It's time for Strictly to hit the red carpet as it's Week 3 which can mean only one thing. It's MOVIE WEEK!! No prizes here for guessing this is my favourite week, with Musicals Week being a close 2nd. There were some Oscar-winning performances and some Razzies too but it was a Spectacular Week!
A huge shout out to the make-up and wardrobe departments. I mean, the dancers look great every week but themed weeks are always outstanding when it comes to the costumes and the whole look in general. Strictly really does go to town for Movie Week (Hollywood or La La Land).
So after an opening number from the celebs and pros, which paid homage to La La Land but wasn't my cup of tea at all, we move onto the celebs third dance. 14 remaining contestants are hoping to avoid the dreaded dance-off and elimination but which were Best Heroes and which were best Villians?
Another outstanding dance from Aston Merrygold this week. He and Janette were dressed as Trolls and dancing the Cha Cha Cha and to quote Craig 'You are good aren't you darling?' He is good, but he knows it too which is what puts me off him. I think unless something goes drastically wrong, he's going to make the final. He's another Danny Mac, but whereas Danny Mac and Aston both had prior dance experience and from week one they led the field, Danny was likeable and genuinely modest about his abilities whereas Aston just comes across as cocky. It may be just me but something about him annoys me. My favourite routine this week came from Gemma Atkinson and Alijaz. They were doing the Charleston and the music was 'The Bare Necessities' from The Jungle Book. Disney and Charleston. My favourite movie genre and my favourite dance. I was either going to love this or hate this. Fortunately, I loved it! It was playful, well danced and even Alijaz losing an ear didn't change how much I enjoyed this routine. Gemma is improving week after week and she's having so much fun with it.
Also improving each week is Molly King. Her American Smooth was just that. Smooth, outstanding lifts and a fantastic connection with her partner AJ. I said from the start I wanted her to do well and after an iffy jive in week one, she's really started to show promise now and her performances are getting stronger.
Another one of my favourites was Joe McFadden. He had a bad week last week with his Tango after a great first week Jive. He was certainly the comeback kid this week as he danced a Doctor Zhivago themed Viennese Waltz and the difference was amazing. It looked almost flawless to an untrained eye. What gets me is the fact he can't stop smiling. It will make his Paso Doble interesting if he gets to dance that, he can't be smiley and happy during that.
Speaking of Pasos, we had two very different ones this week. We had a halfway decent one from Jonnie Peacock and a truly dreadful one from Rev Richard. Also struggling were Simon Rimmer (another Disney routine but awful), Ruth Langsford (as a Bond girl, please no!) and Charlotte Hawkins (Top Gun, more like a loaded gun at her head). Debbie McGee didn't perform well this week although I think she was penalised unfairly with an unknown rule from Craig. I've never heard the 10-second rule mentioned before when judging a Quickstep and I'm sure Simon and Karen had the same but it wasn't brought up. Much improved was Brian Conley who's Wizard of Oz themed American Smooth was fun and entertaining, if not entirely technically correct. He certainly had a lot of fun with it and he was so overjoyed at getting a 5 from Craig, it was so sweet.
So at the end of Saturday night, the leaderboard looked like this:-
So onto Sunday night and the votes are cast. First off was an AMAZING Disney themed dance by the pros. As a Disney fan (have I mentioned this before?), again I was going to love or hate it and I LOVED IT! It was a spectacular sight. Thumbs up to the pros for this. There was also a midway performance by Sheridan Smith which I wasn't expecting to like but I did. She can sing and create a performance and combine well with the pro dancers, a lot of guest performers on Strictly are either poor mimers or you can't hear them. This was actually very very good.
Onto the eliminations and the two couples into the dance off are Simon and Karen up against Rev Richard and Dianne.
Neither couple performed well, however, the right decision was made to save Simon and we say farewell and Hallelujah to the Rev Richard as he leaves the show. He was entertaining but cannot dance so it is right that he departs now and doesn't become another Ed Balls and linger longer than he deserves. Without the technique, there is only so far entertainment can take you (Brian and Susan take note).
So the remaining 13 couples continue to Week 4. Let's see what drama unfolds next week (unless Brendan can keep his mouth shut).
Until then, keep dancing
Week 2 | Week 1
I'm sorry I forgot to comment last week, I've had to go back and watch all the dances again now so I can be fresh for my comment hehe. I agree with you completely about Aston being cocky I definitely don't like him because of it. Aljaž was so cute as Baloo, and that charleston was really fun to watch. OOoh I missed watching the pro dance last week!! You're right that was awesome. Okay that stayin alive samba was all right but Davood's facial expressions are really weird. That's not just me right?
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