Strictly - sizzles and swizzles

[zico]

Back to Elstree for our final 6, who are only being made to do one routine, plus a Cha-cha-challenge, so a shorter show than normal.

Danny & Oti (Samba). Oti decides on a jungle theme for her samba, and takes Danny to a samba evening to get him into the spirit of it all. The samba is Oti’s favourite dance. This routine starts off slowly, then suddenly bursts into life as the drums start and Oti goes into overdrive. She’s terrific and Danny is probably keeping up (not that anyone’s watching him). Best ever Strictly UK samba (the link below is to an even better one from USA). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsMZ77TX0C4
Bruno is very funny, going into overdrive about needing a cold shower, pagan mating rituals, which has Darcey, Danny and Oti in fits of laughter. Craig and Darcey boringly talk about good isolations. Another perfect 40 for Danny.


Ore & Joanne (Paso). Joanne plays to Ore’s strengths, so this is a very unusual type of paso, with a lot of stop-start posing. It starts and ends with them on either side of a table, one above, one below. Odd song choice with yet another version of “Everybody wants to rule the world”. It’s standard fare from Ore. Judges gush about shaping, purpose and intent, with Len talking about a little incident. 8 from Craig, 9’s from Darcey and Len, plus a 10 (!) from Bruno which gives Ore 36.

Louise & Kevin (Waltz). Louise has hubby Jamie in on training in a bid for extra votes. This waltz has decent choreography and a bit of a storyline from Kevin. Louise breezes through as usual, and this dance suits her laid-back style more than other dances. Darcey uses exactly the right word “effortless” but she means it as a compliment. Craig gets booed for talking about her raised shoulders. Most interesting thing here is Kevin’s Trump-tribute hairstyle. Mean old Craig only gives 9, but all the other judges hand out 10’s for a total of 39.

Judge & Oksana (Rumba). Judge brings in his drama teacher in rehearsal for extra support, because the rumba is difficult for a man. The non-romantic theme here is about pupil and teacher. Judge does his best, but it’s not great - it’s a difficult dance for a man, you know. Darcey tells us the rumba is difficult for a man, and Len says goes one better, saying it’s a terrifically difficult dance for a man. Bruno talks about funky chickens, while Craig says it was spiky and awkward, but commends his commitment. Claudia asks Judge about his teacher Wendy, and he says “it’s not Wendy, it’s Miss”. 29 for Judge.

Ed & Katya (Tango). Katya’s routine has Ed pretending to be a male model, so in rehearsals they bring a real male model in to give Ed tips on posing, pouting and preening. He seems to get the hang of the Edonistic (sorry!) lifestyle pretty quickly. For the actual routine, he gives it his all, has a rose in his teeth, then presents it to Craig. He forgets most of the head-turns and there’s not much style, but he does keep in time. Unfortunately unforgettable, you know when you’ve been Tango-Ed. Problem with Ed now is that there’s not enough comedy to keep him interesting. Len likens him to lottery balls “you don’t know what’s coming out next” and calls him the People’s Champion. Bruno likened him to junk food, you know it’s bad but can’t help wanting more. Craig says he was hunched, splayed, committed – as he should be. Darcey says he started well before losing focus. Another 4 from Craig and 23 total for Ed.

Claudia & AJ (Argentine Tango). Tenuous links are back in rehearsal – the dance requires sharp turns, so they go go karting. Claudia doesn’t know where the “go” pedal is. Claudia has a dramatic dress, but some kid has crayoned all above her eyebrows. Well, this is a real surprise. Claudia is dramatic and intense from the very start, and AJ makes really good use of her gymnastic strength to put in some super lifts that probably nobody else could do. First time we’ve seen Claudia do anything like this, and she doesn’t seem to put a foot wrong. Darcey praises her sulky moody character. Other judges rave about how controlled, strong and precise she was, though Craig says she needed looser legs for her ganchos, which I think means no ten from him. Presumably the other judges have lost their 10 paddles, as she only gets four 9’s for an undermarked 36.

So Danny is ahead of Louise, with Ore and Claudia inexplicably tied, then Judge and Ed bringing up the rear. But now it’s time for the Cha-Cha-Challenge and another round of scoring. We have something like this every year with all the couples on the floor at once, and mysteriously the judges’ favourites always seem to do particularly well. A nice intro with 2 sets of pro dancers explaining the rules, giving Janette the chance to be funny. A slight twist is that none of the couples know what music they’ll be dancing to, but they’ll already have routines planned, the only adjustment needed will be to the speed of their dance. With 6 couples dancing simultaneously, you obviously can’t do much comparing though Danny is in a class of his own. So is Ed – but it’s a different class. Meanwhile Louise seems to be looking at her feet quite a bit. Judges stand up to confer and decide. By some amazing coincidence, the scores exactly match the judges’ celeb preferences through this year’s competition, with Louise being given top spot. So she’s now level with Danny overall, and Ore has been moved ahead of Claudia. Cha-Cha-Charade more like.

A bad week for the Judge, with Danny & Oti pulling away at the top for quality dancing (or not, if you believe the judges). I reckon Ore and Ed for the dance-off, but that may just be wishful thinking on my part.

Results Show

The pro-dance is a rather lame “Sports Day” theme, complete with sack races. Claudia is wearing something her grandma crocheted, but unfortunately grandma muddled up a dress pattern with a tea-cosy cover. Tess is wearing a dress with no curves at all. Darcey has a trouser suit where someone has hacked the legs with scissors.

Louise and Danny are through, with Judge in the bottom 2. Tess asks the judges how Judge can get through the dance-off. (They avoid the obvious answer of “hope you’re up against Ed”)

Musical interlude has the god-awful Ellie Goulding in her scanties, and her underwhelming little voice can barely be heard above the gentle snoring from the audience. Suddenly there’s a huge cheer so you know the dancers have arrived. It’s Mr & Mrs. Clifton taking centre-stage yet again, running and leaping about in a routine that has nothing to do with the song.

In Len’s Lens, Claudia asks what the other Claudia needed to have done to get a 10, to cheers from the audience, and doesn’t get a convincing answer. They show a clip of Louise hunching her shoulders, and Craig smugly says “I was the only one who spotted that” while Len looks peeved. Claudia manfully (or womanfully) resists the temptation to do a Paxman and ask the other 3 judges if they realise they overmarked Louise, but she must surely have been tempted.

Some more results now. Ore is through (Joanne looks shocked again) so last place is between Ed and Claudia. Thankfully Ed is in the bottom two. Tess shows great self-control by not laughing when she asks the judges what Ed needs to do to stay in. She asks Craig if he can give Ed a boost. “No, not really” says Craig. Both couples go through the formality of their second dance. Judge looks better this time round, and Ed is the same.
Time for Tess to ask the judges who should go through and why (answer – Judge Rinder, because he’s not Ed). She also comes up with one of the most superfluous sentences ever “In the event of a tie, head judge Len has the casting vote”. Well, Len doesn’t need to use his casting vote. The other judges don’t mess about and quickly say “Best technical dancer – Judgy”. Katya has a bit of a cry and says how much she’s enjoyed it, and Ed says she’s been great with him and she should be given a really good partner next year after all the Cliftons have had first dibs at the best partners.

That leaves Louise and Danny as the only couples who haven’t been in the dreaded dance-off. Glad that Ed has gone, but disappointed to see Judge in the bottom two. Next week it’s Movie Night, Claudia says “we don’t want to make a song and dance about it” followed by a brief VT song and dance clip, where both Claudia and Claudia stand out as particularly tuneless singers.

So, of the three populist movements from 2016, Brexit and Trump succeeded and Ed's Glitterball bid didn't. Pity those outcomes couldn't have been swapped about a bit!

[coleyfish]

v Good Zico

One of the problems with having no sort of recommendation linkage is that anyone who wants to show appreciation for your commitment and dedication has to do so verbally, which means putting some effort into posting something other than "Yeah terrific thanks Zico", although now I come to think about it I would like to say "Yeah terrific thanks Zico" anyway.

So in my view

It is becoming increasingly obvious that Danny was a decent dancer in the first place. If it was a dance contest Danny would be a shoe-in.

But it isn't, it's a popularity contest which means that Louise is a shoe-in, because she is an absolute joy.

Ed went with dignity intact and has done himself nothing but good.

Ore is just too smug.

I'm getting fed-up of Judge Rinder

Smartest game of the lot is being played by AJ and Claudia who have a huge improvement up their sleeve just waiting to be played, though they gave a hint of it on Saturday.

I think final 3 will be Louise, Danny and Claudia - a win for Louise, who is an absolute joy.

Coleyfish

ps Did I mention what an absolute joy Louise is?

[Clariman]

Zico. Many thanks for posting your entertaining reports on LemonFool. I usually read them at the old place. Agree with Coley's analysis of the remaining runners and riders.

[zico]

Hi Cloey

I agree with your likely final 3, though I think in that case Danny will win by virtue of being the only bloke left. (Likewise if it's Danny, Ore and Louise, I expect Louise will win).
I've always liked Louise and she comes across in rehearsals as a thoroughly nice person as well as looking great, but getting frustrated by the way she's breezing through - I suspect her total rehearsal time is less than half that of the other competitors.

Last week's dance suited Claudia who stepped up a bit, but I don't think she's elegant enough to do well in other dances. Louise is the only one with potential to make a "journey" now, which I reckon she could easily do by spending a bit more time in rehearsal.