Strictly '21 #5: It's the first Dance Off Daaah-lings!

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

Previous thread.

Bugger - page 13!

@Claymorekick - you speak the absolute truth.

Did someone mention Artem & Holly's Zorro themed Paso? Miss you, Monkseal!

Just watched It Takes Two...is Gorka really going to be a dalmatian or was it a joke? (if the latter, how bad is it that SCD have done so many furries, I am seriously considering choreo with Cruella having him on a leash before making him beg and become a dancing dog)
If she is going the fashionista route, they might get by...but dressing as a dog, unless it's an elegant polka dot suit maybe Even Karim with WLTDO salsa didn't suffer that humiliation.

I am very thick btw. I didn't actually realise the band McFly had named themselves after the character . That routine will be more catnip to their fans then. Johnny B Goode is decent for a jive. Unlike JointWorstMemberOfBlue when he wore that bomber jacket, Tom will be safe.

J+J's paso nowt new apart from the same sex twist. Would have preferred a Spanishy matador duel later in the series though, unless they use black jolly roger flags as capes. Safe.

Can't call it. I'd guess the 007 paso (been done before to the same music) but Greg is getting his chest out.

Rose's theme - didn't know it was MHWGO on the piano. Safe.

Still not keen on 'I see you' but didn't know it was Leona Lewis so will shut up cos mrsdevere might be on here! Surely, all Adam's fans won't go gaga at a blue man group with black wig and pointy ear transformation, surely?!!

On music alone, I'd have said Adam vs Tilly.
But if pushed, I'm going Greg vs Robert unless Aljaz messes up a samba for the fourth time.

Looking forward to seeing Judi's Mama Morton the most. #JusticeForQueenLatifah (haven't forgiven Catherine for nicking her Oscar by switching categories). Hopefully Tommy Franzen/Lizzie Gough have an interesting charleston up their sleeve cos I thought it was more jazz.

Totally forgot about Anton struggling to manage two live dalmatians when partnered with Judy. Maybe Gorks is a dog after all.
I have been inceptioned - Artem has worn a dalmatian patterned bolero and pants for a Cruella 'Villains Night' paso with Kaitlyn.
It was...not great.

Oh and to answer a pp about Jojo and Jenna's styling for their AT - which I also hated even though I love their pairing - it was apparently a nod to Britney Spears' plaid skirt when she recreated her Baby, one more time look 20 years after the original.
Tenuous.

But it was either that or have a female same-sex couple dressed as schoolgirls doing an AT.

The whole premise for this week was of course....BRITNEY NIGHT.
I know we complain about our theme weeks but we've never had them after musicians like in the States (Madonna week, Cher week etc)

I like Jojo but the styling didn't do it for me at all. She wasn't the only one, Mel C had to wear a Toxic air hostess blue number.

And Witney only got away with the Oops latex outfit because, well, she's Witney.

sequins funnily enough, those 3 DWTS performances that you have mentioned were the only 3 I watched

I did realise why Jojo was wearing tartan but it just looked odd and the shoes were just hideous and made them look stompy and clunky whereas AT should be all sharpness and elegant! I did not like it at all.

Mel C's outfit was pretty awful aswell and there was not much tango content in there at all.

And the lift at the end of the Oops performance seriously impressive work but the Miz is incredibly strong and used to throwing 20 stone men around so I guess if anyone can be trusted to do that, it was him

So Brendans following in James Jordan's footsteps and joined the Dancing on Ice line up, I imagine he'll do quite well being a dancer and competitive.

I pity the person partnered with Brendan. I don't imagine he will take criticism very well if his previous form on Strictly is anything to go by... 🤔 🤔 🤔

I love Brendan and miss him loads. He was such a distinctive dancer and I thought mostly got the best out of his partner. I'd happily watch him over quite a few of the current bunch...

I also think if poor Kelly Brook hadn't had to drop out, he could've been the first double winner as they were an electric couple!

Rose tinted glasses, I expect, but he was my favourite male pro for many years!

@Elderflower14

I pity the person partnered with Brendan. I don't imagine he will take criticism very well if his previous form on Strictly is anything to go by... 🤔 🤔 🤔

he may have mellowed!

FFS woman it's not Creg its Craig. How would you like to be called Jeanayte.

Those 'listen in' compilations on the previous page... they are all so noisy! Surely the judges can actually hear all of that? It would really detract from the performance for me if I was there.

I think they have the mikes low but turn them up specifically for those videos.

Anyway, I was thinking of movie songs and Absolute Beginners was in my head. This led me to playing Bowie for half an hour and looking up Modern Love, which was Laila and Tony Beak's ill-fated jive.

Now I know Anton can jive (see Katie Derham) and I think he might be outdancing her here but can any of you who know about this stuff let me know: Was he offbeat trying to control her, was the choreo too hard in any case, is it a track one can jive to as it feels stilted.

Carwreck is here.

P:S. Just wanting technical know-how on this routine not a postmortem of their partnership (have commented on this on many threads previously).

Thank you x

Poor Aljaz. I think he’s a gonner tomorrow.

A samba 🤮 Poor Sara hasn’t got a hope.

Painted as Shrek with Sarah as Princess Fiona. What a travesty, and a waste of the most beautiful dancer on the show.

Of all of the films in the world, how do the Strictly producers manage to choose such crap, with the ugliest costumes and music?

I hate Movie Week. It’s an abomination.

Does anyone else try to guess which Strictly routines will make it onto Gogglebox? Last week I got it wrong by going with Adam and Katya's cha cha. (It was Robert and Dianne's.) This week I got it right with Judi and Graziano's samba.

By the way, watching the video above of Mark and Karen’s AT really reinforced for me how bad the production is now.

We could see their feet! Doing the steps! The filming was straightforward, none of the gazillion spins and up to the ceiling crap we have to endure now. Just simple, focussed filming of the actual dance. With feet close ups on two or three occasions.

I would die of happiness if they went back to this style of presentation and appreciation for each dance and it’s unique character.
So many of them blend into a muddle. Used to be you could switch on and know exactly which dance was being performed.

@EsmaCannonball

Does anyone else try to guess which Strictly routines will make it onto Gogglebox? Last week I got it wrong by going with Adam and Katya's cha cha. (It was Robert and Dianne's.) This week I got it right with Judi and Graziano's samba.

Oh yeah and I extend that to any show on the box

@SequinsandStiIettos

I think they have the mikes low but turn them up specifically for those videos.

Anyway, I was thinking of movie songs and Absolute Beginners was in my head. This led me to playing Bowie for half an hour and looking up Modern Love, which was Laila and Tony Beak's ill-fated jive.

Now I know Anton can jive (see Katie Derham) and I think he might be outdancing her here but can any of you who know about this stuff let me know: Was he offbeat trying to control her, was the choreo too hard in any case, is it a track one can jive to as it feels stilted.

Carwreck is here.

P:S. Just wanting technical know-how on this routine not a postmortem of their partnership (have commented on this on many threads previously).

Thank you x

I'm really not technical so I can only give a lay persons view but to me it seems that she kept going wrong; starting on the wrong foot, turning the wrong way, forgetting steps etc and he trying desperately to get her back on track, dragging her about and then ends up almost following her to try and cover the mistakes. It may be that the whole thing was beyond her but it was probably a case that once she had made a first mistake she struggled to get back on track and then totally lost it. The fast pace dances don't really give the celebs the opportunity to move past a mistake and it's easy for them to end up doing the equivalent of a good quizzer cocking up a simple question on Mastermind and end up getting more wrong because they are still thinking 'damn I knew that Hamlet' rather than focusing on the next question.

@ScienceSensibility

Massively agree and no backdrop sets/props/extra dancers back then either

It's not a bad jive, but it feels quick — I haven't tried to work out beats per minute (I would guess top end of the range for a jive) but that really driving beat makes it really tempting to rush I think.

I agree with Running and would add that there are points where he's massively exaggerating what he's doing to try to help her work out which foot she should be on, and there's some bits where she's pulling him off-balance too.

I think she'd have been better with something slightly slower and with a more swing feel probably — there's lots of proper jive in there but she couldn't get the sharpness she needed. And once she'd gone wrong, she just couldn't catch up again.

If that had happened to me in a comp, we'd probably have stopped for a couple of bars to find the beat, and then either started from the beginning again, or picked up from a "safe point" where hopefully it would work from — it's much harder to do that on Strictly of course because they choreograph to fit the song.

Re movie week - I don't get how they keep doing the same themes/music from same movies - there is soooo much to choose from

I hate Movie Week. It’s an abomination.

Not as bad as Halloween though...

@ScienceSensibility

By the way, watching the video above of Mark and Karen’s AT really reinforced for me how bad the production is now.

We could see their feet! Doing the steps! The filming was straightforward, none of the gazillion spins and up to the ceiling crap we have to endure now. Just simple, focussed filming of the actual dance. With feet close ups on two or three occasions.

I would die of happiness if they went back to this style of presentation and appreciation for each dance and it’s unique character.
So many of them blend into a muddle. Used to be you could switch on and know exactly which dance was being performed.

Yep! Every time the camera spins my family know what I'm going to say!

Sara's samba looked better thsn i expected in the ITT footage. May well be voting for her tonight. Hate some of the movie week costumes. You can't really see properly what the dancers are doing. Particularly those in "fat suits".