Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
Options
Strictly line-up
The materials in this website are in no way intended to replace the professional medical care, advice, diagnosis or treatment of a doctor, qualified personal trainer, therapist, dietitian or nutritionist Runners's World, Part of the Hearst UK well-being network © Copyright 2017
Comments
just caught up with last night's show. i thought jo should have gone - totally agree with recreational %%%! well put podds.
craig was boring. natalie and tuffers are great fun. ricky.....
can't comment much - only got use of one hand.
got a cup of tea now and sitting patiently awaiting the weekly spoof round-up - can't rememer his name.
LOL no smutty comments now please!
Soupy! Had no idea you'd been in the wars
Not on tri forum much apart from Stratford when it's up and running
oh Soupy - sorry to hear about your injury! hope it hasn't scared you off cycling too much (I have absolutely no confidence on a bike at the best of times)
poor old Richard - he seemed such a likeable chap - but really not good was he!
My faves are Natalie and Tuffers - great entertainment value and look as if they're having a fun time
but Ricky was pretty amazing for week 1.
As usual I find the rhumba extremely embarrasing - a horrible dance!
Felt sorry for Craig, I'm sure there's a good dancer in there somewhere. Can't believe Len preferred Richard to him! Jo or Joe to go next week hopefully, no one else deserves to go while they're still in it.
Is everyone dancing next Saturday? It will be a loooooong show!
Great weekend of dancing, I have to say there are lots of contenders for the crown this year.
My take of this weekends:
Sorry Richard had to go, I thought he was a great guy and really enjoyed the show for what it really is
Laila, excellent dancer, not sure as I can warm to her though but I do love Anton
Love Natalie and hope she shuts up all those horrible people who go on about her weight and looks, will get through towards the latter stages I think
Tuffers was good. Shirley Ballas (the mega latin champion said a weeo or so ago he had potential). Another one who is enjoying the experience.
Craig sort of left me cold and disinterested?
Liked Zoe and James, fun partnership
Jo, crap dancer but made me laugh. Plus luurrvvve Brendan.
Ricky W. Brilliant dancer and seems a nice guy, but where does he go from here? Already good so think it may get 'boring' if you know what I mean? I like to see a (I hesitate to say it !?) 'journey'
Will you Alesha bashers leave the girl alone
or i'll be round to bite yer ankles grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
I too was sad to see Arlene go
if anyone, should have been Len imo, Alesha though brings a different viewpoint from the celebrity side. Still learning the ropes, not seen the best of her yet.
On the dancing side, just about right decision for the champion jockey to go, next week Jo or Joe to go unless a dramatic improvement happens.
Belated thanks to TopSec for the Monkseal link - cruel but oh so funny! I've found another fan of SCD:
Woman Who Talked Too Much
Enjoy
Enjoyed that blog too LM, very funny
Better late than never from JfW
Friday 25th
We're back for the second week and, at the bottom of the stairs, Tess has replaced 'dancing' with 'acting'. It's a step in the right direction; fingers crossed it'll be mime next week. It's Tango and Waltz night tonight so the pro's provide us with an opening demo - a sort of Wango - with illegal lifts left, right and centre and the critical advantage of not being saddled with people who can't dance.
Brucie offers a kind word to Alesha who tells us that the celebs will have sweaty palms and beating hearts. So, 'nervous' then. Next week she's going to tell me what 'happy' feels like because she was happy once so she knows.
It's still taking an age to introduce the couples and Brucie still can't pronounce Flavia's surname but fortunately we're in the safe hands of Dave Arch and his fabulous Orchestra. Unfortunately, the safe hands are holding instruments and that's where the whole thing breaks down.
Mercifully, we get to the 'dancing' part of proceedings with Natalie Cassidy and Vincent Simone. I like the look of this girl: I'm not familiar with her work but she's bright as a button and keen as mustard although her facial encounter with a shovel has done her no favours and it's hard not to notice that her fascination with carbohydrates has reached the point of obsession. Still, she's up for a Tango and I thought it was great - good traditional music, she acted it well and it was sharp, snappy and feisty. The judges weren't convinced, though. Craig didn't see any purpose or intent, Bruno spotted 'something funny' and Len and Alesha both pretended to like it before whipping out sixes and 24 was at least 4 shy of what it deserved.
The first Waltz of the night comes from Zoe Lucker and James Jordan and before you know it, Jim's up to his old tricks again. It takes 20 seconds to get into hold and another 10 to start moving and then she fluffed the end by choosing the wrong direction on a 50/50 call. The bit in the middle was ok but it was so short it was hard to form an opinion. The judges celebrate my ignorance by lavishing praise in abundance: words like 'romantic', 'beautiful' and 'a joy to watch' crept in. Len liked everything except Jim's hair and when the scores come in she gets 30. Yep, you heard - 30! There then followed some strong language and adult content in the JfW household.
Another Tango, this time from Craig Kelly and Flavia Cacace. I think his trousers are a bit tight because he shouts every time he struts and what little atmosphere they created was diluted by the zulu drum music which hardly put you in mind of a proper Tango. Bruno thought it was 'rough around the edges', Len thought it 'lacked finesse', Alesha agreed with Len and told him that 'when you walk, you follow your feet.' Crikey, even I know you shouldn't do that. Craig wanted it more on one level and didn't see enough 'V' shapes. Pity, because I was dishing them out with abandon.
Next up it's Richard Dunwoody and Lilia Kopylova with a Waltz and, oh my God, it's horrible. As an expression of pure fear it's a masterpiece, as an example of titubation it's fine but its only redeeming feature as a Waltz is that his posture reminds me that it's time to put the bins out. 'You did a waltz but it wasn't any good', said Bruno, Craig berated his nerves, gapping, balance, posture and control, Len was polite and Alesha thought he was 'cute' and told him to work on 'just one thing'. No! Don't listen to her! Work on loads of things! He picked up 19 points. Somehow.
There's a certain eagerness about the arrival of Phil Tufnell and Katya Virshilas, a sense of expectation, and their waltz does not disappoint. In fact it's surprisingly good - he's smooth and relaxed, has a decent posture, there are heel leads, it's all there. 'Bowled over' said Len, 'Charming' said Alesha, 'Well done' said the boys - and then they serve up a 29. One point less than the Lucker/Jordan combo. Yep, the series is 8 days old and my blood is simmering nicely.
Next up it's another Tango with Jo Wood and Brendan Cole. In a 'cup is half full' frame of mind, Brendan told us that 'One of her strengths is that she's alive'. Well, undead maybe. Interestingly, she's the only one whose age is not listed in Wikipedia although she has been carbon-dated by the British Museum. There are lots of steps and they cover the floor but there's no snap and it has the air of enforced gentility. No-one wants to insult the granny though so we get a lot of soft-pedalling to hide a meagre 18 points. Len offered unwarranted succour and Craig thought it had 'slovenly footwork and lacked any line or form', then Bruno added veracity to incompetence by saying 'it wasn't a total disaster'. Alesha got confused and 'agreed with the boys' after they'd just disagreed with each other. She's struggling here - perhaps a crash course in dance might be in order.
Our last newbie is a chap called Ricky Whittle and he's dancing with another newbie in Natalie Lowe. There's more fartarsing about on the stage but, once it gets going, they do a Waltz that borders on the sublime for a first-up dance. There's a bit of a slip in the middle but a good recovery and a great ending, with a sliding split from Nat, has the judges salivating. 'Dream come true', said Bruno, 'You're the one to beat', said Len, 'You're bow-legged and pigeon-toed', said Craig, unable to offer untainted praise. They pick up 33 points and, in the process, redefine the ballroom half of the competition. Ooh er, the lad's almost as good as Phil.
There's a pretty good group dance to finish - a 'tribute' to Michael Jackson, choreographed by Karen Hardy which is only undermined by the combined butchery of the editor and cameraman. Even they can't spoil everything, though, and there's a good moonwalk from the 'other Ricky' and some rib isolation from Joe Calzaghe which added spice to the end of the show.
"Joe's coming along", I said, looking across for confirmation. Mrs JfW shakes her head. It's clear which one of us is the brains of this outfit.
Saturday 26th
"It's on again?"
"Yep."
"I'm confused, what week is this?"
"Two."
"And dance number?"
"Four."
"Latin or ballroom?"
"Latin."
"I'll get the maracas."
Fortunately I have Craig and Flavia to take my mind off it and they manage it with a toe-curling Rumba. Like Len I'm not a big fan of the Rumba, and certainly not at this stage when diffidence compounds any technical shortcomings. At the end the judges are equivocal: Len said something about cucarachas (too many? not enough? I don't know), Bruno told him he was like the Dark Knight and Alesha damned with faint praise with 'You tried really hard and I commend you for trying'. Last night he was criticised for 'following his feet' when he walked. Tonight Craig told him 'you can't walk forward.' At least he's got something to work on for next week.
Brucie tells a joke that draws an actual groan from the audience but we're all cheered up when Laila and Anton appear for a Cha Cha. Now that's what I call a frock - it's short, it's tight, it's sparkly - basically it fulfills all of the major 'frock' criteria. They're dancing to the classic 'Sway', but she looks uncertain and doesn't commit to it. Throw in a couple of errors and you know she's in for a tough time and they don't disappoint; Bruno's description of a Ferrari in second gear was spot on and, painful though it is, 25 was par.
The pain has hardly subsided when Zoe and James pitch up for a Rumba. It seems she's having trouble being sexy - perhaps the accountant's mother could help. Overmarked last night, she starts to win me round by coming on in her underwear and, to be fair, it's not that bad at all (given my aforementioned Rumba reservations) although for the first time I begin to appreciate Rachel's from last year (you wouldn't listen, Sid, I told you she was good). Len thought it was all a bit too 'bedroom' but the others enthused with largesse. Bruno got a little carried away and alluded to a throbbing tumescence - at tea time? Alesha 'loved it' and Craig thought it was 'Gob-smackingly good' and between them they conjured 31 points.
There's another Rumba to follow and this one's sponsored by Ralgex. Jo and Brendan oil soporifically through a 40 watt performance and if it's not as bad I'd anticipated, it's only because my expectations were exceedingly low. For a former model she lacks any semblance of elegance and limited choreography and a couple of mis-steps contributed to a routine that was so dull that I tuned out halfway through. She reached the giddy heights of 18 again but the judges had little to offer by way of encouragement. 'You did it', said Bruno and you couldn't fault him on accuracy. Craig rattled the uppity Kiwi into another spat with 3 points and 'The best part was when you were standing still' and Alesha thought it was 'not technically perfect but you tried and I commend you for trying.' I've heard that before somewhere. Oh yes, 15 minutes ago she said it to Craig. She's floundering again. Poor girl, she may have a collection of paddles under the desk but it's obvious which creek she's up.
The last Rumba is provided by Ricky and Natalie and, damn, this boy looks good. He doesn't play 'statues', he moves continuously, never looks inelegant and he glides into the judges' good books. In working his way to a chart-topping 31, 'born to dance' and 'amazing' seem to sum it up and Len repeats last night's mantra that 'You're the one to beat'. Yep, and the snake-charmer's the one to do it.
Natalie and Vincent have the closing honours and, having waited all night, the nerves are showing from the off. Criminally undermarked for their Tango, she appears in a fabulous silver, tassely dress but her Cha Cha is not as good as I want it to be. A bit like Phil at the start, it had plenty of vim but it's too soft and it lacked definition. Craig set the tone when he said he 'liked it, didn't love it', and Alesha, in a moment of delightful clarity, said 'your technique needs to catch up with your performance'. She knows her onions, that girl. I told you she could do it.
All that's left is the Moment of Truth and I'm distracted from biting my nails by a sparkling Pro' Paso, a spectacular Quickstep and quite a good song from a whippersnapper with a piano.
The first shock of the series comes when the zombie queen avoids the dance-off which is left to Richard and Craig. It's not an easy choice for the judges - Richard thumbing a lift or a Tango to The Lion Sleeps Tonight. In the end a split decision sends Richard packing and Lilia and her dress go with him, leaving me with the problem of how to console a distraught hamster.
Actualyl I don't think Jo was great and should have been at the bottom BUT actually thought she was hard down to on Saturday.
OK it wasn't great but in my opinion was definitely better than Friday and yet she got the same marks. I think she should have got another point or two. Would have still left her at the bottom or joint so but..... Perhaps the public thought she didn't get any credit and that is why they voted for her because she doesn't haev an obvious fan-club unlike Joe who I wasn't surpirsed got the votes.
On performance so fair then agree it is a Jo(e) to go this week BUT lets see how they perform on Saturday
thanks minardi - spot on always. jfw and claudia are tops.
WTF has Erin done to her hair?? I like the lighter colour but she looks as if she's wearing a shredded wheat wig!
Aww I saw Erin do a dance thing at Meadowhall - she did a dance class thingy and was teaching grannies to cha cha - it was great fun and she was absolutely *lovely*! I think it's kinda nice that she's shed her ice-maiden image and warmed up a bit. She does need a bit of conditioner no her hair though
.
Can't wait for Saturday - I think it's going to call for an awful lot of tea and biccies
How long is tomorrow's show?!? Unless I'm v. organised we're going to have a v. late dinner!
Happy viewing, everyone!
PS: I predict someone whose name starts with a J will go this week...
I might have to record it and watch it in stages... or I could get a takeaway
Either way washing-up will wait until tomorrow!!!
I think tomorrow's show is a couple of hours.
I predict either Craig or Rav out tomorrow night.
Joe has all of Wales voting for him - he still looked wooden on ITT this evening!
Something going on between Brian & Ali?? Looks that way to me
Good show last night, I was correct in my assumption
Did anyone else get irritated by Alesha using you 'was' rather than you 'were'?
I just get irriated with Alesha, full stop!
I felt sorry for Rav last night, he looked gutted to have danced badly - not sorry enough to vote though
.
Again, I thought some of the music was dire, especially for newbie dancers who would have found a strong beat helpful.