VT opens with town crier, and cheery locals enjoying themselves, amidst the attractions. Light-bedecked Strictly train, driven by Anton, and carrying oohing and aahing contestants. Train came to a stop, and disgorged its contents at the Tower Ballroom.
Really liked the group opening number. Started with the pro's: men in top hats and tails, women in floaty (faux?) fur trimmed white dresses. Natalie seemed to feature quite prominently, or maybe the cameraman just likes her - a lot. Then the celebs came on, one at a time, each doing a little turn, on their own, with some of the celebs. They started with Greg, followed by Claudia, then Ed - who was wheeled on in a chair, and did his turn whilst seated. Danny came next, followed by Louise. JR descended from the ceiling, perched in a star. Poor soul. I'm not sure if he meant to be comical, but his top hat was a mite too large for him - hardly recognised him as a result. Then Ore joined the dance, followed by the judges. I must say, they pull out all the stops for Blackpool, and I appreciate that. Very slick and stylish. A well-choreographed, beautiful dance.
Tess and Claud continue with the black and red outfit theme, from last week. Claud: black dress - nice. Tess: red dress - not so nice. I'm not a fan of asymmetric tops.
Judges entrance: Craig back to his spinny self. The other judges: more low-key.
Claudia and AJ. Jive. 'Hey Mickey' Toni Basil.
VT. Good. Training again. Oops. Spoke too soon - a few seconds of training, then on to AJ showing Claudia the sights. Oh well. If this is the pattern throughout, then I probably won't mention the VTs at all.
The dance. Claudia a cheerleader. AJ playing some kind of ball game. Rather inelegant start, with much knicker flashing. Luckily, Claudia is young enough to get away with it, I think...maybe. Rather improbably high heels (don't know why I thought 'Minnie Mouse', here), teamed with a tiny black and gold outfit. A quite nice, energetic effort. Camera angles prevented (as usual) proper scrutiny of kicks and flicks. We've been told about the 'boing' of the Tower Ballroom dancefloor - so that should have helped with her bouncing around.
Judges seemed to really like it.
9; 9; 9; 9 = 36.
Up at Claud's - Peter Kaye made an appearance, to help with the T&Cs. Now there's a master of the double entendre!
Ore and Joanne. Viennese Waltz. 'That's Life' Frank Sinatra.
The dance opens with a card game in progress. Tempo a little frantic for a VW, perhaps. But the choreography was good, I thought. Stylish. Ore looked very smart, and gave it a very good effort, imo. Marathon rotation - recovered well. Impressive. Slick finish. He's such a good looking guy, with bags of personality. And he does try really hard. Hope he does well.
Judges suitably kind with their comments, I thought.
8; 10; 10; 10 = 38. (Oh, I don't know about that. Not sure it was
that good.)
Louise and Kevin. Paso Doble. 'Explosive' Bond.
VT showed them at a rock-making factory, where they helped to make a personalised stick of rock. Oops I forgot I wasn't going to mention any non-training VTs.
The dance. Dramatic music, and dramatic choreography. Louise looked a bit fearful, perhaps, especially at the beginning. Then became a bit smiley, later on. Might have been a mite more convincing, with a more haughty, feisty expression? Nevertheless, I thought Kevin looked after her very well, and guided her to give a good performance. (Pity we feel that we're being force-fed 'Cliftons' - he seems like a really nice guy.) Wish the celeb's shaping wasn't so fling-y and weak (except Jay's, of course. Ah...Jay...)
Judges: pleased.
9; 9; 10; 10 = 38. (scoring seems a bit bonkers all round, tonight.
Danny and Oti. Charleston. 'Puttin' on the Ritz' Gregory Porter.
Siily VT - as head waiter in a fish and chip shop (!!)
The dance. Worthy MT opening. Thought it was good, until he lost his way, during the 'dancing on the chair' bit. Always a risk when dancing, in time, with a group of pro's - any mistake stands out a mile. Didn't let it faze him, tho' - so that was good. Surprisingly, not one of Oti's best dances. Bet he was glad when it was all over.
The judges didn't mention the 'on the chair' hesitation. Perhaps he meant to go out of time, and lose it, a bit. Silly me.
10; 10; 10; 10 = 40. Ho - hum.......
Up at Claud's, she mentioned that we might be experiencing difficulty hearing the confirmation message when we vote, due to a technical issue. Well, that technical issue clearly extends to shouters at the screen, too, as she obviously didn't hear my "Not voting - but the
scoring is bonkers!"
Ed Balls and Katya. Jive. 'Great Balls of Fire' Jerry Lee Lewis.
VT showed Ed dancing on a floor-piano, to practise fast jive feet (?)
The dance. Ed descends from the ceiling 'playing' a piano. He's looking slimmer. Hope the dance is good. Well I thought it was, so there! Seemed to remember all the choreography - and there was a lot to remember, and he kept up well with the ensemble bits. Kicks and flicks, maybe, could do with a bit of work. But all in all, I think that he's worked hard, and put in a good effort - as usual. Finished draped across five pro's, to 'Goodness Gracious Ed Balls of Fire'. The audience loved it.
Judges: mostly kind and encouraging, and seemed to show some admiration, too.
Not Craig, of course. Tho' after his tongue-lashing, he said what he loved about Ed, was that he was committed and assiduous.
Len made his usual "You made Blackpool rock" remark.
4; 6; 7; 6 = 23. Up at Claud's, they shouted "Undermarked". I agree.
Greg and Natalie. QuickStep. 'Hand Jive' Sha Na Na.
Well, I thought he danced that pretty darned well, to appalling music. Lots of choreography, which he seemed to take in his stride. Music much too fast to allow for any kind of finesse. Hope he's not marked down for that. Lots of bounce and travel. Lucky he's an athlete, as he needed plenty of stamina for this one. Found the hand-jive breaks a bit irritating, but they were well done, considering. Forgot to notice his derriere. Good. Hopefully it's a thing of the past. Did notice that he's still a bit pigeon-toed, tho'. Come on, Greg. Time you did something about that!
Judges seemed pleased.
Bruno wanted a bit more glide - a big ask for such dreadful music.
Craig thought he danced it brilliantly, despite his thumb.
Darcey had fun watching him, because he was having fun.
Len thought it "queer, really, that as a long-jumper, the only thing you mucked up was the leap". Greg said that he had been trying to calm it down so much, that he calmed it down too much, so the jump wasn't as good as it could be. Len said that "considering you're a world champion long-jumper, it's a strange thing......"
8; 8; 8; 8 = 32.
Judge Rinder and Oksana. Salsa. 'Spice up your Life' Spice Girls.
Silly vertigo-inducing VT.
The dance. Starts off with a bit of hip action. Good sign. JR landed in a rather ungainly fashion, following a two male pro-assisted, forward roll lift thingy. (Technical term. And before I close the bracket. Who is the long-locked dancer? Very lithe. Hope we see more of him). This is one of JR's better dances, I think. Very good hip action, for a celeb. Good rhythm, kept time very well. Good lifts - particularly the overhead one. Fun dance. He should be proud of that. Finished with a sort-of cartwheel, and landed on both feet. Hope he gets good marks. Audience seemed to really like him.
Craig was very impressed. Thought he was hip-tastic, and called him 'Judge Grinder' The other judges liked it, too, on the whole. Just one or two very minor crits.
8; 9; 8; 8; = 33.
LEADERBOARD.
Danny and Oti..............40........7.
Ore and Joanne..........38........6.
Louise and Kevin........38........6.
Claudia and AJ............36........5.
JR and Oksana............33........4.
Greg and Natalie........32........3.
Ed and Katya...............23........2.
)! ....”
