Clara and Aljaz
After last week's samba debacle I was very much looking forward to this jive and despite Aljaz wearing the ODDEST outfit ever, they came out all guns blazing. Possibly slightly too much actually because there were clearly mistakes in this and Clara forgetting the routine. Plus the shoes made her flat-footed at times, I have no idea why she was wearing them. This unfortunately does not bode well for her...
I found myself watching some old pro routines on YouTube this week (not just Rebel Yell, you know), and unfortunately that did remind me what the dances are meant to look like. Which isn't really like this. Found myself grumping about the days when a celeb would have been told off for incorrect footwear; I have a feeling they don't get much choice these days.
Jamie and Karen
Another one I was looking forward to, since Jamie has come along a fair bit and I wanted to see him prove himself in something that is not a party dance. And fair play to him, he pulled it off! Proper music, non-invasive and appropriate theme, Karen at her most fierce - this was what I like to see in a tango. He'd worked on his frame and the footwork was sharp throughout. This does feel like Chris Ramsey last year, Karen knows how to take someone who might not be a natural and make them a confident dancer.
I'd just binge-watched The Queen's Gambit and had my fill of chess. I found this OK. He's definitely filling the role of this year's plucky underdog. I can appreciate the work and effort that had gone into this but I still found myself underwhelmed.
Harvey and Janette
Yay for the HRVY origin story, he is famous, honest! As Couple's Choice goes this was fairly inoffensive; I liked how the routine built and it wasn't just intense hip-hop all the time. There was also lots of content that looked difficult, whereas some Couple's Choice routines just look like running around. Fair play to them, they did a good job, and in those frankly baffling outfits too.
I am trying to care*, but I just can't.
*No more Couple's Choice please.
Ranvir and Giovanni
Sorry, but this was boring. Especially after last week's Argentine Tango extravaganza. Ranvir is very good at ballroom so maybe my expectations were too high, the routine just didn't seem to go anywhere. The lifts also didn't wow me. It was fine but forgettable, which means her fanbase is probably going to be tested this week.
It was steady. It was safe. I think it will just be enough, however, to carry Ranvir through to next week.
Bill and Oti
Well at least I never have to worry about Bill and Oti being boring. There was some randomness in this routine, but so much proper jive and great kicks and flicks. Yes there were a couple of mistakes, but he recovered with ease because he's just a natural performer. Bill's not blown me away for a couple of weeks now (I still haven't gotten over that surreal-but-amazing cowboy paso) but he's got so many people behind him I don't think he's in any trouble.
When I found myself finding this slightly on the dull side, I did begin to question whether my mood was getting in the way of objectivity yesterday evening. He was a bit lumpy, but a real bouncy jive action would be hideously difficult on the knees for anyone over the age of 35 I reckon. His timing is immaculate but now I want to see something a bit different...
JJ and Amy
JJ doing ballroom, you say? Well blow me down with a feather. It did however enable Amy to wear a massive princess dress and dial the schmaltz up to 10. It was a pretty good VW actually, I saw plenty of rise and fall and the fleckerl was well-executed. Not much more to say really, it was a bit more-of-the-same rather than a real progression.
He's a nice guy, but this did not excite me either. #Sorry
Maisie and Gorka
Now this was what we were waiting for all night! I knew Maisie had a good quickstep in her from the second she did her tango and proved she could do ballroom. A full-speed quickstep packed with content, maybe a bit too much bench, but the sheer quality of the ballroom steps made up for it. The whole thing was light and carried off with aplomb, well done to both of them for keeping at it and bringing us this delightful routine.
Great. We know this was good because Frankie deployed the word 'aplomb.' I was really disappointed to see Maisie in the bottom two last week, and seeing tweets generally accepting she's just not 'likable'. Cue me getting super angry at the structural double standards applied to confident contestants. I basically want her to win now to prove a point.
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