Good Evening All!

Halfway stage now and it finally seems that the competition is really beginning!!

Austin and Erin - A great start to the show. Beautiful movement, posture and so light on his feet! Marvellous Quicktep routine by Erin. Timing slightly off in the charleston, but apart from that amazing!! Not a 10 dance though, but it deserved all 9's (36) and Craig's 8 was harsh IMO so Len's score balanced out. I gave it a..9

Heather and Brian - I thought she would totally rock this dance like her salsa, but it fell flat. I felt she didn't perform it, bad arms and poor feet leading to limited hip action. 6

Jodie and Ian - What a transformation! Wonderful storytelling, beautiful topline and an overall amazing performance. However, yes heel leads were an issue. Still I thought it was Undermarked, deserved a 'Len/Bruno' 9 should have got 33-34. From me, an.. 8

Andrew and Ola - Oh dear! Lame shimmying, dreadful arms and quite flat footed. However he did keep in time on this extremely hard, technical dance. 5

Lisa and Brendan - Performance of the night, possibly the whole series!! Loved Brendan's traditional tango music and choreography. Her posture has improved ten-fold. Loved the drama and passion. She needs to be sharper with her kicks and flicks - my only criticism, almost a 10 (and I'm not a great Lisa Fan!) but I gave it a ...9

Cherie and James - Not her dance. Very laboured Salsa, arms were very odd and flimsy. Lacked the spontanaeity needed in Salsa, too precise and "neat." Doesn't look too good for her cha cha/samba. Only a 6

John and Kristina - Another endearing performance! Technically very poor posture and lots of gapping. Thank god for Kristina!! Adored the ending however!! 5

Tom and Camilla - Hmm..I'm split on this one. I think he "overacted"it , but was technically great! Didn't like the music, but I didn't mind the cape opening, it added to the story telling. 8

Christine and Matthew - Such a shame about her poor leg extentions and unflexed feet..because I loved this dance!! Really captured the spirit of Fred and Ginger, the only American Smooth to do so this year IMO. Improved posture and she acted it beautifully. The ending made me go awwww Adored the choreography and lifts, inspired!! 8

Rachel and Vincent - Finally we got a performance! but unfortunatly at the loss of some technique. She needed to flick from the knee, and her transitions were a bit sticky, but she did sell the jive IMO. I feel Vincents choreography is letting her down, its not dynamic enough. I'm still waiting for her to sparkle!! On another note I thought it was actually as good as Austins who scored 34, so it was either undermarked, or Austin was overmarked! 8

Overall a great night!! Lisa, Jodie and Austin shone for me! Len was very odd, overmarking and then undermarking. The 10 was too high, but Jodie's was undermarked, how can he give her an 8, just a point higher than Andrews awful Samba?!

Preferably, Andrew, Heather or John (sorrrrrry!!) for the chop.

Regards,
Astraeus

Austin - 9
Jodie - 9
Lisa - 9
Rachel - 9
Christine - 7
Heather - 6
John - 6
Cherie - 5
Tom - 5
Andrew - 3

Austin - 8
Jodie - 8+
Lisa - 8
Rachel - 7
Christine - 7
Heather - 6
John -5
Cherie - 5
Tom - 7
Andrew - 5

Austin - 9
Jodie - 9
Lisa - 8
Rachel - 8
Christine - 7
Heather - 5
John - 3
Cherie - 4
Tom - 6
Andrew - 3

Austin - 9
Jodie - 8.5
Lisa - 8
Rachel - 7
Christine - 7.5
Heather - 6.5
John -4
Cherie - 6
Tom - 7
Andrew - 3

Austin - 8
Jodie - 8
Lisa - 7
Rachel - 7
Christine - 6
Heather - 4
John - 3
Cherie - 4
Tom - 7
Andrew - 3

All a bit lack luster tonight.

Austin & Erin: 9
Heather & Brian: 6
Jodie & Ian: 8
Andrew & Ola: 4
Lisa & Brendan: 8
Cherie & James: 6
John & Kristina: 4
Tom & Camilla: 8
Christine & Matthew: 7
Rachel & Vincent: 7

Lisa & Brendan = 8
Rachel & Vincent = 9
Christine & Matt = 8
Jodie & Ian = 8
Andrew & Ola = 4
Heather & Brian = 4
John & Kristina = 5
Cherie & James = 7
Austin & Erin = 9
Tom & Camilla = 7

Preferably Andrew out and Christine & Cherie not in the dance off PLEASE!
Last edited by VikkiKaplinsky : 01-11-2008 at 21:49

Austin & Erin= 9
Heather & Brian= 6
Jodie & Ian= 8
Andrew & Ola= 4
Lisa & Brendan= 8
Cherie & James= 6
John & Kristina= 5
Tom & Camilla= 7
Christine & Matthew= 7
Rachel & Vincent= 7

Austin - 9
Heather - 6
Lisa - 8
Jodie - 8
Andrew - 4
Cherie - 6
John - 5
Christine - 7
Tom - 7
Rachel - 8

Austin 9 clear winner tonight imo
Rachel 8 technique could be better but sold it well
Lisa 8 great choreography from Brendan
Tom 8 best technician but 2 marks deducted for hideous music & bad paso face
Jodie 7 great storytelling not great technique
Christine 6 agree with judges good upper body
Cherie 5 her worst dance by far
Heather 5 she is by far the worst female left
Andrew 4 kept time, and that's about it
John 3 time to go

Austin & Erin: 9
Really great, technically sound from what I could see but didn't quite have the magic to be a 10

Lisa & Brendan: 8
I really liked this, loved the no frills, proper tango choreography, I felt her flicks could have had a bit more conviction, and I really wish she wouldn't stumble because like with the AS it really takes me out of the dance and she's a really lovely dancer otherwise.

Jodie & Ian: 8
This was my favourite dance of the evening. Ian did a great job with the choreography. Jodie's top line was beautiful but even with the camera work I could see a couple of foot faults and some of her extensions were a bit dodgy.

Rachel & Vincent: 7
She started to sell the dance a bit more but it was a little flat footed and the flicks all came from the hips.

Tom & Camilla: 7
Sometimes he looked great, really powerful and his twist turns were good. Other times he looked ridiculous, and his cape work was dodgy

Christine & Matthew: 6
Nice upper body and lovely choreography from Matt, but I have to agree with the judges about her feet!

Heather & Brian: 5
Had it's good parts and it's bad parts, but generally it felt like she was trying to keep up with the beat when she needed to be on it.

Cherie & James: 4
Seriously if the likes of Heather, Jodie or Andrew did that standard of performance they would have got about 10 marks less than Cherie

John & Kristina: 3
I love John but he was poor tonight

Andrew & Ola: 3
I preferred her samba with Kenny Logan; at least it was entertaining

Austin- 9
Heather- 6
Lisa- 8
Jodie- 8
Andrew- 3
Cherie- 6
John- 5
Christine- 6
Rachel- 9
Tom- 8

Austin- 9
Heather- 7
Lisa- 8
Jodie- 8
Andrew- 5
Cherie- 6
John- 5
Christine- 7
Rachel- 8
Tom- 8

Austin & Erin - 9
Thought they were such a great option to start the show, should of been all 9s but exciting and nice to see erin get a 10

Lisa & Brendan - 9
Loved it, thought it matched austin and erins standerd

Jodie & Ian - 8
Ahh so good to see these get even better, the theme of mr darcy and elizebeth seemed to develop jodie

Christine & Matthew - 8
Loved it, I was glued to her smile and beautiful arms, such a shame I wanted her to take cheries place as the leading lady

Rachel & Vincent - 8
I thought they were a good pairing, I was shocked at lens comments

Tom & Camilla - 7
Liked the dance, but his face was just very laughable, and disturbing

Heather & Brian - 6
Okay, much better than her samba, it will be intresting to see if she survives another week

Andrew & Ola - 6
Poor sod, It was clearly obvious he was not gonna master this dance, you could see the strain but he tried

Cheire & James - 5
I disliked this dance alot, made me cringe, but she deserves to stay

John & Kristina - 4

I wanted them to end on there samba week, but there still here, they are entertaining but the novelty has warned off for me

Austin - 9

Rachel - 9

Lisa - 8

Tom - 8

Christine - 8

Jodie - 8

Cherie - 6

Heather - 6

John - 6

Andrew - 4

Austin - 9 really enjoyed this, not sure about the 10 though.

Rachel - 7 did not enjoy this at all. It lacked a certain something. Very disappointed BUT she did perform for the first time which was good.

Lisa - 8 thought this was good and she looked great. Could have been sharper.

Tom - 9 I really enjoyed this. Dramatic and found it fun, loved the cape!

Christine - 8 she looked gorgeous as did Matthew. Loved the routine, lifts were A MAY ZING. She can work on the feet!!!

Jodie - 8 great waltz (felt Ian was inspired by Matthew's waltz with Alesha last year!)

Cherie - 5 not great, felt for her though.

Heather - 6 disappointing as i thought this would be better.

John - 5 Kristina was great!

Andrew - 5 oh dear! I blame Ola though! Why give him those stupid moves!?? He looked ridiculous and stressed!

Austin- 9 (though it didn't touch me in the way Ian and Jodie's waltz did)

Heather- 6

Lisa- 8

Jodie- 9 (my true favourite)

Andrew- 5

Cherie- 6

John- 5

Christine- 7

Rachel- 8

Tom- 8

Austin- 8

Heather- 4

Lisa- 10

Jodie- 9

Andrew- 5

Cherie- 4

John- 3

Tom- 8

Christine- 7

Rachel- 6 (I'm her biggest fan)!

Austin & Erin: 9. This was a super Quickstep. I did think there was a slight phrase where the frame slightly went (but this could be the camerwork!). Was not of a 10 quality. It wasn't a wow-dance. There is just something sometimes that I find is missing from his performances; like he is concentrating too much. But, really, superb

Heather & Brian: 4. How could Len give this a 7?! It wasn't very good really. She seemed to be enjoying it more than she usually does, but it just dragged on. It might almost deserve a 5, but only for Brian.

Lisa & Brendan: 9. One of the best tangos there has been in ages. Loved the traditional flavour. No pop songs all the time thank you. Have probably rewatched this one the most since the show, so I guess it was my favourite of the evening. She always captures the character very well too. I think she might be overtaking Cherie and Rachel.

Jodie & Ian: 8. Adored the choreography. Really beautiful to watch. But there were clearly footwork issues and the polish isn't always there. Still, fantastic.

Andrew & Ola: 3. It's time for this couple to leave. He is poor at Latin, and barely better at ballroom. Unfortunately, unlike Mark, he even failed to capture some character of the dance, and that is saying something. Stick to the sofa, Andrew.

Cherie & James: 5. This was shocking! I mean, I didn't expect it to be her dance but there was something very, very wrong with it. Even her arms were shoddy and all over the place. She does deserve to stay over many of the others, of course, but starting to wonder if she is limited to ballroom. Will be interesting to see how she copes with the Cha Cha, samba etc.

John & Kristina: 2. I felt really disappointed. The comedy routine has been entertaining for the last two weeks, but I thought they might at least make a decent hash of the foxtrot. It's surely one of the only dances left that might suit him. One more week John, but then you need to go.

Tom & Camilla: 7/8. It was better than most of the pasos last week, and the choreography I felt was very interesting. The opening section seemed especially strong. But some of his work lacks refinement at times. His paso face was also laughable, and that really detracted from the dance for me. He was gurning if anything.

Christine & Matthew: 7. Much better than last week. Like CRH, I loved the lifts, particularly the kicks to the musical accent on the last lift. She always does the glamorous, elegant thing really well. But I think she's not up there with the other girls and I'm not sure there's time to catch up.

Rachel & Vincent: 8. Parts of this I thought were brilliant. The first half (especially the opening section) was really exciting and I thought I was about to be floored by her performance. If anything what let it down and prevented it from getting a 9 (well, from me anyway!) was the choreography towards the end. It began to feel like a lot of tricks and not enough recognisable jive. Still, thoroughly enjoyed it. And was highly annoyed with Len's attitude. Pretty much saying she'll never exceed what she just did on the dancefloor.

Lisa 9 ( I am not a Lisa fan but thought it was the best dance tonight)

Austin 9

Rachel 8

Jodie 8

Tom 7

Christine 7

Cherie 6 (sadly)

Heather 5

John 4

Andrew 3

Austin - 9
Rachel - 9 (Len was infuriating)
Tom - 8
Jodie - 8
Lisa - 8 (slightly overmarked again, i thought)
Christine - 7
Cherie - 7
Heather - 6
John - 5
Andrew - 4 (has to go! )

Austin - 9 (best dance of the series for me, but I did spot the timing issues Craig was on about)
Heather - 6
Jodie - 8
Andrew - 3
Lisa - 8
Cherie - 5
John - 2
Tom - 8 (not as good as the judges said or marked it, his Paso face was really odd and a dreadful choice of music)
Christine - 7
Rachel - 8 (agreed with Len on this one, it didn't excite me at all, though technically it was great)

Austin and Erin - I loved their routine and I thought they were the best tonight. His posture was good and the speed was amazing. I don't mind Len giving it a 10 because Craig gave it an 8 and 36 was about right! 9

Lisa and Brendan I thought they did a great job this evening and the music really added to the performance. Their best dance so far (I thought). 9

Rachel and Vincent - I really enjoyed it and thought she performed it well. Technically she needed a little more flick from the knee and the transitions were not always that smooth (although I thought the fault in this was with Vincent's choreography. 8

Jodie and Ian - I didn't agree with Craig's assessment of it being too romantic - I know there was an issue with heel leads were an issue but I loved it. 8

Christine and Matthew - The judges were right that she needs to extended her legs and point her toes but it was a lovely dance and some great lifts!! 7

Tom and Camilla - Most over-marked performance of the night....He is an actor and I was expecting a much better performance from him. Plus I thought the cape bit at the start was a bit too long. 7

Cherie and James - Not her dance. She looked very odd and stiff - the choreography was very poor. I didn't want her to go thou - so voted lots! 6

Heather and Brian - This should have her dance....but there was no performance it and it felt very flat. 6

Andrew and Ola - Oh dear! I know he had a bad knee but it was not good. 5

John and Kristina - Another endearing performance! Technically it was poor and quite slow (although it improved at the end). 4 ........still don't want them to go yet!

Austin- 9
Heather- 4 - what a bore
Lisa- 8 - bloody good and a special commendation to Brendan for the choreography
Jodie- 8
Andrew- 5 - for effort
Cherie- 5 - bizarre arms
John- 2 - better than his paso, poor Kristina (what a trooper)
Christine- 7
Rachel- 7 - as has been said but I'll go with it: flicks only from the hips, stilted transitions but principally how can a jive be so dull???? Remember Louisa? Let alone some great jives we have seen from lots of couples throughout the years...Rachel just doesn't have the "it" factor
Tom- 8 - that kind of gurning is exactly what Camilla always does so she probably taught him that and it was quite deliberate, I think a bit of "cape" is expected in what is almost a showdance so grumpy Len should get off his high horse