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shallowness) wrote2024-11-03 08:18 am
shallowness) wrote2024-11-03 08:18 am
Entry tags:
Mainly Strictly Week 7
AKA Icons Week
Tess’s outfit was having a civil war of textures, no? But we were soon distracted by the judges, Anton getting the most stick as Rod Stewart, Motsi and Shirley feeling they had to show a lot of leg, while Craig (though I didn’t need to see the bare chest) won easily on the wig front.
Pete was opening up with a Freddie Mercury salsa, and it was too stiff for me, although the lifts were terrifyingly huge. He was apologetic and the judges all picked up his mistakes. There was muttering about injuries during the week, before he got 22, which would soon be bottom of the leaderboard. (Opening with a Latin really is the gig no couple wants this year.)
Good to see Amy in the Clauditorium, while Carlos was the only spare pro to have dressed up (as one of David Bowie’s incarnations.) Of course he was.
Wynne would be doing a Shirley Bassey rumba.
Well, that was understated! Okay, the song all but demanded that they go large, and so they did, but that was not for me, which was also a shame as I thought there was some nice body motion. And then he stopped (to catch a breath) and sang us out. The scores were better than the comments, though.
Sam was doing an American Smooth as Taylor Swift or Juliet, and she and Nikita were not the best served lookswise, but I really liked the feel of this. There were some nice choreographic touches, and she danced it decently (she really needed a clean routine this week.)
I wasn’t feeling Chris’s Kiss tango much, but his posture is definitely coming on. Shirley and Anton were the happiest judges. Dianne pointed out that, as he hasn’t been able to see any of the other dances, Chris has fewer reference points than any other celeb.
The show switched gears with Sarah’s Madonna cha cha. Big entrance, then she leapt into the dance, and channeled Madge, performing with confidence. It was slightly less camp than the samba, of course it had great spins, but it was a completely different class to what had been before. Anton’s 10 was too generous, but they maintained last week’s high scores. (They held out until now for Miranda Hart paying a visit to the training room.)
JB and Lauren would be doing Bruno Mars couples choice, i.e. contemporary. His VT was, of course, about his life story, in which he dropped in the line that he might not be around were it not for music, his kids were adorable, and the JLS bits made me think about 1D, so that was a lot.
Anyway, I thought it was an entertaining routine, with clever, engaging choreography. I thought he was great, but Lauren was always outdancing him, which is perhaps where her stepping in as a replacement told, so I did think the three 10s were a little too generous, although the judges’ consensus was that he needed to translate his flexibility or freedom here into all his subsequent dances.
Montell would be performing a Whitney Houston waltz, and had a gorgeous dress for it. And it was a lovely mood, graceful dancing (one or two sticky moments aside), building on past strong ballroom dances. Motsi made a good point about how they, as a couple, tend to treat all their dances with respect, which is mainly Johannes’s choices, but also a reflection of how well Montell is doing.
Jamie would be dancing a George Michael samba (I loved Michelle’s look), and it made me smile. I thought his body movement was pretty good (though, because the costume department had stuck so closely to the brief, I was irritated by the leather jacket) and it was confidently performed. But the judges were not quite as pleased, and I think he was disappointed with the comments. To which: it was a samba, and perhaps some of them were more about the choreography, but the problem may be that he isn’t sure why they liked the paso more. Maybe Michelle’s inexperience as a pro with a partner is telling here.
Tasha would be performing a Pink couples choice, but it was more about the lyrics of this song than Pink the Icon. Her VT life story mentioned deafness and dance lessons and representation vs. social media (can imagine she’s had far worse than Shayne.) And then she and Aljiaz danced – contemporary lyrical – and it was exquisite, and it is in part because this partnership has been stable for weeks, but mainly because she’s had more dance training than JB, but it was a dance of equals where Aljiaz’s role was to show her off. Gorgeous lifts, gorgeous fluidity, and Anton made a good point about momentum. This is where I would like Craig to explain why he didn’t give her a 10, actually (or the others could have been restrained and stuck to 9s earlier in the show) because this was the best dance of the night.
Shayne would be closing with a Beatles quickstep, and I can totally see why the producers put it on last, although my main thought was that Nancy was baiting the judges, because it took a while for them to come together and there was a bit in the middle where they were apart again for a change of clothing and song. (Nancy was later obsessed with putting the jacket back on him.) Tiniest bit of gapping (even more apparent because they were in contrasting colours). But then the judges quite liked it and gave him his highest score yet.
Claudia had some little brother Vito and Nikita wrangling to do at the end, managed with aplomb.
So, the scoreboard had Pete in big trouble, his improvement suddenly halted, seven points away from couples who were in what used to be the middle of the leaderboard from 29-31. Thanks to the samba, Jamie was in this group. Shayne had got himself into the top of the leaderboard (although his problem is not his dancing as much as lack of popularity), along with Montell and Sarah, while the couples choice proved to be a gimme for JB and Tasha, more so for him (in a week where he had a replacement partner) as she’s always in close to the top. It’s been a while since one couple was clear at the top of the leaderboard.
Although I thought Tasha and Aljiaz danced the routine of the night and should have been separated from JB and Lauren, I held fast to my refusal to vote for her (although I daresay I’ll love her showdance in the final.) I was happy enough to vote for Madonna!Sarah, Bodyguard!Montell and sambaing Jamie, although I think he might be the one who needs it the most given the state of the leaderboard. As for Icons Week as a thing, I don’t feel strongly for or against, though, as ever, what a range for the singers and band to cover.
Before that, I reposted a ficlet yesterday:
Feeling Fine The O.C., G/Universal. Kaitlin Cooper, Drabble. Summary: Mothers and daughters. Spoilers for ep 4.07. The Christmukk-huh? (March 2007)
I am reassured that AO3 has it at 100 words, as did I when I counted each one out – Word said it was 99. No editing required, although I don’t love the title. It’s from spring 2007, when The OC’s fourth season (the only one I have on DVD) kept inspiring fanfiction. If it were as easy to repost all my fics as that was, I would have caught up by now.
Tess’s outfit was having a civil war of textures, no? But we were soon distracted by the judges, Anton getting the most stick as Rod Stewart, Motsi and Shirley feeling they had to show a lot of leg, while Craig (though I didn’t need to see the bare chest) won easily on the wig front.
Pete was opening up with a Freddie Mercury salsa, and it was too stiff for me, although the lifts were terrifyingly huge. He was apologetic and the judges all picked up his mistakes. There was muttering about injuries during the week, before he got 22, which would soon be bottom of the leaderboard. (Opening with a Latin really is the gig no couple wants this year.)
Good to see Amy in the Clauditorium, while Carlos was the only spare pro to have dressed up (as one of David Bowie’s incarnations.) Of course he was.
Wynne would be doing a Shirley Bassey rumba.
Well, that was understated! Okay, the song all but demanded that they go large, and so they did, but that was not for me, which was also a shame as I thought there was some nice body motion. And then he stopped (to catch a breath) and sang us out. The scores were better than the comments, though.
Sam was doing an American Smooth as Taylor Swift or Juliet, and she and Nikita were not the best served lookswise, but I really liked the feel of this. There were some nice choreographic touches, and she danced it decently (she really needed a clean routine this week.)
I wasn’t feeling Chris’s Kiss tango much, but his posture is definitely coming on. Shirley and Anton were the happiest judges. Dianne pointed out that, as he hasn’t been able to see any of the other dances, Chris has fewer reference points than any other celeb.
The show switched gears with Sarah’s Madonna cha cha. Big entrance, then she leapt into the dance, and channeled Madge, performing with confidence. It was slightly less camp than the samba, of course it had great spins, but it was a completely different class to what had been before. Anton’s 10 was too generous, but they maintained last week’s high scores. (They held out until now for Miranda Hart paying a visit to the training room.)
JB and Lauren would be doing Bruno Mars couples choice, i.e. contemporary. His VT was, of course, about his life story, in which he dropped in the line that he might not be around were it not for music, his kids were adorable, and the JLS bits made me think about 1D, so that was a lot.
Anyway, I thought it was an entertaining routine, with clever, engaging choreography. I thought he was great, but Lauren was always outdancing him, which is perhaps where her stepping in as a replacement told, so I did think the three 10s were a little too generous, although the judges’ consensus was that he needed to translate his flexibility or freedom here into all his subsequent dances.
Montell would be performing a Whitney Houston waltz, and had a gorgeous dress for it. And it was a lovely mood, graceful dancing (one or two sticky moments aside), building on past strong ballroom dances. Motsi made a good point about how they, as a couple, tend to treat all their dances with respect, which is mainly Johannes’s choices, but also a reflection of how well Montell is doing.
Jamie would be dancing a George Michael samba (I loved Michelle’s look), and it made me smile. I thought his body movement was pretty good (though, because the costume department had stuck so closely to the brief, I was irritated by the leather jacket) and it was confidently performed. But the judges were not quite as pleased, and I think he was disappointed with the comments. To which: it was a samba, and perhaps some of them were more about the choreography, but the problem may be that he isn’t sure why they liked the paso more. Maybe Michelle’s inexperience as a pro with a partner is telling here.
Tasha would be performing a Pink couples choice, but it was more about the lyrics of this song than Pink the Icon. Her VT life story mentioned deafness and dance lessons and representation vs. social media (can imagine she’s had far worse than Shayne.) And then she and Aljiaz danced – contemporary lyrical – and it was exquisite, and it is in part because this partnership has been stable for weeks, but mainly because she’s had more dance training than JB, but it was a dance of equals where Aljiaz’s role was to show her off. Gorgeous lifts, gorgeous fluidity, and Anton made a good point about momentum. This is where I would like Craig to explain why he didn’t give her a 10, actually (or the others could have been restrained and stuck to 9s earlier in the show) because this was the best dance of the night.
Shayne would be closing with a Beatles quickstep, and I can totally see why the producers put it on last, although my main thought was that Nancy was baiting the judges, because it took a while for them to come together and there was a bit in the middle where they were apart again for a change of clothing and song. (Nancy was later obsessed with putting the jacket back on him.) Tiniest bit of gapping (even more apparent because they were in contrasting colours). But then the judges quite liked it and gave him his highest score yet.
Claudia had some little brother Vito and Nikita wrangling to do at the end, managed with aplomb.
So, the scoreboard had Pete in big trouble, his improvement suddenly halted, seven points away from couples who were in what used to be the middle of the leaderboard from 29-31. Thanks to the samba, Jamie was in this group. Shayne had got himself into the top of the leaderboard (although his problem is not his dancing as much as lack of popularity), along with Montell and Sarah, while the couples choice proved to be a gimme for JB and Tasha, more so for him (in a week where he had a replacement partner) as she’s always in close to the top. It’s been a while since one couple was clear at the top of the leaderboard.
Although I thought Tasha and Aljiaz danced the routine of the night and should have been separated from JB and Lauren, I held fast to my refusal to vote for her (although I daresay I’ll love her showdance in the final.) I was happy enough to vote for Madonna!Sarah, Bodyguard!Montell and sambaing Jamie, although I think he might be the one who needs it the most given the state of the leaderboard. As for Icons Week as a thing, I don’t feel strongly for or against, though, as ever, what a range for the singers and band to cover.
Before that, I reposted a ficlet yesterday:
Feeling Fine The O.C., G/Universal. Kaitlin Cooper, Drabble. Summary: Mothers and daughters. Spoilers for ep 4.07. The Christmukk-huh? (March 2007)
I am reassured that AO3 has it at 100 words, as did I when I counted each one out – Word said it was 99. No editing required, although I don’t love the title. It’s from spring 2007, when The OC’s fourth season (the only one I have on DVD) kept inspiring fanfiction. If it were as easy to repost all my fics as that was, I would have caught up by now.