Fright Night VII - Dances of Doom

I may get in trouble for breaking format here but as I'm blogging on my own this week, and it was Halloween week (I hate theme weeks) I'm taking a risk. Sorry Frankie, you lovely person, you.
I just don't think I have enough to say to break it down couple by couple. On the whole, the music picks were - as typical of themed weeks - abysmal. The costumes and theming were in most cases, completely arbitrary. I spent most of the evening confused (though, granted, that doesn't take much.)

Three Things I Liked:

1. Ed Balls

Now here's a revelation. I'm not a fan because he's the joke contestant and I like to see people humiliated. I'm a fan because he's come from a no-dance background (such a rarity these days), he's enjoying learning and he's throwing himself in to it. He's this year's Jeremy Vine. And he's not that bad. Ed's timing is good, and he is improving week after week. OK, his knees were as bent as noodles, but these are the sorts of things that can be ironed out by the next time. It's so dull if they are practically perfect from the start,

2. Oksana's Choreography

Week after week, she is being thrown ridiculous theme after ridiculous theme, yet if you watch what she has choreographed, the dances are always jammed full of actual content. It's quite clear that Judge Rinder is being painted as a camped up joke contestant but just watch him dance. He's actually excellent.

3. Paint It Black

Really enjoyed this song choice for a tango and the band's arrangement was excellent. They dance itself could have had more attack, but it wasn't bad either.

One Thing That Really Wound Me Up:

1. Inconsistent Judging

See, I'm going to keep it to ONE thing (don't fall off your sofas!) I was incensed (incensed, I tell you) by Craig's comments to Greg and Natalie. But that's not because he was wrong - he wasn't - there was very little rumba content in that, there's no arguing. However, the comments were unjust given Craig had praised Will and Karen just a few weeks ago for a 'salsa' which consisted almost purely of Bollywood moves. We had this last year where a lift was allowed one week but not the next. I felt so sorry for poor Natalie. How are the professional dancers supposed to keep within rules when they change from week to week? 

Sorry it's a grumpy one guys. Halloween week was always going to be. But I live in hope that next week someone's going to come out and do the dance of the series. And if not, there's always Blackpool.