Finally, I hear you cry! Yes, this week’s review has been painfully slow in arriving, I must admit. Profuse apologies. So straight down to business: five couples, ten dances, two disciplines — one elimination. But who was it to be? We kicked off with the ballroom dances.
First off were the current highest-scoring couple, Rachel and Vincent, with a waltz. Unlike some of our commenters, I felt last week’s perfect 40 was well-deserved, and was worried that they wouldn’t keep up the standard. However, I was reassured by another beautifully romantic dance. While Craig didn’t like Vincent’s choreography in places, I thought it was rather sweetly done, with several of his trademark sophisticated but understated flourishes. A great start to the show, and with judges’ marks of 9 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 39 points, set a high standard for everybody else to aspire to matching.
Lisa and Brendan were next up with a Foxtrot. Lisa’s elegance really works n her favour in the ballroom disciplines, and they did so even more here. She looked so much more comfortable than she has in a long time that her confidence helped deliver a wonderfully warm routine.
That said, the judges’ marks of 9 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 39 placed it equal with Rachel and Vincent’s dance, and personally I would have put it a smidgen lower.
Christine and Matthew’s Tango suffered from having to grapple with a rock song (Addicted to Love). Without the traditional tango score to push against, the choreography felt as if it was all over the place — and sadly, Christine danced to match. Her body looked as if it lacked any tension at all, especially compared to Matthew, which helped contribute to what Arlene described as a “rag doll” look.
The scores of 6 + 7 + 8 + 7 = 28 were fair, I thought. And with the two boys up next, it put Christine on a very dangerous footing.
Back to the foxtrot with Austin and Erin dancing to L-O-V-E. With Erin being an expert at this dance, it was perhaps inevitable that they did well here, but that inevitability didn’t make their dance any less joyful to watch. Erin’s choreography, as ever, was full of basic moves that showed off both dancers to their best ability.
I didn’t see what Craig was talking about when it came to Austin’s feet, so consequently I thought his score was a little low. Still, 8 + 9 + 9 + 10 = 36 was a strong score.
Completing the ballroom section, Tom and Camilla danced a Waltz to Moon River. Again, it was another dance that captured a really romantic element to the routine — but as both Bruno and Craig noted, Tom’s posture in hold could be better. Cue another spat with Len, which to use Len’s phrase is really beginning to get on my wick. I’m not exactly at the point where I’m sympathising with Craig, but it’s getting close. That’s a worrying sign.
Back to the dancers, though, and the scores of 7 + 7 + 10 + 9 = 35 showed the disparity of thought amongst the judges. That’s a good thing, as long as it doesn’t descend into name-calling, surely…
The Latin section of the night’s competition opened with the second dance from Rachel and Vincent. As soon as the cape came out, I was already noting what Len’s comments would be, and true to form he didn’t disappoint. Unfortunately, the dancers did a bit. After dropping a single point in their last two dances, Rachel and Vincent just didn’t seem to mesh together as well as usual here. There was plenty of passion in the Paso from Vincent, but as has happened in the past with this couple, Rachel seemed to be working on a slightly different level to her partner.
With judge’s scores of 7 + 8 + 8 + 9 = 32, overall they achieved a very good total of 71 points — but from the couple who have tended to score higher than others in Latin, their second dance must surely be placed in the column marked ‘disappointing’.
While Lisa is clearly more comfortable with Ballroom, Brendan really comes into his own in the Latin dances, leaving it more a question of whether his celebrity partner can keep up with him. Thankfully, for this Cha-cha-cha, Lisa could, producing her best Latin performance to date. Maybe it’s the fact that he has a partner who’s capable of putting the work in to learn the moves, but Brendan doesn’t seem to over-compensate as much as he has done in previous years, making it much more of a partnership. And all the better for that: the judges’ scores of 9 + 9 + 9 + 10 = 37 points, a total of 76, were well-deserved.
Partly it was poor song choice again, but mostly I fear it was leaden choreography — and leaden dancing — that did for Christine and Matthew in their Salsa. I just couldn’t engage with it at all, and it did feel Christine was having the same problem. It was as if she knew that she was in a different league to the other four couples, and was just grinning and bearing it until the dance-off came.
The scores of 7 + 7 + 8 + 8 = 30 points, a total of 58, was surely going to ensure them last place on the leaderboard. But then, it doesn’t matter how many points adrift a couple is as the judges’ scores are rescaled before combining them with the public vote, so Christine could have done a John Sergeant and gone for the comedy/sympathy vote. She’d have had a betetr chance of staying in if she had.
The opening to Austin and Erin’s Paso Doble was certainly the bravest we’ve seen from a male celebrity. Attempting a solo flamenco routine in the spotlight is not something that many of the celebrity competitors would have dared tackle at the start of this series. Well, Tom might have done, but whether he’d have been able to carry it off as effectively as Austin did, I’m not sure.
I thought the rest of the Paso routine more than lived up to the dramatic opening. Austin’s maintenance of character throughout was impressive — all the more so since it comes from someone with no acting experience, and it was markedly more believable than professional actor Tom Chambers’ own paso.
Unfortunately, Len didn’t feel the same way, which prevented another clean sweep: 10 + 10 + 8 + 10 = 38 points was still exceptional, though, resulting in 74 points overall.
The final competitive dance fell to Tom and Camilla, with a Samba to Mr Melody. I have to say, the more this competition goes on, the more ambivalent I feel towards Tom. He clearly loves dancing, and visibly seems to find it easier to get into the mind of a dancer: his hips, arm extensions, footwork, all look that much closer to what’s expected of a professional dancer rather than an actor who’s been learning to dance for a few months. But I don’t know, for me there’s just something missing at times. Maybe it’s a sense that I’m often too conscious that he’s playing a role on the dance floor, rather than actually being in the dance.
That was true to an extent here, although I didn’t agree with Len’s comment that he felt Camilla’s choreography was “a bit repetitive”. The routine did at least convey the sense of party fun required of the Samba. The scores of 8 + 9 + 9 + 9 = 35 points seemed fair, with a total of 70 marks placing them in fourth position with the judges.
We don’t know how close the viewer votes were, but Tom and Camilla clearly have enough fans at home to ensure that, despite being placed in the bottom two by the judges, they avoided the dance-off. That distinction fell to Rachel and Vincent and Christine and Matthew — and again, you got the sense that Christine knew from the outset what the outcome was going to be. With both couples dancing their highest-scoring of their two dances, we at least got to see Rachel and Vincent’s waltz one more time. And like Christine, after seeing that I knew precisely who was going to be saved.
The thing now is that with four very strong couples, it’s going to be incredibly hard to predict who next week’s evictees are going to be. That’s also going to be true for the remainder of the series — which should make it all the more exciting…
Thanks Scott and I agree about everything except Tom! I am a Tom fan I love his dancing and think he has been undermarked by the judges, so I am one of those sneaky people at home doing their best to keep him in! Think this week will be a cracker as they are all really good. I'm sure it has never been this close.
Surely Tom only got one 7 - from Craig. Perhaps his posture wasn't perfect but I thought it should have been 8 at least.
Unlike Len, I quite enjoy capes in a Paso but I didn't see the point of Vincent the professional having a long session at the start with Rachel hardly doing anything. When professionals do big "show-off" things however good it just makes their partners look weaker
While I agree with Len's disgust at some of Craig's more damming remarks, I agree with you Scott that Len ought to shut up & give Craig his turn to speak. The bickering gets annoying. I suspect Len's finding all his transatlantic crossings a bit of a strain & he sometimes is very much the grumpy old man.
AT LAST AT LAST , Yes I know, I've been crying for this all week.
I, like Pauline, agree with you almost totally, except for the comments re Tom. It's as if the judges is penalising him for acting well! He is an actor, and he seems to be loving every minute. It is a change to see a genuine smile compared to the pasted on smiles of some of the professional dancers. Darren springs to mind. I think he is very sweet, but oh, do I want to wipe that grin off his face sometimes. (I mean this in a non-violent way, of course!)
I don't know what's happened to Len, but I think the role as Head Judge might have gone to his......wait for it.....Head! He seems to think he is allowed to shout down anyone he disagrees with. It's really grating now.
I might be one of the few who like Craig, even if I disagree with him very often. He does have a beautiful smile!