, what will they say about this? Tasha’s got competition. I can see Chris making it to the final, but Jamie has definitely put himself in the conversation with a lot of others who were already there. And the thing about Montell’s couples choice is that yes, it was about representation and celebrating your culture, but she’s been good in other dance styles already. And this is where I remind myself that we haven’t even had Halloween and Blackpool yet.
All I needed to concern myself with was who would I vote for, and as Jamie and Montell were joint top, I didn’t bother with them. Because they’d got to me, Chris and Dianne got a vote; because of the camp fun, so did Sarah and Vito; and because of Nancy’s choreo and the way Shayne danced it, so did last week’s dance-off survivors. I know both Paul and Pete had tough dances, but I think the couples at the bottom of the leaderboard deserved to be there. If she is in the dance-off, Sam can show the judges how well she can do that dance. But it’d be unfair if she were there and Punam weren’t. Her couples choice is looking like an anomaly, and she hasn’t got the improvement arc the Ps have going for them.
I had only minor quibbles about the couples’ costumes. (Wynne and Katya’s were probably the most unfortunate.)
JB started off with a jive, which was polished and accomplished. I liked the extra fast bits, but suspected I was going to like other dances that might not be danced as well more.
It was time for Punam to bring her son into the VT. Her pale yellow gown worked well with the greyish palette. I liked the mood of the VW, although there were issues. The judges comments could be summarised as wanting more, though, and the score wasn’t high enough, although she’d danced it clearly.
Jamie would be doing a traditional paso (and on It Takes Two it had emerged that he hadn’t had much time for rehearsal this week.) Brilliant opening silhouette, and then very, very nice shaping and attitude. (In the VT, Michelle had told him his inspiration was that someone had stolen his lemons. I was very confused. Is that an Eastenders thing?) Very happy judges, dare one say an overexcited Anton throwing shade at Vito? Their scores came to 39, which matches Tasha from last week. I really liked it, and something has clicked with him to start dancing to his potential in recent weeks, but was it a touch overmarked?
Following that was Chris, waltzing to Liverpool’s song, whatever Rogers and Hammerstein might have thought about it. And although I was meant to be keeping a critical eye on his posture, I too felt that moment where he Walked Alone (because it’s such a big deal if you’re visually impaired), trusting Dianne would rejoin him. I agreed with the judges that the posture was improved if not faultless, and his footwork and timing are a given, but Dianne looked like she was gone by the end. (Waterworks.) Predictable that Shirley went emosh, but a nice shout-out to Tommy from Liverpool, sparing Tess from doing her usual shout-out, and his highest score yet for Chris.
Following that was Tasha, dancing the tango, and it was of course strong, yet flexible and very accomplished (the whole tarot influence was rather muted.) The judges all focused on the little lapse, yet admitted she was dancing at a high level. It says something that Tasha’s drop off still gave her a total most celebs would love to have, but she was, gasp! third on the leaderboard at this point.
Paul was doing a (disco) samba, and he really was trying. He’s come on from the first weeks, although let’s not get too carried away. He stopped at one point (not the point that Anton referred to), and his eyeline was really bugging me. The score was not great, but, hey, he was doing the samba.
Sam’s very little kids were deployed in their VT, and I thought her gown was gorgeous. ‘Unwritten’ is such a weird song choice for a quickstep, although they tried to arrange it so that it worked. I didn’t see all the mistakes the judges did, thought I wasn’t impressed by her topline. Shirley overcompensated a bit by calling her one of the strongest women, when Tasha, Sarah and Montell have consistently been better than her. She’ll be bitterly disappointed at having made mistakes.
I winced when I first heard Pete was doing a rumba, and ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ is a weird song choice for all that Oasis are suddenly Relevant. There was a bit of leaning into the couple’s chemistry by going for the wet look, but it’s also true to say that he’s a trier and he has come on from where he started too. Granted, it was the weakest rumba we’ve had so far this series. I was most curious about what the judges would do with the lifts. Shirley decided to let them slide, increasing Craig’s outrage, and he definitely docked them two marks. (Anton’s 7 was too generous.)
Sarah would be doing a samba with a wig that honoured Toyah and Jamie’s missing lemons. Vito gave her an astonishing amount of spins, but she was mostly on it. It was such camp fun, and a return to form scoreswise, with four 8s.
Shayne’s mum popped in to see them train for their American Smooth, and YASS Nancy and well done, Shayne. ‘What a start’ became ‘THOSE LIFTS!’ They were amazing and interesting and highlights to an emotive dance, with some quality in hold. Anton critiqued some storytelling, which Craig delighted in telling him off for. (I felt the judges were too busy having spats at times, and not giving enough attention to couples who had put in a week's work on their dances.)
Wynne took Katya to Caerphilly mountain in the VT. That’s Amy Dowden country, that is. Obviously, they felt the need to go all Wales Tourist Board because of the unmentioned controversy from last week. Anyway, they had a more suitable song for their quickstep. I thought he danced it very decently and the concept became increasingly funny. And I imagine the footwork is harder when you’re carrying toilet paper along.
Montell was closing with an Afro-Caribbean couples choice (so the VT was all Johannes gets adopted into another family) and her joy and the carnival spirit were infectious. Johannes was dancing full out and with a rare freedom, (he owned that bit of confetti landing on his mouth), which is a big compliment, and it says much for Montell’s energy levels (and joy) that she could produce another cartwheel before going up the stairs, where she too got 39!
If people were grumbling about overmarking last week, what will they say about this? Tasha’s got competition. I can see Chris making it to the final, but Jamie has definitely put himself in the conversation with a lot of others who were already there. And the thing about Montell’s couples choice is that yes, it was about representation and celebrating your culture, but she’s been good in other dance styles already. And this is where I remind myself that we haven’t even had Halloween and Blackpool yet.
All I needed to concern myself with was who would I vote for, and as Jamie and Montell were joint top, I didn’t bother with them. Because they’d got to me, Chris and Dianne got a vote; because of the camp fun, so did Sarah and Vito; and because of Nancy’s choreo and the way Shayne danced it, so did last week’s dance-off survivors. I know both Paul and Pete had tough dances, but I think the couples at the bottom of the leaderboard deserved to be there. If she is in the dance-off, Sam can show the judges how well she can do that dance. But it’d be unfair if she were there and Punam weren’t. Her couples choice is looking like an anomaly, and she hasn’t got the improvement arc the Ps have going for them.
