Sunday 4 December 2016

Strictly Come Dancing Week 11 - Musicals Week (spoiler alert)

Welcome to Musicals Week!  So we’re down to just five celebrities now and the competition is heating up.  We have five very good and able dancers left so they are all going to have to produce something spectacular for Musicals week.

The show started with an amazing pro dance featuring many different characters from many musicals, too numerous to mention them all but some I spotted were Wicked, Mary Poppins, Jersey Boys, Singing in the Rain, Phantom and Me and My Girl.  The dance featured all the celebs, the pro dancers and the judges too but special mention must go to pro Anton du Beke who sang the opening number.

So then we open the dancing with a real sweet treat.  Ore Oduba is transformed into Willy Wonka to perform a Foxtrot to ‘Pure Imagination’.  It was very elegant and classic and a very colourful routine. Ore has improved so much over the weeks, given he has had no dance training at all.

Next up was Judge Rinder dancing a Samba to ‘Oh What A Night’ from Jersey Boys.  What he lacks in technical moves he more than makes up for in energy and flexibility.  He is always a joy to watch, although this week despite the routine being fun and fruity, he was a little bit stiff and flat footed.

Next we have the lovely Louise Redknapp.  In the first couple of weeks, Louise was a very shy performer but boy has she come out of her shell.  She was dancing a Quickstep to The Deadwood Stage from Calamity Jane.  What I love about her routines is that her partner Kevin Clifton is not frightened to show off her skills and let her perform on her own, demonstrating what an extraordinary dancer she actually is.  Yeehaw!




Next up was the adorable Claudia Fragapane.  Finally she got a 10 from Bruno, it was a long time coming and I feel she has been under marked for the last couple of weeks but this week she was dancing the Salsa to The Lion King’s ‘I Just Can’t Wait To Be King’.  It was spectacular and the most amazing lifts and fantastic energy made this my favourite routine of the night.

Finally up was Danny Mac and he was dancing a Tango.  It was unusual in that it was to a disco tune One Night Only from Dreamgirls.  It didn’t seem to fit the style of the Tango but all credit to Oti’s choreography.  It wasn’t his best performance by anyone’s standards and surprised to see a couple of 10’s in his score and he was still top of the leaderboard.

So by the end of the night the leader board was as follows

Danny Mac & Oti Mabuse    38
Louise Redknapp & Kevin Clifton 37
Claudia Fragapane & AJ Pritchard 37
Ore Oduba & Joanne Clifton 36
Judge Rinder & Oksana Platero 31

Finally the show ended with a wonderful pro dance to West Side Story, with special mention to Karen Jones taking on the role of Anita and Janette Manrara as Maria, with her real life fiance Aljaz as Tony.



So onto Sunday nights results show and a fabulous opening number from Chicago’s All That Jazz with Katya Jones as Velma and Natalie Lowe as Roxie.  Pure class.

The first into the dance off tonight was Ore which is a real shame but at this stage of the competition it could be anybody who leaves as they are all worthy winners.

A performance from Elaine Paige which Don’t Cry For Me Argentina was up next.  She may have been the queen of musicals once but she isn’t anymore.  I know age catches up with all of us but she doesn’t have the voice she once did and there is something odd going on with her nose.

Finally into the dance off with Ore is Judge Rinder.  Both couples danced their little hearts out but in the end all four judges opted to save Ore and Joanne, so we have to say farewell to Judge Rinder and his wiggling hips.  He was a real joy to watch and I will miss him.

The semi final is next week and whoever goes next week will be a real loss.  Such is the nature of a competition.  But the remaining four are all more than capable of winning that Glitterball trophy.




Until next time, keep dancing!



1 comment:

  1. Oh my goodness! Love the Lion King number! Did you notice that Claudia was singing along as she danced at one point?! Danny Mac's Tango reminds me of what happened a few weeks back with Claudia's Paso.

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