Tag Archives: strictly come dance 2019

Strictly Come Dancing

Strictly – Week Three – Movie Week

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Please note that there will be spoilers in this blog – so if you don’t want to know who left, click away now!

Saturday’s Show

incredile
The Strictly Incredibles

Movie week kicked off with a bang with the pros dancing as The Incredibles, Up and Toy Story.  Apart from Halloween and Blackpool, this is my favourite week….

Once again, as there is still quite a long list of dancers, I will attempt to sum up in one word:

  • Michelle and Giovanni: Quickstep – Manifique – 35 points (3 point increase)
  • Alex and Neil: Rumba – Stilted – 23 points (1 point increase)
  • Chris and Karen: American Smooth – Progress – 22 points (4 point decrease)
  • Karim and Amy: Samba – Spikey – 26 points (6 point decrease)
  • Kathryn and Johannes: Rumba – Beautiful – 32 points (12 point increase)
  • Will and Janette: Paso Doble – Shaping – 23 points (1 point decrease)
  • Kelvin and Oti: Charleston – Superb – 38 points (10 point increase)
  • Emma and Aljaz: Foxtrot – Elegant – 28 points (6 point increase)
  • Anneka and Kevin: Charleston – Frantic – 11 points (8 point decrease)
  • Saffron and AJ: Paso Doble – Strong – 28 points (5 point increase)
  • Mike and Katya: Cha Cha Cha – Fun – 18 points (4 point increase)
  • David and Nafiya: American Smooth – Improved – 16 points (6 point increase)
  • Emma and Anton: Salsa – Enjoyable – 27 points (3 point increase)
  • Dev and Dianne: Street Commercial – Fresh – 36 points (9 point increase)

There was a lot of increases in points this week, but a huge 8 point decrease for Anneka and Kevin and a massive increase of 12 points for Kathryn and Johannes.

Mike and Katya went all out with their characterisation again this week and Mike went from Buffalo Bushell last week to Magic Mike Bushell this week. Katya fell over at the end of the routine and again at the top of the stairs, but I think the second fall may have been on purpose…. There were rumours that she was drunk? But she refuted these in a Tweet:

drunk

One of the funniest moments this week was when Craig commented on Anton’s appearance, saying he was distracted by the wig, glasses and false teeth, when to Craig’s astonishment he was told that they were Anton’s own teeth, Craig looked genuinely upset and apologised profusely to Anton.

Which leads me nicely onto my Tweet of the Week from Simon says….

anton-teeth

So the scores are in:

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Sunday’s Show

Every week Tess says that the results are, “In no particular order,” but I think the truth is they are in “Dramatic Order.”  When there is the silence between the names of couples going out, do you try and guess which one Tess will say? We do – that could probably be a good drinking game!

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After a dance off between David James and Anneka Rice, the judges unamiously decided on Anneka to leave.

Anneka was very matter of fact about it and joked that at her son’s wedding next year she’ll be able to dance instead of just handing round the canopies.

So onwards to Week Four – who will be leaving next week? I can’t wait to find out….

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strictly Come Dancing

Strictly – Week Two

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Please note that there will be spoilers in this blog – so if you don’t want to know who left, look away now!!

Saturday’s Show

This week I was faced with a bit of a dilemma and I decided to turn to the Strictly Fans on Facebook to solve it for me:

facebook-karen

As you can see, there was plenty of advice to be had, of which most of the replies said to, “Watch it live and then watch it again with your husband.” I did wait for my husband, watching Celebrity Catchphrase and eating a bar of chocolate to distract me and we settled down to watch it when he came home.

Whenever I watch the opening titles I do wonder why the professional’s name isn’t mentioned? Some of them are famous in their own right, having hosted and appeared on different television shows… maybe one day this will happen.

A little subtle change to the show that I have noticed is that we don’t get the dancers give a little wave at the camera while Tess is introducing them, maybe there’s too many at the momet and this will come back once the numbers are reduced?

My Tweet of the Week goes to Richard Osman of Pointless Fame:

richard-osman

As nobody left last week, the scores will be combined with last week’s scores and together with the public vote, we will have our first person to leave on Sunday and as everybody is still in, there’s a fair few to get through, so I am going to try to sum up each dancer’s performance in one word, (wish me luck):

  • Saffron and AJ: Cha-Cha-Cha – Delivered – 23 points
  • Anneka and Kevin: Waltz – Beautiful – 19 points
  • Dev and Dianne: Jive – Toes – 27 points
  • Emma and Aljaz: Tango – Stamina – 22 points
  • Chris and Karen: Charleston – Improved – 26 points
  • Emma B and Anton: Foxtrot – Smoother – 24 points
  • James and Luba: Jive – Stiff – 13 points
  • Kathryn and Jonannes: Samba – Hips – 19 points
  • Michelle and Giovanni: Viennese Waltz – Classy – 32 points
  • David and Nadiya: Paso Doble – Limp – 10 points
  • Karim and Amy: Foxtrot – Exceptional – 32 points
  • Mike and Katya: American Smooth – Odd – 14 points
  • Alex and Neil: Cha-Cha-Cha – Flat – 22 points
  • Kelvin and Oti: Waltz – Light – 28 points
  • Will and Janette: Samba – Enthusiastic – 24 points.
mike-bushell
Buffalo Bushell dancing to Rhinestone Cowboy

Put your hands up if you try and guess each of the judge’s scores? We do and are secretly pleased when we get it right!

I wasn’t sure about the routine with Mike and Katya, it was very awkward to watch, especially during the lifts and I’m hoping that she’s not going to try and make him the “Class Clown”, he’s better than that!

Kelvin did an acceptable waltz, he didn’t light up the dance floor like he did last week, so maybe Latin will be his thing! Before Strictly Kelvin’s Twitter account would receive on average about 250 likes, now being on Strictly that has risen to thousands!

My tip for winning Strictly, Karim and Amy, their foxtrot was stunning and he was so elegant and light on his feet. I am pleased that Amy has a partner who will go far!

So at the end of tonight, the scores are:

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So we will have to wait and see how the public vote goes….

Sunday Show

james-strictlyAfter a dance off between David James and James Cracknell,  the judges unamiously decided on James to leave – well done James, you were certainly out of your comfort zone, but you had the grit and determination to get out there and dance!

Next week is Movie Week, so let’s hope they Step Up, they are not in La La Land and have The Time of Their Lives.

 

Strictly Come Dancing

Strictly – Week One

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Please note that there may be spoilers contained within this blog!

Last year my hubby and I decided to start learning ballroom dancing and we went to the local church hall eager to become the next Anton and Erin.

trut-meWe were introduced to the Social Foxtrot and were taught approximately 16 steps, I say approximately because the number varied each time we did it. Everything went well until we had to partner each other and go around the dance floor. After a few stops and starts he came to the conclusion that he couldn’t ballroom dance if a) he had to do it to music, b) if there were other people on the dance floor and c) if he had to dance with me!

After trying to master these 16 steps I do have a new found admiration for those celebrities who perform a whole dance routine after practising for just a week.

Last night was the first week, so filled with anticipation I sat down to watch the opening programme and boy, I was not disappointed. With 15 celebrities it was gonna be a long show and I am not going to go through each act one by one (“Phew, that’s a relief,” I hear you say), but I just wanted to pick out those that stood out to me for varying reasons.

But first I want to start with the new judge, Motsi Mabuse: I thought she did a pretty good job, lots of helpful tips and a positive attitude. I will miss Darcey, but I think Motsi will do a fabulous job.

kelvin
Otsi Mabuse and Kelvin Fletcher

Obviously the first pair that I need to mention are these two – their samba, which is a notoriously difficult dance for the celebrities was amazing. As soon as I saw the first hip gyration I looked at my husband and said, “Whoa, this is gonna be good,” and good it was. I look forward to their dance next week, especially if it’s ballroom to see if he has the same ability in that style as well. jamieOne of my favourite moments was when the camera settled on Jamie’s face after they had performed, he did look a bit miffed, perhaps he was thinking to himself….

See the source image

 

 

 

 

 

My second pair is who I had tipped to win, admittedly before Jamie left and Kelvin stepped in, but I am sticking to my guns and it is Karim Zeroual and Amy Dowden with their Cha Cha Cha. I thought it was a great dance with some tricks in it, an excellent start to their journey.

Michelle Visage and Giovanni Pernice were a surprise hit with me.  I have never seen Ru Paul’s Drag Race and so I had no idea who she was, but she came and wowed with her Cha Cha Cha and as I am a woman who is also in her 50s, she did it for us!

Honourable mentions go to Alex Scott (though why David James got to celebrate all that is football and she didn’t reamins a mystery), Catherine Tyldesley, Dev Griffin and also Mike Bushell, who just seems like he has an endless bound of energy.

Did anyone think that Johannes looks like an older version of Stephen Carmichael from Bad Education:

Johannes Radebe
Stephen Carmichael

At least nobody went home and we have next week to sit back and take another look at all of the celebrities, though some will need to spend next week doing a bit more work than others…

The leader board looked like this:

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It was a high scoring start and I, for one, am looking forward to this season – I think it will be hard fought with different people at the top of the leader board.  Don’t forget we have It Takes Two starting on Monday with Zoe Ball and Rylan Clark-Neal, 5.15pm on BBC1 which I think is just for the first two weeks, then it goes back to BBC2 at 6.00pm.

I’ll leave you with this, a whiteboard at the London Underground station, maybe you could show your support by using the hashtags and tags…

bowelcancer

Strictly Come Dancing

The Launch Show

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Warning: There may be spoilers on this blog, especially if my preditions are right…

Well I can’t believe that it’s that time of year again…. after the launch show and the partnering up (or is that Love Island?) we have a two week wait for the show to begin proper, when the nights will be drawing in and thoughts turn to the C word….

stricty-lineupThe contestants have been announced over the past few weeks, but as you can see there is already a black cross over the face of Jamie Laing, as he sustained an injury whilst filming the launch show! Let’s hope they get a replacement for him.

There has also been a new judge appointed to replace Darcey, she is Motsi Mabuse, yes the name is familiar as she is Oti big sister, it will be interesting to see how that plays out.

The purpose of the launch show is to pair off the celebrities with their professional dance partners, we already have an inkling as to who is AJ’s partner, as he may or may not have let it slip during an interview on The One Show, so that will be my starter for ten…

Predictions

  • Saffron Barker and AJ
  • David James and Nadiya
  • Michelle Visage and Anton
  • Mike Bushell and Katya
  • James Cracknell and Oti
  • Anneka Rice and Kevin
  • Emma Barton and Giovanni
  • Dev Griffin and Dianne
  • Chris Ramsey and Karen
  • Will Bayley and Janette
  • Emma Weymouth and Neil
  • Karim Zeroual and Amy
  • Alex Scott and Johannes
  • Catherine Tyldesley and Alijaz

There are some obvious partnerships here, for example, because of David James’ height, I don’t think he could be with anyone other than the lovely Nadiya. I’m going out on a bit of a limb with Anneka Rice, a part of me is screaming Anton, but I don’t think they will partner him up with an obvious choice this year. I’ve teamed Anneka up with Kevin as he does sometimes get the non-favourites and they probably wouldn’t want any scandal with Kevin now that he’s in a relationship with his last partner, Stacey Dooley.  I’ve put James Cracknell with Oti, as I think he will be a bit of a handful and I think Oti would stand no nonsense from him.

I’ve also given Neil a partner, I have heard on the grapevine that he is to have a celectrity partner this year as Gorka has been sidelined, (sob, sob),  so I’ve teamed him up with Emma Weymouth.

Before you go any further – just take a minute to enjoy Ann Widdecombe and Anton in 2010 (yes, i know!) doing their American Smooth at Blackpool!

So there you have it, my predictions for this year.  What do you think? Am I way off the mark? Which ones would you agree with or disagree with? Let me know in the comments.

Looking at the celebrities taking part, I have a funny feeling this is gonna be a Gorka the Corker of a year!!

See you on the other side….