Fright Night VIII - Even Stranger Things

The VTs get naffer, the opening dances crazier, the country has a shortage of pound-shop wigs...it's that time of year again! Saying that, the opening number with the Ghosts of Winners Past and a Disney's Haunted Mansion tribute brought the house down and was minimum kitsch maximum drama - I hope this bodes well for the evening.

Jonnie and Oti
Extra points for Jonnie's hilarious pirate voice, and they also win best couple's costume. It was all good fun and did indeed look like a cha cha, but it was also a bit of a mess - probably his weakest since the week one waltz. That and the death slot means it could be a scary night for them (I promise I will not do this all the way through...)

Ruth and Anton
The latest adventure in Ruth's hair is Peak Bee Gee this week, along with a sparkly apron because not even witches can smash the patriarchy. This was a lovely little quickstep, probably Ruth's best ballroom so far (which means best, basically). They also seemed to have mostly dealt with the gapping issues we all saw on ITT. Yes, there are some problems, but she seems to be overcoming her nerves and that's been half the battle.

Simon and Karen
These guys had some awesome Sweeny Todd costumes, Karen always rocks Halloween the hardest. You could see she'd really tried to cover with the theme, and Simon seemed to do well for it, but it does appear he forgot the steps more than once. Also, the song seemed slightly incongruous; if you're going to do a song about a jealous lover murdering his woman, you kind of need to show that, or it's just a jolly waltz tune!

Gemma and Aljaz
They stole my jive song! I didn't get why Gemma was so cutesy until it started and realised they were Buffy and Angel and then it all made sense and I liked it 100% more. This was easily the best dance of the night so far, but also Gemma's worst for a while, and was a bit heavy in places. But it's also hard when you're comparing it to the showstopping jives of the ages. Totally overmarked.

Joe and Katya
After last week's bombastic paso, it's a bit of a grinding change of gears to getting a ponderous foxtrot. I say ponderous, someone realised the song mentioned spiders and flogged the theme to death. It was a bit too high concept, I found it hard to engage with the foxtrot content, although Joe did well to take on everything thrown at him.

Mollie and AJ
Mollie looks a total knock-out, while AJ looks like he works in a Hell-themed Ibiza nightclub in the mid-1990s. I think this was actually Mollie's best latin so far, I still find her a bit hesitant, but she'd put the work in and she and AJ were a bit more together. Also, when you have such a cracking cha cha song, it can sometimes carry you through.

Alex and Gorka
Who knew a zombie tango outfit could be so glam? Although, without the costume I think this could have been a tango from any week, great song and choreography that surpassed the themeing. It had the attack that we all love from Alex and they held on to the tension throughout, plus everyone can learn from them how to work together as a team.

Davood and Nadiya
Featuring Nadiya as the Ghost of the Victoria's Secret Runway. I actually quite liked this, making them do a peaceful rumba means they have to calm the hell down, although it could have done with more basic rumba like Queen Shirley said. It did however capture the spirit of the rumba (boom boom), for which I'm thankful, and they probably went on about the the choreography more than they should when that's not Davood's fault and he had shown some improvement.

Susan and Kevin
The one we'd all been waiting for, and they delivered! I would not have taken any of this nonsense from anyone other than these two, from the flammable-looking dragon to Kevin's smiling Jon Snow, I should of hated it, but of course I didn't. Halloween is also proving to be a good week to bury a dance you're not that good at...

Debbie and Giovanni
This was somehow odder than Susan and Kevin, I could not take my eyes off Giovanni's Frankenstein mullet. The lifts were terrifying, it took way too long to get to the costume change, but everyone was raving about it, and then it got three 10s. Are you really telling me that was as good as Alexandra's jive? Also, that song was the bane of my life growing up.

Aston and Janette
Now, I've had my issues with Aston, but I loves me a flamboyant rock paso and this was one of the best. The themeing didn't actually kill it, which was my main worry, and even with the extra bits thrown in it was still full of paso content. He's actually had a few wobbly weeks and been overshadowed by Alex and others, this definitely put them back in the game.

A little musicality, please!

There was drama, there were new steps, there was a bullfighter bolero jacket, there was Anton in a ruffled shirt, if ever there was an episode inspired by Strictly Ballroom it was this one! Hang on to your hats guys...

Davood and Nadiya
After being in the dance-off and now in the death slot, it didn't look great for Davood. Although, the jive certainly lends itself to his Labrador-esque energy and Nadiya's manic choreography, I think this was their most coherent routine so far. Saying that, his technique needs to improve or he's going to start lagging behind the others pretty quickly. This was also the start of some rather odd outfits tonight too, Nadiya looking positively middle-aged in that heavy dress.

What are they trying to do to Davood? Totes unfair that he was in the death slot - but they seem to do this to dance off celebs don't they? Do they completely write them off once they've come bottom? Boo hiss. Having said that, I agree with F., if he survives the week, he needs to show some oomph. His performances are increasingly forgettable.

Mollie and AJ
Thankfully Mollie is back with us after barely surviving those salsa lifts last week, here's a nice staid VW for you dear. Despite being sugary enough to give you a toothache, I quite liked this, maybe it was because of the minimal faff. Yes, it didn't set the world alight, but it was good to see her making some progress.

I found this weirdly uncomfortable to watch and I don't know why. Perhaps it was the saccharine over-acting. . Mollie is improving but she needs a wow-Rachel-Stevens-rumba moment. And soon. 

Simon and Karen
Ah, king of dad dancers survived the samba to wiggle another day. Now, this somehow got better as it went along, and it was quite a good routine from Karen, but Simon is lacking in skill....and an Achilles apparently. It was just a bit leaden and no amount of facial expression, or yellow tartan, can save that.

Even Rupert the Bear wouldn't have combined that waistcoat with the pants. And he's a fictional bear. I can't remember the dance. I was too distracted by that garish yellow.

Debbie and Giovanni
Ah, we've all been waiting for a Debbie and Gio rumba, the Strictly props team were standing by with a bucket of cold water in case things got out of hand. Alas, they went for pretty, classy, traditional rumba, booo! Not really, it was good, and Debbie looked like she she'd really worked on the hip action. I was quite thankful that this wasn't one of those painfully slow rumbas too, good work guys! 

I'm not sure it was as good as the judges said but I was so super glad to see Debbie do well I don't actually care. I never would have thought she would have been one of my favourites this year but there you go. What I love is that she took the criticism from last week and worked on it. That's what it's all about. And I'm not talking about the hokey-cokey.

Brian and Amy
Amy is a saint, I hope we get her back next year, she ploughed through this jive to a very unfortunate song choice. This routine did seem rather light on content for Brian, I did genuinely think he'd forgotten parts of it at times, but he may have just been rubbish. That and the eye-watering outfits made me think we'll be seeing this again in the dance-off, what joy...

Meh. Not good enough to be good. Not bad enough to be good.

Susan and Kevin
After last week's revelation of a quickstep last week, we were all ready to see what Susan would do next. There was a fair bit of faff at the start, but when it kicked in it was great to see Kevin sticking with proper routines and this was full of cha cha. It wasn't as technically achieved as last week, but it was full of pep and brought us all to life.

Susan is the breakout star of Strictly 2017. Charleston, American Smooth, Quickstep are always going to be more her style. Latin is a tough one to crack. This was entertaining, but technique-wise not great. But somehow with Susan, she sells it any way.

Aston and Janette
So much wafting...Beautiful song, completely distracted by the all-over-the-place choreography. And this all came after them saying all week this was going to be Aston's first foray into classic ballroom. I was very annoyed.

Oh crikey, I must have fallen asleep momentarily because I barely remember it. Erm, Janette's dress was lovely.

Ruth and Anton
Oh my word, the hair! The never-ending samba roll! Anton's sleeves! Anton dancing on one leg like a flamingo on acid! What I loved about this was that it was so crazy and came out of nowhere, there was no hint on ITT this week that they were going so full-on and it was all the better for it. Yeah, it was technically all over the place, but a delightful surprise.

Ruth, 1979 called. It wants its hair back. You know, I was just about to tweet about Strictly Ballroom and was searching for a gif of Ken Railings just as Craig made the same comparison. It was so camp, and such a parody. And that's why I LOVED it. Anton's trousers are life.

Gemma and Aljaz
Beautiful routine from Aljaz, that's what proper ballroom looks like. All that, plus the hilarious trolling move of Gemma wafting while in hold! This was lovely and held my attention all the way through, which is hard for a foxtrot. Although I did wonder what was so fascinating about the ceiling, she didn't take her eyes off it for a second.

I could see this girl winning this. 

Joe and Katya
Loving how both Joe and Katya went all-in with the outfits this week, there was no mistaking what this was! And what's more, I think Joe finally had his breakout dance! There was so much power and commitment in this, and it should hopefully drive his confidence into next week. Yes, the shaping was a bit wonky in places, but I don't think he could have done that in week 1. But then Shirley gave it a 10 and sent me into a tailspin of confusion!

WUT? 10? I'm not sure I agree with that one. Great intro with arm-shaping but his body movement is very uncomfortable; he reminds me of Jake Wood in that respect. I'm not saying this wasn't good. But such high scores did surprise me somewhat.

Alexandra and Gorka
Just going to get down to it: the song didn't work for me. Yes, the arrangement was correct for a samba, but it is too subdued, and Alex works best when she's in firecracker mode. Bags of content and hip action though - that was a filthy samba roll! I could have done with some feathers, to me it's not a proper samba without feathers on yer bum.

At first I was like NO WAY RUBBISH SONG CHOICE. Then it started and I was like OOH I LIKE THE ARRANGEMENT ACTUALLY. Then it continued and I was like MEH. Loved Alex's samba style though and it was grossly undermarked in comparison to Joe. I agree with Frankie. I want feathers! Fruit headpieces! Frills! 

Jonnie and Oti
Jonnie showed us last week he can do ballroom, so I was excited to see what a quickstep would bring - and he definitely delivered! A nice nippy little routine from Oti, and the way he's learned to perform has really helped raise his game. Plus you really get a sense of teamwork from these two, which livens up any performance, I really couldn't see him dancing with anyone else.

Loved this. Think it was my favourite of the evening over all. It was so nippy and tight. The attempts at acting were endearingly cute. Another one to watch. 

Bling me Sunshine

Week 4, where the judges apparently get notoriously tough (since when?! I feel like history is being rewritten this series.) However, I'm not hating on Craig's new found respect for rules. This, in addition to the back-to-basics approach to choreography (Nadiya aside), and the fact that props just appear to be background scenes instead of infiltrating the dances to the point of stupidity (let's ignore Brian's glittery stick...), means I am enjoying the routines far more than I have for quite some years. Is this Shirley's influence? Whether it is or not, I approve nonetheless.

Debbie and Giovanni 

They were pretty tough on poor Debs. However, her legs were as straight as matchsticks and her footwork was a wee bit sloppy in places. I would have thought the scores would be higher but perhaps Giovanni has got lazy teaching her technique, assuming she's a natural. But the movement in each dance is so different, she's not going to pick them all up without help. I bet we'll see a mahoosive improvement next week. This lady is nothing if not plucky.

Brian and Amy  
We have reached Peak. Camp. Not sure why Brian was having a toddler tantrum on a block at the beginning of the routine. Despite the horrific song choice and garish costumes, this actually genuinely did have paso content. And it wasn't executed all that terribly either. Brian's timing isn't bad. He's not good enough to be good, but he's not bad enough to be good either. I wonder how long he will last. 

Mollie and AJ  
YAAAS another latin track for salsa? What are you doing to me BBC?! I'm delighted. It's AJ I'm going to critique here. Ballroom dancers always take such huge steps on salsa basics and it's so blooming unnatural. And if AJ is doing that, Mollie is bound to follow. Gives it all an awkward edge to be honest. So yeah, not my favourite. And he dropped her didn't he? She bounced off the floor.

Davood and Nadiya  
Oh bless, we're still at the point where we have many contestants, some just get lost in the process. Davood's performance was forgettable. In fact, I genuinely forgot it whilst writing this blog. He's such a contender in the sense that he's ripe for a journey. I want him to come out and WOW us, with pizzazz, like the time Gethin found his Salsa. 

Charlotte and Brendan  
Poor Charlotte. She's the sort of contestant we just would have expected to be better. I think she probably thought she'd be better too. That's a tough glitterball to swallow. I thought she improved though actually. 

Joe and Katya  
So Joe's graduating from the Jake Wood school of body movement. He's trying but it's not quite there. I'm loving that this series it's at least being called out instead of praised. Movement has to come from the feet/legs/core, not from the hips themselves. I saw timing issues but perhaps I was wrong given the judges said that was spot on. I'll have to rewatch. He's a nice chap and has potential. I don't think we'll be losing him yet. 

Ruth and Anton  
A dramatic Anton Tango (and Ant-ango?) But, like, Davood, this wasn't good enough to be all that memorable. Or bad enough to be all that memorable. She's having a jolly nice time though. And it was a huge improvement. 

Aston and Janette  
First of all, I called this song on Twitter four years ago for a perfect quickstep. And I loved it. But why on earth were they wearing green?! A lovely sky blue would have been just perfect. Regarding the dancing, I'm wondering if Aston got cocky. It was relatively ungainly in places. Glad again it was called out. They'll come back fighting next week.

Simon and Karen  
I don't care if it's re-used. I will always welcome a samba to Copacabana. Always. And I will always welcome fruit-related hair pieces. And yellow fringing. What I liked best about this however was the fact it was a samba. WITH SAMBA STEPS IN IT. Remember a few series ago when the sambas, salsas and cha chas were almost indistinguishable? No more! Not sure if this was enough to save him but I enjoyed this. 

Gemma and Aljaz  
Gemma is the definition of rough diamond. One week soon, she's going to waltz out like a Disney princess and make everyone go ooooh, she's a LADY (woah woah woah, she's a lady). She's improving week on week, and is exactly the sort of contestant we love.

Alexandra and Gorka  
If it's good enough for a ten, it's good enough for a ten. No matter how early it is. This was the FIERCEST dance I have seen on Strictly. I think ever. It wasn't only technically proficient, it seemed as though Alexandra threw her heart and soul into every single step. Alex - already a Strictly Come Dancing legend. 

Johnny and Oti  
First of all, I heart Oti's dress. I can't pull off a red dress, being pale and ginger. Jealous. Johnny was great in this and I loved the routine. Musicality, technique, all great. But he has the sportsman performance problem. Totally agree with Craig regarding the acting lessons. Look what it did for Matt Dawson. Got him to the final... just saying.

Susan and Kevin  
Susan for Strictly Champion! No! Susan for Prime Minister. No! Susan for QUEEN! She was so light on her feet and her musicality was impeccable. I ADORED this. Now I have been down on Kevin in the past. But honestly, he gets the best out of his celebs doesn't he? I take it all back. Think this might be my favourite partnership of the series this year. And Susan, this wasn't 'it-was-a-great-performance good', this was 'you're-a-great-dancer good.

Movie Week, Schmoovie Week

Another year, another chance missed to do a super-camp opening number to Let's Go To The Movies from Annie, sigh.  A week of highs and lows and the downright odd, with scoring all over the place. Read on to find out who was completely overwhelmed by theming and who struggled to the top...

Simon and Karen
Poor Simon really got the b-list selection here, didn't he? Although I am kind of in love with Karen's cow-print skirt with purple tulle. Strangely enough, this didn't feel much like a quickstep, it's a very difficult one for someone with no dance experience like Simon and he did look like he was jogging about a bit.

Ruth and Anton
I was quite looking forward to this, the rehearsal footage on ITT looked quite good and they had a cracking song choice. Thankfully, this didn't get overwhelmed by the theme, but it also didn't get overwhelmed by anything, and was a bit dull. Also, Anton just seemed to leave her on her own and wander off at one point. Saying that, she has definitely improved from week 1, so I'm happy for her to stay for a bit.

Mollie and AJ
This was weird, weird, weird. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be watching, especially with the 80s power ballad version of Climb Every Mountain. They didn't know what Maria 'look' they were going for, with the apron plus wig making her look like Cersei Lannister posing as a peasant. And AJ seemed to have decided the more time Mollie spent in the air the better. There seemed to be some decent ballroom hold and footwork in there, but I was totally baffled.

Rev Richard and Dianne
I am now spelling Dianne's name properly, sorry everyone! Now the rev hasn't been the higher calibre of comedy contestant yet (more Dave Myers than Ed Balls), but you'd think Flash Gordon could get him there. Sadly, I feel like this just missed the mark, despite Dianne putting plenty of paso content in there (and looking totally awesome), he just hasn't shown the ability yet to really sell a dance properly.

The Lovely Debbie McGee and Giovanni
Well after a rather lacklustre start, Debbie has come to bless us with her high-camp cougar ringerness. Yes, it wasn't as rip-roaringly fun as her paso or as twee as her waltz last week, but it was easily the best of the night so far and was beautifully executed. Debbie also makes me like Giovanni more, so I'm all for that.

Brian and Amy
Our poll last week showed a lot more of you thought Brian should have left rather than Chizzy, but fair play to him I think he raised his game this week. They'd obviously worked on his ballroom skills and Amy put a good routine together, although he is still a bit tentative. However, he definitely exceeded my expectations and it wasn't a complete gurn-fest, so for that I'm grateful.

Gemma and Aljaz
This was sold a lot during the week, yes the theme seemed a bit bonkers, but the training footage also looked good. And yes, it was bonkers, but Gemma is really coming on in leaps and bounds - she was dancing alone in it for so long but looked like she was really enjoying herself. The lift was seriously clunky though. I could actually have done without Aljaz dancing as a pregnant teddy bear because I found it a bit distracting.

Charlotte and Brendan
I am so over Charlotte's cha cha drama, she did a bad dance, get over it. Now let us return to Brendan's 80s fantasies...and not a totally awful tango song choice actually. However, Charlotte still dances very passively, like she's having some sort of terrifying out of body experience. There are times when she has some nice lines and shows potential in hold but she's got a mental block it's going to be tough to get over.

Jonnie and Oti
I still can't get over how bad Oti's outfit was when you consider all the glamorous 1930s outfits you could put her in for Indiana Jones, Willie Scott wore a sparkly floor-length ballgown FFS! Jonnie looks awesome though, even when his face is covered in half a tub of Bisto. This was a great routine with loads of choreography which I was impressed Jonnie could handle compared to his tentative week 1 routine. Great in hold, good footwork, slightly leaden arms (but his arms consistently need work) - keep on improving Jonnie!

Susan and Kevin
Well this was delightfully bonkers! Loved Susan leading, and when she span Kevin on the floor I actually shrieked, along with the customary shout of 'samba rolls!' whenever I see them - and these were actually pretty good. In fact, there was a fair bit of samba in this performance, and some bounce action. They'd obviously worked very hard on this in a week when they cold have easily coasted on camp, cracking job guys!
 
Joe and Katya
We've learned this week that Joe can grow some pretty impressive facial hair in the space of a week. Also, Katya is good in furry headwear. This was rather lovely, with a sweet song and more than enough choreography. Joe was probably better in hold than out, but it's a Viennese Waltz so that shouldn't be a problem. I also quite enjoyed Katya being all tragic heroine with dramatic facial expressions and Joe just beaming away like he was having a marvellous time.

Aston and Janette
The greatest movie themes in the world....and some random nonsense from Trolls. I enjoyed this more than last week's salsa, mainly because there were no lifts and it did look like a cha cha underneath those terrifying day-glo outfits. Still not properly warmed to them, but this week I only rolled my eyes at the scores, rather than them.

Alexandra and Gorka
They'd given themselves a tough act to follow after the barnstormer of a paso, but this was was a complete delight. So light and charming! Props to Gorka for for such a lovely routine, and not going to town on the lifts, just sticking with her amazing musicality. I even got over them using half the props from the Eastenders market cluttering up the place, long may they sail.

Davood and Nadiya
Oh look, disco-samba returns to haunt us yet again...just make disco it's own category! Saying that, I actually think this was Davood's best so far: he came out and sold it and wasn't totally overshadowed by Nadiya. There was also some samba content in it...at the beginning before he ran off up some stairs to sexually harass the judges. Darcey was right though, they have energy, but they're also often a bit frantic, but this week it was a bit more coherent.