Sunday 3 December 2017

Strictly Come Dancing Week 11 - Quarter Finals and Musicals Week

Take your seats please ladies and gentleman, the curtain is about to rise on MUSICAL WEEK.  As I said last week, this is only just behind Movie Week in my enjoyment stakes.  It's probably because I enjoy the whole Musical genre and have seen a few in my time, as a young girl I used to go regularly with my parents and still kick myself that I chose not to go and see Les Mis, a show I have since come to love but never seen live.  I have however seen Phantom three times and would happily go again.  Anyhow, I digress so let's see how our remaining six couples fared this evening, treading the boards, the roar of the greasepaint, the smell of the crowds.....wait hang on?  Never mind!

Our pros and celebs opened with an Oliver inspired routine with a very high pitched AJ (was that him singing or lip syncing, I can't tell), he was an adorable and perfect choice for Oliver but the dance was a big theatrical routine, perfect for setting the mood for the evening ahead.

First up tonight it's Hello Gemma, or is it Dolly? Who can tell? Well actually, it's Gemma and she was dancing the Quickstep with her partner Alijaz.  It was a great opening number to begin with, she had the fun and quirkiness of the Quickstep but you could tell she was tiring towards the end and her frame suffered.  Still, overall it wasn't a bad dance but compared with some of the others, she needs to be upping her game considerably to make it to the final.

Next, we had Mollie and AJ with their Grease inspired Rumba to 'Hopelessly Devoted'.  Not a traditional Rumba, which so far have all been sexy and sensual.  This was more of a sweet and innocent dance, in context with the song choice. However, they lost marks for yet another illegal lift.  This isn't Mollie's fault, it's the choreography at fault which is down to AJ. He did the same back in Week 2 when they did the Tango so he's already been told once this series.  At this late stage, the last thing the celebs need is to lose marks because of sloppy choreography from the so-called pros.

After Mollie was my favourite Joe and his partner Katya.  He was doing the Samba, another dance that has caused some problems this year.  His music choice (Money Money from Cabaret) also seemed destined for failure and not suited to a Samba, however thanks to some wonderful choreography from Katya this routine really worked.  Not only did it work, it worked really well and I'm still gunning for Joe to lift that Glitterball, it would make me so happy.

Next up were a couple of Cats, Debbie and Giovanni.  Dancing the American Smooth to 'Memory', it was beautiful, elegant, graceful and yet again some fantastic moves and lifts which would be tough on a 29-year-old dancer, never mind someone who is 59.  I don't care how much background dance training Ms McGee has had before, I would be happy to see her in the final.  She has a wonderful connection with Giovanni and this comes across in their dancing.  A deserved spot at the top of the leaderboard.

The Argentine Tango.  Phantom of the Opera.  Oh my, the mood is certainly dark for Davood and Nadiya to take to the floor, or should I say be lowered to the floor.  With flashbacks to Blackpool, Davood drops from the ceiling complete with a Phantom mask to be met by his Christine.  I liked the dance, I like the theme however Davood did seem to wobble quite a bit, especially when catching Nadiya.  He was the first male celeb to tackle the AT but I'm afraid he didn't really shine.  Like Gemma, although he isn't bad the standard is too high and the competition too fierce for mistakes to be made here.

Closing the show we have Alexandra and Gorka.   Now I love Mary Poppins, although I haven't seen the stage show which is probably why the song lyrics were not the ones I am used to.  it is Musicals week after all and not movies.  What really threw me though (apart from poor Gorka trying to pronounce Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, and please don't ask me to type that again), no my real issue was Alexandra's outfit.  Whilst I understand that it would be impossible for her to dance a Charleston in a long skirt traditionally worn by Mary Poppins, therefore a short skirt I can accept.  However, could it not be a short skirt version of her iconic outfit? Gorka was spot on as Bert but if you showed me a photo of Alexandra and asked me to guess the role she was playing I would not have been able to tell you.  Also, the boots she wore made the dance seem clunky and heavy despite how technically accurate it was.  Not a dance for me but she clearly impressed the judges landing joint top of the leaderboard with Debbie.

So at the end of Saturday night, this is how we looked


Debbie & Giovanni39
Alexandra & Gorka39
Joe & Katya37
Mollie & AJ31
Gemma & Alijaz29
Davood & Nadiya29

So how will the public vote influence who makes it and who has to dance off?  Quite a lot it would seem.


Onto Sunday nights show and a flashy opening number from the Dreamgirls and pros and then onto the really good stuff, the voting.  No surprises in that first into the dance-off is Davood.  He was a the bottom and he did struggle.  However, proving she is not popular with the public, it's another dance-off for Alexandra.  To have gone from top to bottom means she must have had either the fewest public votes or almost the fewest.  I think we know where this dance-off is headed, much like last week.  Unless Alexandra face-plants the dance floor, it's obvious who the judges will save.  To give Davood the credit he deserves, he did dance better the second time around and corrected a few wobbles but it was no contest and four judges votes put Alexandra through to the semi-finals and Davood was sent home, with his head held high.

Next week sees the semi-final and the contestants will have to learn 2 dances each.  I've been looking at what each of them has outstanding (there will always be one dance they don't do).

Debbie - Jive, Foxtrot, Waltz (already know they are doing the Jive and Foxtrot, it was mentioned in the results show)
Alexandra - Viennese Waltz, Salsa, Foxtrot
Mollie - Waltz, Samba, Argentine Tango
Joe - Argentine Tango, Waltz, American Smooth
Gemma - Argentine Tango, Rumba, Tango

Looking at these, I think Gemma could be in trouble.  It's unlikely they will give her both the regular Tango AND the Argentine Tango which means she's doing the Rumba and we all know how hard that is.  For the semi-final, that is tough.  But we will see what next week brings us, there could still be one or two surprises left.  I can't believe there are only two more weeks of Strictly left, it's gone so fast.

Until next time my lovelies, keep dancing!



Week 10 | Week 9 | Week 8 | Week 7 | Week 6 | Week 4 | Week 3 | Week 2 | Week 1

1 comment:

  1. You know I am picky about my musicals, but I too also always enjoy musical week hehe. OOooh memo to self arrange to take Angie to see a live show of Les mis at some point...Have we seen Phantom together? I've seen it twice live, and I know the second time was in the UK...ah no, I just remembered that was the first time I came over so it would have been with my cousin. You and I did see the Lion King together though hehe.

    OOooh I loved Gemma's Dolly outfit. She is definitely looking more confident this week. I noticed her getting a little tired. I think she's stepping it up pretty nicely.

    AJ looks awkwardly young sometimes or is that just me? I'm still not a fan of the rumba hehe. Clearly I need to learn what constitutes an illegal lift.

    Wow! Joe looked great in this week's costume, and I thought that was a really fun samba. He looked like one of the pros this week!

    Oh god Cats ahaha, I shouldn't be surprised that they gave Debbie and Giovanni Cats haha. WOW!!! THAT SPIN! I still love these two together hehe they're just always so in snyc. I'm with you, I'm rooting for these two she's an impressive dancer and I love their chemistry.

    OOooh Davood's the phantom. Hmmm the facial issue seems to have cropped up again this week? Yeah definitely not the strongest argentine tango we've seen this season, but still a good solid dance I thought.

    Awwwwww I really enjoyed Alexandra's charleston it was nice to see her be silly for a change! Needs 100% more penguin waiters though hehe. I agree with you about the costume though it was kind of awful and that colour really didn't suit her.

    Omg I am SUPER excited to see Debbie and Giovanni Jive AND Foxtrot!!! Yesssssss. I actually really hope Alexandra does the Salsa because while I don't like her I think she could rock that dance. I am unsure about an argentine tango from AJ and Mollie...Joe will have a good AT though I suspect! OOoh Gemma left with all slow and harder dances! Poor Gemma she's in for a tought week. I just really hope you're right and that they don't double up her tangos. I have a sinking feeling we could be saying goodbye to Gemma next week :( Unless AJ and Mollie really muck up either their AT or their waltz.

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