After the bru-ha-ha (sorry, razzmatazz) of the Wembley spectacular Strictly found itself back in the confines of TV Centre. I can’t say I was sorry, to be honest. Polish the show all you want: say the current series is the best ever, add as many props, garden swings and lamp posts as you see fit. If you stretch something small to the size of an elephant’s bladder, sooner or later it’ll go pop. With very messy results.
I’m not equating the show to an explosive shower of pachyderm wee but it would be fair to say that Strictly works better on a small scale. You don’t want to get too far away from its studio bound Saturday teatime roots: that’s where its charm lies. This was part of the reason I thought the show made a huge return to form this week, with Harry falling a biscuit crumb short of perfection with his quickstep. I was going to talk about that later but seeing as how I’ve mentioned him here I may as well say ‘well done’ to him for a superb performance. Great choreography from Aliona, some complicated steps chucked at the boy and he managed it really well. But I sided with Craig on the ‘9’ and for one reason only.
There’s no question in my mind now, after that dance, Harry is the best dancer of the remaining celebs. But I do wish he’d cracked a smile! It would have lit that performance up like a Christmas tree, and even although I suppose he was concentrating really hard on the complex step sequences it would have lifted that performance skyward! Harry, on the remote chance you are reading this, please show those lovely gnashers of yours and grin for us. The quickstep is supposed to be fun, not torture!
Someone with less reason to smile was James Jordan. I did feel Craig was a bit harsh with Alex when telling her she had taken a massive step backwards with her Charleston rendition, as there wasn’t too much wrong with the dance they performed. It was fun, suitably cooky and had a lot of tricky hat swapping throughout the routine (I was waiting for this to go horribly wrong, so ‘hats off’ to them!). That said, I agreed that perhaps it was a little underplayed and didn’t quite go silly enough or have the grossly exaggerated moves you might expect to see. Personality-wise I thought it was right up Alex’s street though.
Robbie got his legs out during his samba. Not the sort of thing you might expect even in a dance where flesh tends to be on display. It sort of swept away the technical aspect of the dance, what there was of it, to the extent that the only thing you could actually remember was the sight of Robbie in football shorts strutting his stuff on the floor. And let’s face it: this is what Ola was after – and it worked. Of the dancers left Robbie’s just about the weakest and frankly any gimmick that keeps them in the contest is a good one. That sounds a bit snarky but it’s not meant to be. At least Robbie looks like he’s having more fun than Harry...
That said, if Harry wants to show his legs in any possible future dances I wouldn’t be objecting!
Ah, our old friend the lamp post is getting a veritable work-out this year! I half expect to see this scene stealing faithful prop wander on to the stage during someone’s salsa routine with ‘hello mum’ strapped to it. It appeared yet again during Chelsee’s Argentine Tango, standing in the background whilst she was ganchoed and gauchoed to death on screen for our edification and delight. Not a bad effort from Chelsee, whose posture somehow didn’t quite seem intimate enough for such an intense and dramatic dance. Len grumbled about it not being powerful enough in terms of creating passion, but I defy anyone who looks like they’ve been forced into a five foot sequin covered sausage skin to convey any sense of raunch...
Anita’s cha cha cha was an odd one to sum up. It felt as if it had been slowed down in deference to her 62 year old legs, which is both considerate yet problematic. The magic of cha cha cha is fast, accurate, bubbly moves. Anita as always acted her way through the dance with aplomb but the slowness of the routine (to Billy Joel’s ‘Uptown Girl’) exposed every one of her technical limitations. Choreographically it was actually fairly content packed but that almost didn’t matter because it never really had enough energy to get the thing going in the first place. Super sub Brenan, or ‘Rent-A-Pro’ as he has been nicknamed, managed to steer Anita through the dance although it remained to be seen if he could get her through to the next round.
Holly managed to give a rather sultry performance in an unusual take on the Foxtrot, which is as I have already well documented (okay, moaned about repeatedly) the most boring dance in the world. If anyone actually manages to do an interesting take on the Foxtrot I sit up and take notice. It was strangely powerful, showy and quite sexy too: not things you expect! Her performance was more dynamic than it had been previously and she seemed quite energised. Artem didn’t quite look as chipper, and I wondered if his back was still troubling him. And that red dress: wow!
NB: The dress was worn by Holly, not Artem. I realise I probably should have structured my sentences a little more carefully...
Jason overacted beautifully in his Charleston, bringing the right amount of goofiness to proceedings. He looked as if he was channelling Bertie Wooster! If nerds could dance, this is what you would see! Certainly one of the better Charleston’s over the years, although not quite up there with Chris and Ola or indeed Chelsee and Pasha from this season. But what I did like best was the fact that I don’t think we’ve ever really got to see such a fun side of Kristina before, and I honestly thought this was the best I’ve seen her dance on the show. There were a few mistakes from Jason, but he really got into character and I think that helped him through to the end.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Anita. I personally thought it was a close call between Anita and Robbie as to who should have gone, but to be honest Anita attempted to dance rather than parading around in football shorts to try and get some votes so I feel she probably went one week too soon. Not that the sight of Anita in football shorts would necessarily have garnered her any extra points.
I was sorry that she went out whilst Robin lay stuck at home with his poorly foot in the air, unable to be with his partner when he would have most wanted to be, and I felt sorry for Brendan too who would have felt a little saddened at not being able to get Anita through to the next round. Anita herself, in the bottom two this time with Holly, was gracious enough to thank both of her men for her fabulous Strictly experience. Enthusiasm’s an infectious thing, and if nothing else Anita will go down as one of the most pleasant and delightful people that the show has seen. She can hold her head up high.
And hubby Brian might be able to have conversations that don’t revolve around dance once again!
*I'm glossing over the swingathon. It was fun, it was manic and Harry won. Everyone looked utterly shagged out at the end, and nobody knocked anyone over (which was what I had been waiting to see).
Must try harder next year, guys!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment