Strictly week 8
Nov. 10th, 2024 08:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessOr the week before Blackpool in the Strictly calendar. It was nice to see the judges in more normal-for-the-show outfits. The contestants (Wynne aside) were in rather subdued colours as a whole. Tess solemnly informed us, as if it hadn’t made the news, that an injured Amy would no longer be dancing with JB. Claudia wished her well, as she wasn’t appearing on the show.
Opening things up with a quickstep was Tasha to a superfast version of ‘Fantasy’. It was light and high-quality, of course. I saw slivers of space between them, but given the speed that feels like quibbling. I didn’t love the very start and final business. They still haven’t quite won Craig over, but Claudia pointed out he was super-grumpy in advance of Blackpool (though he never scored lower than 7 all episode.) I’m not surprised that it was the highest scoring quickstep of the series so far.
Shayne was dancing a rather fully dressed rumba – it was one of the emotive ones. I saw lots of good stuff and thought he was there for Nancy. Was there one accidental lift? The judges gave mixed critiques, but hey, the rumba is tough.
Sarah had to explain the significance of her choosing ‘What Have You Done Today to Make You Feel Proud?’ to Vito. I loved her uplifted eyeline and then the lifts were something else, with good stuff going on beneath them. The judges were picky about details (which Sarah said Vito had been raising with her all week), with Anton having a note for Vito.
Pete was performing a contemporary lyrical couples choice, and it was one of those where you thought he really shouldn’t listen to the VT playing before dancing (especially because I think opening up emotionally is not something he’s used to.) I felt it had come at the right time for him, with all the dancing now in his body, because his confidence and skills have improved, particularly in the partnering and lifting departments and in expressiveness. The ending was a bit misjudged, choreographically, because the crowd weren’t in sync with it, but easily his best dance yet. But Shirley’s 10 was far too generous.
JB and Lauren had a samba (as choreographed by Lauren) and it was very confidently done by him. (I thought she was outdancing him again). Anton was right that he’d transferred his freedom from last week into this dance. Motsi invoked her sister’s legendary partners in samba, Kelvin and Danny Mac, (by the way, Oti was wonderful on Choreography Corner on ITT this week.) Classily, Shirley credited Amy for instilling the fundamentals in JB. Craig finally reached for his 9 paddle, and JB was on the top of the leaderboard.
Jamie would be performing the Argentine Tango (the first male celeb this season, FWIW). I loved the stalking of his feet but kind of got distracted by the sexiest version of Jamie we’ve seen all series. However, the judges honed in on his balance issues and how he needs to learn to pivot (I did see what Craig meant about being slightly placed too.)
Wynne was dancing an American Smooth, and it was going well, and then I noticed Katya had transformed her dress while dancing, and then thought there really wasn’t enough in hold, so it didn’t capture my attention. (Shirley and Motsi were still criticising Jamie as much as talking about Wynne.)
Montell was in fightback mode with the paso double, and she was certainly fierce. I didn’t think that Johannes having a skirt of his own, essentially, did his amateur partner any favours, but the judges LOVED it.
Closing the night was a jazzy couples choice from Chris and Dianne. It was a very charming, full-on routine, and of course, Dianne reminded us how good Chris is at lifts. I thought the blackout to return to the middle of a big spectacular lift was a bit too obvious a copy of what Rose and Gio did, and had less impact, myself, but the judges’ comments were all pretty much acknowledging that he’s likely to win this series, isn’t he?
That aside, a squint at the leaderboard, which ran from 30 to 37, with both Shayne and Jamie at the bottom, testing both of their popularity (I suspect that given that he’s been in the dance-off twice, fewer people will be giving Shayne rumba pity votes, if that’s even a thing.)
I voted twice for Sarah and Vito and my ovaries voted once for Jamie and Michelle, even though they’re clearly hit and miss.
Opening things up with a quickstep was Tasha to a superfast version of ‘Fantasy’. It was light and high-quality, of course. I saw slivers of space between them, but given the speed that feels like quibbling. I didn’t love the very start and final business. They still haven’t quite won Craig over, but Claudia pointed out he was super-grumpy in advance of Blackpool (though he never scored lower than 7 all episode.) I’m not surprised that it was the highest scoring quickstep of the series so far.
Shayne was dancing a rather fully dressed rumba – it was one of the emotive ones. I saw lots of good stuff and thought he was there for Nancy. Was there one accidental lift? The judges gave mixed critiques, but hey, the rumba is tough.
Sarah had to explain the significance of her choosing ‘What Have You Done Today to Make You Feel Proud?’ to Vito. I loved her uplifted eyeline and then the lifts were something else, with good stuff going on beneath them. The judges were picky about details (which Sarah said Vito had been raising with her all week), with Anton having a note for Vito.
Pete was performing a contemporary lyrical couples choice, and it was one of those where you thought he really shouldn’t listen to the VT playing before dancing (especially because I think opening up emotionally is not something he’s used to.) I felt it had come at the right time for him, with all the dancing now in his body, because his confidence and skills have improved, particularly in the partnering and lifting departments and in expressiveness. The ending was a bit misjudged, choreographically, because the crowd weren’t in sync with it, but easily his best dance yet. But Shirley’s 10 was far too generous.
JB and Lauren had a samba (as choreographed by Lauren) and it was very confidently done by him. (I thought she was outdancing him again). Anton was right that he’d transferred his freedom from last week into this dance. Motsi invoked her sister’s legendary partners in samba, Kelvin and Danny Mac, (by the way, Oti was wonderful on Choreography Corner on ITT this week.) Classily, Shirley credited Amy for instilling the fundamentals in JB. Craig finally reached for his 9 paddle, and JB was on the top of the leaderboard.
Jamie would be performing the Argentine Tango (the first male celeb this season, FWIW). I loved the stalking of his feet but kind of got distracted by the sexiest version of Jamie we’ve seen all series. However, the judges honed in on his balance issues and how he needs to learn to pivot (I did see what Craig meant about being slightly placed too.)
Wynne was dancing an American Smooth, and it was going well, and then I noticed Katya had transformed her dress while dancing, and then thought there really wasn’t enough in hold, so it didn’t capture my attention. (Shirley and Motsi were still criticising Jamie as much as talking about Wynne.)
Montell was in fightback mode with the paso double, and she was certainly fierce. I didn’t think that Johannes having a skirt of his own, essentially, did his amateur partner any favours, but the judges LOVED it.
Closing the night was a jazzy couples choice from Chris and Dianne. It was a very charming, full-on routine, and of course, Dianne reminded us how good Chris is at lifts. I thought the blackout to return to the middle of a big spectacular lift was a bit too obvious a copy of what Rose and Gio did, and had less impact, myself, but the judges’ comments were all pretty much acknowledging that he’s likely to win this series, isn’t he?
That aside, a squint at the leaderboard, which ran from 30 to 37, with both Shayne and Jamie at the bottom, testing both of their popularity (I suspect that given that he’s been in the dance-off twice, fewer people will be giving Shayne rumba pity votes, if that’s even a thing.)
I voted twice for Sarah and Vito and my ovaries voted once for Jamie and Michelle, even though they’re clearly hit and miss.
