SCD 2017 Weekly Highs & Lows

Well I can't comment on week 1, anybody like to start?

Highs -

Debbie's Paso
New Judge fitting in well
Chizzy's weight not stinting her confidence

Lows -

Ringers shining

Thanks for the thread B4P

Will have a think and decide after the results show tomorrow on H and L from the first two shows

Highs.

Aliyaz's simple and effective choreography for the waltz (mandatory partner floor skimming  apart) . My benchmark for the waltz has always been Ian and Jodi's Regency tie and tails affair to "Greensleeves" (sheer class Mr Waite). Aliyaz obviously considers his partners capabilities and limitations over his own showboating (unlike some)

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aWnff_A3Dk

Lows.

That lousy "first out" feeling. If they're trying they'll do for me. All part of the wonderful world of Strictly but....

Highs

- Alex and Debbie's Pasos. Imagine them going head-to-head in the final with those!

- Gemma & Aljaz's Waltz, just very unexpected. Made me sit up and take notice.

- Shirley's debut

- Judges seemingly clamping down on faffing about and more content in a way they haven't for a while.

- Jonnie, such an inspiration.


Lows

- Chizzy getting upset.

- Pasha going out. One less ass to ogle.

- Brian giving the thumbs up sign all the bloody time.

- FLOOR SPINS.

Highs
Having the show back on our screens again
Having all 15 couples in one show (not split over two nights)
Some lovely dances over the first two weeks - Debbie, Gemma, Jonnie, Aston etc
Two great pro routines - last week and this
Enjoying Shirley's refreshing style and a renewed focus on technicalities from the judges

but..............

Lows
In the second Saturday show (last night) some poor music choices, costumes and choreography
Many of the pros seemingly need to 'tune in' to their partners a bit more.
Very wrong Dance Off decision IMO - what just happened there?

Highs

The Rev in week one - fun and amusing

Aljaz and Gemma's waltz in week 2 - smooth and delicate and I enjoyed it much more than all the flinging around showdance-y latins

VT for movie week in tonights show, quite witty



Lows

The Rev in week two - so, I'm sort of getting impatient with him already

Props and endless faffing around at the start of dances

jingle wrote:Highs

The Rev in week one - fun and amusing
Lows

The Rev in week two - so, I'm sort of getting impatient with him already

This sums my feelings up too! (certainly no Ed Balls in the making) but I do think his pro should bear some responsibility and actually teach him some steps don't you think?

highs

Alijaz and Gemma - delightful

Neil and Katya's dance - stunning

lows

Alex and Aston - too good too soon with absolutely nowhere to go except down

Rev Richard - agree with others comments, I liked him in week one but after week two he's already annoying me

I think most of mine have been covered by you all, but what the heck, I'll do my own version anyway... (this is for week 2 only - my goldfish memory has already wiped week 1)

Highs

Gemma and Aljaz waltz - as Tango said, beautiful, understated, stylish, elegant and showed Gemma to her advantage. Well done Aljaz - keep on in the same way, and other pros take note

Jonnie's loose hair (and the jive wasn't bad either )

Claud's frock

Alex's and Charlotte's frocks

Gorka

Lows

The rest of the frocks - boo

The judge's skewed judgement... ie Chizzy - another HUGE boo (nope - still not over it, still very unforgiving)

All that overdone but pointless choreography, ie Aston and Janette (which was also a clear re-hash of Jake's Salsa - be more original Janette), Joe and whatsername and trhe wardrobe, Davood and YASB. All of you - take a leaf out of Aljaz's book. (and NO FLOOR SPINS. Ever.)

The music. Ye gods, the music. Never, ever, put me through a TANGO to Castle on the Hill (or indeed, anything by His smug, overated Nedness)

Brian

Amy

I'm giving Rev Rich a pass for this week, but he could become my Scott Mills/Jeremy Vine/Ed Balls (yes, even Ed Balls wound me up by Gangnam style week. I still haven't forgiven Katya for that and dount I ever will. It has coloured forever my opinion of her and any celeb she dances with will suffer because of that...) if he isn't given some actual dancing to do - you know, steps and stuff...

Week 2

Well I've only just managed to watch the show as other family members have decided to watch re-runs of several of our box sets. Mind you, the one on at the moment is Merlin, so I don't mind that one so much.

Highs
Darcy seems to have upped her game and came out with a lot more sounds than usual.
Shirley & Cr aig both picked up on illegal lifts in AJ's & Nadiya's routines.
I enjoyed AJ & Mollie's Tango, and thought he'd upped his content considerably from last year. He also seems more mature (or maybe that's because he's got rid of that pathetic trendy man-bun). He seems to fit in better with the group dances, and doesn't stand out so much as the boy amongst the Pro dancers.
Jonnie's Jive.
Gemma's Waltz
Simon's Waltz started so well. A shame his error threw a spanner in the works.
Debbie & Gio's relationship. I agree with Shirley, he seems respectful and in awe of her talents so far.
Alexandra & Gorka's Paso. Great to see Gorka dancing again and they synched well together.

Lows
Dhavood & Nadiya. What was that? It looked sleazy, rather than classy. Ripping off clothes, a lift and floor spins.........As Shirley said, all unnecessary.
Aston. Rehashed Jake routine. All about Janette's gymnastics
Susan. What was that short dressing gown thing she was wearing?
Charlotte. Car crash in motion. I thought Brendan was going to deck Shirley when she criticised his content
Brian. Can't dance
Singers - more than a few bum notes this week.

Highs

No one got injured.

C.raig disagreeing & advising there was improvement with Charlotte.

Brendan for sticking up for his celeb,I often tire of the yes, ok,yes just say what you want tolerance from some of the celebs.

Alijaz great character & enthusiasm with that hot furry costume on

Less silly jokes from C.laudia thankfully joker on auto cue had a break?


Lows

Shirley's continual bickering with Brendan.

B.runo for making things worse & do thing his cap in Shirley's corner

Wardrobe, omg what happened frightful shoddy costumes. Did someone raid Jack & The Beanstalk wardrobe for the male celebs/pro tunic shirts?

MUSIC! Dire choices..... We really need this musical Directors head on the block.... The tune/song just doesn't add to the dances or enhance them....

CAMERA work! Omg I want to see feet and the whole body not part mid body shots or a camera stuck on the carousel, round and round spinning. ...

Highs. Not very many but....

Brian dancing and looking like he was actually enjoying it. Debbie's Broadway style fiesty and professional quickstep. Right music right era right result. Joe and Katya's Vienese the same. Aston's dancings, ringer or not. Mollie's very good control of her body shape in the air.

Lows.

How many films are there in the world besides Walt Disney's? The golden era of ballroom can only produce Top Gun, Wizard of Oz, Flash Gordon and Jungle Book etc? Sad music choices that don't improve, and the know-all producers desires to do it their way. They don't seem to care about public opinion. In the words of the immortal Mick Miller "Do the folk in Glocca Morra ever ask how things are with us?" Either do a Paso and Tango as traditional dances with the right music, or drop them in favour of gangnam, Hokey Cokey and Simon says.

You might hate me for this, but the sameness and predictability of Strictly right now is killing my Saturday nights.

highs
Susan's samba - go you, even though I got a bit distracted by the gurning expression!
Joe and Katya's VW- I think he might be the one I want to come up on the rails towards the end...
Brian's obvious confidence  in the character of his dance made it enjoyable to watch

lows
Some truly terrible music - first off for Simon, that song just does not suit being sped up just so it can be a quickstep- and WTH was that outfit?!?!
The Rev's JS impression
A 10 second rule that no one has ever heard of
Brenda's spat with Shirl- talk about awkward turtle, I don't think he did his partner any favours, and I found it quite excruciating to watch

allsewnonbyhand wrote:
A 10 second rule that no one has ever heard of

That's because nobody's enforced it for so many years that it's fallen into the land of legend! I remember lots of old rules, % of time in hold, number of lifts and in which dances they were allowed, 10 second rule etc. Hopefully someone's dusted off the old rule book, decided to get a bit tougher, and bring the wayward back into the fold.

HIGHS
Quite enjoyed Movie Week
C harlotte and B rendan getting through despite 'Shirleygate' - I think C harlotte deserved a big apology from both protaganists actually!
Some contenders emerging to challenge the early front runners
Mollie and AJ and their American Smooth - haven't really like them up until now but enjoyed this.
A joyous Viennese Waltz from Joe and Katya - and a joyous reaction to their marks from Katya.
Great routine from Debbie and Gio.
Enjoyed Sheridan Smith on the results show - BTW - who an earth is 'Luba' the unknown pro who danced with Gio to this n umber?????
Alijaz's bear suit made me smile - also a pretty good routine.

LOWS
Shirley
Pro n umbers this week didn't grab me at all - including the much hyped Disney routine.

Highs

- Joe's VW, my mum and I collectively sighed and "awwed" at the end of it.

- Susan's gung ho attitude

- Debbeh (I thought they were inventing reasons to penalise her)

- Brian Conley actually charmed me, a sentence I never thought I'd be typing.

- Derek Hough coming for Brendan on social media

- Gorka achieving new levels of cuteness in his flat cap


Lows

- Old Brendan's back and I really hate it. There's a difference between defending your partner and being defensive. Also, I really dislike the way he talks about - or to - Shirley. Smacks of both sexism and sour grapes that he didn't get picked to head judge.

- Some bizarre scoring (yes, from Shirley but not only from her - I mean I'm a fan of Gemma but how on earth did she bag herself THREE 8s?!)

- Karen and Janette acting like kids who've had too many haribos.

- I wasn't drunk enough for some of the dances (or the performers weren't)


Both a High and a Low

- What's this 10-second-rule about? I approve but I've never heard of it in all the 13 years I've been watching! Just seem to be making things up as they go along.

Week 3 Movie Week

Well I've just got to see both shows.

Highs
I just love how much Brian's improved over this week. He did well. Loved the characterisation, and his steps were light.
Gorka's choreography
Gio's choreography
Joe's VW. He's the slow steady burner for me.
Jonnie's Paso. Some of those moves must have really hurt his stump leg.
AJ's partnership with Mollie
Rev Richard's blonde wig. He reminded me of the blonde actor in 'Blades of Glory'

Lows
STUPID MUSIC CHOICES - Stop it!
Susan's silly music. Too fast and inappropriate for a samba
Nadiya's choreography
Brendan (although he was more restrained this week)
Br uno chipping in to the argument rather than closing it down
T ess for not stopping the spats continuing both weeks.
Charlotte. She looks in utter misery, and must be tired of Brendan dragging her around

Week 4
highs
Let's hear it for the girls
Alexandra's jive, don't care if she's a ringah
Gemma's paso
Susan's quickstep

lows
Charlotte's general discomfort
Simon's dad dancing but fair play he went for it

Highs

- Gemma's upward trajectory (quite impressed with my replacement for "j.ourney" there *smug face*)

- Alex brought it. She made Gorka invisible for a whole 90 seconds.

- Susan, she is the definition of JOY

- Good music (even if not always done justice by the dances)


Lows

- While Shirley vs B.rendan has been a juicy subplot, I think he'll be regretting his behaviour this series. If this is his last year on the show, then it's a shame he went out on a bit of a low. He'd want to be remembered more fondly I'm sure. Maybe give him one last shot so he can revive New Brenda! And put him with Sophie again and let them do a Charleston every single week INCLUDING FOR THEIR SHOWDANCE

- Joe is turning into Mr Inconsistent and I'm not sure my nerves than cope with that. And there's no rhyme or reason to it. It's not like he's a Ballroom or Latin boy because he's had mixed success in both.

Highs were a decent show both nights and the pro opening tonight was great as show style dance, sort of "Burn the Floorboards"  as long as the powers don't try getting contestants to do that as a Charlston. Can't complain about much as it was all so almost predictable and, as we know, somebody has to go. Getting to Blackpool is the benchmark for most and I just hope all those deserving of it get there.

Lows: Laurelie and Hardydody nonesense with bananas and the need to have the seals flipper clapping dancers whilst a singer is performing. Rank bad manners and a bit insulting.

Amen.

Week 4

High's
I just loved Susan & Kevin's quickstep. It was so joyous and she really ran around every inch of that floor. He could have made things easier for her, but all credit to her. It made my night watching their beaming faces dancing round the room. Undermarked to me.
I loved Gemma & Alijaz Paso. The parts out of hold where they mirror each other was spot on. Love the detail.
Preferred the lifts in Jonnie & Oti's dance. Undermarked for me.
An ton's routine. Ruth did well to keep up, and the music was great.
Alexandra & Gorka's jive (although to me she looked more like Diana Ross in that hairdo).
Simon's shirt (it looked better than his awkward samba)
The Welsh Dragon dancing with Alvin Stardust
Darcey's constructive comments
The Pro dance on the result show.

Lows
Bren dan's face when the judges comments were given. The no comment, I've gone deaf look.
Strange marking. Some over marked and some definitely under marked.
AJ's Lifts. Looked very awkward and clumsy to me and broke the rhythm of the dance. I know you can put lifts in, but 3 lifts aren't compulsive are they? AJ seems to love to stick them in come rain or shine. Mollie did well though, and her dress was gorgeous.
Nadiya's choreography.
Lance missing from the singers.
T ess interupting the judges, saying the Paso was about stomping around! (Don't start T ess, I've got a mute button, and know how to use it)

Highs

Susan and Kevin! Loved loved their routine. Fun frisky and made me smile.

Jonnie still doing well

Gemma loving her partnership and have high hopes

Not my favourite Alexandra doing a good routine

Better costumes however still could do with an improvement.

Lows

Charlotte and her scd experience sad it's been so negative.

Simon and Karen, I am a supporter but Karen antics getting me down

Shirley's erratic scores

Sorry but Tens! No,no,no....

High
C.laudia's ad libs with Aston about his pregnant wife, and also her response to Alexandra's grief
Low
C.laudia having to do cringe non-comedy about a banana skin


High
Fabulous choreography from some of the pros, especially Aljaz, Oti, Gorka and Kevin - also A.nton for choreographing a tango which really suited Ruth.
Low
Some dreadful choreography which didn't suit the clebs, especially for Simon and Joe

Low
Shirleys main show dress, bit OTT compared to Darcys outfit.

jingle wrote:
Low
Shirleys main show dress, bit OTT compared to Darcys outfit.

If that wasn't mutton dressed as lamb, I don't know what is!

Highs

Gemma and Aljaz's Paso.
Susan and Kevin's Quickstep
Oti's Choreography.
Darcy and C.raig(!!!!)
Gregory Porter's "Smile" in the Results Show as well as Dianne and Pasha's dance.

Lows

Charlotte and Brendan. It really was her time to go.
Simon and Amy
Shirley and B.runo
The banana skin joke!