Week two is ladies’ night, and although traditionally it has also been quickstep and rumba night, this time around we were treated to either a foxtrot- arguably the hardest ballroom dance- or the salsa, a popular club dance. But who would shine on the floor, and who would end up taking an early shower?
Frothy foxtrot vs. sexy salsa
- Jessie Wallace & Darren Bennett (salsa): Darren had put together a good routine, and Jessie seemed to be enjoying herself, but even so she was one of the weaker dancers of the night. There were technical flaws, she didn’t go all out in the performance aspect and there were moments when she just somehow looked wrong. Still, considering how Darren got Letitia from the bottom two in her first week to fourth place in the competition, improvement may be on the cards.
- Christine Bleakley & Matthew Cutler (foxtrot): Before I get onto the dance, I must enthuse over Christine’s lovely dress- I want it! Anyway, this was a lovely, elegant routine- Christine deserves to be in the competition for many more weeks yet.
- Lisa Snowdon & Brendan Cole (salsa): Lisa seemed very inconsistent here- she has potential, but it wasn’t realised, and I’m not sure whether that was because she wasn’t going all out or just the fault of the choreography, which had too many spins (admittedly, she can spin, but we need more variety) and felt more like a samba than a salsa. While we’re raiding the SCD wardrobe, I would like that skirt, however.
- Jodie Kidd & Ian Waite (foxtrot): At 6’2”, Jodie is probably the only partner who can make Ian look small, but at the same time, height can be a big disadvantage when it comes to controlling the body when dancing. Surprisingly, however, Jodie was not gawky and coltish- she pulled off a worthy, elegant routine. Personally, I couldn’t see the footwork errors the judges spotted, but that was only because of the long dress and the camerawork.
- Heather Small & Brian Fortuna (salsa): I have to admit I was a little underwhelmed by this routine- it was choreographed well and there were moments of greatness, but also times when it just didn’t click. I also wasn’t greatly enamoured of the green dress- I say the less use of that shade, the better.
- Gillian Taylforth & Anton du Beke (foxtrot): Even though every pro uses clever choreography to shore up their partner’s weak points, it seemed especially obvious in this routine with its long intro, ‘pause points’ and added outro. That being said, Gillian wasn’t a bad dancer, it’s just that she was one of the weaker entries in a surprisingly strong line up where you couldn’t really point out any one person as being hopeless. Bruno’s “compared to his other partners, you’re Ginger Rogers” was slightly inaccurate, though- fair enough for Jan Ravens, Kate Garraway and Esther Rantzen, but he didn’t do too badly with Lesley Garrett or Patsy Palmer.
- Rachel Stevens & Vincent Simone (salsa): When the dance started with a slow introduction, I thought maybe they’d accidentally gone into a rumba instead, but then it sped up and more salsa came into play. Vincent does like to do complicated choreography but I thought Rachel handled it well- there’s definitely a lot of potential there.
- Cherie Lunghi & James Jordan (foxtrot): Although there probably wasn’t anything wrong with it, the tempo of the music seemed a little slow to me first time around, but nonetheless on rewatching I have fallen in love with this foxtrot. An elegant, beautiful routine played to an unexpected but oddly fitting and addictive track, this was a most worthy dance. More of the same, please.
- Men’s Group Merengue: With last week’s group cha cha and last year’s group merengue proving to be such a disappointment, I wasn’t expecting much from this dance, but actually it was rather enjoyable. A fun routine without being stupid or poorly choreographed, it was certainly good to watch, even if I’m still not sure what I’m supposed to be looking for in a merengue.
Results show
- The new pros performed together in a street/Latin style number- personally I wasn’t particularly enamoured of the routine as a whole (don’t get me wrong, they’re good dancers, it just wasn’t a routine I liked), but I did enjoy the brief segment where Brian danced alone with Kristina.
- Jill Halfpenny and Darren Bennett: Jill finally returned to perform her iconic jive- I didn’t see her perform it at the time but in the intervening years I have watched and enjoyed the routine, and to see it again was a delight. If I wanted to pick holes, perhaps Jill wasn’t as sharp as she could have been on the kicks, but she was still very good- especially considering she’s had a baby recently and hasn’t been on Strictly for four years.
- Pro tango: all the pros performed a tango to Michael Jackson’s Beat It, a song which for me will always be synonymous with Weird Al’s take on it, Eat It. I would have preferred a more traditional song and for everyone to be wearing red and black, but even so the pros are great dancers and could hardly go wrong (even if all the head jerking still makes me laugh!).
- The Sugababes were back to perform again on the show, with an accompanying pro cha cha making a change from all those rumbas. It’s just a shame we had to keep cutting to the Sugababes gyrating and stealing the spotlight.
- Elimination: Although my prediction was that Jessie and Gillian would be in the bottom two with Jessie going home, it was actually Jodie and Gillian. Both upped their game a little but maintained their relative standings, with the judges rightfully saving Jodie. It’s a shame to see Anton out so early, though- he made it to week seven with the hopeless Kate Garraway yet didn’t have a chance to get anywhere here!
Join me next week when the men return to the floor to perform either a tango or a jive.
