2021 Tango's 'Little bit of Honesty'

A decent standard of dances for the first week and the usual judge bias and skew whiff marking in my opinion. Great to have Strictly back.

Tom and Amy (Cha Cha) I liked this. He showed some nice steps, if a little rough around the edges. His posture was a bit off at the start but that improved. A good way to start the series but thought C.raig was a little harsh with his remarks. A 6 from me.

Tilly and Nikita (Waltz) Pretty decent effort but her backside was sticking out a bit and would have liked more rise and fall. However, it was sold very well and she used her arms very well. A 5.5 from me.

Ugo and Oti (Samba) His backside was sticking out a lot and there was errors. There were one or two decent things about it like his hips and had decent rhythm. The judges a little too kind with remarks. A 4 from me.

Rhys and Nancy (Viennese Waltz) A very polished effort. Very ringerish for me. The only error I spotted came on the floor spin. A 7 from me.

Sara and Alijaz (Cha Cha) I liked her cheeky expression that suited the dance. She showed good rhythm but as C.raig said she needs work on core and steps. Judges in general a little harsh and undermarked for me. A 5.5 from me.

Dan and Nadiya (Quickstep) Aside from the faffing at the start it was a good effort. He was light and quick on his feet but there were errors for him to work on. Showed promise. A 6 from me.

Rose and Giovanni (Jive) She moved very nicely and her footwork was generally very sound. Showed good rhythm too. Who rattled Shir.ley's cage who gave this her joint lowest score of the night. A 6.5 from me.

Katie and Gorka (Tango) A nice, powerful Tango. She maintained a good frame and stayed in character throughout. A good first dance that was undermarked for me. A 7 from me.

Robert and Diane (Cha Cha) The music didn't suit the dance. I found his facial expressions a bit off-putting but he showed good timing and rhythm until he clearly lost his balance on a spin. C.raig said he was not caring about the errors?? Therefore why pick others up on theirs? A 5 from me.

Greg and Karen (American Smooth) Ideal music for the dance. For most parts for me he was hunched over and had big balance issues plus hands need work too. All in all a bit of a mess in my opinion. Not sure what the hell An.ton was watching to be so impressed. Judges were way too kind but at least Shir.ley pointed out the errors. Massively overmarked for me. A 3.5 from me.

Nina and Neil (Samba) I liked her attack and enthusiasm but lacked finesse at times. All in all she showed good potential. A 5 from me.

John and Johannes (Tango) Liked the start. Posture seemed off now and then but very good first dance and atmospheric. Maybe a fraction overmarked. A 7 from me.

Judi and Graziano (American Smooth) Faffing at the start. That aside it had nice expressive moments and she moved quite well too. Decent first effort and a makings of a good partnership. A 6 from me.

A J and Kai (Jive) A very fast Jive. Some nice moves although her long legs made her look ungainly (to me) at times. Her kicks were sharp and footwork very good. I'd go along with Motsi as dance of the night. A 8 from me.

Adam and Katya (Cha Cha) Seems (to some on this forum) that he will be a Marmite character. I did not like the start - time wasted. His backside seemed to be sticking out but he showed nice hip moves to wow C.raig and female judges. His footwork will need work but a decent opener which was overmarked for me. A 6.5 from me.

A tough one to call in who will be first to leave next week. Perhaps Ugo in danger.

I enjoyed the show even if I did flag a bit towards the end.
Firstly I have never been an A.nton fan but last night he was lovely. I hope he can continue to be like this and not go into gurning mode.

Ones I didn’t like Robert and Rhys. I know Rhys was up there on the leader board but I thought it was messy. Not particularly a dance to suit him or Nancy. I think I will find them OTT. Not overly keen on Greg either.
Read Gorka was dancing a tango with a woman and I thought yes that is how I felt. Katie may come out of her shell.
Alijaz was doing look at me not my partner desperation dance.
Graz and Nadiya seem genuinely to like their partners.
Gio so caring.
I know Adam is marmite but he genuinely seemed to enjoy himself and he is perfect for Katya.

In the opening weeks it is about the pros. They are the ones we know even if we don’t know the celebrity.
I would have liked Alijaz with AJ tbh.

John and Johannes I liked. A dance judged as a dance by two people.

Unless Robert does a much better dance I think he will be one of the first out. He didn’t seem to enjoy it at all.

Gosh! So many couples and what a high standard for the first night with some hard dances thrown in. I think it will be a tough competition this year and it will be most interesting to see which of our tadpoles swim to the surface and survive the first two weeks!

It is too early for me to pick out favourites and I think with this lot I really want to see them all dance again before I start forming real impressions as there were a whole bunch of people with great potential and others with the potential for a great J if GBP take to them. I thought everyone made a good stab at the routines that they had been given but hands up anyone who kind of preferred the paired down format of last year?

I thought there were some solid first night performances that got a bit overshadowed from the likes of Tilly, Judi and Katie - but I wasn't sure about them and need to see them again along with Sara and Robert. Rose really did well - agree it was a flat footed jive but this is week one and I thought how well she did - it will be so interesting to see how she learns. Robert - I actually liked his routine despite the off putting expressions on his face I think he is a good dancer but going for the comedy angle might not work - Motsi certainly didn't get it. Let's see..................

The couples that I enjoyed best were Tom and Amy - I loved his feet which were so precise and he has great rhythm. John and Johannes simply did a stunning dance - this was the dance of the night for me, along with the track. They are so well matched, it was a pleasure to watch and as has already been said - it just did not matter what the gender of the two dancers was. The first time this has been achieved in both SCD and DOI. Can't wait to see more of them. AJ was remarkable for week one and I liked Kai, although wonder whether he will be one of those more casual teachers - he seems to have lucked out with AJ if she continues in this vein.

Dan was the surprise of the night for me - he did so well to get through that fast and furious Quickstep giving a decent performance without messing up! Go Dan!

I just can't take to Rhys I'm afraid - I can see he is a good dancer and the few bits of proper VW that were in the routine were done well but that's about all I can say.

Thought Greg suffered from poor choreography - and not 'smooth'! Wasted opportunity of a great track - and let's face it he is never going to get any fundamentals from Karen! I'm quite glad that Shirley mentioned the need to get some basics in - otherwise the celeb will ultimately suffer.

One of my least favourite routines was Nina and Neill - didn't like it at all along with her dress, the frill just made her dancing look weird to me although she did dance the routine ok it wasn't much of a Samba but they seem to have a good partnership already. Looking at the other Samba, I actually wasn't sure that Oti and Ugo deserved to be so far down the leaderboard.

Last but by no means least (particularly with the swooning judges) is Adam. Bendy, fit, athletic and good potential but not quite the dancer yet for me. However, I'm sure he will do well with Katya and he will be popular.

I'm sure I'll have more to say later.....................

I've watched the dancing through twice now. The show was too long to take in all the detail. Here are my thoughts. Just my opinion as always.

Tom (Cha-Cha-Cha). I think whoever goes first will always receive lower marks. I thought Tom had neat footwork and agreed with Shirley that his Cuban Breaks and Forward walks looked good. He had good timing and I thought his style was understated not flashy. I think most of the dancers at this stage are going to find the straight leg hip action difficult so I thought Cr aig’s 4 a bit mean.

Tilly (Waltz). Her shoulders were up a lot of the time, but this was nerves. I thought she had some lovely arm, hand and finger postures.  I liked Nikita’s choreography for a classic style waltz. It was elegant and gentle and I liked how they had dressed Tilly’s hair so that it was off her face but still in a casual style. A good start.

Ugo (Samba). Not an easy dance, especially for week 1. I think his nerves got to him. His lower body eventually relaxed into some sort of rhythm, but his upper body looked very stiff and hunched over to me. The frontal ‘side by side’ sections looked in time. His step backs seemed too long accentuating his backside which stuck out a lot. You could rest your dinner plate on his backside in most of the side views.  

Rhys (V.Waltz). Like a hyper kid contained in a straight jacket when he’s just eaten a cart load of Haribos. I didn’t enjoy the choreography or the dancing very much. I couldn’t tell if his facial expression was down to muscle pain, a blocked nose, or the theme of his storyline. He was off balance moving forward a few times. There seemed to be a fair bit of time faffing about out of hold at the start, or posing on hold from time to time, which broke up the continuous twirling nature of the dance. I think he managed the fleckerle - hurray. Over marked imo.

Sara (Cha-cha-Cha). She’s quite tall isn’t she? I actually liked this, and thought Cr aig’s 3 a bit mean. Let’s face it - no-one’s going to match Alijaz for energy levels. For a non dancer, she had some wonderful facial expressions. She was light on her feet and her leg action didn’t seem any worse than the other contestants. Her timing was good. She looked fabulous and I thought she did a credible first dance.

Daniel (Quickstep). Another non-dancer and a potential car crash, but I think he did really well, and included a lot of the classic QS moves. He managed to cover a mistake despite the speed of the dance. He led Nadiya competently around the floor. Light on his feet. I liked his commitment and thought it was a good first dance.

Rose (Jive). Incredible achievement. I think Shirley was being harsh talking about Rose not using the inside and outside edges of her feet, and the 4 score was too low. Yes, she was a bit flat footed, and her toes sickelled on the kicks, but it’s only week 1. Cut her some slack. The stress she must be under, yet she still managed to keep on time, do the side by side steps, and smile.

Katie (Tango). I liked this a lot. I think Gorka has matured into a decent choreography over the last few years. I liked the mood, the synchronisation between the two of them. She kept her concentration and face in Tango mode throughout. I agreed with Cr aig that in one of the runs towards the end her stance moved upwards a bit and then she started lifting her feet up higher, but again, it's week 1. I thought it was a respectable tango.

Robert (Cha-Cha-Cha). Robert unashamedly going for the comedy angle. Entertaining, but had very little technical merit. I also kept getting distracted by his ‘ankle-biter’ trousers flapping around emphasising his flat feet. Overmarked by Cr aig and An ton imo. 1 mark less than Tom? For what exactly? He’s got rhythm, but will need to channel someone other than Mr Bean if he wants to stay in next week.

Greg (A.Smooth V.Waltz). I must confess I didn’t recognise the dance. I thought he looked light on his feet, and dapper in his hat and tails. His timing looked good. His hands were sometimes shaped, then other times like wood. I didn’t understand Shirley’s ‘too much rise and fall’. You could tell Shirley was irritated by T ess and Claudia’s comments about ‘fundamentals’. I think Greg’s got potential, whether Karen can channel into it is another matter. I’m rooting for Greg, but wish he’d been partnered with Oti or Katya.

Nadia (Samba). An African inspired samba with lots of content. One thing I like about Nadia is her total commitment. Neil gave her lots of choreography (some of which looked like he’d pinched from Danny Mac’s African samba) which she did reasonably well. I didn’t understand Shirley’s ‘week 7 standard’ comment. Nadia was clunky in places, but she kept going and gave a good first dance.

John (Tango). I loved this tango. It was complex, strong, masculine and I think he did a great job. They kept in synch and lowish to the floor. What I liked about Johannes choreography is that he accents movements to particular sections of the music. If you re-watch, there’s a musical sequence of 4 dramatic beats and Johannes creates a different hand movement for each of those beats. The only other pro dancers that I remember doing that were Vincent, Matthew, and Darren. It’s so much more interesting that the pro just wagging a finger like Amy tends to do. For me, the dance of the night because it stayed with the tango mood but broke boundaries.

Judi (A.Smooth). Good chemistry between the two of them and they seem to be having a ball.  I agreed with Motsi that Judi held the floor with her character in the solo sections, but seemed flatter when she went into hold. I wasn’t sure how to take Cr aig’s comment ‘if I was dancing that in drag, that’s how I’d do it’. Looking forward to seeing Judi some more ballroom. She's a bundle of fun, seemed light on her feet and exuded rhythm.

AJ (Jive). Fantastic. A difficult routine with lots of choreography. Unlike Rhys, she seems to have channelled her energy into every part of that dance. Kai must be like a cat with the cream! I wasn’t sure about the two 9s but Shirley knows her latin onions (not so sure about An ton) so that’s that!

Adam (Cha-Cha-cha). Seemed like a simple routine, with lots of static poses whilst Katya danced around him (reminding me a bit of an O la routine). He’s got rhythm and timing and threw some good shapes. As a non dancer he did well. I’m not sure it was worth 9 points more than Tom’s Cha-Cha. I think he was a bit overmarked. As An ton remarked ‘not sure what you’ve done to the rest of the panel’. He’s got potential, and I wish him well, but I hope his dance time doesn’t end up as the judges drool-fest.

I've been waiting for someone to start, but here goes:

Pro opener was enjoyable followed by Claudias !"drunken sailor" outfit, them Tom and Amy opened the show. C raig, arrogant and ridiculous as ever gave him a 4, Shirley a 7. I'd have given four sixes. You could tell that audiences don't frighten Tom and there wasn't much really wrong with his cha-cha. His admirers will soon redress the balance. 4 7 5 5 ...21.

Tilly and Nikita, Waltz. Nice to look at (technical issues, Shirley, in week one? ) but not special. 5 5 6 5...21.

Oti and Ugo. the fabu-u-lus darling one was off again with a 3for their Samba which, apart ftom Ugo's ridiculous pink outfit, was okay and Ugo is a good Latin mover. Think he may struggle with ballroom. 3.5 5 5   18. a bit unfair.

Rhys and Nancy Viennese Waltz. Didn't like the untidy floor mopping swing, ( what was that doing in a Viennes?) but the rest was pretty classy. A candidate for sure. 6 7 7 7 ..27..

Sara and Alijaz...Cha-Cha. A walk to music, have to do better than that. 3 5 5 4 ..17

Dan and Nadia..Quickstep. Not enthralled. A trotting excercise rather then a dance and a couple of Charlston elements in there.
Not Fred and Ginger...more Miss Mitzy.  the fabu-u-lus darling one's 5 wasn't far off,, and even Housewives choice's 7 a touch high. 5 5 7 7 ...24.

Rose and Giovanni, Jive. Under the circumstances Shirley's 4 was harsh and I thought it went very well. Plaudits to Giovanni on a tough task he handled with credit. 6 6 4 6   22.

Katie and Gorka...Tango. Poor music and they danced it well. the fabu-u-lus darling one goes higher than two others. I thought it was quite a classy attempt. 6 5 5 6 ...22..

Robert Webb and Diana. Cha-Cha. Daft over-camp and awful outfit. Looked unbalanced. 6 4 4 6...20...

Greg and Karen. Tie and Tails American Smooth ( Gregg's top hat looked a little weird somehow. I was glad when he took it off. I was a bit surprised at Housewives choice's 7, four sixes from me.

Nina and Neil, Samba. I thought it a bit formal for a fiesta dance but Shirley and Housewives choice liked it. Not special. 5 5 7 7..24.

John Whaite and Johanes. Tango.  I said a short while back I hoped this was handled unromantically as a sort of contest  between two males. Someone must have heard me, because that's exactly what they did. ( Males dancing tango together is actually old-hat in Argentine, and even parts of Scananavia) As such, it was very well danced and enjoyable as a spectacle. I really liked it and fully agreed with the marks. 7 7 8 8 ..30.

Audi Love and Graziano. Hollywood style American Smooth. Great chemistry between these two. 6 6 6 6   24.

A,j and Odu. Jive. Yes, yes, yes...the real  a contender. Dance of the night along with the blue-dress tango and the male one.
8 8 9 9 ..34.


Adam Peaty and Katya. Surprisingly good  cha-cha from a non-dancer. Keep you shirt on Adam, Shirley's already on a roll.  

That's it in brief. Way too soon to be talking winners....  

.

B4p wrote:

Now I've been in some posh charity shops in St John's Wood, but didn't realise they had such a wide choice in the Lake District charity shops!

To clarify; Manneskin look is courtesy of charity shop. Ginger Rogers' look, courtesy of my own very vivid and carefree imagination (which is better than charity shops for getting exactly the look you want when you want. And even cheaper. Recommned...)

TANGOLERO wrote:I

Audi Love and Graziano. 

.

Excellent typo. Top notch.

She will forever be Audi Love to me now.

Thank you Tango, from the very bottomof my leather-soled dance shoes!

Great opening show, and a LOT to take in. I'll stick with my early predictions of AJ, Adam and Rhys in the final, but I do think they maybe need to reflect on how they come across to the public. Rhys and Nancy's shrieking reactions after their dance were just off-putting imo. I love Adam Peaty and he was always going to be my favourite, regardless of dance-ability, but it's never wise to admit to being 'in it to win it' from day 1.  

Anyhow, I really enjoyed the show, with the exception of Shirley who has already started to grate on me. Not just that squabble about 'fundamentals' but also the fact that she claps her own critiques....none of the other judges would think about clapping for themselves, it just looks arrogant.

As ever, it's great to read everyone's comments, I haven't much to add...just a few initial thoughts...

Tom - comes across as ultra nice in the VT, and this likeability factor is very important in Strictly. His dance style reminded me a little of Karim - very quick and precise little steps - but without the natural fluidity which Karim had.  Have just read that both Tom and Amy have tested positive   Especially worrying for Amy given her medical condition, and it does make the decision to take her on tour look rather questionable.
Tilly - a nice waltz, a little clompy in places. Can't see her going very far, unless she shines in latin
Ugo - thought he danced the solo parts rather well, but looked awkward when in hold
Rhys - hmm, a rather robotic performance, but based on the launch show I think he'll be much better at latin.
Sara - as others have said, Aljaz did his best to distract and cover up her faults
Dan - much better than I'd expected. True to form, he knew the position of every camera, and I felt he was maybe dancing to the cameras rather than to Nadiya at times.
Rose - very impressive jive, really didn't understand Shirley's 4  
Katie - better than I'd expected. Loved the choreography and the setting for this, the blue dress was my favourite
Robert - sorry, I've instantly taken agin this partnership, and disliked everything about this cha cha, I hope they don't go for the comedy angle for next weeks ballroom
Greg - as expected, good at the acting element, though I felt the routine lacked charm. Totally agree with B4P, I don't think Karen is the best partner for him
Nina - Absolutely agree with Mauve, the ruffed dress was so off-putting. I didn't like the samba choreography at all.
John - this feels like a very strong pairing right from the outset, Johannes is the perfect partner and I think they'll go far
Judi aka Audi Love - good acting, and I'm glad that Graziano seems to have got a grateful partner this time around, but fear they'll be early exits
AJ - this really made me sit up and take notice. Wow, dance of the night for me, very keen to see how Kai approaches the ballroom choreography.  
Adam - very pleasantly surprised to see how lithe and bendy he is, given his bulky frame. Rather sticky-out bum, but I enjoyed this cha cha. This is the first time in years that I've had a favourite from the outset, I just hope his (and Katya's) competitive spirit doesn't alienate viewers.

Overall I think the leaderboard positions are pretty fair, apart from Tom being scored a low 21. I think he should've be scored at least the same as Judi, Greg, Nina etc at 24.  Really pleased with A.nton's contribution to the judging panel, I hope he stays constructive and helpful.  
Already looking forward to next week

My pleasure D&P, Audi love it is...

One thing I'm seeing as a bit problematic; Tango with two males is/was fine and went down well. Not sure about the rest. Free dancing in Latin and fun He is. And we obey him., Charlston, will be fine, but ballroom ...well, not sure. Rumba must be avoided or I'll hiss and go make a brew...There are limits....

I saw the news about Tom and Amy a few minutes before I read your post Jingle.

Gutted for them, but on the bright side, they will have ten days rest and hopefully they will remain symptom free (though I think Tom has been feeling unwell ) so Amy will be able to channel her chorepgraphy mind and Tom can just take a rest from the double pressures of touring with McFly and Strictly  Hopefully they will come back stronger.

jingle wrote:
Tom - comes across as ultra nice in the VT, and this likeability factor is very important in Strictly. His dance style reminded me a little of Karim - very quick and precise little steps - but without the natural fluidity which Karim had.  Have just read that both Tom and Amy have tested positive   Especially worrying for Amy given her medical condition, and it does make the decision to take her on tour look rather questionable.

A rather bad decision without a doubt.

I just went back to look at Gorka and Katie's tango (seeing as it was just Gorka's tango when I saw it last night)...

I feel that was as good as the two J's Tango and should have been similarly scored. And though I think AJ was incredible, I think she was maybe two points above the two tangoes, no four. Katie's hair still peturbing me and but she was very good indeed.

Robert's dance was easily the worst and Sara and Ugo were very shortchanged. Tom Flethcher was very hard done by and should have been at least four marks higher than he was.

I mean... what do I know?

Amy is reported that she's feeling fine at the moment. I hope Tom isn't too unwell. My double jabbed neighbours are just getting over Co-vid, it's knocked them flat for about a month.

So Tom and Amy will miss next weeks show, then all being well (depending if they re-test negative) will be able to re-join the following week. It won't give Tom long to learn a new dance, but Louisa Lytton only had 48 hours to learn the jive after Vincent pulled his hamstring, so anything is possible. The week they return will be a theme week which might also help them. In previous years, the dance theme has often overtaken dance technique. The other professional that tested positive around 10 days ago wasn't named.

Wishing Tom & Amy a speedy recovery

Wishing Tom & Amy a speedy recovery and hope no other couples affected.
Agree with all the comments made re couples. I do think Karen would have been an excellent partner for Adam or Ton. She got so close last year and wondered if the BeeB had decided it was her turn for a mid way exit?

I hope Robert Webb will drop the Comedy theme and concerntrate on dancing. He does have timing and some hidden dance moves aka Comic Relief Dance.
Loving Daniel than Dan, his my darkhorse for this year.

Just getting my outfir ready for tonight and my hair and makeup sorted...

Tonight you are all treated to a Sophie Ellis Bextor style dress - you know, very 50s-esque with tight-fitted bodice, a VERY puffy skirt with oodles of netting and finishing at the knee. When having this made (in my feverish inagination, in case you are like my cousin who genuinely thought I was wearing fabulous outfits every week and either apologised for being in comfy clothes or really glammed up; I finally caught on to her misapprehension last week and she has now been put right), so anyway, when I was having this made (in my imagination) I couldn't decide whether to go with that eternal favourite, buttermilk, or something with more zing.

In the end, despite the (fantasy) spray tan, I decided I needed a stronger colour than the delicate buttermilk, and as I am one of the very unusual people who can carry off, and also love, a nice orange (has to be the right orange though - has to be warm with some pink undertones), I have gone with that. It has layers and layers of netting in all shades of apricot, peach and coral. It is embellished with fiery iridescent crystals. It has a strappy top half and a very low back.

I had already decided on all of this, up until the top half. Then I looked for some inspiration and almost immediately I found this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdDjby6iuwI

I think you will agree that it is uncanny how near it is to what I had in mind. They have silvery twinkles, which actually, I quite like as a contrast, but I think it is too late to make changes now (the fantasy dressmaker would kill me and no amount of homemade brownies would make up for their distress and resentment). I considered asking for additional petticoat layers so that it is as puffy as this, but... I like my layers as they are (and mine have the subtle colour changes to add interest, rather than the matching ones this has)

Hair is in a homage to a beehive - not as high or full on as the one in the video. Make up will be plentiful and earrings daring.

Hoping you all have your (imaginary) best outfits on and have snacks and drinks at the ready.

Must dash, my hair is going to take quite some time....

See you all later! xx

WELL!!!

As ever, it is a school night for me, so I have to be in bed soon so that I can get up at 6am to be in work for 7am (on reception tomorrow, so at least I get to sit down. But i will have half a million or so keys to sanitise, sort and put back on the correct hooks and then do an audit of them. Takes at least as long as the first couple of shows of Strictly, ie an eternity). Anyway, for that reason I am going to do some edited highlights. A Strictly of the Day Special, if you will.

WOT I ENJOYED (THE GOOD)

Sara and Aljaz. I adore a Foxtrot as much as Aljaz and I am so pleased this went so well for them. Sara was just lovely. I am no technical goddess, so I have no idea if that was truly better than AJ's, but it was perhaps more touching

Having said that, I loved AJ and Kai's Foxtrot too (I don't have to like someone to acknowledge their teaching and choreopgrpahical skill. Grudgingly...) AJ was very elegant (Kai less so - he is hulkier and bulkier than Ugo who was a prop forward or wing back or half nelson or something in Rugby where they are meant to be built like brick sh.. lavatories; dancers are meant to be more elegant, no?). I like most of AJ's dress but the dark purple at the top unbalanced it somehow.

I like the Two Js cha cha cha, but I wanted more of the dance partnered rather than the mainly out of hold solo stuff we got. Although the synchronicity was awesome.

Tilly did well in her Charleston - she was surprisingly (to me) in character. The bow bobbing about on her bosom was a distraction and highlighted the need for wardrobe to give her some Oti levels of support.

Loved Rose's Salsa - more of a Salsa than we have seen in quite a while - no disco or hip hop shoe-horned in. Felt it was a tad undermarked

Dianne getting a pretty decent tango dress (I have suspicions it was destined for Amy, but Dianne swiped it whilst Amy is off, isolating).

Once again Tess scored highly on the dress front - very elegant and chic.

Karen's silver lame disco trouser suit was quite nice, though i didn't like the tunic lenght of the top.

Daniel in guyliner. (...what?)


WOT I DIDN'T ENJOY SO MUCH (THE BAD)

I was very upset that Ninas tango didn't come off and even more upset she was at the bottom of the leader board. Me and my cousins lobbed a few votes her way.

Greg's sad, emotional story for CC. I felt manipulated. And didn't like the mood of the song for the dance. And I didn't like the dance. Apart from al that, it was fine.

Judi's Samba. Actually this could have a good, bad and ugly slot all to itself. The good was that the essence of the Samba was more alive than in most sambas we see on strictly. And the silver fringing was phenomenal (people with better screens say it was hoographic. The bad is that it was all over the place and all we could say was "well that was.. something. I don't know what it was, but it was there..". I really didn't enjoy the twerking to te extent that it goes in the Ugly part o f the proceedings. Basically, it was all a confusing muddle and now I'm a confused muddle.

The gladiator theme for Daniel and Nadiya - no clue or explanation why. Neiher the song choice or the dance linked with it. Oh well.


STUFF THAT MADE MY EYES HURT (THE UGLY)

Most of the dresses had something wrong but Katie's was awful.

Sara's had wafty bits in all the wrong places and tighter bits in all the wrong places and looked like a sausage stufed into a curtain. She looked lovely in her dress last week. Be kinder next week Vicki and gang. You have been warned... (Also, I discovered Sara is only 37! Like Kai, she must have had a very hard paper round)

Shirley's squishy squashy boob thng that distracted all three of my cousins and myself. Put them away love (Even Adam put his under wraps)

As ever, I KNOW ther is more. Much, much more. But i am too sleepy to continue.

So, nighty night and look forward to reading all your thoughts xx

Getting my post in early whilst it's all fresh in my mind - there was so much to take in!
Really can't call who will be in the DO - let alone going home - rightly or wrongly maybe those who have the bigger fan bases will benefit?

Tonight for me there were some lovely ballroom routines. I didn't really enjoy much of the dances up to J+J and I was getting a bit grumpy, feeling that either the celebs were being pushed too hard or that the dances were full of flannel - but then it all took a turn for the better for me after J+J. Favourite routines were Robert and Diane, J+J, Tilly and Nikita and Sara and Alijaz with AJ and Kai just behind. Although AJ was really good I'm not sure she should have been top of the leaderboard. For me Tilly should have been higher and Robert was heaps better than Greg or Judi who were above him.

Rhys and Nancy - Cha Cha - Frenetic Showboating IMO - they need a tranquiliser dart! Found it most annoying and not really a cha cha - and the judges apart from CRH were fooled. He is a good dancer without a doubt but he would impress me more if he started to learn latin and ballroom - it is nothing to do with hip hop. I suppose the high marks related to the entertainment value - really disliked it though. Not sure how I would have marked this.

Nina and Neill - Tango - 4 Oh dear - what on earth was Neill doing with this one and what an earth was he doing gyrating around? I really didn't like Nina's routine this week or last. It's not her fault but Neill tried to throw the kitchen sink into this and it didn't work for me - less is more with Tango - reference Robert and Diane - and I agreed with CRH what on earth were the leg wafting bits of Argentine Tango doing in there? Hard to watch.

Adam and Katya - QS - 5 Okish - fast and furious and without much technique as the judges remarked - but there were some good bits in there I thought.

Katie and Gorka - Jive - 4 Katie has been saying all week in various interviews that she has struggled this week. I think it came across as a beginners jive and needed a lot more bounce - but she got the steps down ok. The costume didn't help - I didn't think it was very flattering. I think Katie hasn't come out of her shell yet and not sure whether she will get a chance to.

Greg and Karen - Disco - 4 - Too little dance content to really comment upon and it didn't make much of an impression on me really except I liked Karen's costume. The sentiment behind the dance was lovely and I thought that the 3 was probably a bit uncalled for.

John and Johannes - Cha Cha - 8 - Another stellar performance with great coverage across the floor - they are so powerful and so in sync - you'd think they were professional partners. Some of my friends felt that there was too much side-to-side in what is a partner dance, but I think they possibly didn't want to make it too camp looking.

AJ and Kai - Foxtrot - 7
Really liked this one. Kai gets my vote for putting together a proper Foxtrot with lots in hold. AJ has proved she can do both latin and ballroom which gets the thumbs up from me. Loved the dress.

Judi and Graz - Samba - 6
She's got rhythm and style - it was great fun and it had great energy. All the Samba steps were in there - a well taught routine.

Robert and Diane - Tango - 8
Loved loved loved it! Gave them my votes. In a turnaround from last week I thought they were one of the best. I love a traditional Tango and the right music really makes this dance. I loved the sequences and the rocking step, it was pure ballroom Tango and he executed it really well - loved his feet.

Rose and Giovanni - Salsa - 7
I'm loving Giovanni, he seems so down to earth this year and is clearly enjoying teaching Rose. The lifts were awesome and showed the trust she has in him. I do agree with the comments about trying to get her feet in together a bit more, but she is achieving so much and I thought this had a nice flow to great music.

Sara and Alijaz - Foxtrot - 8
Classic slow Foxtrot - I thought she looked majestic, such a lovely dress and Alijaz taught her well. Really enjoyed it and enjoyed hearing this track which is a favourite of mine. Well done Sara.

Dan and Nadia - Paso - 6
I couldn't quite make up my mind about this one. I think Dan is a smooth mover and they look really good together. He was managing to keep up and I think he does have potential but it lacked attack for me. I think for a celeb male this was a difficult call on week 2 and he made a decent stab at it.

Ugo and Oti - QS - 6
I enjoyed this - I thought he was better than Adam and much improved from last week. Still low on the leaderboard though.

Tilly and Nikita - Charleston - 8
What a great finish to the show! Proper Charleston music - a Classic Charleston which she really pulled off with confidence and great timing.

Just a last word - for me the best dances tonight were those danced to traditional tracks............there rests my case.

I'm away this week so not able to watch as thoroughly as I'd like (Other folk keep trying to drag me out into the fresh and wet air).

Rhys (Cha-Cha-Cha). Unfortunately I only caught the closing part of this. What I saw looked rhythmic but I can’t say anything more. Hopefully I can see it on catch-up when I get home later in the week.

Nina (Tango). Posture not good. Pretty scary. If she brought out an axe I wouldn’t have been surprised. I'm not really a fan of 'killer' tangos. I do like Nina’s total commitment even if she looked a bit deranged and unbalanced at times (mentally and physically).

Adam (Quickstep). You know someone’s in trouble when they start to come out with the ‘I just want to have fun’ line. Difficult to get the dance back on track once you’ve made errors but he kept gritting his teeth throughout. Looked like someone racing to get it over. Maybe not the best week to do a quickstep.

Katie (Jive). I didn’t enjoy this too much and Katie didn’t seem comfortable either. As Cr aig said, lots of mistakes, flat footed, throw away arm and knees bent throughout. I thought her energy level disappeared quite quickly. I didn’t understand Motsi’s comment that Katie looked better than last week or Shirley’s comment ‘ you got the opposite arm to foot right’ - that’s normal walking and running unless you have something like Parkinsons. I loved Gorka’s encouragement ‘it’s not wrong it’s different’. Why do the pros choose their favourite dances in weeks 1 & 2?

Greg (CC - disco). I thought it interesting that Karen said CC can be any genre. He did better than I thought, and he looked quite solid in his lifts. Lots of Karen style roly-poly hand moves and John Travolta pointing. A lot of it seemed to be Karen leading with Greg in the background supporting role. Not a lot of substance.

John (Cha-Cha-Cha) - I really liked this. If he can let-go a bit more, and not be so self conscious, he’s got so much potential. Loved the synchronised side by side bits. Loved the light and shade of Johannes routine. The classic dance steps were clear to see and done well.

AJ (Foxtrot). Considering what her dance was like a few days ago in training, she did a good job. 100% commitment. Lots of An ton style pivots (without turning green) but she hit some good lines. Interesting that Shirley commented on her need for more musicality. I would have thought she had that in bucket loads after last week. I thought Motsi’s 9 was OTT. I don’t think it was worth the same score as John

Judi (Samba). It made me laugh at the beginning when Judi was in a launderette twirling around in her rainbow beaded dress like a carwash roller. Cr aig called it a technical disaster but I enjoyed Judi and Graziano bringing the joy to the floor. I love her enthusiasm for life and it shows in her dancing. I think the 6 scores were fair.

Robert (Tango). Nice to see a serious side to Robert. He did a reasonable job overall. It didn’t blow me away but I can’t say why.

Rose (Salsa). I was surprised Rose got 1 point less than Robert. Lots of positive comments from the judges. I love her positivity, and the fact she’s loving the lift and drops. Gio looks like a proud big brother. Shirley said she’d gone up several notches but still only gave her a 6. I thought a 7 would have been about right.

Sara (Foxtrot). Beautiful. I’m glad she did well this week. I would have given 8s but I guess I can’t see the technical aspects that Shirley and An ton saw. She should be safe this week I would have thought.

Dan (Paso). A gladiator theme which didn’t really work for me. No atmosphere. Marching by He is. And we obey him. with lots of stop/start. I would have scored 6 I think.

Ugo (Quickstep). Despite the busy nature of the dance, he still was smiling (unlike Adam's grimacing). I put down that he was light-footed and the dance had personality. Motsi said he needed to grow his personality but maybe she meant his performance skills.  I thought 6/7 was reasonable

Tilly (Charleston). Not easy to wait until last. Her dad looked like he was sat on a ceramic hob fidgeting about. It made me smile watching the VT picnic where Tilly told Nikita she was excited about doing the Charleston. Her expression looked like she was awaiting root canal treatment! It looked a full on routine. I’m not sure about 9s so early in the series but that’s just me. I thought 8s would have been fine.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but there seemed an air of ‘which couples we want to preserve’ via the scoring tonight.

Oh loved loved Sara & Alijaz's routinr  beautiful and pulled themselves up the leaderboard. Robert thank you for dropping the Comedy act as when you are serious you are a contender. Dan ,I do like thou the dance/ Music seemed a total mismatch. Wondered if Musicality Director & Wardrobe had a joint Migraine & threw this together? Still cannot get Dan's photo of undergarment suit image out of my head.
J&J I liked it just not a wow yet from me
Tilly just looked manic not charleston.
Greg used the sob element and he may buy another week.



Dresses looked quite mm bargain basement tonight and a few outlandish.

Worried re Nina, Greg & Katie didn't enjoy dances as much tbh..Not sure I liked Dan's either or THAT picture of the underwear all in one suit he put on social media

A very enjoyable night of dances. Many surprises, a few disappointments and very few dance disaaaaasters daaaarlings.

Rhys and Nancy (Cha Cha Cha) Faffing at the start and although it did have some good stuff danced technically well I certainly did not like the posing at the start and almost break dancing towards the end. A great track to dance too somewhat wasted. I found it frenetic and this was backed up by An.ton and C.raig's remarks. A 6.5 from me. Overmarked by the judges for me.

Nina and Neil (Tango) Oh dear this was a bit of a dance disaster. She had hunched shoulders at the start, mistakes throughout and balance issues but shows good attitude. A struggle throughout. Once more good tips from An.ton. A 4.5 from me.

Adam and Katya (Quickstep) Faffing at the start spending far too long on the chairs (perhaps changed due to his sore feet)? It did have some good moments once dancing was underway but for me not enough dance content and poor routine from Katya. Again An.ton, who was on fire, with good advice.

Katie and Gorka (Jive) A bit ungainly at times but it did have a nice steps sequence. Not terrible if rough around the edges. I thought C.raig was a bit harsh. A 5.5 from me.

Greg and Karen (Couples Choice) I enjoyed this for what it was. A step up on his dance last week and he looked far more comfortable in it. Decent throughout and had good lifts. A 6 from me.

John and Johannes (Cha Cha Cha) John was a bit loose at the very start but he showed some good rhythm and steps. May have been an odd small error or two but on the whole a very good dance with good chemistry between them. A 7 from me.

A J and Kai (Foxtrot) Another dance with faffing at the start but once underway it was a lovely dance and some really nice moments. I couldn't spot any errors and had good characterisation. A 7.5 from me.

Judi and Graziano (Samba) Loved her attack and attitude. Spot on for the Samba as she came across as a real party girl with a great dance to suit. Caught the mood of the dance perfectly. Tired a bit towards the end but I really enjoyed this in what was a big surprise and really enjoying this couple. Graziano growing on me as a teacher after years of thinking he was a bit of a poser. Judi reminding me of Lisa Riley - a big woman but showed she could really strut her stuff. A 7 from me.

Robert and Diane (Tango) A good dance this with ideal music to dance too. Probably helped a lot that he had to keep a straight face and leave the off-putting facial expressions at home. He may have lost posture once or twice but a good effort and way better than last week. Again good advice from An.ton. A 6.5 from me.

Rose and Giovanni (Salsa) Now I really enjoyed this. She has really nice rhythm and fluidity (C.raig was spot on with that) and music really suited the dance. Lovely choreography from Giovanni. A really good partnership this. A 7.5 from me.

Sara and Alijaz (Foxtrot) A slow start and noticed gapping at the very start but again liked this routine and it was a dance that really suited her. No real errors either. Very nice. Another good team this. A 7 from me. Perhaps a tad overmarked by judges.

Dan and Nadiya (Paso Doble) Loved his attack and hand shaping was good. A decent routine though his shaping got a bit ugly toward the end. Good point from C.raig with regards to the choreography. A 6.5 from me.

Ugo and Oti (Quickstep) Much better than I thought it would be. Aside from one or two moments when he looked a little awkward this flowed nicely. He has good rhythm. A 6.5 from me.

Tilly and Nikita (Charleston) She caught the character of the dance and was enjoyable. However, there were parts that didn't look right for me. I can't put my finger on it. Cumbersome at times is the term I'd use. I did enjoy it but it was overmarked for me. A 6 from me.

So here are my good and bad of the night:-

GOOD

An.ton with lots of good, helpful advice to the celebs without sounding patronising.

Surprise dances coming from unexpected sources.

An overall high standard.

BAD

Too many dances with faffing at the start.

__________________________________

Okay now comes the hard part. Who is to depart? It could be anyone really. On dance terms for me it would be Nina on the back of her dance disaster last night but I have a feeling support will save her.

All good constructive comments. Maybe I'll spoil it.    

I'll start with something I believe is happening and I don't like:speed cannot disguise good dance and a quickstep (as an example) need not be just about quick, and a fox trot not about trotting. For that it seems a competition between the pros. A nton, Ian Waite, Camilla, Karen Hardy and co didn't need it in ballroom, and I've always believed that judging latiin is a bit overcooked in dances were rythmn and enjoyment are the criteria and who cares what's sticking out (C raig?). Pesrsonally, I'm not too worried about marks, which often are a bit of a joke. Right then. .

Rhys and Nancy, fast stylish cha-cha. Almost mised Rhys from watching Nancy, hard not to. Good, and quite pleasing start .

Nina and Neil, Tango. Nina acted it (what an awful expression) rather than danced it. Enough to frighten a sex-starved Gaucho. Need to improve.

Adam and Katya. Quickstep.  Surprised Adam has taken to dance so keenly. Didn't do badly. It's only Week 2.

Katie and Gorka, Jive. Passable dance but (and I could be in bother here with D& P) her skirt looked like the butt end of a Christmas cracker.

Greg and Karen. Couple's (which means Karen's ) Choice, resembled a fast Rumba, and the home-front stuff shouldn't be needed in a dance contest, sorry.

John and Johhanes. Cha-cha. Very well synchronised and it's hard to see how these two won't get the glitterball. Ear-marked, mark my words...

AJ and Kai Foxtrot. Nice elegant dance, hard to fault. A.J has star appeal looks.

Judi (Audi) Love and Graziano. Big, jolly Samba that had bags of audience appeal. Not sure of them in ballroom.

Robert and Diane Tango. My dance of the night. Great choreography from Diane (his "who nicked my parking space" expression" apart,) and I liked it from the off. One to watch.

Rose and Giovanni, Salsa. The girl continues to amaze. Her standard are commendable.

Sara and Aljaz, Foxtrot. What's not to like. Smooth and elegant, pleasing to the eye. Aljaz is my favourite male pro.

Dan and Nadiya, Paso. As a dance, okay, but as a Paso...well, it wasn't. Not surprized that C raig (Emperor Ming?)   liked a matador who looked like Flash Gordon.

Ugo and Oti, Quickstep.  Nicely danced and Ugo moves very well for a big, muscular guy.

Tilly and Nikita. Charlston. Great end to an entertaining show. The standards are very good for so early..

Amen.

Hi one and all, I think this is a series with great potential, don't you? Mind you, I thought that of last year as well and it did provided us with great entertainment so here's hoping.  I'm not giving a great long commentary this week as I have a busy weekend, next week too probably. So far I like Adam and Katya (I'm a fan of Katya's and I think Adam has great possibilities) and how could you not admire AJ Odudu and Kai Widdrington who I've an instant liking to. Judi Love and Graziano are an immenslly charismatic pairing though I suppose she'll go in the middle of the competition. Robert Webb I didn't expect to like and first week out that opinion was confirmed. However his tango has made me pause and I feel I have to see him do some more before I decide finally. I like Rose and hope she does well, though I don't think she'll made the final. Others in this catogory would be Greg and Ugo. John Whaite will probably make it to the final. I don't really care about him or any of the others at the moment. I wait to be converted.   I'm looking forward immensly to the rest of the series and to chatting to you all.  

diamondsandpearls wrote:

In the end, despite the (fantasy) spray tan, I decided I needed a stronger colour than the delicate buttermilk, and as I am one of the very unusual people who can carry off, and also love, a nice orange (has to be the right orange though - has to be warm with some pink undertones), I have gone with that. It has layers and layers of netting in all shades of apricot, peach and coral.  It is embellished with fiery iridescent crystals.  It has a strappy top half and a very low back.  

Oh Diamonds, there's no doubt you win the (imaginary) Best-dress at the ball award!  What went wrong with costumes last night?   When they all came down the stairs my first thought was, has Vicky Gill been buying secondhand fancy dress outfits off ebay? Totally agree with Sax, many of the dresses looked bargain basement. Also, some more upper support needed for Audi and Tilly, and some undergarments needed for Adam and also Karen (who's trousers were both a bit too revealing from behind). I don't think I liked any of the outfits at all, though Rose and AJ maybe got the best of the bunch.

Talking of budget cuts, I noticed quite a few recycled props - the good old lampost, the bench, the school lockers, the car...  

Anyhow, loved reading all your comments. A few brief thoughts from me, but I didn't take notes

Rhys - as others have said, too much faffing with the microphone at the start. His cha cha looked very jerky to me, I think he's trying too hard and over-exaggerating the moves. Needs to tone it down a bit
Nina - she's not a natural, but have to say I'm really disappointed with Neils choreography so far, which is too challenging for her. He needs to adapt to her abilities.
Adam - similarly, didn't like the choreography for this one bit, it was too disjointed and messy
Katie - can't remember her jive - think it's a pity that AJ set the bar soooo high for jives in week 1, it'll be hard for the others to match it
Greg - being honest, I loathe the personal story angle to couples choice. Being selfish, this isn't what I want from a fun light-hearted show.  Not fussed on the disco routine, overmarked.
John - I spent most of the time watching Johannes because he looked so genuinely delighted to be lost in the dance. Felt the routine was virtually all disco and not so much cha cha
AJ - enjoyed this though nothing spectacular about it. I wonder if Kai is quite the traditionalist when it comes to choreography.  Like the way he showcases her and lets her do the talking in the interview.
Audi - good fun routine, though I felt it was a  tad overmarked.
Robert - good to have fitting music and no faffing around, though I thought his shoulders were a bit hunched at times.
Rose - probably my favourite routine of the night, great lifts
Sara - well danced, much better than last week
Dan - disliked the music and don't think he suited the gladiator concept (which I very much doubt was Nadiya's idea) - not my cup of tea at all
Ugo - better than last week
Tilly - well danced charleston, but didn't really wow me. Already fed up with the way T.ess talks to her like a three year old.


Overall it was a fairly typical week 2. Absolutely no idea who'll be in the dance off tonight, though I do think Nina is the weakest dancer so far.

jingle wrote:

 What went wrong with costumes last night?   When they all came down the stairs my first thought was, has Vicky Gill been buying secondhand fancy dress outfits off ebay? Totally agree with Sax, many of the dresses looked bargain basement. Also, some more upper support needed for Audi and Tilly, and some undergarments needed for Adam and also Karen (who's trousers were both a bit too revealing from behind). I don't think I liked any of the outfits at all, though Rose and AJ maybe got the best of the bunch.

but I didn't take notes

We must talk more of this (when we have time_ over on the glitz and glamour thread. The dresses this year (and to a certain extent last year) are really not up to the usual standard. Are they short staffed? Had huge budget cuts? I must put a mole* to work and see what can be disovered.

Eek! do others actually take notes? I missed that memo - did it get sent out in the first few weeks of this forum when I had yet to join? I think I might pretend I didn't see that comment, Jingle - note-taking is really not my forte.

There are massive rumours that Nina IS in the dance-off and I am gutted. Myself and my three cousins spent all out votes on her as we felt she might be in danger. I ADORE her, and one bad dance does not make her deserve to go. Greg is the worst dancer, but the tugging of the heart strings that is allowed beofre a CC was a savvy (manipulative) move by Karen and will ensure he stays another week. Hmmph.

*I don't actually know any moles, so probably need an alternative plan...

Well, without giving away any spoilers, let's just say it is spectacularly early this year for my annual rant about why Strictly should on no account be a knockout competiton and why there is no earthly reason why it is.

There is so much love out there for the knocked-outee that I my ghast is well and truly flabbered as to why they didn't garner enough votes to keep them from the bottom two (sloppy voting - all those votes aimed at Adam's pecs - a complete waste and totally pointless as he is going to be in the final at the very least, without even trying).

Very grumpy and stompy and door-kicky. Bottom lip as far out as a Kardashian's filler.