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shallowness) wrote2024-12-01 08:05 am
shallowness) wrote2024-12-01 08:05 am
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Strictly week 11
Musicals night, also the quarter finals.
Setting aside the VT (which might have worked better if all the celebs had been wearing the same top hat), the show started with a Little Shop of Horrors medley group number from the pros, which was notable for terrible wigs, good dancing and Carlos camping it up as a plant. Enter the judges, and Shirley won hands down, though Motsi looked good as a Dreamgirl, transformed into Miss Trunchbull.
Opening with a Wicked!Charleston was Sarah as Glinda (hasn’t she got an American accent in her back pocket?) and it was pretty much the perfect fit that I was hoping for. Obviously, she sold it, and was light and on it, and the extra dancers made it a proper number. And THE LIFTS were something else – this dance came at a great time for her, and there was one moment mid-lift where the pink tulle around her middle was perfect. I’m glad Craig accepted that they chose characterisation as Glinda over how (he thinks) the Charleston should be done. They gained a point from Craig and Motsi from last week, while Shirley and Anton stuck to 10s.
Montell had been handed a The Color Purple rumba, which she and Johannes chose to dance sans extra dancers (but very much with the wind machine.) She seemed hesitant at the start and then got into it more, but the song demanded certain things that weren’t very rumba-y. The judges’ comments boiled down to it being tough for her to have been given a rumba at this point. (So many rumbas this year!) Johannes dropped the fact that Montell has no ligaments in her ankles in the Clauditorium. 32 is not the score you’re aiming for after being in the dance-off with higher scores.
Tasha would be performing a Six!Argentine Tango. You might think that dancing an AT with leggings with a sparkly stripe down them would be exposing, but that was not a problem for her. They’d slathered on the guyliner to turn lovely Aljiaz into tyrant Henry VIII. Great leg action, and she was barely on the ground. Yeah, Craig was right that it was a bit of a show-(Argentine) tango, but it kind of had to be given the song and the situation. (Did I understand it aright? Had her implant come out and then gone back in during the routine?) What was Anton talking about marking Tasha down, when he marks literally every other couple ever up? No full house for them this time, but the long-limbed couple were delighted to equal Sarah and Vito scoreswise.
Chris had an Anything Goes!Quickstep (and Dianne looked smashing). I thought it was very enjoyable, and I liked the proper dancing bits. I loved him being lifted, although I don’t think he matched her for sheer performance value. Dianne claimed to the judges that she’d gone wrong, and pointed out in the Clauditorium that it was a big deal for Chris to dance up and out of his safe space, posturewise, after 20 plus years. They equalled Montell and JoJo (undermarked?)
Pete had a West Side Story!waltz (Jowita also won on the looks front). Jowita definitely used the fact that it was a theme week to throw in some highlights (they also eschewed the extra dancers), though I don’t know storywise why Tony would be chucking Maria away. I think I saw that bit that the judges were talking about where Pete went wrong (and apologised for to Jowita as soon as the dance was over.) I was pleasantly surprised that the scores were fair, having got bitter during the comments about Shirley giving Pete yet another pass for making mistakes when she was so harsh with Jamie. They put him 12 points below the leaders at that point (although Craig going as low as 5 may have galvanised Pete’s supporters, but on the other hand, Pete still being here and having got a 10 off Shirley that time may galvanise the anti vote.)
Closing it all was JB’s Mary Poppins!Viennese waltz, where he played Mr Banks, and it was lovely. I thought he was commanding and so very clearly the best male celeb left. As a production, I loved how the camera was right in the middle of the dance, and the balance between proper dancing and making a show of it explained why the show closed with this routine. I think I saw the over-rotation Craig spotted, and so he gave it a 9, while the others gave it a 10, putting JB (and Lauren, who was delighted to be doing her first musicals week with a partner) on top. Has it become awkward that he’s doing so much better with Lauren than Amy? Well, scoreswise – he wasn’t a stranger to the top of the leaderboard with Amy.
So! It was very much a show of two halves, with JB, Tasha and Sarah displaying that they deserve to go through (to the final) by virtue of their dancing. (If JB does, will he not have a more limited number of dances to choose from to reprieve than anyone else?) You could argue that Montell was unfortunate to get the rumba (to that song!) and Chris was a little undermarked, but they were in the low 30s, which is higher than where Pete ended up, but 32 is not a semi-finalist-worthy score.
I voted for Sarah and Vito three times, and Montell and JoJo twice, i.e. I cracked and reached for the phone. (I loved JB’s dance, but he was top of the leaderboard, and I was very impressed by Tasha, but I am never voting for her.) We’ve reached the point, as a voting public, where we can have either Chris or Pete through, but not both. I’m willing to accept the one who has better footwork overall not to mention working with a disability is headed for the final, but however droll he is about moles and otters, I’m over Pete. Sadly, I expect Montell to be in the dance off AGAIN.
Setting aside the VT (which might have worked better if all the celebs had been wearing the same top hat), the show started with a Little Shop of Horrors medley group number from the pros, which was notable for terrible wigs, good dancing and Carlos camping it up as a plant. Enter the judges, and Shirley won hands down, though Motsi looked good as a Dreamgirl, transformed into Miss Trunchbull.
Opening with a Wicked!Charleston was Sarah as Glinda (hasn’t she got an American accent in her back pocket?) and it was pretty much the perfect fit that I was hoping for. Obviously, she sold it, and was light and on it, and the extra dancers made it a proper number. And THE LIFTS were something else – this dance came at a great time for her, and there was one moment mid-lift where the pink tulle around her middle was perfect. I’m glad Craig accepted that they chose characterisation as Glinda over how (he thinks) the Charleston should be done. They gained a point from Craig and Motsi from last week, while Shirley and Anton stuck to 10s.
Montell had been handed a The Color Purple rumba, which she and Johannes chose to dance sans extra dancers (but very much with the wind machine.) She seemed hesitant at the start and then got into it more, but the song demanded certain things that weren’t very rumba-y. The judges’ comments boiled down to it being tough for her to have been given a rumba at this point. (So many rumbas this year!) Johannes dropped the fact that Montell has no ligaments in her ankles in the Clauditorium. 32 is not the score you’re aiming for after being in the dance-off with higher scores.
Tasha would be performing a Six!Argentine Tango. You might think that dancing an AT with leggings with a sparkly stripe down them would be exposing, but that was not a problem for her. They’d slathered on the guyliner to turn lovely Aljiaz into tyrant Henry VIII. Great leg action, and she was barely on the ground. Yeah, Craig was right that it was a bit of a show-(Argentine) tango, but it kind of had to be given the song and the situation. (Did I understand it aright? Had her implant come out and then gone back in during the routine?) What was Anton talking about marking Tasha down, when he marks literally every other couple ever up? No full house for them this time, but the long-limbed couple were delighted to equal Sarah and Vito scoreswise.
Chris had an Anything Goes!Quickstep (and Dianne looked smashing). I thought it was very enjoyable, and I liked the proper dancing bits. I loved him being lifted, although I don’t think he matched her for sheer performance value. Dianne claimed to the judges that she’d gone wrong, and pointed out in the Clauditorium that it was a big deal for Chris to dance up and out of his safe space, posturewise, after 20 plus years. They equalled Montell and JoJo (undermarked?)
Pete had a West Side Story!waltz (Jowita also won on the looks front). Jowita definitely used the fact that it was a theme week to throw in some highlights (they also eschewed the extra dancers), though I don’t know storywise why Tony would be chucking Maria away. I think I saw that bit that the judges were talking about where Pete went wrong (and apologised for to Jowita as soon as the dance was over.) I was pleasantly surprised that the scores were fair, having got bitter during the comments about Shirley giving Pete yet another pass for making mistakes when she was so harsh with Jamie. They put him 12 points below the leaders at that point (although Craig going as low as 5 may have galvanised Pete’s supporters, but on the other hand, Pete still being here and having got a 10 off Shirley that time may galvanise the anti vote.)
Closing it all was JB’s Mary Poppins!Viennese waltz, where he played Mr Banks, and it was lovely. I thought he was commanding and so very clearly the best male celeb left. As a production, I loved how the camera was right in the middle of the dance, and the balance between proper dancing and making a show of it explained why the show closed with this routine. I think I saw the over-rotation Craig spotted, and so he gave it a 9, while the others gave it a 10, putting JB (and Lauren, who was delighted to be doing her first musicals week with a partner) on top. Has it become awkward that he’s doing so much better with Lauren than Amy? Well, scoreswise – he wasn’t a stranger to the top of the leaderboard with Amy.
So! It was very much a show of two halves, with JB, Tasha and Sarah displaying that they deserve to go through (to the final) by virtue of their dancing. (If JB does, will he not have a more limited number of dances to choose from to reprieve than anyone else?) You could argue that Montell was unfortunate to get the rumba (to that song!) and Chris was a little undermarked, but they were in the low 30s, which is higher than where Pete ended up, but 32 is not a semi-finalist-worthy score.
I voted for Sarah and Vito three times, and Montell and JoJo twice, i.e. I cracked and reached for the phone. (I loved JB’s dance, but he was top of the leaderboard, and I was very impressed by Tasha, but I am never voting for her.) We’ve reached the point, as a voting public, where we can have either Chris or Pete through, but not both. I’m willing to accept the one who has better footwork overall not to mention working with a disability is headed for the final, but however droll he is about moles and otters, I’m over Pete. Sadly, I expect Montell to be in the dance off AGAIN.