PLEASE
wish someone would give them some dance chemistry it is so sadly lacking between these 2 they cannot sell their dance ( exception Charleston )

I didn't think the choreography was at fault, but agree the heels possibly didn't help, and Claudia would have benefited from a slightly lower heel. Not flats though - jive is never danced in flat shoes.

Claudia's lack of balance is more likely to have been caused by her poise. Although the heel should touch the floor at times, if a jive is fast, you can sort of get away with dancing entirely on the balls of the feet. Unfortunately Claudia was so back weighted; she didn't get her weight forward and ended up completely flat footed and heavy.

TBH Ed managed that technique better than Claudia.

It'd be an embarrassment for the BBC if after the results show, they were left with only one woman in the competition. "It might hit the ratings."

I agree. I think his dances are too frantic and poor Claudia has to run to keep up. When she said in the week that it was fast, I knew what to expect.

I think he forgets he isn't dancing with Chloe. I hope if they stay another week, he will calm it down a bit. Len has more or less told him to do this but he doesn't seem to be taking much notice.

Oh good I thought it was just me but, fast & furious as it was, I thought that jive was a bit messy to watch & at times I thought she looked like she was having to correct her feet between steps!! I think, like the Samba, the routine was just too fast for her!!
She's looking great in the ballroom dances now but, on a personal level I would have put her in tonight's DO, as most of the routines were better imo!!

Echoes of Peter/Jamelia last year maybe...

To be fair to Claudia she has mostly been undermarked since week 1.

Claudia was overmarked probably by 4 points in total. I was amazed that Craig thought she performed better than Ore.

This is true. Last night the producer is entirely to blame for, poor costume, too fast a tempo and too high her heels.

Really ? I don't think so. I think the judges have been remarkably kind to her throughout.
Last night I think it was partly down to the Blackpool/first dance effect. Blackpool is hyped so much that the judges feel almost obliged to get the show off on a positive note.
On a "normal" week I think they would have been tougher. Probably 8''s or maybe even one 7.

I really like Claudia but she was massively overmarked - made the rest of the top end marks ridiculous.

Yes, if a judge brings out a 9 paddle for a first dance that is mediocre, it leaves them no leeway afterwards. Logically, they should each give a 10 for every couple who performed better afterwards, but that turns it into a farce.

I love Claudia but totally agree with you - the jive really didn't suit her - now, whether that was down to AJ's choreography or the fact that it really was just too fast for her, who knows!

she was way over marked and sadly the judges had nowhere to go but to pretty much over mark everyone else!

and as a side remark - gets on my nerves when celebs and pros seem disappointed with a 7 or an 8 for a dance - there is NOTHING wrong with a 7 or an 8 in my opinion!!!!

Me too. I like Claudia but the jive was not her finest dance. I think AJ makes it too fast and she cant keep up. She is a gymnastic and gymnastic is all about thought and ice-cold precision. Plus the fact the stupid outfit and the shoes. Yet she never answers back or argues.

Totally agree...the jooodges had nowhere to go but 'up' after that...until the usual 'victims' (ed,greg,rinder) appeared.

ps was AJ guilty again of just going too fast for her to think??

Doesn't this happen every year on Strictly?

The closer the couples get to the final, the higher their scores are. A couple could get to the final and do the Mannequin Challenge for two minutes to Black Beatles, and they would probably get 38 points.

(as an aside, I reckon the live band would do an ace version of Black Beatles so I'd be up for that!!! )

So no, I'm not surprised everyone was overmarked. The over marking is only going to increase as we get closer to the final.

Danny will probably get 40's from now onwards. Even his Mannequin Challenge dance would get 40 points so it doesn't really matter anymore.

But jive is fast! And never mind what choreography AJ gave her, they had to dance to the speed of the music, and the choreography wasn't that difficult. He could have made it easier by just giving her basic steps, but then everyone would have probably have moaned it was boring! Basically it was a mess because her poise was wrong, and her steps were too big, and she didn't seem too sure of what she should have been doing.

Maybe all the ridiculous "Blackpool hype" got to her?

But the speed of the music is entirely up to whoever decides the bpms.
They tell Dave Arch what speed they want, (or were told to select).

As I said earlier, it was at least 10bpms faster than the original Toni Basil recording.

It was far too quick.

The music was too fast, and AJ should have said something about that. I didn't like the choreography either, but the main problem was that Claudia just looked off-balance the whole way through, and as a result it all just looked wrong.

I've checked the speed by matching the recording with the rhythm facility on my leccy piano, it's at about 172 bpms.

Toni Basil's recording is at around 150bpms.

I think you make some very good points

AJ is young and new to the show and I think, perhaps, he is finding it difficult not to use the dances to showcase his own ability, rather than to get the best out of Claudia

She was overmarked last night (in terms of absolute score, not comparatively imo), but has been undermarked in the past.

I'd say Claudia and Greg should have been on the same score (about 33), with Judge and Ed below, and Ore, Louise and Danny above in that order.

I did think it was amusing that the judges chose Claudia in the DO because she had 'really improved' - improved from those 9s you gave her for the Sat night show then? So she must have been at least a 10 in the DO?

That jive was way overmarked, could not believe what I was hearing from the judges, I was sure at least one of them would tell it like it was, I like Claudia and have enjoyed most of her other dances, but I am sorry that jive was terrible, the judges lose all creditably when they do this. Also they must think people at home know nothing about dance when they try to pass off a bad dance as good. What gets me is why would they do this, what reasons could they have for wanting to persuade every one that it was a great dance. Confused !!!!!