Re: SCD 2019 Tango's 'Little Bit Of Honesty' Thread

[TANGOLERO]

Belated happy birthday to Moova and Tango    

Tango, I can remember your 70th birthday back in the days of the BBC forum! Hard to believe it was 10 years ago. I've just looked it up, and that was the year Chris Hollins won

Team Cola....Chris Hollins and put a vest on you strumpet Jordan, good heavens, how time flies. Seems like just last year (wishfully)

[Moova 12]

Thank you for your birthday greetings!

[B4p]

Wow - what a competitive lot. You could smell the testosterone through the TV screen!

I'm going to have to watch it again, but first thought was - how did Saffron get a higher mark than Will?

[TANGOLERO]

I need to think a little. I'm still gutted that James Cracknel came on dressed like an undertaker and performed like Andy Pandy . He's too nice a guy to have aspirations of being Basildon Bond, (which is probably as well despite what was suggested) but I fear he'll be among the first to go . Shame, but he's no dancer. At the other end, the candidate from Dingle Farm looks to have it sewn up already. Athletic, Handsome full of rythmn, reasonably young and has about six billion fans from Emmerdale. He well deserved his high marks. For Week One there were several who impressed and it promises to be a good series. I'll be back later....

[diamondsandpearls]

I am away from home catsitting so only have my phone to type on - which sets off my sore thumb if i do rhe length posts i need to in order to have my say. So i am going save it until im back home on Monday.

But i will say this:

Alex undermarked - suffered from going on first

Kelvin overmarked - messy and lacked fluidity

Karim v good but needs to get his body/posture properly in line with the dance, eg more on balls of feet and not so wide-legged for the cha x3

James - rabbit in headlights, bad posture, stiff

Anneka - all kinds of rubbish as a dancer but worjs hard and is cheery

David - stitched up with 3 Lions. Felt really sorry fie them.

Saffron - insanely over marked

Dev - not bad at all

thumb giving up now. More on Monday... xx

[TANGOLERO]

Ah, D&P, I was sort of hoping you would be very irate at that red boiler-suit with the low flying crotch that our erstwhile presenter sort of had draped around her tonight.

[Moova 12]

Goodness so agree Tango! Thought it was a skirt and jumpsuit at first a skump . Look awful

[CaledonianCraig]

Okay here are my thoughts on the week one dances. It had its surprises but the standard for week one was very good.

Alex Scott: A nice sharp start with good quick foodwork. She lost her way on the sequence of steps on the stairs but on the whole it was a good start. 6.5 from me. Undermarked from the judges a tad.

Chris Ramsay: A little robotic and stompy at times. He had one or two good moments but I expected more from him considering he is married to a professional dancer. 4.5 from me.

Catherine Tyldesley: After a slow start she showed nice poise and posture but was a bit skippy at times in the steps sequence. Will definitely improve. 6 from me.

Saffron Barker: I wasn't keen on the start. On the whole her footwork was good but looked ragged at times as it looked like she was a rag doll body-wise at times. Decent. 6 from me. Overmarked for me by the judges.

Mike Bushell: His posture was poor at times but loved his enthusiasm and effort levels. Some really good stuff and some not so good. 6 from me. Seems like C.raig does not like him.

Emma Weymouth: I liked this. She moved very nicely and looked confident. Light on her feet but just needs to be more expressive at times rather than just smiling. That will come. 6.5 from me.

James Cracknell: Oh dear. Very poor posture throughout. He looked very nervous and as C.raig said he was hunched over Luba throughout the dance. At least his footwork was pretty decent. a 3 from me.

Kelvin Fletcher: He had a lovely fluid movement and was quick and sharp. He had the hip movements too. Also captured the party mood of the dance. One of the dances of the night. 8 from me.

David James: He made mistakes (one glaring one) but on the whole his movement was way better than I expected. He was quite light and bouncy on his feet. 4.5 from me.

Michelle Visage: The surprise of the night. She moved very well indeed and had the characterisations spot on and carried out the steps very nicely. 7 from me.

Dev Griffin: After a slow start he showed much promise. He had good rhythm, musicality and posture in a song that suited the dance. 7 from me.

Anneka Rice: I wasn't keen on the theme bit at all. She struggled at the start but showed good effort and at times looked liked she was in synch with the music but lost it again. Think she can improve. 4 from me.

Will Bayley: A very pleasant surprise. Great attack and showed good musicality and rhythm as well as being expressive. It had its mistakes but enjoyable. 6.5 from me.

Karim Zeroual: Showed excellent hip action and movement was fluid. Handled some tough choreography very well. Clearly a contender. 7.5 from me.

Emma Barton: A solid start. After faffing at the start she had some very nice kicks but like C.raig spotted I made notes at the time saying she was laboured at times. Potential is there though. 6 from me.

A great start to the series. Surprises of the night being Michelle Visage and Will Bayley. Disappointment for me was Chris Ramsay

[mauveangel09]

Morning all
I too needed some time to collect my thoughts after that marathon! Although it was mainly a very good marathon I thought. Agree with B4P - what a competitive lot! The standard is higher than I thought it would be - but I love to be surprised on the first week! I think that after some early and obvious eliminations it could shape up into a good open contest this year. I can't wait to see what they do next week and how they face the challenge of learning the second dance in one week.

I've divided my thoughts into groups:

1. Those that delivered
Alex and Neil - really enjoyed it. I think I enjoyed it a tad more than the judges did but agree with the general train of thought that she suffered a bit from going on first. So glad that Neil is in the show!

Michelle and Gio - delivered a great cha cha - she's really got great rhythm.

Emma and A nton - really enjoyed it and although a bit heavy I thought it was a decent jive for the first week. After positive comments from three judges I was surprised that Shirley seemed dismissive - even a bit rude - whereas she had been constructive with all of the other contestants. Strange.
'
Karim and Amy - well he did deliver but this was one of my least favourite routines I'm afraid and yet at the same time I'm happy that Amy has a younger partner at last. He was good but he knew it and I could have done without the hip hop bits and his bottom sticking out - it was as though it had gone to Amy's head and she let him loose! More control needed. I do hope he isn't going to annoy me and become my 'Joe Suggs' of this series......…...……..

2. The Surprises

Kelvin and Oti - Wow!! What a samba and on week one! One of the dances of the night for me.

Saffron and AJ - For me this was better than what I expected. A decent amount in hold (in contrast with most of the other week 1 ballroom n umbers) although I didn't much care for the break in the middle.

Mike and Katya - Great fun. Energetic and again proves that Katya is a great teacher - he coped well with some 'tricksy' bits.

Will and Janette - He put so much into it and I thought it was really good - I have never rated Janette much as a teacher so I do hope she can continue to develop him and get the best out of him - I love his enthusiasm.

3. Question marks/The Jury's out

Catherine and Johannes and Emma W and Alijaz

Both graceful and with good posture - both have great potential and I'm sure will become the ballroom girls of this season. Catherine coped with a difficult dance for week 1 - why not the traditional waltz for goodness sake?? I thought they were going to bash into the picnic basket at one point! Emma for me did not put a foot wrong and showed timing but needs to develop the all important performance factor for the latin dances. I think both of these two are worth watching and looking forward to their next dances. So glad Johannes is on the show.

Dev and Dianne

Must admit he didn't blow me away but it was a nice routine to good music and he seemed to be light footed so there's promise there.

4. The Not so Goods

Chris and Karen
Disappointing - perhaps some capacity to improve? Not sure. (FYI - I don't like Karen's 'Grace Jones' look!)

Anneka and Kevin
Although she seems really nice and I like her enthusiasm - could improve

David and Nadiya
Sadly - No

and finally...…...poor James Cracknell - so uncomfortable that you could see he was wondering why he had agreed to do it. I thought at one point when he was up in the Clauditorium afterwards that his face was one of abject misery. Coming bottom of the leaderboard must hurt when you are a successful sportsman but unless Luba deals with the basics of the gapping and his posture - then things won't change I fear.

[CaledonianCraig]

and finally...…...poor James Cracknell -  so uncomfortable that you could see he was wondering why he had agreed to do it. I thought at one point when he was up in the Clauditorium afterwards that his face was one of abject misery.  Coming bottom of the leaderboard must hurt when you are a successful sportsman but unless Luba deals with the basics of the gapping and his posture - then things won't change I fear.

I didn't expect much from James to be honest. Remember his career has been based around success in a sport requiring brute strength and extreme physical fitness. He (like all Olympic rowers) have to put their body through the mill so I'd bet his body still suffers today. He's never had to be expressive or artistic in any way or think about how to sell something and all of his life as a rower contact with women must have been fairly minimal. All of those obstacles really did make this a massive mountain to climb.

[jingle]

Ahh, I’ve been looking forward to this, my ritual  Sunday morning re-watch of Strictly…. and it didn’t disappoint.  The scoreboard is spot on in terms of the top and bottom two, but I thought there was some rather strange marking among the middlers. Maybe that’ll get re-balanced next week. Also next week it’ll be very interesting to see if frontrunners Karim and Kelvin can impress in ballroom.

First impressions for me…all very good natured, judges were going quite easy with their comments, Motsi feels like she’s been part of the show forever (sorry Darcey), there’s a good range of ability and weaknesses among the c.elebs, and I was glad there weren’t any panto jokes between T.ess and C.laud. All good, bring it on!

Alex – A little off balance, and as CC says, it went awry on the stairs sequence. However I felt she was undermarked by a couple of points. Found Neil a little distracting - he needs to put Alex centre-stage and stop searching for the camera himself.

Chris -The horror of this one was …what was Karen wearing? Dance-wise Chris looked quite wooden throughout, it was a stompy rather forced cha cha. Marked about right.

Catherine – They do look good as a couple (whereas some of the other couples really don’t look good, there’s a few height issues such as Katya and Mike, or Anneka and Kevin). Another wardrobe horror was Johannes’ outfit, how can trousers fit so badly? Anyhow, an OK Viennese waltz but she looked quite unbalanced at times. I so agree with Mauve - why not just do a waltz on the first night, rather than a viennese.

Saffron – Not sure why the judges raved about this, started out as quite a muddle with AJ steering her around, song much too fast for a tango. It did improve, but not great. I’ve always voted for AJ and Claudia/Mollie/Lauren, but at the moment not warming to this partnership.

Mike – Katya looks too tall for Mike and she was coming across as rather hysterical at times. Why all the squealing and over-reacting? Didn’t much like her choreography for this jive and Mike was overmarked in my opinion

Emma W – A very dainty, slightly self-conscious but very accurate cha cha cha, I liked this. I have a feeling that Emma is going to be very good at ballroom.

James – oh dear, how disappointing. Out of all the c.elebs this year I really wanted James to do well and I imagine this will have humiliated him. His posture was so awful that I wonder if Luba could’ve done more to pre-empt it – or maybe it was just nerves on the night. I so hope he can improve for next week

Kelvin – Very good in places, great hips and a confident performance, although there were parts of the choreography which looked a little disjointed. Thought a score of 32 was too excessive, his samba was more than 8 points away from perfection in my opinion.

David – didn’t like the awkward faffing around at the start. A rather limp and skippy foxtrot, I thought he was a tad overmarked. Can’t seem him going too far to be honest

Michelle – great attitude, good choreography. Also I thought the design of her dress was rather clever (I wonder did she have a hand in it). An unexpectedly strong cha cha, though I suspect that this might just be the type of dance which suits her.

Dev – Very light on his feet, and good rhythm, I enjoyed this foxtrot (although there was something very familiar about the choreography, did Dianne do a similar routine before I wonder). I think Dev has a lot of potential – only issue may be getting enough time to practice, given his demanding day job.

Anneka – The strange choreography didn’t work for me – if feels like Kevin is trying to borrow the An.ton comedy act for the more mature partner. Not a great matching in terms of height either, she looks too tall for him.

Will – There were co-ordination issues, but I enjoyed this rather hyperactive quickstep and he performed the storyline well too. I know she’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I’ve grown to like Janette over the years ( I subscribe to her youtube channel and she comes across as just the loveliest person). I get the impression she’s a very supportive teacher, and I think she’s a good match with Will.  One minor thing, I wish the judges wouldn’t use the word ‘inspiration’ quite so often with the Paralympians, it comes across as an unnecessary charity response.

Karim – Seems to be the most natural, rhythmic and athletic of the latin boys, but to be honest I think I might get irritated by Karim, there doesn’t seem to be anything vulnerable or modest about him. I’m sort of hoping that he finds the ballroom more of a challenge, so that we see him develop in some way.

Emma B – Timing and synchro issues, but at least that’s the jive over and done with (for Anto.n)

Overall, a  great opening night. I especially liked that the judges were being relatively kind, which gave it a more relaxed feeling. Hoping James can redeem himself for next week, but the early exits are surely from among him, Anneka, David and Chris. Kelvin and Karim may be top dogs at the moment, but I suspect Dev will join them soon enough. Wish it was next week already!! Love reading all your reviews

[TANGOLERO]

Good comments from all, and not too much to say by me that hasn't been said already, and I'm not going to make the mistake of over-enthusiastic reaction after one week's efforts. How long have they actually had to learn that one first discipline, as opposed to the definitive undeniable seven days from henceforth? Dancers (even potential ones) can pretty easily be spotted by their ability to avoid stiffness and tension and project the dance mood to music rather than their own. Kelvin said his dad was keen on dance, and I think that showed in his own ability. He heard the music and danced rather than a ( quite understandable at this stage) worried "what comes next?" lurch around the floor. I did feel sorry, and yes, more than a bit disappointed by the ungainly Texas two-step shuffling around from James Cracknell. As other have already commented, he looked far from the comfort of his seat in a coxless fours rowing skiff, and more dressed for a church service than an Argentine night club in downtown Buenos Aires.

For new dancers (in the main) they all did well enough to entertain as a show and that's always a bonus. Next week may clarify things better. I do get a bit bored by certain individuals ever camera seeking and posturing (Anybody here from Grimsby?) but that's personal. Will I be fired if I say I so miss Le n and Da rcy in the judges' seats? Ah well, time marches on, better march with it. Strike up the band....

[Moova 12]

Well K from G will be in the Xmas special for sure. I felt like that with Neil. However, perhaps because he has been dancing with the look at me mindset for so long that he will take a while to settle. I was disappointed with James and Luba hasn’t got time to correct things. I agree he looked as though he had no idea what he had signed up for. I also think that it has to be remembered he suffered a life changing head injury.
My irrational agins Scarlett, Karim, Anneka, Emma B (only because she is with A)
My strange likes Kelvin, Dev, Catherine, Michelle
Ones I want to hug David James and Will
Rest mmmmmmmmm
It may change as things progress.

Question could Luba have put James in one of those posture braces under that jacket? It was just a thought but I don’t know how they work.

[Twirlie]

Hi everyone, have you had a good summer? I have. We had our usual holiday down in Devon in July and then a quick trip up to Aberdeenshire last week to see my brother and our extended family up there.

You know summer’s over when the kids go back to school, but our kids are all grown up now, so we know summer’s over when Strictly comes back! It was a pretty good night, wasn’t it. There were a couple of people who will be fighting for the “first out” spot, but otherwise there was a lot of good stuff going on.


Alex Scott and Neil Jones - Quickstep.
Not bad. Should Neil really have choreographed those jumps right in front of the judges’. A good start to the show. Fair scores. 5s.

Chris Ramsey and Karen Clifton - Cha Cha Cha
Well he’s not the worst.  I thought he did better than some of the judges gave him credit for. I hope he gets past the half way point though he won’t get much further than that I don’t think. Worth 4s more than 3s I thought.

Catherine Tildesley and Johannes Radebe - Viennese Waltz
Mmm… Bumpy C.raig? Yes I agree, not much gliding here, more trotting, I’ll wait and see what happens next week.

Saffron Barker and AJ Pritchard  - Tango
Very, very good first dance. Difficult choreography which she coped with wonderfully. 7s were right.

Mike Bushell and Katya Jones - Jive
Dad dancing. Very good dad dancing, but dad dancing nevertheless. I felt sorry for his kids because he was embarrassing. He certainly loves it though.  I would never have given them 6.

Emma Weymouth and Aljaz Skorjanic - Cha Cha Cha
I think I enjoyed that. I can’t make up my mind because I’m fascinated by her looks and find it hard to concentrate on her dancing. I think she will become quite good as she has good legs, and a good sense of rhythm. I’m sure her model background will help her there. I’m quite astonished at Shirley’s 4. I’d have thought 5s and 6s.

James Cracknell and Luba Mushtuk - Tango
I feel so sorry for him because he is incredibly stiff and shapeless and looks completely lost. Feel a bit sorry for Luba too. James is odds on for first out I reckon together with Anneka Rice. 3s.

Kelvin Fletcher and Oti Mabuse - Samba
WOWOWOW. I find it very hard to watch any of Oti’s partners because I love watching her so much. Only Danny Mac caught my attention. Well Kelvin Fletcher’s going to do the same. That was absolutely fabulous and the 8s were well deserved.

David James and Nadia Bychkova - Foxtrot
I can never make up my mind whether Nadia has only ever had fairly naff partners of if she’s not that brilliant a choreographer and teacher. Or is it a bit of both. David  is still an unknown quantity as far as I’m concerned. He wasn’t wonderful, but I do think he can improve. 4s and 5s are right.

Michelle Visage and Giovanni Pernice  - Cha Cha Cha
So much better than I was expecting. Lots of power as Shirley said. Quote of the night, “She’s going to eat you [Giovanni] for lunch”. 7s would have been my score though I don’t resent her the 8s.

Dev Griffin and Dianne Buswell - Foxtrot
Great – much better than I expected again. I don’t know why I should have thought that, but it was very beautiful, easy and smooth. 7s or 8s.

Anneka Rice and Kevin Clifton  - Cha Cha Cha
What a terrible opening.  Who thinks up these things? Poor Anneka, does she have flat feet? It wasn’t much good. Mostly just loping around the floor. 3s or 2s.

Will Bayley and Jeanette Manrara - Quickstep
Not bad at all. I’m sure if he has the footwork to play table tennis to Olympic standard, he’d have the fleetness of foot to do a quickstep.

Karim Zeroual and Amy Dowden – Cha Cha Cha
Very good. I’m not surprised of course, he’s young and probably not long out of drama school, but even so the quality is tremendous and as Shirley said, Amy gave him some great choreography. 8s are deserved,

Emma Barton and A.nton Du Beke - Jive
Not at all bad. I think A.nton has a chance of getting into the 4th quarter of the competition. I was surprised that C.raig and Shirley seemed a bit severe, but I suppose they felt she could take the advice. 7s.

The judges generally were very nice to everyone tonight which is just as it should be for a first performance. The standard was high though which is amazing. Even the celebs who ended up in the middle of the leaderboard were pretty reasonable. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when they begin to catch up with the celebs who can dance already. As I remember it both Stacey and Ore were pretty rubbish to begin with.

[Twirlie]

Welcome back 50+!

I only know of Anneka so I'm open to all comers this year. I'll see how things pan out over the first few weeks.

Hi B4p, I'm like you. Anneka is the only one I've heard of so I have no likes or dislikes yet. I wondered about Kelvin Fletcher when I first saw him because he looked like a bit of a thug, but he seems absolutely charming.

[Twirlie]

Thank you B4p, yes, I'm 80 as of half an hour ago...sadly....  

Happy belated birthday TANGOLERO. 80's nothing. My father was a farmer and he didn't retire till 87!

And happy belated birthday to you Moova 12 as well.

[CaledonianCraig]

As I remember it both Stacey and Ore were pretty rubbish to begin with.

Not sure about Stacey but this was Ore's Week 1 dance:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhSUU-LaRfY

I wouldn't call that rubbish just crappy choreography especially at the start.

[Twirlie]

FYI - I don't like Karen's   'Grace Jones' look

Oh I did. That severe look is very fashionable at the moment isn't it and it's one that suits her I think.  She has the head shape for it.  I thought her whole outfit was rather... "splendid".

[mauveangel09]

Hi Twirlie

Great to see you back and some great comments

I know exactly what you mean about Nadia...…………………….   I am smiling about your Karen comments in response to my 'Grace Jones' observations

I also remember that Stacey was very 'loose' the first few weeks and I remember I didn't immediately think that she was that good...………. there were loads of those  'improve the core' comments from D arcey and Shirley

Overall I think we've got some great potential in the competition this year and its great when you see them take off and improve - providing they get through the voting lottery of the first few weeks!  It will be interesting to see how they get on with the second dance and the shorter time frame. I think some of the pros have definitely got dances out of the way this week that perhaps were the more difficult ones for their celebs.

[diamondsandpearls]

Re Tess's jumpsuit:

The day she wears something that is stylish, glamorous AND fits is the day Strictly loses it's way... Part of the fun is seeing Tess wear something that has the potential to be very nice but koses its way with some bizarre detail or cut out or missing leg or a bad fit...

This one looked lovely when you started at the top - nice bit of sequinning on a strapless bodice in a gorgeous red.which really suits Tess. But then you see it was a bit baggy going into the waist. And then the dropped crotch hits you...

Classic Tess... Fantastic. 10/10!!!

[diamondsandpearls]

On the subject of Chris Ramsey being a disappointment because his missus is a dance pro...

If i was married to a plumber should i be familiar with copper piping and know my way around a U bend?

If you were married to a teacher does that make you a whizz at lesson plans, classroom control and individual record keeping?

Does the partner of an accountant automatically keep metiulous expenditure records and religiously balance their books?

Does the partner of a hairdresser do all their mates highlights and give themselves an amazing bob haircut?

I think you are getting my drift here. Unless Chris has asked Mrs R to give him.lessons and train him up it is no more likely that he can dance than I can ice climb (which is what the ex Mr D does professionally)

Therefore Chris is a much a beginner as Anneka ir David.

[diamondsandpearls]

Sorry everyone- the phone wont let me quote and reply to specific posts so I'm just having to.post from scratch.

I watched the whole show again today as i was viewing it mostly from the outfit angle last night and i wanted to look more.closely at footwork etc.

Suffice to say i now disagree with the leaderboard order, with so very many of you - and mainly myself!

I now think Dev's was the (quietly understated and heavily disguised beneath a hideous yellow and brown diamond tank top) dance of the night. It was light, elegant, very decent footwork and he has great musicality. Alex next - she fluffed the steps thingy but it was a v good quickstep..Kelvin after that - he is too broad and built up in the upper body to have that sinuosity i look for in a Latin dance. Hips good - but in a pronounced 'look at me' Jake Wood way, rather than in an 'im just dancing the dance' Danny Mac way (still the best dancer to have not won in my eyes). Michelle next - she actuallly has that sinousness but she needs to exaggerate the hips more.

Found David's Foxtrot very touching. He's such a sweet chap, and he smiled and connected with Nadya througout the dance. I really enjoyed it, despite them being made to wear costumes that were so atrocious that had they been wearing their rehearsal garb they would have looked a million times better.

My Afors: Alex, David, Dev

My Agins: Michelle, the two soapies,, Saffron

A word on James... He looks as though he is resigned to impending utter doom. As if his agent had held a gun to his head to do strictly and he'd rather be sifting through three weeks worth of rubbish looking for a small gold earring than be learning to dance. I am aware he has a brain injury and aware that it makes memorising the steps very difficult. But he doesnt need to look like he is being held hostage in a murky dungeon. I feel quite worried for him actually.

[diamondsandpearls]

Afor Karen's hair. It does her all kinds of favours. I hated the previous two seasons dry straw scarecrow look - it did nothing for her. She has strong features which compliment the new hairdo and vice versa. Looks best when it is gelled up though, like in the opening dance, rather than flopping in a heavy fringe, like in their cha cha cha...

[TANGOLERO]

I made a few notes as I always do (memory not the best these days) . No point in re-posting what most have said, but I did note Alex Scott started things of very well for week 1. Chris Ramsey was stiff and walked through his cha-cha. The Rovers Return girl, Katherine? was quite smooth and Saffron impressive. Mike Bushell , I wrote, "A stompy coalbagger doing some sort of highland fling?" Dev and Diane's foxtrot was worthy of its good marks as was Will Bayley and Janette's quickstep. Karim looks like emulating Louis Smith for athleticism (hope he dances a bit too, because it's obvious he can). The rest, as they say, is history till next week. That's it from me show wise. ...

[B4p]

Welcome back Twirlie

My thoughts for week 1

Alex - Not easy to start the series, but I think she’s going to be good.  She’s got the balance and neat footwork potential from football which is half the battle. I thought Neil did a reasonable routine, but I think the step hopping was a mistake waiting to happen. Maybe Neil thought the judges wouldn’t see her feet so easily as she was so close to their desk. I think nerves caused a stutter between her brain and her feet.

Chris - He seemed frozen with fear, or is that just my impression? It surprised me considering his stage experience. He was certainly out of his comfort zone. It’ll be interesting to see if he thaws out a bit next week. Very wooden, and looked like he'd beamed in from The Enterprise.  Cr aig didn’t mention his (or anyone else's)  ‘spade’ hands which surprised me.

Catherine - I think tactically, Johannes might have seen something in the earlier training sessions and then maybe decided to get the VW out of the way. It seems the done thing nowadays to put a break into the routine and break hold after circling one way. I wonder what her balance will be like on the quicker latin dances where there’s lots of twists and turns? I like her attitude and dry humour. I thought the music went well with the dance style but their clothing didn't fit. Either dress them both as 60s hippies, or put them into ball attire.

Saffron - I didn’t really enjoy this Tango. I can’t quite put my finger on why, but the music didn’t help. I felt AJ was dragging her round quite a lot.

Mike - Loved his energy and commitment. A fast high energy dance and he went for it. Speed over technique but he sold the character well.

Emma Weymouth - Lovely posture, neat footwork, good rhythm. An understated performance. A dark horse. If she can let loose in the next few weeks with the other latin dances, I think she could do well. With Alijaz's strength being ballroom, she may become a useful allrounder. Didn't like the bodice of her dress which just accentuated her flat chest.

James - Full of concentration. Remembered his steps. Looked the part. Didn’t relate to Luba during the dance. I think he will struggle due to his recent medical issues, but brave of him to put himself up for public scrutiny.  He seems lost and vulnerable, not one of the boys.

Kelvin - Wow. He meant business. The Samba is my favourite dance, and for week 1, he did a decent job. The music made it for me, and they looked the part. I'm glad he was dressed in an understated outfit. It's too early for lycra, tops off and pecs out. I wasn’t keen on the ‘Gangnam section’ and thought it was unnecessary to the flow and over long, but I loved his natural rhythm, and timing. He seemed to connect well with Oti. I loved it.

David - bland music, worse than bland costumes. I lost interest as soon as they walked onto the floor. I hope he gets a chance to shine this week. Really passed me by. Not sure about Nadiya's choreography.

Michelle - Another wow. She is one sassy lady. I loved how even Gio seemed relax and was smiling with her, like they had a private joke about the dance going on. One thing I wanted to shout about is - her arms and hands. Her arm placement was very precise, no wasted spare arm like a lot of the males had, and her hand positions were beautiful. Shame none of the judges mentioned it. Neat footwork and hilarious facial expression. Very clever styling of her dress. I hope she stays in for a long run.

Dev - cheeky chappie. A recognisable Foxtrot with some neat heels and toes going on. Didn’t like his outfit, which reminded me of a golfing pro's plus 4s, but I thought he did well and made the dance look easy. Another competitive chap.

Anneka - I liked how the singers sang ‘An-ne-ka’ rather than ‘Glor-i-a’. She looked like she was enjoying herself. Coming down on the ladder and Kevin running around with a map wasted a fiar bit of time. The flat shoes did nothing for her flat footed Cha-cha. The jumpsuit with the stripes down the sides only accentuated her lack of toe walks or hip movements. She reminded me of a dancing puppet.

Will - I liked this Quickstep a lot. Considering he has joint problems, paricularly of his arms and ankles, Janette choreographed a full on routine which he managed to do at speed. I love his ‘go get ‘em’ attitude. They seem to get on well. I hope next year she’ll come up with a more imaginative team name other than pocket-rocket that’s she’s used practically every year.

Karim - He annoyed me a bit. Too much swagger, ego, and ‘look at me, aren't I the cats whiskers?' Cr aig criticised Mike for putting one of his jumps in, but nobody asked Karim why hip-hop and break-dancing moves were included. Didn’t see a lot of Cha-Cha but what he did seemed ok. If he does a decent ballroom, I might change my mind about him.

Emma B - Music was too fast, and she couldn’t keep up, yet alone concentrate on her technique. I thought Shirley’s comments were a bit harsh, even though she was right about Emma’s upright posture. I’m guessing Emma B will be a ballroom girl, which is useful for An ton. Please let someone hide An ton’s outrageuos yellow Copacabana Samba outfit, my nerves won’t take another season of that.

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