The Tower Ballroom, Blackpool Beckons!
A crucial week for Strictly as this is the launchpad to Blackpool – famous for its Tower Ballroom and synonymous with dancing glitz and glam. Every couple wants to get there and will have been working hard to make sure they give of their best, which they did.
We had three really impressive dances this week. Michelle and Giovanni gave a performance that made us feel like we were watching two professionals. They danced to, 'I just want to make love to you' and treated us to some awesome storytelling and characterisation. Michelle played the part of a bored and ignored housewife, but in the end demonstrated she was definitely the boss.
Shirley described their American Smooth Foxtrot as "Naughty and Nice" whilst Craig said that Michelle was "..Mistress of detail…..and loved it." What we like best is the way they dance as a couple yet keep their own personalities intact; very enjoyable and Michelle us definitely doing it for the older ladies in the audience. Go for it girls!
Kelvin and Oti’s Salsa with a motor racing theme gave us some terrifying lifts proving that Oti has enormous trust in Kelvin, yet making it look relatively easy; it takes a lot of strength and control for both dancers to make those lifts look so natural. Shirley christened Kelvin as the man with "...the powerful musical hips…" and this Salsa was certainly a great vehicle for showing them off. The speed and fluidity of Kelvin’s body movements was jaw droppingly good for Bruno and Craig resulting in well-deserved 9s from the judges.
Top of the leader board we have Saffron and AJ with an amazing ‘WOW’ Waltz. We had stunning choreography from AJ and a wonderful intimate, calm feeling: gorgeous, romantic, still at heart and so sensitive. Motsi said that on this her first Strictly season that it was "...the best dance of the season so far for her." I would agree, it had something that almost made the audience stop breathing as they watched. The technique was excellent with really detailed and correct footwork, awesome balance - in particular during the one leg standing spin which is not easy yet Saffron made it look effortless. They were a perfect pair and got my 10 vote this week.
There was some great set and scenery work for Karim and Amy’s Viennese Waltz which started at the top of a lighthouse that seemed to be high above the floor through the use of clever lighting and projection work; and elegant costumes too. Sadly, they did make a couple of mistakes in the dance which must have been upsetting, but they kept going which has to be commended. Karim’s usually excellent footwork was lacking with a number of missing heel leads on his forward steps, perhaps due to the couple of errors. Karim is a good dancer but the essential rotation in hold for the Viennese was uncomfortable; this is a dance that has to look very fluid and flowing with continuous rotation and minimal rise and fall – it didn’t quite work this week, although still a lovely couple to watch.
For the first time we saw a serious Chris dancing his Tango with Karen to, 'I’m a Survivor'. The footwork was messy and it looked more like a walk than a dance, yet he showed good intent and there was a strong focussed connection between which made it very watchable. A man on a mission this week and overall a good effort.
Mike and Katya gave us a reasonable Paso with an excellent and difficult solo start for Mike stamping out the rhythm in the spotlight, followed by some good shapes and obvious intent. Although the dance itself was a bit disjointed, we got a wow end worthy of more than the 5 awarded by the judges. Loved their costumes too, very dark and dramatic.
A really interesting week which has confirmed my previous thoughts; it’s going to be difficult to call the winners. Those I would expect to be in the final at this stage are Michelle and Giovanni, Saffron and AJ, Kelvin and Oti – but the rest, can’t be sure. I did think that Karim would be in the final line up too, but this was an off week for him and as the judges said, nothing is certain.
