Sunday 29 November 2009

"I thought paso doble was a stomach upset"

Please let Julian Clary take over from Bruce Forsyth next series - I just loved his acerbic wit in Series 2, apparently he went down a storm on the tour this year, and he could be just what is needed to take SCD into a bright and shiny new era!

Poor Tess - she gets it right in the wardrobe department for once, and then the hair and accessories just go wrong. Fringe and something weird hanging round her neck. Was Jimmy Saville hiding in the Tesspit last night, giving out the noughties version of a Jim'll fix it medallion?

First up Team Cola and the dance that this series has so very badly needed. Fun, energetic, bouncy, silly - the dance was made for them, and I loved it! My favourite dance of the series, and I am just off to YouTube to view it again and again and again. I thought they were slightly undermarked, but that was expected as first couple to perform this evening (have Laila and Anton ever gone first?).

Next we have Adonis and Blonde Ambition playing their joker card in the VT - a visit from the Fonz to bring them luck for their Rock n Roll (he is in panto, don't you know). I really didn't like this routine, and there were far too many mistakes, mainly from Natalie (wearing lower shoes may have helped). It felt more jive than Rock n Roll, and there were far too many tricks, as ever, and not enough dancing. Yes we know that you are fearless as a trapeze artist, Natalie, and yes we know that Ricky is a man of great prowess in the lifting department, but I want to see you just dance! A simpler routine might have made for a cleaner performance, and the audience might have been able to watch and breathe at the same time, without the fear that the lifts would go horribly wrong. Is it written into Ricky's contract that he has to show pecs and biceps for every latin dance?

Barbie and Ken really surprised me as well with their charleston, and I think it is their best performance to date. Ali finally left the ballet poise and placement in the cupboard, and did a goofy, funny, quirky performance. Props to her for pulling off a great dance after such a hideous week (and her way of dealing with the injury put Laila to shame).

NatCass "I am taking responsibility for not dropping Vincent on his head - I am sure that already happened at birth". So we had no roly polies, no cartwheels, very few tricks, but I actually liked the dance content more than I did Ricky and Natalie's. I felt that the judges were pretty tough on Natalie as well. All along they have overlooked glaring errors, such as lack of pointed feet, bent legs etc, and just praised her energy and enthusiasm. Why start harping on about it now, when if they had given that as constructive criticism in week 1, she could have worked on it.

Charm and smarm. Seriously, how much more fringing have the wardrobe department got? There is such a thing as overkill on a theme. This is the first time that I have seen Laila give a dance attitude and performance skills, and the first time that Anton and Laila have really worked as a team. The content seemed to be lacking, especially in comparison with Chris and Ola, and her leg action was pretty lazy, especially compared to Ali's. Laila decided to play her joker card with the raspberry blown at Craig though, so that would have been good for a fair few votes.

I was very disappointed with the group VW, because I was looking forward to major carnage, and there was in fact only a minor crash. The delay in scoring though seemed to me as if the judges were trying to fix the leaderboard, to keep Ali and Ricky out of the danger zone. I agreed with the marks for Natalie and Chris, but how was Ricky worth a 9 and praised for his leading when he caused the crash? Ali's left elbow is still at an odd angle and her shaking distracts me from the dance. And I am sure that Anton was hoping for top scores, as he was canny to nip in at the beginning with a fleckerl and end on one as well.

Not sure what I thought of the modern foxtrot. Seemed to have more tango sensibility to me, and I didn't like Aliona's outfit at all.

The dancing was the redeeming feature of the much touted guest singers as well (was James Morrison flat throughout?), starring Lilia, and a catsuit (as in proving that Ola is not the only one who can do this!), oh and I believe Darren was in there somewhere as well.

To the shock of the evening - Ricky Whittle in the dance off. Was it because the public perceived him as being overscored? Did his support fall away as a result of Friday's events? Or did he never have that much support anyway, and just had been protected by numbers? Kudos to them for being able to pull of a clean routine in the dance off though.

But the night really belonged to Natalie and Vincent. Yes it was time for them to go, but it was a sign of just how popular they are that the audience just stood and clapped and cheered for the longest ovation I have ever seen on Strictly. I cried.

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