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 & Giovanni		39
Alexandra & Gorka		39
Joe & Katya		37
Mollie & AJ		31
Gemma & Alijaz		29
Davood & Nadiya		29

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!

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