Highs and Lows 2014

Time to get this one going I think, three of each please.

Highs
Jake and Jeannette's lifts
Ali squared feel good performance
No comedy act

Lows
Mark's jeans and jumper - I thought he'd forgotten to get changed!
Inappropriate music choices
Egos

Highs

Jake wow

Tim getting to dance a waltz with his wife

Singers on scd a good job

Lows
Simon gatecrashing every camera opportunity
Judy (Will she do a John Sargent?)
The dress designers omg awful

Highs. The Jake fella's number. Plaudits to both him and Janet's choreography.

Lows. No pro spot, that "just fell out of the pub" outfit and the awful music choices.
Certain dances are losing their character and tradition in favour of top of the pops modernity.
Can't see it all lasting very much longer. Street dance and rap music have strangled the life
out of ballroom.

Well, you asked..

Highs

Jake and Janette
Janette's choreography
Sunetra (Bless)


Lows

Gregg
Judy
and (sorry everyone)
Alison

saxonsiren wrote:

Lows
(....)
The dress designers  omg awful

I agree - a lot of them left something to be desired. Mark's top, Steve's trousers, Tim's outfit, well it should have fitted him for a start. What really annoyed me though was O.la (put a vest on you strumpet)'s outfit. I know she likes her latin dresses skimpy and I know they have to cover the lower half of the girls somewhat, but last night's effort was just ghastly!

Twirlie wrote:

What really annoyed me though was O.la (put a vest on you strumpet)'s outfit. I know she likes her latin dresses skimpy and I know they have to cover the lower half of the girls somewhat, but last night's effort was just ghastly!

I thought she was starting a new Strictly Masonic Order and that was her apron design.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBKvLcHYN5Q

TANGOLERO wrote:

I thought she was starting a new Strictly Masonic Order and that was her apron design.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBKvLcHYN5Q

Highs

Jake & Janette's insanely brilliant choreography
Singer Tommy Blaize is back Hurray He's my favourite
The floor lighting effects for the Pro dance number


Lows

O la's 'attack of the Loom bands top'
Mark's beige slug trail sweater
Caroline's red bin bag Tango affair

Add Jamie Cullum and Greg Porter as a high (I know, that hat..)
......and Tess's Empress Ming frock and Claudia's sitting positions as a low. Surely someone can have a word?

B4p wrote:Lows

O la's 'attack of the Loom bands top'
Mark's beige slug trail sweater
Caroline's red bin bag Tango affair

Agree 100% of your lows!

My highs:

- Pro-dance number in result show. Quite creative using reverse footages with normal footage to add visual novelty to the routine.

- Claudia wearing the fruit hat.

- Jake out knee slide (integral to the salsa as he was prepping his second lift from that position) O la's obligatory shoe-horned sequence (competely unnecessary for Steve's cha-cha).

Highs

- Decent Salsas come along once in a blue moon on Strictly so thank you Jake & Janette, that was all kinds of awesomeness - those drops!

- Sunetra's dress, dance and reaction afterwards. She's my kinda Strictly contestant.

- Iveta assisting Claudia with the terms and conditions bit

Lows

- I'm all propped out, it's not even funny anymore. I think the worst was that flamin' suitcase Pasha thrust into Caroline at the end of their Tango!

- Another vote for O.la's lame choreography.

- The guy's outfits in general. Really, really bad.

Highs

That Salsa - well done
Pro dance and the lighting/reverse sequences in it


Lows

Male outfits - especially Mark's sweater
Far too many props and general 'faffing about'
I think a few of the pro's have been there too long - no names mentioned!!!

Highs

Forgot C.laudia's fruit bowl hat! Love it

Lows

Yes a bit uncalled for CRH advising hope don't see you next week

saxonsiren wrote:Highs

Forgot C.laudia's fruit bowl hat! Love it

Lows

Yes a bit uncalled for CRH advising hope don't see you next week

Yes, that was unnecessarily nasty of C raig...

Sid wrote:Highs
(...)
- Sunetra's dress, dance and reaction afterwards. She's my kinda Strictly contestant.

Lows

(...)
- Another vote for O.la's lame choreography.

I have to agree with you about Sunetra. She looked wonderful, danced well, was obviously terrified and was thrilled to have got through the whole thing in one piece. You're right, she's absolutely the sort of contestant we all enjoy having on the show.

I have to disagree with you about O.la though. I've always enjoyed her choreography. What I think she's really good at is gauging her celebrity's abilities and then choreographing the number to their strengths. I also reckon she's a good and encouraging teacher. At least she's always seemed so to me. As you can tell, I'm a fan!

Twirlie wrote:

I have to disagree with you about O.la though. I've always enjoyed her choreography. What I think she's really good at is gauging her celebrity's abilities and then choreographing the number to their strengths. I also reckon she's a good and encouraging teacher. At least she's always seemed so to me. As you can tell, I'm a fan!

Hiya Twirlie

O.la comes across as an effective teacher and a supporting / encouraging / loyal partner. So she's great in that sense. But there's something a bit 'standard' about her choreography. It's as if she's got a set formula that she uses for all of her partners. I'm not inspired by it unfortunately

Sid wrote:

Hiya Twirlie

O.la comes across as an effective teacher and a supporting / encouraging / loyal partner. So she's great in that sense. But there's something a bit 'standard' about her choreography. It's as if she's got a set formula that she uses for all of her partners. I'm not inspired by it unfortunately

Fair 'nuff!

My three 'Highs' this week:

1. Jake's Salsa - one of those 'Strictly Moments' that we all wait for!!! But also I am happy to see a latin dance at the top of the tree - and a Salsa too - we have seen some pretty naff Salsas in recent times on SCD. I loved the head drops and it was a far cry from the 'Royal Family' scraping the wallpaper scene - every time I hear mambo no 5 I think of this, but now it is banished.....................

2. The vibe coming from the celebs - all seem very hardworking and out to give it their best shot - there is nobody who is just mucking about and taking the michael - but will GBP like the fact that there is no obvious comic character this year?

3. Two whole hours of wonderful dancing and music from a live band.

Not many 'Lows' but.........................

1, Music choices and dances moving too far from their genre - (Frankie's charleston fusion, Alison's Foxtrot)

2. Judges obviously deciding very early which couples can take a bit of flack and those to whom they will be 'kinder' come what may.

3. G regg going out (and not Judy)

mauveangel09 wrote:My three 'Highs' this week:
1. Jake's Salsa - it was a far cry from the 'Royal Family' scraping the wallpaper scene - every time I hear mambo no 5 I think of this, but now it is banished.....................

Had me going there mauve - I was thinking "I don't remember Prince Charles with a paper scraper" (sounds like a game of Royal Cluedo!)

Highs
Jake's argentine waltz
Laugh out loud at Mark's paso
Beginning to get to know s.lebs and watch partnerships form

Lows
Donny's erratic scoring
B.runo's ants in his pants, why all the standing up?
Crab costume, really?

Highs:

1. Frankie and Kevin's Paso to America (thought it would never work), and Kevin's tight tight trousers split right at the end (thank goodness he wore underwear)

2. Sunetra and Brendan's AS - pure class and still in keeping to the Movice Theme. That's how you do it, babe!

3. Claudia being playful and threw the popcorns at Tess, only to land one into Tess's blouse, which Tess took it out on national TV! Haha.


Lows:

1. In contrast to Mark's silly Paso (so bad it was bizarrely good), Scott's Samba was bad, and it was still bad. No redeeming features. Poor Scott

2. Donnie's silly markings, esp. the ten for Frankie, and seven for Scott! What?!

3. Just Donnie in general. I mean, what's the point of him being there (except him coming here to plug his 60th Album)???

Highs

C.laudia being mischievious again! Popcorn clevage

Jake,Sunetra

Mark for entertaining me

Lows

Scott
That awful costume and make up ( thought it was a hop hop commercial for std cream re crabs)

Grrr Donny giving a ten

Simon's facial gestures whilst at Judges table

Highs.

Pro opening sequence.
Jake doing what he did, Wango or Taltz? very well.
Frankie, doing what I'd rather see as a Rita Moreno impersonation than a paso excellently.
Brendan and Sunetra for reminding us what ballroom is about.
Pixie and Dixie for keeping it light and fun.

Lows.

Donny Osmond for not realising that his Bolloxwood marking was actually counting against some contestants.
Crab nonesense. Give the guy a chance.
Superman theme, as above. In a week when marking wasn't counting it might have raised a laugh.


Again, here's where I get the boos. Tess, for behaving like a giggly schoolgirl instead of getting a grip of her major role and stamping a bit of personality on it. Sorry, but there was more life in the popcorn.

Highs

Pros opening sequence.
Brendan and Sunetra's AS - wonderful choregraphy
Kevin and Frankie's paso - not traditional music but I loved it.
Pasha and Caroline - great connection between them
Claud's  mad contributions  

Lows

Donny's marking
Donny's wittering
Donny  

Highs
Claudia throwing popcorn down Tess's dress!
Claudia wearing the Superman pants.
Claudia - when the dancers and celebs were making too much noise - turning round to them and saying Very Firmly "Children!" You can tell she's a mummy.  
Brendon and Sunetra - fabulous

Lows
Donny Osmond - WTF???
Donny Osmond's plastic surgery.
Donny Osmond having the effrontery to give out the first 10 of the series in Week 3.